Dr. Lucilla Gatta, a nutrition biologist who collaborates with the LILT center in Frosinone to provide nutritional advice for cancer prevention, shows us the best diet to follow to get the perfect tan.
TANNING AND DIET, WHICH DIET?
The arrival of summer brings with it the desire to show off a more golden complexion, a more tanned skin.
WHAT IS TANNING?
Tanning is the phenomenon whereby, following exposure to sunlight, melanocytes, which are nothing more than skin cells, increase the secretion of melanin, a substance whose role is to protect the skin from action of UV rays.
WHAT FOODS SUPPORT THE TANNING PROCESS?
First of all, it is necessary to maintain a good water supply, as exposure to the sun favors the loss of fluids through sweating .
The consumption of seasonal fruit and vegetables is very important, which in addition to contributing to the maintenance of a correct water supply, also provide vitamins, mineral salts and antioxidants, which carry out a protective action against UV rays and free radicals .
Among the most suitable foods to promote tanning we have for example:
- Tomatoes and watermelon, excellent source of lycopene, an antioxidant molecule, whose bioavailability increases with high temperatures (and therefore, green light for a nice plate of spaghetti, perhaps whole, with tomato).
- Melon, carrots, asparagus, spinach, apricots, source of carotenoids, molecules with photoprotective action.
- Red fruits, citrus fruits, olive oil, dried fruit, avocado, precious sources of vitamins E, which has an antioxidant action.
Furthermore, a varied eating style based on the Mediterranean diet, therefore also respecting the seasonality of the products, is of fundamental importance so that the body does not lack any micro and macro nutrients in order to function at its best.
An integration with vitamin C , vitamin K, vitamin E and essential fatty acids, such as omega 3 and omega 6, together with a varied diet, helps to promote the activation of tanning and to counteract the oxidative damage resulting from prolonged exposure in the sun.