A diet rich in healthy fats and vitamins can support skin health. Many fruits and vegetables, including red grapes and tomatoes, contain compounds that can benefit your skin.
- Fatty fish
Fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, are excellent foods for healthy skin. They’re rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for maintaining skin health (1).
Omega-3 fatty acids are necessary to help keep skin thick, supple, and moisturized. An omega-3 fatty acid deficiency can cause dry skin (1, 2Trusted Source).
The omega-3 fats in fish reduce inflammation, which can cause redness and acne. They can even make your skin less sensitive to the sun’s harmful UV rays (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).
Some studies show that fish oil supplements may help fight inflammatory and autoimmune conditions affecting your skin, such as psoriasis and lupus (4Trusted Source).
Fatty fish is also a source of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for your skin.
Getting enough vitamin E is essential for helping protect your skin against damage from free radicals and inflammation (5Trusted Source).
This type of seafood is also a source of high-quality protein, which is needed for maintaining the strength and integrity of your skin (5Trusted Source).
Lastly, fish provides zinc — a mineral vital for regulating the following:
inflammation
overall skin health
the production of new skin cells
Zinc deficiency can lead to skin inflammation, lesions, and delayed wound healing (6Trusted Source).
- Avocados
Avocados are high in healthy fats. These fats benefit many functions in your body, including the health of your skin (7Trusted Source).
Getting enough of these fats is essential to help keep skin flexible and moisturized.
One study involving over 700 women found that a high intake of total fat — specifically the types of healthy fats found in avocados — was associated with more supple, springy skin (8Trusted Source).
Preliminary evidence also shows that avocados contain compounds that may help protect your skin from sun damage. UV damage to your skin can cause wrinkles and other signs of aging (8Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source).
Avocados are also a good source of vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant that helps protect your skin from oxidative damage. Most Americans don’t get enough vitamin E through their diet.
Interestingly, vitamin E seems to be more effective when combined with vitamin C (5Trusted Source).
Vitamin C is also essential for healthy skin. Your skin needs it to create collagen, which is the main structural protein that keeps your skin strong and healthy (10Trusted Source).
Vitamin C deficiency is rare these days, but common symptoms include dry, rough, and scaly skin that tends to bruise easily.
Vitamin C is also an antioxidant that helps protect your skin from oxidative damage caused by the sun and the environment, which can lead to signs of aging (10Trusted Source).
A 100-gram serving, or about 1/2 an avocado, provides 14% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E and 11% of the DV for vitamin C (11Trusted Source).
- Walnuts
Walnuts have many characteristics that make them an excellent food for healthy skin.
They’re a good source of essential fatty acids, which are fats that your body cannot make itself.
They’re richer than most other nuts in both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).
A diet too high in omega-6 fats may promote inflammation, including inflammatory conditions of your skin like psoriasis.
On the other hand, omega-3 fats reduce inflammation in your body — including in your skin (13Trusted Source).
While omega-6 fatty acids are plentiful in the Western diet, sources of omega-3 fatty acids are rare.
Because walnuts contain a good ratio of these fatty acids, they may help fight the potential inflammatory response to excessive omega-6.
What’s more, walnuts contain other nutrients that your skin needs to function properly and stay healthy.
One ounce (28 grams) of walnuts contains 8% of the DV for zinc.
Zinc is essential for your skin to function properly as a barrier. It’s also necessary for wound healing and combating both bacteria and inflammation (14Trusted Source).
Walnuts also provide small amounts of the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, in addition to 4–5 grams of protein per ounce (28 grams) (12Trusted Source).
