Have you heard of phytonutrients? This is really exciting and important for skin health as well as overall health and wellbeing.  

The word phyto means plant. It is the phytonutrients that give the plants like berries, fruits and vegetables their color and flavors.

Phytonutrients are not classified as essential, ie necessary for our survival, but they have many positive properties for our health. 

Among other things, many of them have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties and some even affect the activation of certain genes that are associated with healthy aging. They also help the gut bacteria thrive as they serve as fuel for them.

Some of the substances have been shown to have the ability to strengthen collagen by reducing its degradation. This is mainly because they inhibit the activity of certain enzymes that break down collagen.

There is currently a lot of research going on about the effect of various phytonutrients. At present, there are thousands identified but new ones are discovered every day!

Phytonutrients are the reason behind the expression eat the rainbow! 

The fact that food from the plant kingdom can have this type of positive effect on the skin and collagen around the body is really exciting. By eating more colorful berries, fruits and vegetables you can help protect against the MMP enzymes’ breakdown of collagen around the body and thereby strengthen different types of collagen structures, e.g. the skin.

Most studies reported have been performed on human cells or mice and unfortunately not on humans. However, there are some studies on humans and the knowledge and effect of phytonutrients on the body’s biochemistry is increasing and hopefully we will see more and larger studies of this type of nutrient in food on human collagen, in the future.

Phytonutrients for skin health

There are thousands of different kinds of phytonutrients, but the most famous and most researched phytonutrients, are:

• Anthocyanins: Dark purple, blue and black berries, fruits and vegetables
• Resveratrol:Grapes, grape seeds, peanuts, red wine – however there’s not enough resveratrol in these foods to have a positive effect on skin health but resveratrol supplements are more effective
• Beta-carotene: Orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, papayas, yellow and orange peppers, pumpkins. 
• Quercetin: White fruits and vegetables such as apples and onions
• Lutein: Green leafy vegetables such as kale
• Lycopene: Tomatoes, tomato puree and water melon