A Tasty, Pasty Discovery

We all love compliments. They give us a sense of confidence and make us feel good about ourselves. One such compliment I’m always appreciative of is when people tell me what nice skin I have. This is something I’ve been told on several occasions...by complete strangers, even.

You might suspect that such compliments can only come after months if not years of using lotions and topical creams. After all, the use of lotions is what we’ve been taught to believe is necessary to ‘love the skin we’re in.’ But the truth is, other than the use of hand cream in the winter, the only topical aide I use on my skin is deodorant and a bar of soap in the shower. And that’s all you need as well…provided you’re supplying your skin with the nutrients it needs.

Perhaps the best nutrient for your skin is vitamin E. When applied as a topical agent, vitamin E is known to help the body heal from wounds quicker and prevent them from scarring. Vitamin E is also known as a sunscreen of sorts, protecting the skin from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. And its protective qualities are evident whether vitamin E is applied topically or consumed from foods like almonds, turnip greens, swiss chard and sunflower seeds (1/4 cup of sunflower seeds contains 90 percent of one’s recommended daily intake of vitamin E!).

Another rich source of vitamin E is tomatoes. Tomatoes contain about ¾ milligrams of vitamin E, which is a pretty decent amount of skin-protective vitamin E. But that’s just the beginning of tomatoes’ skin protective benefits.

Some researchers from England decided to perform some comparative tests on 20 participants over a three-month period. Over those three months, 10 of the participants consumed about 10 grams of olive oil per day (yet another food that’s good for your skin health). The other group, in addition to the 10 grams of olive oil per day, consumed 55 grams of tomato paste each day.

The researchers found that after three months, those that ate the tomato paste exhibited a better tolerance to sunburns due to the higher amounts of procollagen that developed in their skin; the researchers believe this resulted from their tomato paste consumption. The researchers, from the University of Newcastle and University of Manchester, presented their findings to the British Society for Investigative Dermatology in England.

So what is it about the tomato that provides such ‘skin’tastic results? Researchers believe it’s the lycopene - something I’ve written about at length in the past. Unlike other antioxidants, lycopene is released in greater amounts when cooked rather than eaten raw (that’s rare; it’s usually best to leave vegetables raw rather than cooked if one wants to keep vegetables as nutrient dense as possible).

This of course is great news for anyone who enjoys whole wheat pasta and marinara sauce or the occasional pizza pie. But if you’d like to adopt more tomato paste into your meals but haven’t a clue as to how, how about with pizza buns? They’re fantastic! All it takes is some whole wheat English muffins, some shredded mozzarella cheese and a can of tomato paste. Simply spread the whole wheat muffins with a generous spread of tomato paste, top them with a sprinkle of mozzarella, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 degrees until the cheese is a golden-dark brown. It’s a healthy meal your skin will thank you for!