Can what you eat help protect your skin from the sun? Michelle and Kevin explore the fascinating connection between nutrition, skin health, and sun exposure. While sunscreen is still the most important defense against UV damage, growing research suggests that a healthy, nutrient-rich diet may help strengthen your skin’s natural resilience from the inside out. Michelle explains how antioxidants, carotenoids, polyphenols, and other beneficial compounds found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole foods can help combat oxidative stress, support skin health, and aid recovery after sun exposure. The conversation also looks at the other side of the equation, examining how diets high in ultra-processed foods may contribute to inflammation and accelerate skin aging over time. Along the way, Michelle and Kevin discuss why “eating the rainbow” is more than just a catchy phrase, whether supplements like vitamin E actually provide meaningful skin protection, and why whole foods often deliver greater benefits than isolated nutrients in pill form. They also break down how nutrition and sunscreen can work together as part of a practical, evidence-based approach to protecting your skin and supporting long-term health. Whether you're curious about the science behind food and skin health or looking for simple ways to improve your diet, this episode offers actionable insights to help you care for your skin from the inside out.
Registered Holistic Nutritionist
Michelle specializes in healthy aging, plant-based nutrition, disease prevention and lifestyle change. She translates complex nutrition research into practical strategies listeners can actually use.
Curious Beginner & Co-Host
Kevin asks the questions many listeners are already thinking. He helps make nutrition approachable, relatable and tries to keep things light.
Kevin: Hey, Michelle, I have been enjoying the sun since our last discussion because we talked all about sunscreen and I have no fear, not that I had before, but I have no fear of liberally applying it and applying it properly. So all is good.
Michelle: Me too. You know, we had a quite a few days of like intense rain. So it's been nice to see the sun again.
Kevin: And I understand that you have a bit more information about sunscreen and sun exposure and nutrition and how it all ties together.
Michelle: Yeah, I wanted to make sure that, you know, in Nutrition for Noobs, we actually talked about the nutrition implications of protecting your skin. What a novelty.
Kevin: Wow, you're really going out on a limb there, Michelle. But I like this direction you're trying. Let's let's go with it.
Michelle: So as you know, we're all about honoring the guidelines for best health, which is promotes a plant centered diet and ideally a whole food plant based diet. And not a surprise, I'm sure, that a whole food plant based diet can significantly improve your skin health in several meaningful ways.
Kevin: First off, just a note to listeners. If you missed our last episode, Michelle was talking all about sunscreen. So that's a good episode to go back and listen to if you haven't already.
Michelle: So when we do have a plate that focus on fruits and vegetables, one quarter whole grains and healthy protein sources that can include plant protein sources, we get more antioxidants in our diet, which is vitamin C, which is really important to our skin. We get more carotenoids like lycopene and beta carotene, very important for our skin health. And we get way more exposure to beneficial polyphenolic compounds or polyphenols that reduce oxidative stress, which actually help to combat damage to cells. So studies show that these can slightly increase the skin's resistance to UV induced redness and improve recovery after sun exposure. So in addition to doing, you know, prudently applying your sunscreen, you will actually be more resistant in addition to what protection that sunscreen is offering by eating a healthier diet. And it makes sense that this beautiful adaptive system called the human body actually has built in resiliency when it's properly nourished.
Kevin: It makes sense because humans have been around for a long, long, long, long, long time before sunscreen was ever invented. So it makes sense that the human body would develop some sort of natural protection or evolution to help against the sun.
Michelle: Right. And I'm just hypothesizing that we see now more risk exposure than perhaps people feel was common in previous decades because of the increase in highly processed and ultra processed foods in diet. Because when you consume more of those ultra processed foods, then that will increase inflammation in the body that will increase oxidative stress in the body. And those may accelerate skin aging right there and impair recovery. Right. So that would speak to much decreased resiliency. So if you're impacting your skin quality by a poor quality diet and then you're adding sun exposure, unprotected sun exposure to that, you're going to get much more rapid skin aging.
Kevin: Double the bang for your buck, so to speak, in a bad way.
Michelle: So the diet, just to be clear, not to overstate the impact of diet, it's not going to block UV radiation.
Kevin: No, don't use it instead of sunscreen.
Michelle: Right. It will increase your skin resilience and you're just going to be healthier from the inside out. So you're going to have healthier skin. Of course. So when we put the evidence together, the conclusions here are very straightforward. We still need that sunscreen for UV exposure, but nutrition can significantly improve our skin resilience. And then skin pigmentation, like people like myself, will also modify risk, but it doesn't remove it completely. Right. The strongest determinant of skin health when it comes to the sun exposure is the UV exposure itself. So I don't want anyone to take this short and think, oh, well, if I just eat a really healthy whole food plant-based diet, then I don't have to use sunscreen. Not true.
Kevin: Who needs sunscreen? Right.
Michelle: But definitely take advantage of all of those antioxidant rich seasonal fruits and vegetables and have summer salads and wraps and gazpachos like we had that recipe for.
Kevin: Right.
Michelle: And all of those wonderful, yum, tasty summer treats. And you'll drink lots and lots of water and get more of those antioxidants in to protect your skin.
Kevin: Right. Eat the rainbow, eat lots of colors and eat what's in season. Because in the long run, what's in season locally is going to be fresher and tastier and will have driven far fewer kilometers to get to your plate. And so it's just going to taste better.
Michelle: And I wouldn't even be prescriptive as to which ones. I mean, we mentioned carotenoids, vitamin C, beta-carotene and things like that. So those are like your carrots and your tomatoes, really anything that's bright and colorful, all of your leafy greens for sure, your citrus. So it's eating the rainbow, like you said.
Kevin: Yeah. So I've got a question for you, sort of out of left field. This might be like an old wives' tale, but my mother, back in the 70s, every day took a vitamin E tablet, like a capsule. And she said that's for her skin. And so I've always had this idea that vitamin E somehow had some connection to skin. And you haven't mentioned that. So I'm just wondering, is that like a total myth?
Michelle: So, Kevin, that's actually a really great question, because, you know, my dad, who ultimately developed skin cancer and after extensive treatment, it proved fatal. He faithfully also took a vitamin E supplement every day.
Kevin: It's a generational thing, I guess.
Michelle: Yeah. And so I'm sure there was a lot done at the time that believed that this was a good practice. And vitamin E is really beneficial. Vitamin E, as a powerful antioxidant, has the potential to shield from environmental damage, to support the skin barrier, which is probably why that supplement was really popular. And anti-inflammatory, like that it could help, you know, reduce the redness. I think the science has moved away from supplementing with vitamin E for that reason, but really more towards vitamin E topically. The risk is like as an oral supplement, like the same thing that we see with beta carotene, it's more about the carrot than the beta carotene. Because vitamin A can be toxic if it's ingested too much as a supplement without all of its other co-factors and in the context of whole food. And I think that vitamin E is very similar. And I know that probably the heart of the issue is that vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin, not a water-soluble vitamin. So you can more readily reach a level of toxicity because your fat-soluble vitamins are going to be synthesized through the liver. And you can end up getting overexposed to that one isolated nutrient and it can become unbeneficial instead of beneficial.
Kevin: Your body can't get rid of the excess, unlike vitamin C, which you basically just pee out.
Michelle: Yeah. And, you know, when it comes to supplementation, you have to be really prudent, really careful and make sure that you're not just randomly taking stuff because it's unregulated section of the industry. And people are usually under no doctor's guidance. They're just self-governing because they think it's good for them. And they often take unmonitored daily doses and then they can unknowingly end up taking them at toxic levels or even just unattended things like taking too much and feeling fatigue and nausea and increased risk of bleeding. So when it comes to how vitamin E can be used beneficially, I think that you often see it as an added ingredient in things topically applied. It contains vitamin E and things like that. It's definitely a supplemental vitamin that you want to take caution that you don't end up overexposing, as we've said, supplementally. And I think the consensus is now more like against oral vitamin E supplementation. It hasn't conclusively been linked to any direct sun protection against UV skin damage as an oral supplement. That's kind of the bottom line.
Kevin: Right. So like so many things from the 1970s, it was just a fad like hula hoops or anything else. And we've moved on from that.
Michelle: Well, they were right about the protected potential of vitamin E to the body, but they were wrong about the delivery mechanism.
Kevin: Exactly. Exactly. And science is always evolving. So it makes sense.
Michelle: Yeah. So topical is best if you're going to do that. And in fact, a vitamin C, vitamin E combo is even better because and this is often the case with vitamin C. Vitamin C usually helps support the absorption of other nutrients. And that's what doing things whole means. Like nature was meant to be looked at as a symphony of things that benefit one another. Anything in isolation is where we increase risk, right? We start to focus on the vitamin E instead of the vitamin E rich foods. We focus on the carotene and not the carrot.
Kevin: Exactly. Exactly. No, that makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you, Michelle. That was very interesting to have the nutritional side of that.
Michelle: Yeah. And nice segue, Kevin. Well done.
Kevin: I tried my best. And that was completely unplanned, but I do my best. You're an excellent noob. Okay. Thank you. I'm the king of the noobs after all.
Michelle: The king of the noobs.
Kevin: The king of the noobs. Yeah. A crown. Actually, a tiara might be nicer.
Michelle: Oh, my gosh.
Kevin: Okay. So what did the rock climber name his son?
Michelle: What did the rock climber name his son?
Kevin: Cliff.
Michelle: I like that one. That one's actually cute. That's funny. Again, nothing to do with son other than, I guess, the rock climber.
Kevin: Yeah, exactly. No, I'm not. Yeah. Clearly, these jokes are not very... I'm not planning ahead and trying to get topical jokes.
Michelle: You're keeping us on our toes, Kevin. We don't know what to expect from you.
Kevin: Exactly. There will actually be, eventually, in one short, I guarantee there will be one topical joke because I have been saving it because I know we're going to cover a particular topic. Oh, okay. It better be worth the wait. I doubt it. Don't expect that. Please, low expectations. Okay. Well, until next time, my noobs, enjoy the sun, eat a nice balanced meal, and don't forget to eat your greens.
Michelle: And be real, everyone. And be whole.
Kevin: This has been Nutrition for Noobs. We hope you're a bit more enlightened about how your fantastic and complicated body works with the food you put into it. If you have a question or a topic you'd like Michelle to discuss, drop us a line at hello@nutritionfornoobs.com. If you haven't already, you can subscribe to the podcast on whatever your favourite platform might be. Also, please consider leaving a review or telling your friends. That's the best way to spread the word. We'll see you next time with another interesting topic.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and never miss an episode. Evidence-based nutrition, practical advice and the occasional dad joke, delivered every two weeks.