Tasty, sweet and cheerful, you’ve no doubt enjoyed a strawberry during the course of your lifetime. It might come as a surprise, but strawberries are actually a great anti-aging fruit. They’re brimming with nutrients, from flavonols to vitamins, and are just what the doctor ordered for better skin. Did you know? Just a single portion of strawberries contains upwards of 50% of your RDV of vitamin C. Vitamin C is vital to the process of the skin’s production of collagen, actively helping the skin to look younger, tighter and brighter. If that doesn’t make eating strawberries seem sweeter, we don’t know what will!
Aside from their vitamin C content, strawberries contain ellagic acid – a phenol antioxidant that helps to safeguard the skin against UV damage – a stressor known to lend a hand in collagen breakdown and, as such, prematurely aging skin. Because of its effectiveness against UV, ellagic acid goes towards reducing the visibility of wrinkles and fine lines, which is a great bonus for skin that’s on the mature side.
Fisetin, a plant-based polyphenol of the flavonoid family, is found in strawberries as well as other fruits and vegetables and behaves like a pigment, responsible for giving them color. Strawberries are reported to be one of the best sources of fisetin and, since it is part of the flavonoid family, it showcases antioxidant qualities that have been outlined as being able to put the brakes on dermal aging. Slowing the aging process of the skin is not the only benefit of this plant polyphenol. One study has divulged that a regular consumption of fisetin can lengthen lifespans by approximately 10%.
If you love strawberries as much as we do, you’ll have probably discovered the wonder that is strawberry seed oil. Strawberry seed oil can be just as beneficial as the raw fruit. Its linolenic acid and omega-3 fatty acid content is great at nourishing the skin and improving it from the inside out. Linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid that plays an important role in the production of ceramides (ceramides are lipids that contribute to the composition of your skin’s epidermal barrier and help to prevent moisture loss). Omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, help to shield your skin against UV rays by defending your skin cells from inflammation caused by sun exposure. This reaction aids your skin in its quest of combating the signs of aging like wrinkles while maintaining hydration levels. With a comedogenic rating of 1 and providing naturally-occurring salicylic acid (a plant-derived acid that’s great for exfoliation and unclogging pores), strawberry seed oil is not only suitable for all skin types, but it’s also great for toning the skin and increasing cell turnover, which is especially helpful for oily, acne-prone and mature skin types.
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