Nutritionist Marta Verona warns: "To protect our skin, we need to eat antioxidants."

In the midst of the hot, sunny season, caring for your skin from within is another preventative measure that should be added to sunscreen. If we want to avoid accelerated aging, diet plays a key role in protecting cells from oxidative damage. This is how nutritionist and chef Marta Verona explained it, focusing on antioxidants .

“When the heat arrives, we expose ourselves to the sun , and our cells oxidize . They experience cellular stress,” Verona comments in one of her Instagram videos. The problem is that this “cellular stress” generates free radicals, unstable molecules that can damage our cells, accelerate aging, and even increase the risk of chronic diseases. “ Antioxidants are like the garbage cans of our body . Our cells generate free radicals—think of them as garbage bags—and antioxidants come through like a garbage truck, collecting them all,” she explains. Thus, “they leave us free, deoxidized.”

As Harvard University explains, free radicals are inevitable byproducts of metabolism, but they are also generated by exposure to smoke, pollution, or sunlight. In excess, they cause what is known as oxidative stress, a condition that damages cells, alters DNA, and can contribute to diseases such as arteriosclerosis, cancer, and diabetes.

For this reason, the nutritionist warns: "To protect our skin, we have to eat antioxidants ." Fortunately, the body has defense mechanisms and also extracts antioxidant compounds from food that neutralize these free radicals. Antioxidants work by donating electrons to unstable molecules, stabilizing them without becoming harmful. They also aid in DNA repair and maintaining cellular health.

Where to find antioxidants

There are hundreds of antioxidant substances, many of them naturally present in foods. The best known are vitamins C and E , carotenoids , selenium , zinc , and various phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and anthocyanins. According to Harvard, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and spices is key to maintaining a good antioxidant defense.

Among the most notable foods are citrus fruits, peppers, berries, broccoli, spinach, avocado, nuts, green tea, pure cocoa, and legumes such as chickpeas and lentils. Also notable are walnuts (rich in selenium), sunflower seeds (rich in vitamin E), and foods such as onions, garlic, and grapes , for their quercetin and resveratrol content.

Marta Verona insists on the importance of including raw vegetables in your daily diet. "Of the two servings of vegetables you should eat a day, try to have one raw," she suggests. This is because many antioxidants, such as vitamin C and certain phenolic compounds, deteriorate with heat, so eating fresh vegetables helps preserve their properties better.