Want to prevent fine lines and wrinkles? Get beautiful from the inside out with oil-rich fish (like salmon), flax seeds, and walnuts, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. You probably know that omega-3s are beneficial to your heart and may even help with depression. But did you know about the beauty benefits? Omega-3s keep skin hydrated and more elastic, which translates into the prevention of fine lines and wrinkles, explains my incredibly knowledgeable health coach Christine Gonzalez, who’s also a practicing integrative pharmacist. Bring on the omega-3s!

Getting Omega-3s into Your Diet

Think about your diet. Are you eating enough fish? Are you sprinkling on flax seeds, snacking on walnuts? If not, then get to it.

Fish. Salmon is the most popular fish that’s especially rich in omega-3s. You can also find these fatty acids in other cold-water fish, like herring, mackerel, anchovies, and sardines. Albacore tuna also contains omega-3s, just not as much. The American Heart Association recommends eating fatty fish twice a week (a single serving is about three to four ounces). Wholeliving.com has some excellent recipes.

Eating whole foods is always better than taking supplements, but if you don’t eat enough fish, you might want to take fish oil supplements. Christine recommends Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega. I like these, too. They don’t give you those nasty, nasty fish burps.

Flax. Over at Wikipedia, flax is cited as having six times as much omega-3 as most fish oils, so start sprinkling. To get the most benefit though, grind up flax seeds in a coffee mill or buy them ground. Store them in the freezer to keep them from going rancid.

Most mornings, I sprinkle two tablespoons of ground flax into yogurt, oatmeal, or on cereal. Flax is also great in smoothies and salad dressing. You can also get just flax oil but eating the seeds has the added benefit of having lots of fiber, which helps you feel full longer (think thinner waistline) and helps detox the body (think clearer skin). Apparently we need just a tablespoon a day to get the benefits of flax, as reported in Body+Soul magazine.

Walnuts. At WebMD, they report that a handful of walnuts has about the same amount of omega-3 as one serving of salmon. The AHA recommends eating walnuts unsalted (I guess we cancel out the heart-protecting effects if we’re raising our blood pressure with too much sodium). Looking for recipes? Head to wholeliving.com.

But certainly don’t get crazy and eat a diet of just salmon sprinkled with flax and walnuts. They are fatty acids. As with everything in life, practice moderation.

For a list of other dietary sources of omega-3s, check out this Wikipedia entry.

Do tell

Did you know about the impact of omega-3s on your skin? Do you regularly eat fatty fish, flax, and walnuts?

P.S. Check out the Beauty Resources page for some amazing beauty deals from amazon.com, beauty.com, Sephora, and more.

Photo of woman by Tiago Ribeiro / CC BY 2.0
Photo of salmon by monkeycat! / CC BY-NC 2.0
Photo of flax seeds by sean dreilinger / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Photo of walnut by enter / CC BY-NC 2.0

Tagged as: american heart association, benefits, body and soul magazine, christine gonzalez, fish, flax, nordic naturals ultimate omega, oils, omega-3, tips, walnuts, webmd, wholeliving.com, wikipedia, wrinkles, You are beautiful