Skin wrinkling: Can food make a difference?

Objectives: This study addressed whether food and nutrient intakes were cor related with skin wrinkling in a sun-exposed site. Methods: 177 Greek-born subjects living in Melbourne (GRM), 69 Creek subjec ts living in rural Greece (GRG), 48 Angle-Celtic Australian (ACA) elderly l iving in Melbourne and 159 Swedish subjects living in Sweden (SWE) particip ating in the international Union of Nutritional Sciences IUNS "Food Habits in Later Life" study had their dietary intakes measured and their skin asse ssed. Food and nutrient intakes were assessed using a validated semi-quanti tative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Skin wrinkling was measured usin g a cutaneous microtopographic method. Results: SWE elderly had the least skin wrinkling in a sun-exposed site, fo llowed by GRM, CRG and ACA. Correlation analyses on the pooled data and usi ng the major food groups suggested that there may be less actinic skin dama ge with a higher intake of vegetables (r(s)= -0.31, p<0.0001), olive oil (r (s)=-0.29, p<0.0001), fish (r(s) = -0.24, p<0.0001) and legumes (r(s)= -0.1 6, p<0.0001), and lower intakes of butter (r(s)=0.46, p<0.0001) and margari ne (r(s)=0.24, p<0.001), milli products (r(s)=0.16, p<0.01) and sugar produ cts (r(s)=0.12, p<0.01). Similar findings were obtained using regression an alyses, except fish was no longer significant; 32% of the variance for acti nic skin damage was predicted by six out of the ten major food groups. In p articular, a high intake of vegetables, legumes and olive oil appeared to b e protective against cutaneous actinic damage (collectively explaining 20% of the variance); a high intake of meat, dairy and butter appeared to be ad verse (explaining <5% of the variance). Prunes, apples and tea explained 34 % of variance amongst ACA. Conclusion: This study illustrates that skin wrinkling in a sun-exposed sit e in older people of various ethnic backgrounds may be influenced by the ty pes of foods consumed.