Foods That Help Protect Your Skin: Nutrition Tips for Natural Sun Defense | EP 392.C

Summary

The Dr. Gundry Podcast – EP 392.C

Foods That Help Protect Your Skin: Nutrition Tips for Natural Sun Defense
Date: February 27, 2026
Host: Dr. Steven Gundry

Overview

In this episode, Dr. Gundry dives deep into the ways nutrition can serve as your body's internal "sunscreen," exploring how specific foods and nutrients help protect your skin from the harmful effects of sun exposure. He highlights the importance of photoprotective compounds found in food, dispels common sun-related myths, and provides actionable dietary advice for bolstering natural defenses, all with his signature enthusiasm and clarity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Eating Your Sunscreen: The Concept

• Dr. Gundry starts with the idea of "eating your sunscreen"—using nutrition to help safeguard your skin from sun damage.
  • "You probably heard me say vitamin D is important. And while this is true, you still need to protect your skin from getting too much sun." (00:00)

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1. Beta Carotene

• Role: Maintains skin health, acts as a plant-derived photoprotector, essentially as a “natural sunscreen.”
• Food Sources: Raw carrots, sweet potatoes, leafy greens like kale and spinach.
• Key Insight: Beta carotene is converted into vitamin A and helps protect skin from sun-induced damage.
  • “Beta carotene is a nutrient that can aid in the maintenance of your skin health...it acts as a natural sunscreen for your skin.” (00:30)

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2. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

• Role: Maintains healthy cell membranes, helps fight DNA changes due to sun exposure.
• Food Sources: Wild-caught salmon, flaxseeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, organic canola oil, perilla oil, and notably, farm-raised trout.
• Notable Warning: Avoid farm-raised salmon; opt for wild-caught salmon or farm-raised trout instead.
  • “Turns out that farm raised trout, not farm raised salmon, actually convert their omega 6 feeds into omega 3s...If you see Atlantic salmon or farm raised salmon, run the other direction.” (00:57)

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3. Astaxanthin

• Role: Strong photoprotective antioxidant.
• Food Sources: Algae (spirulina, chlorella), wild-caught salmon (the color is due to astaxanthin), supplements.
  • “Astaxanthin has been shown to have wonderful photoprotective effects...that color in wild caught salmon is astaxanthin.” (01:20)

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4. Fern Block (Polypodium leucotomos)

• Role: All-natural antioxidant, used both topically and orally.
• Benefits: Protects skin cells from UV damage, supports collagen, hyaluronic acid, and elastin production; packed with polyphenols that benefit gut health.
  • “Fern block is an all natural antioxidant extract...helps protect our skin cells from UV damage and supports an increase in skin collagen, hyaluronic acid production and elastin.” (01:52)

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5. Timed Release Vitamin C

• Role: Repairs damage to collagen, essential for skin repair.
• Recommendation: Take 1,000 mg twice daily due to its short duration in the bloodstream.
• Insight on Smoking: Smokers have more sun damage and wrinkles because vitamin C is depleted fighting oxidative stress from smoking.
  • “Vitamin C, unfortunately, is not readily available shortly after you take it...I really recommend people take time to release vitamin C about 1,000 milligrams twice a day.” (04:29)
  • “The reason smokers have such sun damage and wrinkles is because their vitamin C is all used up by the oxidative stress that smoking gives to them.” (04:45)

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6. Ellagic Acid-Rich Foods

• Role: Photoprotective; combats collagen breakdown, redness, and swelling in the skin.
• Best Sources: Pomegranates, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries (all best consumed in season).
• Caution: Avoid pomegranate juice due to high sugar content.
  • “To get the benefit of a gallic acid, you should be eating pomegranates in season...not just pomegranate juice, folks. Much too much sugar.” (05:05)

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7. Dark Mushrooms & Melanin

• Role: High melanin content helps absorb UV light, adding to your natural defenses.
• Recommended Varieties: Brown mushrooms, cremini, portobello; avoid white button mushrooms.
  • “Dark mushrooms contain lots of melanin...the more melanin you eat, believe it or not, the more that's transmitted into more melittin to protect you from UV exposure.” (05:30)
  • “Portobello mushrooms are a great dark mushroom that are now available in almost all grocery stores. I've got a great portobello mushroom pizza recipe on YouTube.” (05:48)

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8. Vitamin D & Sunlight

• Balance Is Key: While it's important to shield your skin from excess sun, you should not block vitamin D production from sunlight.
• Benefits: Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption, bone mineralization, and preventing low calcium in the blood.
• Supplement Recommendations: Most adults should take 5,000 IU/day; UCSD recommends 10,000 IU/day given most Americans are deficient.
• Dermatology Insight: Dr. Hollock (Boston University) advocated for sun-derived vitamin D, though his position was once controversial.
  • “So the last thing you want to do is block vitamin D production from sunlight...And now we know that sunlight is not as bad for you as you once thought it.” (06:19)
  • "If you can't get enough sunlight...I recommend most adults take 5,000 international units a day. The University of California, San Diego recommends...10,000 international units a day for protection." (07:01)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On which fish to eat:

  • “If you see Atlantic salmon or farm raised salmon, run the other direction.” – Dr. Gundry (00:57)

• On beta carotene’s skin benefits:

  • “It acts as a natural sunscreen for your skin.” – Dr. Gundry (00:35)

• On the shortfall of Vitamin C in smokers:

  • “Their vitamin C is all used up by the oxidative stress that smoking gives to them.” – Dr. Gundry (04:45)

• On the misunderstood danger of sunlight:

  • “Sunlight is not as bad for you as you once thought it.” – Dr. Gundry (06:23)

• On mushrooms for skin health:

  • “Don't hesitate to get more of the darker mushrooms into your diet.” – Dr. Gundry (05:37)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:30 – Detailed breakdown of beta carotene, omega-3s, astaxanthin, fern block.
• 04:29 – Timed release vitamin C for collagen repair.
• 05:05 – Ellagic acid and in-season berry recommendations.
• 05:30 – Mushroom melanin for added sun defense.
• 06:19 – Vitamin D, sunlight, and expert recommendations.

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Final Thoughts

Dr. Gundry delivers a compelling argument that what you eat can strengthen your skin’s resilience to sun damage. Highlighting key nutrients like beta carotene, omega-3s, astaxanthin, ellagic acid, and more, he gives listeners practical, approachable advice for everyday nutrition and health.

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For more healthy living tips and recipes, check out Dr. Gundry’s YouTube channel.

Transcript

[A]

How to eat your sunscreen. You probably heard me say vitamin D is important. And while this is true, you still need to protect your skin from getting too much sun.

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first off, beta carotene Beta carotene is a nutrient that can aid in the maintenance of your skin health. Fun fact. It's also one of the carotenoids that give fruits and vegetables like mango, carrots and sweet potatoes their natural colors. Now beta carotene produces vitamin A activity in your body. It's also acting as a plant derived photo protector. In other words, it acts as a natural sunscreen for your skin. Now what should you eat to get beta carotene? I'll tell you right now. Raw carrots are a great source. Sweet potatoes are a great source and leafy greens like kale and spinach 2 omega 3 fatty acids are the healthy fats that are essential for your skin protection. They maintain healthy cell membranes helping to fight DNA changes due to skin exposure. Now some great sources of omega 3 fatty acids you probably well know by now. Wild caught salmon, flaxseeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, organic canola oil and perilla oil are all great sources. Another fun fact. It turns out that farm raised trout, not farm raised salmon, actually convert their omega 6 feeds into into omega 3s. So if you see farm raised trout on a menu or sometimes you'll see it at Costco, don't be afraid to buy it. But if you see Atlantic salmon or farm raised salmon, run the other direction. Okay? Astaxanthin so astaxanthin has been shown to have wonderful photoprotective effects. You can get astaxanthin in your diet by eating algae. So Spirulina chlorella Great sources of Astaxanthin Wild caught salmon that color in wild caught salmon is astaxanthin and there are now a number of supplements that are readily available to get astaxanthin. How about fern block? Fern block is actually Polypodium leucotomus. It's a plant protective property that's very photoprotective. Fern block is an all natural antioxidant extract. It's used both topically on the skin and can be taken orally. It helps protect our skin cells from UV damage and supports an increase in skin collagen, hyaluronic acid production and elastin. A major part of its photoprotective properties rely on its antioxidant properties due to its high phenolic content in and in fact it has tons of polyphenols which will change your gut bacteria for the better

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Timed Release Vitamin C is the next one Now Interestingly enough, Vitamin C repairs damage to collagen. Vitamin C, unfortunately, is not readily available shortly after you take it. Oral vitamin C only lasts a couple of hours in our blood. That's why I really recommend people take time to release vitamin C about 1,000 milligrams twice a day. Interestingly, the reason smokers have such sun damage and wrinkles is is because their vitamin C is all used up by the oxidative stress that smoking gives to them. And the reason the smokers have so much wrinkles and sun damage is they don't have the vitamin C that's necessary for repair. Now next up is foods that have high levels of egalic acid. Egalic acid has wonderful photoprotective effects when it comes to collagen breakdown, redness and swelling in irritated human skin cells. So to get the benefit of a gallic acid, you should be eating pomegranates in season. Not just pomegranate juice, folks. Much too much sugar. Strawberries in season, raspberries in season, and blackberries in season. Next up, dark mushrooms. Turns out that dark mushrooms contain lots of melanin. Now most of you know what melanin is melanin is what gives the dark pigmentation to our skin. And melanin exists to absorb UV light. So the more melanin you eat, believe it or not, the more that's transmitted into more melittin to protect you from UV exposure. So don't hesitate to get more of the darker mushrooms into your diet. You leave the white button mushrooms alone. Get the brown mushrooms, the cremini mushrooms. Portobello mushrooms are a great dark mushroom that are now available in almost all grocery stores. I've got a great portobello mushroom pizza recipe on YouTube. Now one more thing I'll add. When your skin is exposed to the sun, it produces vitamin D. And you actually want that to happen. Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption from your gut. It enables mineralization of the bone, and it's also very essential to prevent low calcium in your bloodstream. And vitamin D production is necessary to actually grow bones. So the last thing you want to do is block vitamin D production from sunlight once again, another really important reason and one of the most famous dermatologists, perhaps infamous dermatologists, Dr. Hollock from Boston University was one of the first dermatologists to actually tell people to get their vitamin D levels from sun exposure. And long story short, he got into a lot of trouble, but luckily got reinstated. And now we know that sunlight is not as bad for you as you once thought it. If you can't get enough sunlight to get your vitamin Ds up and most people can't, I recommend Most adults take 5,000 international units a day. The University of California, San Diego recommends that the Average American take 10,000 international units a day for protection.

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