If you’re interested in keeping your skin young and beautiful, you need to establish a good anti-aging routine now, no matter your age. While a skincare routine probably brings to mind cleansers, clarifiers, exfoliants and anti-aging creams, good eating habits should be part of your skincare routine as well. Good nutrition is essential to healthy skin, since it is the body’s largest organ. Here is a closer look at how you can establish a healthy diet as part of your anti-aging game plan.

Bright Colored, Raw Vegetables and Fruits First, you’ll want to start making sure you eat plenty of brightly colored, raw vegetables and fruits for great anti-aging results. Going with vegetables and fruits that are brightly colored means you’ll get more of the natural antioxidants your body needs to fight free radicals. Cooking vegetables and fruits can destroy or change many of the amino acids, nutrients and vitamins that are in these foods, so eating them raw is a great choice. Getting plenty of bright, raw veggies and fruits also helps to firm skin, smooth it and stabilize the presence of vitamins within the skin tissue. Adding fruits and veggies that have vitamin A in them can help to fight off acne. If you’re dealing with blemishes or oily skin, apples are a great anti-aging nutrition choice, since they offer vitamin C, calcium, magnesium and copper.

Avoid High Sugar Foods If you’re working to establish a good anti-aging skincare routine, another nutrition tip is to avoid eating high sugar foods. Foods high in sugar can cause obesity and blood sugar problems, such as diabetes. Highly processed foods that contain a lot of sugar can also ruin your anti-aging routine by causing blotchy skin, wrinkles, sagging and a loss of radiance. Limit the amount of cereals, breads, sugars and other simple carbs to help fight the signs of aging.

Healthy Fats Improve Skin Healthy fats should be added to your anti-aging skincare routine. While you want to avoid eating bad fats, it is important to ensure you eat good fats as a part of the body. Taking in those healthy fats helps to keep the skin supple, smooth and moist. Healthy fats also are essential for helping with the transport and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin K, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin A, which are all important for anti-aging. You can find healthy fats in seeds, nuts, tuna, flax seeds, sardines, olive oil and avocados.

Build Healthy Skin Cells with Protein As you work to add good nutrition to your anti-aging routine, you need to focus on getting enough healthy protein, since it is essential for building healthy skin cells. Complete proteins can be found in dairy, fish, eggs, poultry and beef. Those who prefer a vegetarian diet can find proteins in wheat, beans, lentils, soy and dried grains.

Hydrate for Beautiful Skin Of course, you can’t afford to forget proper hydration as a part of your anti-aging plan. Getting plenty of water each day is important for proper food digestion and the absorption of nutrients. The skin is made up of about 70% water, which means you have to continually hydrate to avoid skin that is flaky and dry.

What you put into your body is definitely going to affect your skin, which is why good nutrition must be a part of your comprehensive anti-aging skin routine. Keep this advice in mind as you combine a good diet with quality anti-aging products for beautiful skin that won’t give your age away.