Foods to help soothe your sunburn

By Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D., Associate Nutrition Editor atEatingWell Magazine

I try to slather on the sunscreen year-round (after all, UV rays shine on gray days too), but in the summer I'm particularly careful to avoid getting burned. And when I read that the FDA recently passed more stringent regulations on sunscreen labeling, as well as reminders to take other precautions to avoid sunburn (hats, staying out of the midday sun), I started thinking about what else I could do to protect my skin. As a registered dietitian and associate nutrition editor forEatingWell Magazine, I know that there are some foods that can help protect your skin and soothe sunburn if you do get scorched.

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Carrots
People aren't the only ones who need sun protection—plants do too. And the compounds that plants make to protect themselves from the sun can also protect us, says Amy Paturel inEatingWell Magazine. One example is carotenoids, found in carrots and dark leafy greens, such as kale. Eating carotenoid-rich foods helps to protect our skin against sunburn, according to Gene Lester, M.S., Ph.D., a plant physiologist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

Watermelon
One particular carotenoid—lycopene, which makes tomatoes and watermelon red—may be especially effective at protecting your skin from sunburn. In one study, participants ate 2 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste or drank about 1 2/3 cups of carrot juice daily, in addition to their regular diet, for 10 to 12 weeks. Then when they were exposed to UV light, they had almost 50 percent less skin reddening than those who didn't have the tomato paste or carrot juice. Supplements, however, weren't as effective: more reason to dig into tomatoes or watermelon this summer.

Related: 4 More Lycopene-Rich Foods to Soothe Your Sunburn
Recipe to Try: Watermelon Salsa and More Watermelon Recipes

Cucumber
If you get burned, try this topical solution: halve a cucumber and rub it on scorched skin as you would aloe. Cucumbers contain some vitamin C, which "can turn down the dial on inflammation damage in the skin," says Alan Logan, N.D., co-author of Your Skin, Younger (Sourcebooks, 2010).

What foods do you use to prevent or soothe sunburn?