In case you haven’t heard, you are what you eat. Maybe you won’t turn into a chocolate chip cookie,
but certain foods can increase or decrease your melanin production.
Melanin activates the pigmentation of your skin, making it darker when more melanin is produced by the body. So, depending on the look you’re hoping to achieve, eating certain foods may increase melanin, while avoiding those foods will cause it to stagnate.
Light colored foods will give you whiter skin. Foods like eggs and milk will dilute the melanin and keep your skin clearer. On the other hand, the same theory applies to dark colored foods. Deep, dark foods like coffee, tea, and black sesame can make your skin look darker.
Vegetables and fruits contain many minerals and nutrients such as zinc, iron and copper. Lemons and cucumbers are great examples of foods high in these minerals that help build melanin. Strawberries, on the other hand, can reduce melanin, keeping your skin clearer.
An element related to common minerals such as iron, copper, and zinc is tyrosinase. Research has shown that ingesting tyrosinase-rich foods has a proven ability to deepen and darken a person’s skin color. Foods that contain this element include animal liver, such as beef liver. You can also find this nutrient in walnut seeds, black sesame, or even some beans.
Although eating certain foods can impact your natural skin tone and color, it’s important to keep a balance in your diet. Eating too much of a specific food can cause digestion problems, not to mention rob your body of the balanced nutrition it needs. If you hope to gradually change your appearance, you better add some pigment-enhancing foods to your daily diet.
