Dietary Antioxidants: A Natural Defence Against Skin Damage

Antioxidants (AOs) are natural substances found in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains. These compounds help protect your skin from damage caused by free radicals—unstable molecules generated by sun exposure, pollution, and even your own metabolism.

How Do Antioxidants Work?

Free radicals can damage DNA, proteins, and cell membranes. Over time, this damage may lead to premature ageing and an increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC), including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Dietary antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and selenium help neutralise free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, offering potential protection against skin cancer development.

Whole Foods Over Supplements

While supplements have been widely studied, they have not consistently shown benefits for preventing skin cancer. In contrast, antioxidants from whole foods—like colourful vegetables, citrus fruits, nuts, and seeds—have demonstrated more promising effects.

The Melbourne Perspective

If you live in Melbourne, where UV exposure is high year-round, a diet rich in antioxidant-packed foods can be a valuable complement to other protective steps like wearing sunscreen and booking regular skin cancer checks.

While antioxidants aren’t a cure, they’re an easy and beneficial part of your overall skin health strategy. And remember, eating well is only part of the solution—get your skin checked regularly at a trusted skin cancer clinic in Melbourne.