By:   Leslie Pepper

The secret to never-aging skin may be in your kitchen.

Everyone wants to look younger, and if you’re like most women, you probably think your only choices are on department store shelves. 

While, sure, lotions and potions will help rejuvenate your skin and keep it looking young, you can find plenty of other natural skin savers right in your fridge and pantry. Tons of everyday foods are loaded with vitamins and minerals that can stop time for your skin. 

So go raid your kitchen for these get-pretty treats.

Anti-aging secret #1

Water: Dehydration can weaken the collagen-elastin fibers meant to keep skin strong. When they break down, skin appears saggy and sallow, so keep these fibers plump and supple by pumping in plenty of fluids. Moisturizer found in a bottle is essential, but it only hydrates skin temporarily, and only on the surface. Water and water-based foods help keep your skin moist from the inside out, so your skin stays dewy and fresh. 

Try to drink at least six to eight glasses of water daily. And munch on plenty of water-based foods like cucumbers, watermelon, lettuce. 

Anti-aging secret #2

Zinc: Oysters are known to be good for your sex life, but they’re also great for your skin because they contain zinc, a mineral essential for skin cells to regenerate. 

“As we age skin cells on the surface slough off and regenerate more slowly, giving the skin a dry, dull appearance,” says Ernest Rhett Jabour, MD, founder of SW Anti-Aging Center in Santa Teresa, NM. By making sure you get enough zinc, you can support your body's ability to regulate cellular aging. 

Snack on oysters, pumpkin seeds, steamed crab, lobster, eggs, lean meat and poultry.

Anti-aging secret #3

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: These “good fats” are also called essential fats because your body can’t produce them – you have to get them from foods like cold-water fish and certain plant foods. Experts have long known that omega-3s hike up heart health. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fish each week, especially oily fish.

But omega-3s do far more than just keep our ticker healthy. Omega-3 fatty acids help to make up a cell's membrane, which acts as the passageway for nutrients to enter the cell, and for waste products to exit. The better the cell membrane works, the better your skin cells look.

The cell membrane is also what influences its ability to hold water. The more water a cell can hold, the more moist and plump it will be, says Richard Baxter, MD, a plastic surgeon based in Seattle, Washington. Research concurs: A study published in the Journal of Lipid Research found that omega-3 helped reduce wrinkle formation and skin thinning.

Eat plenty of salmon, walnuts, and flaxseed.