Melanin is key to a gorgeous tan, but it’s also key to healthy skin. It protects you from the harmful effects of sunlight so that you don’t like an 80-year-old Snooki. In order to increase melanin production, you need to be eating the right foods that provide your body with nutrients used to make it.
Animal Products: Vegetarians and vegans, we love you so much (if you couldn’t tell from the plethora of raw/vegan recipes on the site), but animal products contain copper, which helps produce melanin as well as elastin, a protein that gives your skin its elasticity.
Soy and seeds: Soy is beneficial to your body’s melanin production because it contains tyrosine. Find this nutrient in soy products, as well as in pumpkin seeds, lima beans and sesame seeds.
Randoms: Many other foods contain small amounts of tyrosine, copper or other nutrients that can help kick your tanning up a few shades. Eat plenty of nuts and legumes, dark leafy vegetables, avocados, bananas, whole grain products and chocolate.
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