Crunch This Cool, Crisp Veggie for Smoother Skin

When you're done applying those cucumber slices to swollen, red eyes, pop 'em in your mouth. Turns out that eating cucumbers may be good for your skin, too.

According to Allison Tannis, author of Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles, cukes have a bushel of skin-friendly stuff that may help reduce fluid retention while keeping skin moist and toned.

• Water: The high water content in cucumbers helps flush out toxins, Tannis writes, and also helps hydrate skin and reduces puffiness and inflammation. (Related: Here's another food with a high water concentration.)
  
  
• Vitamin C and caffeic acid: These two nutrients -- also found in abundance in zucchini and pumpkin -- are thought to thwart water retention and soothe inflamed, irritated skin. (Related: Try these other seven habits for healthy skin.)

• Magnesium, potassium, and fiber: You'll want to keep the peels on your cucumbers to get these nutrients, which, according to Tannis, may help lower blood pressure. And that's good for your appearance, because high blood pressure can push fluid out of the blood and into other tissues, like your skin, leaving you with a puffy, inflamed face. (Related: Find out how fiber helps lower blood pressure.)
  
  
• Silica: Also found in the peel, silica makes up an important part of connective tissue and can help tighten and firm loose, sagging skin. (Related: This Mango Salsa recipe from EatingWell is full of silica, too.)

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