Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a substance that provides hydration and lubrication to connective tissues throughout your body such as skin, tendons, ligaments and synovial fluid. As you age, the level of HA present in your body diminishes, causing wrinkling of the skin and age-related diseases such as osteoarthritis. For this reason, the need to consume food sources rich in this important antioxidant increases with age.
Starchy Root Vegetables
Many tubers contain compounds that stimulate the production of hyaluronic acid in the body. According to the Connective Tissue Disorder Site, a website that provides information about connective tissue disorders, people living in some small villages in Japan attribute their ability to live longer and avoid age-related diseases to eating certain types of sweet potatoes, sticky white potatoes, potato roots and a gel-like substance made from vegetable roots called konyaku.
Animal Parts
Animal parts rich in connective tissues, such as tendons, skin and bone joints, are often high in hyaluronic acid, notes the Connective Tissue Disorder Site. Boiling these connective tissue sources helps to release the HA contained within them, making it easier for your body to absorb it. If you would rather not eat animal byproducts containing HA, you can boil them into a stock or broth, which you can eat alone as a soup, or use as a base for making foods such as rice.
Soy
A study published in the March/April 2003 issue of "Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology" found that fermented soy extract promotes the production of HA within the body. This effect was found to occur with fermented soy extract, but not unfermented extract. This is because a compound called genistein is released when soy extract is fermented, which stimulates the increased production of HA.
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