Dietary sugar speeds up the process by which your skin ages. Sugar affects the collagen that holds your skin together, and it reduces your skin's elasticity. Consumption can lead to wrinkles, pimples and inflammation. Simple rather than complex carbohydrates also break down into sugars in your body. Limit sugar intake and increase vitamin and omega-3 fatty acid consumption for youthful skin.
Significance
When you eat food high in sugar, it spikes your blood sugar and starts a process known as glycation, according to Dr. Nicholas Perricone. During glycation, sugar in your bloodstream attaches to your collagen, and your skin becomes harsh and rigid. Because your skin finds it difficult to spring back to its original place when stretched, wrinkles are more likely to form. When the sugar mixes with the protein in your skin, it forms advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and AGE levels rise along with your sugar consumption. According to Fitness Spotlight, AGEs cause collagen stiffening and damage to your blood vessels.
Candy and Soda
Foods with high sugar content include chocolate, candy, cakes, muffins, doughnuts, ice cream, desserts, various breakfast cereals, cookies and jello. When you eat these, your blood sugar levels rapidly spike. According to CNN Health, the worst villains in terms of raising sugar levels are soda drinks, which it calls liquid candy. Your body rapidly absorbs a big sugar hit, your blood sugar spikes and your body panics. Avoid these foods completely, or eat in moderation for youthful skin.
Carbohydrates
It is not just obvious foods like candy and chocolate that send your blood sugar levels rocketing, explains Perricone, who also wrote "The Wrinkle Cure." He says that people do not realize the bread, potatoes, rice and pasta they eat are converted rapidly into sugars and that these foods are high in cell-aging sugar. He says that a plain potato is equivalent to two candy bars. Complex carbohydrates like whole grain cereals, brown rice, yams, beans and lentils do not cause blood sugar levels to rise in the same way as white bread and baked potatoes.
Fructose
Fructose is a sweetener which occurs naturally in honey and sweet fruits, explains Science Daily. Nowadays it is packed into soda, dairy produce, canned fruit and jams, and because it comes from healthy foods like fruit, people assume it is healthy. However, Science Daily explains excessive fructose consumption accelerates aging, as shown in animal studies. Fructose decreases your skin's elasticity and softness and therefore leads to wrinkles.
Prevention/Solution
The best way to halt skin aging is to reduce sugar consumption. Diet soda is better for your skin than regular soda, and complex carbohydrates are better than simple ones. Alcohol and tobacco are also bad for your skin. Sunscreen and anti-wrinkle creams are popular among people striving for youthful skin. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in oily fish like salmon and mackerel, and Vitamin B, found in various fruit and vegetables, help maintain your skin's elasticity.
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