Skin Care
Your Skin on SugarIt's no surprise that overdoing it on the chocolate cake can make you pack on the pounds, but did you know it can also give you wrinkles? Through a process known as glycation, sugar destroys your skin. Here's what you can do about it |
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And I know I'm not alone. Almost all of my female friends would opt for decadent baked goods over a steak dinner. (For whatever reason, men seem to be more impervious to the allure of sugar.) Admit it: Can you resist having a red velvet cupcake for your coworker's birthday? I certainly can't.
However, we all know that something so good can't be good for us, and it turns out the perils of sugar are even worse than we thought. With the release of the book, "The Sugar Detox: Lose Weight, Feel Great, and Look Years Younger," co-author Brooke Alpert explains how eating too much sugar can lead to wrinkles and sagging.
"It starts attacking your skin," Alpert said. "All that sugar attaches to those protein molecules, collagen and elastin. And it turns those beautiful, supple skin cells into these firm, rigid things causing sagging, wrinkling, everything we don't want on our face." Source
New York City dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, MD also warns, "Sugar and starchy (high glycemic) foods are extremely damaging to the skin and, in fact, all organs." Through a process known as glycation, sugar molecules bind to proteins in the skin to create advanced glycosylation end products -- appropriately called AGEs for short. These AGEs are free-radicals (similar to the free-radicals caused by sun exposure), and they lead to inflammation that breaks down collagen and elastin. The result? Wrinkles.
"The glycation process causes skin to lose elasticity and wrinkle more easily, decreasing overall resilience," explains New York City and Miami dermatologist Fredric Brandt, MD. So if your diet is high in sugar, every other bad habit -- smoking, tanning, etc. -- becomes even worse.
The good news is there are changes you can make -- to both your skin care and your diet -- that will help. Scientists have discovered skin care ingredients that help stop glycation by preventing the glucose-collagen bonds from forming. And they've found other ingredients that can help eliminate the AGE free radicals that are already present in the skin.
And of course, there's diet. A few strategic changes in what you eat -- the most obvious being cutting back on sugar -- and how you prepare your food can make a significant difference.
Knowing about the changes is one thing, having the willpower to make them is another. If you could use some help in that department, read on. Odds are good that when you hear this info, you'll be motivated to turn down that wrinkle-causing cupcake after all.
SEE NEXT PAGE: Diet Tweaks to Make Now
Older comments
Thanks for the advice.
by Monique3 Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 06:15PM Report as inappropriate
This motivates me to eat less sugar, but most of the suggested products are out of my price range.
by purple9a Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 06:08PM Report as inappropriate
ill try not to eat a lot of sugar!
by mlyvng Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 12:41PM Report as inappropriate
Craving chocolate now.
by aimela Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 05:42PM Report as inappropriate
UGH. This sucks. It's going to be so hard to cut back on my sugar intake because all my teeth are sweeth teeth lol. I'm going to look more into buying a serum that helps this though!
by storrevillas Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 05:33AM Report as inappropriate
I did not know this about SUGAR (more than knowing it's bad for us), but knowing why is a powerful weapon. Good article. But, don't give up that POWERFUL anti-oxidant dark chocolate !!!
by islands4me Monday, March 4, 2013 at 07:02AM Report as inappropriate
Can't live without my chocolate. Thanks for the helpful tips
by Chica181 Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 04:56PM Report as inappropriate
The harm of what we eat is clearly, beautifully explained in this piece. Applause!
by GigiSD Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 06:25PM Report as inappropriate
I love my candy!!!
by yestfl Monday, February 4, 2013 at 06:55PM Report as inappropriate
Oh no I have a big sweet tooth
by LittleBunny Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 05:37PM Report as inappropriate