We all know that overeating sugar is terrible for our bodies. Sugar addiction is a real thing and is very damaging to our overall health. Unfortunately, sugar is not just bad for our bodies – it is terrible for our skin as well.
How Sugar Hurts Our Skin
When we eat too many desserts and candies, drink sugary drinks, live on a diet of white bread and rice, and consume hidden sugars in foods, it shows up in our skin as lines and wrinkles, sagging under the eyes, acne, and even thinning skin.
When you eat something with sugar in it – it could be an apple or a piece of the pie – your body breaks down these sugars or carbohydrates into glucose. That glucose, in turn, causes the insulin levels in your blood to rise. When insulin levels rise too much or too quickly as they do when we eat simple carbohydrates like white flour or sugar snacks, desserts, and sugary drinks this causes inflammation in the body and in our skin.
Having too much sugar causes a process called glycation to begin. Glycation happens when the sugar you eat enters your bloodstream and attaches to the proteins in the skin building new molecules called advanced glycation end products or AGEs for short. AGEs are very harmful to our skin. These new molecules start to damage the healthy protein in our skin, the collagen, and elastin that retain our skin looking and feeling young. The more sugar we eat, the worse the damage to our skin. Eating too much sugar means our skin will be less radiant, more wrinkled, and skin conditions like acne and rosacea can get worse.
Steps To Stop Sugar Damage To Your Skin
After all that bad news about how sugar hurts our skin let’s focus on steps that can stop and repair that damage.
We have a lot of control over stopping sugar from hurting our skin. It all starts with what we decide to eat or not to eat. You may have already figured out that you should stay away from desserts and other sugary foods. Sugar should be no more than 10% of your total calories for the day.
Beware of hidden sugars which hide in processed and prepared foods. Make sure that you are not drinking your sugar. Drinks are a huge source of sugar that we consistently overlook. Even a seemingly healthy shake can contain way too much sugar. Besides watching your sugar intake you actually need to keep something else in mind as – how you cook your food. When food is prepared at very high heat such as with broiling, roasting, and searing the combination of fats and proteins can cause a surge in AGE levels that then lead to premature skin aging.
Bottom line: follow a healthy diet that is low in sugar and beware of secretly added sugars in processed and prepared foods.
Stopping Sugar Damage To Your Skin With Skin Care Products
Another way you can protect your skin from sugar damage is to use skincare products that stop AGEs. Look for products that rebuild collagen and stop the free radical damage. For example, green tea can be a great ingredient in a skincare product that will stop sugar damage in the skin. Apply these products directly to the skin after washing your face morning and evening. Afterward, use your favorite moisturizer on top. You can find the following products on Amazon.
- Dr. Brandt Collagen Booster
- L’Occitane Immortelle Precious Serum
- Prescriptives Anti-Age Advanced Protection Eye Cream
- SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Eye Complex
- Eminence Organic Skincare Green Tea and Guava Fortifying Serum for All Skin Types
- Olay Regenerist Regenerating Face Serum
- Chantecaille Night Care-Biodynamic Lifting Serum