Sugar, the evil of all evils when it comes to the destruction of collagen.
This is a great blog by a facialist named Jeanne Brophy.
Well worth a read.
WHY SUGAR CAN RUIN YOUR SKIN
Sugar is hidden in numerous foods but many of us still believe we don’t eat much. In reality most of us consume up to 22 teaspoons of sugar every day. Much of this sugar intake is hidden in foods we might see as healthy such as cereals, salad dressings, bread and seemingly good low fat snack bars.
Sugar has numerous effects on general health but also plays a major role in premature ageing of your skin. This is down to a natural process called glycation where sugar in the blood stream sticks to proteins and forms nasty new molecules called AGE’s (advanced glycation end points). The higher your sugar intake the more AGE’s you will have.
As these AGE’s build up they start to cause significant collateral damage to surrounding tissue in particular collagen and elastin, these fibres in the deeper layers of your skin are the most vulnerable to attack. Collagen and elastin are vital in keeping skin looking youthful and naturally create volume and bounce to the skin. Once damaged they can become brittle and inflexible leading to premature wrinkles and lack of tone.
Sugar also deactivates your skins own anti-oxidants and protective barrier leaving us more prone to sun damage. It is also a pro-inflammatory ingredient and can lead to uneven skin tone and a generally red irritated complexion.
It’s not easy to remove sugar fully from your diet as many fruits and vegetables are also converted to sugar in our bodies. Limiting your intake though is vital for both general health and youthful skin.
For beautiful skin, reduce the sweet stuff!
Tips for skin success
Eat as little processed food as possible.
Sugar is hidden under so many aliases on labels ifs often hard to know that its there. These are some common disguises to avoid: Sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, galactose, lactose and maltose.
Choose foods in their natural state or as close as possible.
The more ingredients on the label, the more chance added sugar is present.
Add more anti-oxidants to your diet.
Foods such as walnuts, berries, peppers and green tea will boost your skins natural protection.
Boost your skins anti-oxidant protection by using skincare ingredients such as vitamins A C & E, green tea and reservatrol.
Boost collagen production with retinol or peptides
Wear a sunscreen every day.
Age Later
