Effects of Sugar on Skin & Aging

Young, wrinkle-free, smooth-looking skin is something that a significant number of people desire to have and wish to continue to have as they get older. What many don't realize is exactly how the foods that they eat influence their skin. For people who eat a large amount of sugar on a regular basis, the effects their diet may have on them over a course of a lifetime may not be ones they enjoy.

Fact

• A diet high in sugary foods can leave the skin dull and wrinkled and can cause the skin to lose elasticity over time.

Expert Insight

• Through the process of glycation, sugar in a person's bloodstream attaches to proteins to form advanced glycation end products, or AGEs.

Significance

• As the amount of sugar in a person's diet grows, so does the amount of AGE in their bloodstream, damaging nearby proteins.

Prevention

• Limiting sugar intake, taking vitamins and supplements and using over-the-counter items such as sunscreen and wrinkle cream are things most people need to do in order to avoid looking old before they're ready.

Solution

• Vitamins such as B1 and B6 as well as supplements like fish oil and foods containing omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, mackerel and sardines do wonders to strengthen the skin, and the premature aging that comes from a diet high in sugar can certainly be avoided.