With Halloween just around the corner, we got ready to indulge in some of our favorite treats mainly candy and sugary snacks. We love them, don’t we? And we know we should be careful because too much sugar can cause weight gain. But did you know that sugar was also bad for your skin? It causes all kinds of problems once it enters our bloodstream.
We asked Dr. Costi for more explanations.
Sugar is aging you in many ways, both internally and externally.
Here’s an example to explain it: If you peel a banana and leave it out on the counter, it gets brown. Why? The sugars in that banana are reacting with proteins, causing cross-linking and the brown color reaction. The exact same reaction is happening in our bodies.
We’re browning from the inside out when we eat sugar, specifically through a process called glycation. Glycation is the biochemical term for the bonding of sugar molecules to proteins, fats, and amino acids. This bonding is a prominent feature of aging.
Table sugar is made of a glucose and fructose molecule, and it’s the fructose in sugar that accelerates the “browning” reaction by seven times. Skin is composed of collagen and elastin, which make our skin supple and soft. Sugar causes cross-linking of collagen, resulting in stiffening and loss of elasticity of our skin. The more sugar we have, the more our skin starts to suffer.
The inflammation that happens when you eat foods with a high glycemic index can worsen certain skin conditions. High-glycemic foods such as white bread, soda, salad dressings, candy, and other baked goods contain refined and processed sugars and starches that cause your insulin to spike.
When your insulin levels rise, it subsequently increases the inflammation in the skin. And since inflammation is a key component in the formation of acne, you end up seeing flare-ups and an increase in the amount of acne on your face.
Too much sugar can also aggravate other skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis. Because of this Dr. Costi warns that in case you have any kind of inflammatory issues, it is best to avoid excessive sugar intake.
Does this mean we can’t have any sugar?
If you’ve ever wondered why cutting out sugar isn’t so easy, it’s because sugar is addictive.
The good news as per Dr. Costi, is that you don’t have to completely eliminate sugar completely to get your skin looking great, you just need to pay attention to where it’s coming from.
“There is a difference between added sugars and the sugars that are naturally found in foods such as fruits and vegetables, that’s why you should include those foods in your day because they add nutrients and fiber to your diet.”
For clear and healthy skin, Dr. Costi then recommends to avoid the processed sugars and simple carbohydrates, but especially don’t replace sugar with artificial sweeteners.
Fake sugar presents issues of its own.
Other than leading to Type 2 diabetes, artificial sugars also have a negative impact on your skin. In fact, these artificial sweeteners have the power to disrupt the gut’s microbial inhabitants so much that they negatively affect metabolism and blood sugar balance. Therefore, artificially sweetened foods and beverages also increase skin disorders like acne and rosacea through the domino effects of increased inflammation.
YES to no sugar added smoothies. Smoothies, unlike juices, are rich in natural fruit fiber, something that is removed when you juice. Try adding a scoop of collagen protein to restore the collagen in skin that has been lost due to natural aging. YES to unsweetened almond, coconut or soy milk. Then avoid processed foods which might contain all forms of sugar: raw sugar, brown sugar and maltodextrose.
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