Sugar Hurts More Than Your Waistline

Think Sugar Only Hurts Your Waistline?

Think again. Sure, one of sugar’s biggest evils is adding unwanted bulge to your abdomen but sugar has another unwanted side effect.

“Sugar is poison for the skin,” states Dr. Lipman, MD, an integrative physician and Director of Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in New York City. Sugar causes inflammation and leads to glycation, a process that prematurely ages the skin.

A recent study by the Journal of American Aging Association discovered that people with higher blood sugar levels were judged to look older than those with lower sugar. Why? Because sugar’s ability to bond with proteins in your bloodstream and speeds the formation of advanced glycation end products (know as AGEs). The breakdown of collagen and elastin, due to AGEs stimulating enzymes in the skin, contributes directly to wrinkles, sagging skin, and uneven skin tone.

The Obvious Choice – Eliminate All Forms of Sugar From Your Diet.

While obvious, probably not the choice that most of us will opt for. The more likely solution – reduce your sugar intake as much as possible. Eliminating unnecessary sugars from your diet will help both your waistline and the youthfulness of your skin. Refrain from eating candies and sweets as much as possible.

In addition to reducing your sugar intake, the way you eat your sugar also makes a difference. For example, eating a cookie a day isn’t as bad as polishing off an entire bag of cookies in one sitting. Eating large quantities of sugar at one time throws your insulin out of whack both aging your skin and causing your body to both store fat and prevent it from being burned.