Sugar can be good for your skin on the outside — in the form of an exfoliating sugar scrub. However, the sugar you eat may be ruining your skin!
Sugar in your bloodstream can attach to protein molecules to form advanced glycation end products (or AGEs). The more sugar you eat, the more AGEs that form in your bloodstream. As these AGEs accumulate, they damage nearby proteins — think of dominoes. Knock one down, and the rest start to fall.
The proteins that are most vulnerable to damage from AGEs are collagen and elastin — the protein fibers that keep your skin smooth, firm, and elastic. Even worse? Collagen is the most prevalent protein in the body. There’s a lot of collagen at risk if you have a lot of AGEs in your bloodstream.
Thanks to AGEs, collagen and elastin become dry and brittle. This can lead to wrinkles and skin sagging.
A high sugar diet can also affect the type of collagen you have in your body. There are three types of collagen in the skin; type III is the most stable type. Glycation (the process that leads to the formation of AGEs) turns stable type III collagen into fragile type I collagen.
One more bad thing sugar can be doing in your body? AGEs can actually deactivate your body’s natural antioxidants. This makes you even more vulnerable to skin damage from the sun.
What can you do to protect your skin?
- Cut back on your sugar intake. Keep added sugar to no more than ten percent of your daily total calories.
- Watch for hidden sugar in prepared foods!
- Avoid high fructose corn syrup — this type of sweetener may form more AGEs than other forms of sugar.
- Supplement your diet with vitamin B1 and vitamin B6 — these vitamins can inhibit AGEs in the body.
- Always wear sunscreen.
- Eat plenty of antioxidant-rich foods to help protect your body from the inside.
- Help your body build new collagen with retinoids.