Archive for July, 2009

Is Your Sweet Tooth Making You Old?

July 9th, 2009

You always knew that your love for sweets could make you visit your dentist more often, but now research has shown that sugar intake can also make you visit your skin care specialist more often as well! It has been proven that sugar consumption can actually cause the development of wrinkles. Scientific data shows that there are certain processes within the body correlated with sugar consumption that can speed up the skin’s natural aging process and cause loss of firmness, fine lines and wrinkles. This is the body’s natural glycation process. During this reaction the sugar in your bloodstream attaches to proteins that develop damaging new molecules called advanced glycation end products, also known as AGE’s. The more sugar you eat, more AGE’s are formed, and they begin to damage neighboring cells.

Collagen and elastin are proteins in the skin responsible for firmness and elasticity. Unfortunately, they are most vulnerable to this type of damage from sugar intake. When collagen and elastin are damaged the skin starts to sag and wrinkles begin to form.

Sugar consumption can also change what type of collagen your body contains. The most liberal types of collagen are types I, II, and III. Type III is the most firm and resilient. The process of glycation can change type III into type I, which is softer and more fragile.

There are ways to help counteract this process of sugar-related pre-mature aging. For example: Eating more antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables, increasing your intake of vitamins B1 and B6, applying topical retinols (vitamin A and derivatives), and wearing sunscreen every day.

Limiting sugar intake is important to not only maintain a healthy body weight, but to also maintain healthy skin. If you want more information about counteracting sugar-induced skin aging call Advanced Cosmetic Surgery Center now for your free consultation and skin analysis.