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Sugar, The Enemy of Youthful Skin

kaisersteph

Updated: Jan 8, 2023

An Accumulation of cellular damaged products over time is the leading cause of aging. Skin, being the outermost protective covering of the body, is often subjected to both internal and external causative factors of aging.



The Role of Sugar in Skin Aging Explained:


The characteristic features of aging skin include wrinkles, dryness of the skin, reduced skin thickness, loss of elasticity, dermal and epidermal atrophy, reduced rate of epidermal cell proliferation and cellular senescence. External factors that mainly contribute to skin aging include sunlight, UV radiation, chemicals, pollutants, and smoking.


Besides external stimuli, endogenous processes that trigger the aging process include excessive free radical production, nuclear/mitochondrial gene mutation, cellular senescence, shortening of telomere, reduced cell proliferation, and impaired immune functioning. In recent years, many scientific studies have revealed that advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are also among the crucial contributory factors of skin aging.


When you have sugar molecules in your system, they bombard the body's cells like a meteor ­shower—glomming onto fats and proteins in a process known as glycation. This forms advanced glycation end products (commonly shortened, appropriately, to AGEs), which cause protein fibers to become stiff and malformed. The proteins in skin most prone to glycation are the same ones that make a youthful complexion so plump and springy—collagen and elastin. When those proteins hook up with renegade sugars, they become discolored, weak, and less supple; this shows up on the skin's surface as wrinkles, sagginess, and a loss of radiance. The presence of AGEs also makes the complexion more vulnerable to assailants such as UV light and cigarette smoke. As New York–based dermatologist Cheryl Karcher, MD, puts it: "Number one, the glucose makes the cells abnormal; and number two, it creates free radicals. So you get a double whammy when it comes to aging."


To an extent, glycation is a fact of life. It's happening right now, to all of us. "When you're younger, your body has more resources to ward off damage, and you're producing more collagen," says New York– and Miami-based dermatologist Fredric Brandt, MD. "When you reach a certain age, these sugar by-products begin to build up at the same time that your threshold for damage is getting lower." Refined sugar isn't the only culprit. Health-nut staples such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables turn to glucose when digested too—albeit in less damaging fashion. And even if we could completely eliminate all types of sugar from our diets, we shouldn't: It's an essential fuel for cells and energy metabolism, critical to survival. While glycation can't be completely stopped, it can be slowed. "Even though all carbs get converted into sugar, when you eat the good ones, like brown rice and whole-grain bread, you get less glucose, and you get it more slowly," Karcher says.


Skin care too makes a difference."Anything that stimulates the fibroblasts to build new collagen is going to help eradicate damage," Brandt says, noting that retinoids and some dermal fillers fall into this category. "Since your body has a process where old collagen is broken down by enzymes and new collagen is generated, what's going to happen is that the old glycated collagen will eventually be eliminated and replaced by un-glycated collagen."


Other than synthetical collagen fillers essential oils can help reduce signs of aging and stimulate collagen production in a natural and effective way. (See the list of our ingredients of our Cell Regenerating Face Oil and their benefits)









This information is not intended as and does not constitute medical claims or advice, and should therefore not replace the advice of trained medical professionals and healthcare service providers. This information must not be used for diagnosis, treatment, prevention, or cure of diseases or other medical conditions for oneself or others. People with health issues and medical conditions should seek the assistance of properly trained healthcare providers.

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