Like sun, sugar is not your friend when it comes to your skin.
Simply put, sugar affects your skin because it damages collagen, which results in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. And if that is not enough, sugar can break down your skin’s elasticity and eventually your skin will appear to sag, if you eat a lot of it. And the topper with sugar is that it can create a pro-inflammatory state that speeds up the aging process, plus negatively impacts acne and individuals prone to redness. Eating excessive sugar creates glycation in your skin which is responsible for the conditions described above.
Skin care products and treatments can assist in minimizing the effects of excessive sugar or glycation (SkinTrust has specific treatments and products) but the best solution is to minimize your sugar intake. Keep your intake of added sugars to less than 10 percent of your total daily calories as part of a healthy diet. One last note on sugar: It can come in many forms. Be sure to check your labels and look for the following ingredients that are included under the sugar umbrella: brown sugar, corn sweetener, honey, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, malt syrup, lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar and sucrose. The FDA is specially looking at “evaporated cane juice” because it misleads people thinking it is derived from fruit or vegetable juice when is essence it is basically sugar.