Slow Down the Aging Process: Avoid These 5 Age-Adding Foods!
The foods we eat impact our health and everyday lives. And while eating a “fun” food every once in a while won’t age you in one day, a lifetime of bad eating habits can cause you to age faster than you’d like. So try to steer clear of these 5 foods to help keep you looking youthful!
Sugar
Sugar goes through a process called glycation. This is when the sugar crashes into protein or fat, forming a damaged protein called (coincidentally) AGEs (Advanced Glycation End Products). At this point, they function poorly and don’t retain the elastic properties they once had, which is crucial for skin turgor and tightness. Inflammation is also another side effect of glycation, which is not helpful to aging skin.
Charbroiled Foods
Heating foods to high temperatures, particularly over 300 degrees, will also cause glycation. Exposure to these high temperatures also produces pro-inflammatory responses.
Fried Foods
Trans fat can trigger inflammatory signals in the body. In turn, collagen will break down, which is the skin’s structural unit. The more collagen that breaks down, the more wrinkles will ensue.
Alcohol
This is kind of a no-brainer, but alcohol severely affects the liver, our body’s main detox organ. If the liver isn’t functioning properly, your body cannot filter out any waste products or toxins, causing them to accumulate in your body. This leads to inflammation and other health-related problems far more severe than aging. Alcohol also usually prevents you from entering the deepest stage of sleep, and we know how important sleep is for health, recovery and longevity.
Packaged Foods
A lot of packaged foods contain nitrates, which contribute to inflammation. And the added sodium causes the skin to dry out and can damage the capillaries. Packaged food consumption can cause the most minor of issues, such as acne, to conditions more serious like rosacea.
