SUGARY DIET ADVERSELY IMPACTS ON SKIN TOO BUT INDUSTRY SHIFTS BLAME

Since diet and beauty go hand in hand, it is important to stick to healthy diet. Herbally Radiant has been highlighting the unhealthy food habits that adversely impact the skin. Daily intake of sugar is one such habit.

More and more studies are pointing to the hazards of added sugar in our food, but the sugar industry is working quietly to prevent decline of  sugar consumption. The New York Times just reports how the sugar industry paid scientists in the 1960s to play down the link between sugar and heart disease and promote saturated fat as the culprit instead.

The sugar industry documents, discovered by a researcher at UC California, San Francisco, and published in JAMA, suggest that five decades of research into the role of nutrition and heart disease, and many dietary recommendations, may have been largely shaped by sugar industry.

Even though the influence-peddling revealed in the documents dates back nearly 50 years, more recent reports show that the food industry has continued to influence nutrition science.

The New York Times had also reported last year that Coca Cola, the sugary beverage, had provided millions of dollars in funding to researchers who sought to play down the link between sugary drinks and obesity. In June, the Associated Press also reported that candy makers were funding studies claiming that children eating candy tend to weigh less than those who do not.

In its blogs, Herbally Radiant has been highlighting the adverse impact of added sugar on skin. The extra sugar not only adds more pounds to our waist, but it also damages skin cells gradually, breaking its elastin and speeding up early aging signs. Sugar is quite literally collagen’s enemy.

When we eat sugar and other high-glycemic carbohydrates (breads, starches, potatoes, baked goods, pastas, desserts, soda) our body converts the sugar to glucose. This is all completely fine as we need glucose, it's the main source of fuel for your body. However, when we have too much of it in our body a reaction called Glycation occurs.

The excess sugar molecules attach themselves to proteins to form harmful new molecules called Advanced Glycation End (AGEs) products. At the point of attachment, inflammation occurs and produces enzymes that reduce the effectiveness of our elastin and collagen (the proteins in our skin that give it a younger plump look). The quality of our collagen is reduced and it becomes more brittle. Consequently, our skin breaks down and looks thinner and more wrinkly.

The AGEs also deactivate our body's natural antioxidant enzymes so our skin is left more vulnerable to sun damage ( main cause of skin ageing) and is less able to repair itself from normal damage.

For those wanting to take care of their skin and to maintain shining youthful appearance, it is important that daily sugar intake should be reduced, and always well regulated so as not to cause any indirect inflammation, or weakening of skin cells.