Do you ever feel like your skin is looking older than you are and want to know what you can do about it?
Sure, we know that excess UV ray exposure causes skin aging. But did you know that your diet and lifestyle can cause accelerated skin aging as well?
How Excess Sugar Damages Skin
I’ve written about ditching the sugar habit for our health and weight loss. But did you know that limiting sugar can also help to slow the aging process? This is particularly noticeable for our skin health. None of us (including me!) is immune to wanting to do what we can to reduce those wrinkles!
When we eat too much sugar, we end up with excess glucose in our bloodstream. This excess glucose binds to proteins in our body forming what is called Advanced Glycation End Products (or conveniently, AGEs for short). When AGEs accumulate in skin tissue, skin elasticity is reduced increasing wrinkle formation.
Also, an interesting study demonstrated that those individuals who had increased glucose levels had a corresponding increase in perceived age. Wow!
How Stress Leads to Wrinkles
What about lifestyle? Is there anything that we can do there to look younger? You bet! And reducing stress is at the top of the list.
Stress causes cortisol levels to rise, which then triggers an increase in blood glucose levels. Yes, high stress causes a glucose response as if you were eating sugar (even when you’re not!). And again, this leads to compromised collagen and elastin from the production of excess AGEs.
Here’s the Action Plan
Ditch the Sugar
This doesn’t mean you can never have a piece of fruit, but take some time to look at your daily habits. Analyse where there may be excess sugar sneaking in and work on ways to replace it with other things so you don’t feel deprived. Want some help problem-solving?
Get Support. Join my free private Facebook community (called Making Healthy Eating Easy – MHEE for short) and ask for help. Want some more guidance with my sugar-free guide? Click below to download the guide.
>>>>>>>>Click here to download the sugar-free guide
Reduce Stress
This one is a no-brainer, we all agree we should reduce stress. The issue with doing it is twofold.
- Trouble identifying when and where you’re experiencing stress. Sometimes we don’t slow down enough to recognize it.
- Knowing what to do to reduce stress, how to do it, and how to fit it into our day.
Start Small. The idea that you’re going to start meditating for 30 minutes per day right off the bat may set you up for disappointment when you don’t stick with it. Start with something small like
- a 5-minute meditation before bed,
- deep breathing for 30 seconds a few times per day or
- making a list of 3 things you are grateful for first thing every morning.
It doesn’t have to be something big. It’s about picking something that you will stick with and do daily over the long term. Which one will you start with? Please let us know in the comments!!
If you are interested in learning how my nutrition approach may work for you and your goals, book a free call with Bonnie here to discuss.
