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Stop Wrinkles at the Source

Even though fruit sugar is unprocessed and natural, that doesn’t make it “safe.”

While sun damage can play a big role in the formation of wrinkles, sugar makes us age faster both inside and out.

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Did you know that sugar in the diet can make you age faster? Fructose-free stevia liquid concentrate is a friend to healthy skin by helping you curb sugar cravings naturally.

A process known as glycation—where sugar binds to protein, creating a new molecule that is destructive to the body called an advanced glycation end-product or AGE—is responsible for many signs of aging skin.

These include:

  • Reduced elasticity
  • Thinning
  • Leathery texture
  • Spider veins around the nose, cheeks, and chin
  • Age spots
  • Wrinkles

When you eat a diet filled with sugar, you build up high levels of AGEs. Research has even found that high levels of AGEs in the skin make it more susceptible to sun damage. (1)

How to Reduce Wrinkles: Sugar Ages Your DNA

Wrinkles aren’t just a sign of aging skin.

If you eat foods that are full of sugar, you place extra stress on your body. The process of glycation is a physical stress, releasing free radicals and inflaming the body. Glycation hardens blood vessels and makes tissue stiff and fibrotic. While many of the wrinkles that we get are a result of a high-sugar diet, the literal stress of a sugar habit can hurt the body in more ways than one.

For example, too much sugar can:

  • Damage organs, like the liver.
  • Generate free radicals and inflame the body.
  • Cause breaks in strands of DNA. (2)

High levels of sugar in the diet can cause breaks in DNA, otherwise known as glycated DNA. Broken DNA triggers the immune system, and scientists now tell us that it may be one factor leading to autoimmune disease. (3)

Fruit Sugar Is Not a “Safe” Sugar

Even though fruit sugar is unprocessed and natural, that doesn’t make it “safe.”

Fruit sugar, otherwise known as fructose, is found in many plants. Foods with high levels of fruit sugar include:

  • Agave
  • Honey
  • Maple syrup
  • Fruits from vines and trees
  • Root vegetables, like sugar beets
  • Sugar cane
  • Corn
  • Condiments, baked goods, and deli meats that contain high fructose corn syrup

Fruit sugar is eight times more likely to glycate, or create AGEs, than glucose. Glucose is a sugar that our cells use for energy. It is also the most basic sugar in starchy foods. (4)

On The Body Ecology Diet, we recommend only sour fruits that contain low levels of fructose, including:

  • Lemons
  • Limes
  • Berries
  • Unsweetened juice from cranberry, pomegranate, and black currant

We also suggest that fruit be eaten alone and on an empty stomach since it can easily ferment in the small intestine. Unsweetened pomegranate juice is an especially good addition to the diet. Recent research suggests that it contains compounds that stop the formation of wrinkle-causing AGEs (5)

If you crave sweet foods, stevia liquid concentrate gives you that sweet taste without raising blood sugar. Unlike low-glycemic sweeteners (for example, agave), stevia is fructose-free. Research also suggests that stevia lowers blood sugar, reducing the risk of glycation. (6)

To combat sugar cravings, consider adding fermented foods to your diet. Even a few ounces of a sour tasting probiotic beverage can dampen a sweet tooth.

Anti-Wrinkle Pomegranate Coconut Spritzer Recipe

Stir and enjoy! 

What To Remember Most About This Article:

Sun damage is known to cause wrinkles, but sugar can actually make you age faster. Sugar ages the skin in a process called glycation, where sugar binds to protein to create a new destructive molecule in the body known as an advanced glycation end-product or AGE.

Eating a high-sugar diet can lead to high levels of AGEs and may make the skin more vulnerable to sun damage.

As you rid your diet of unnecessary sugar, keep in mind that fructose, or fruit sugar, is not considered “safe.” Fruit sugar is eight times as likely to create AGEs as glucose. This is why The Body Ecology Diet only recommends sour fruits with low fructose levels, like lemons, limes, and berries.

Cut down on the formation of wrinkle-causing AGEs by:

  1. Eating sour fruits alone and on an empty stomach.
  2. Using fructose-free stevia liquid concentrate to curb sugar cravings.
  3. Neutralizing your sweet tooth with fermented foods and probiotic beverages.
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REFERENCES:

  1. Ichihashi, M., Yagi, M., Nomoto, K., & Yonei, Y. (2011). Glycation stress and photo-aging in skin. Anti-Aging Medicine, 8(3), 23-29.
  2. Mustafa, I., Ahmad, S., Dixit, K., Ahmad, J., & Ali, A. (2012). Glycated human DNA is a preferred antigen for anti-DNA antibodies in diabetic patients. Diabetes research and clinical practice, 95(1), 98-104.
  3. Ahmad, S., Shahab, U., Habib, S., Khan, M. S., Alam, K., & Ali, A. (2014). Glycoxidative damage to human DNA: Neo-antigenic epitopes on DNA molecule could be a possible reason for autoimmune response in type 1 diabetes. Glycobiology, 24(3), 281-291.
  4. Schalkwijk, C. G., Stehouwer, C. D., & van Hinsbergh, V. W. (2004). Fructose‐mediated non‐enzymatic glycation: sweet coupling or bad modification. Diabetes/metabolism research and reviews, 20(5), 369-382.
  5. Liu, W., Ma, H., Dain, J., & Seeram, N. (2014). Pomegranate (Punica granatum) fruit polyphenols, punicalagin, ellagic acid and gallic acid, inhibit formation of advanced glycation endproducts by scavenging reactive carbonyl species (975.10). The FASEB Journal, 28(1 Supplement), 975-10.
  6. Goyal, S. K., & Goyal, R. K. (2010). Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) a bio-sweetener: a review.
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