Effect of Sugar on Your Skin

Too much sugar can have a negative effect on your skin health and may exacerbate conditions ranging from eczema to acne.

Loose skin

Collagen plays an important role in fighting the effects of aging, as it’s the supportive protein structure for your skin and the underlying cartilage. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. As you age, your collagen production starts to decrease. And the way sugar interacts with collagen can quicken skin aging.

Sugar damages the skin through a process called glycation, which involves “crosslinking” collagen and elastin (the protein that acts as elastic connective tissue). What you’re left with is what doctors call AGEs (advanced glycation end products), ultimately leaving skin wrinkled.

Accumulation of AGEs starts in the early thirties and continues throughout life. AGEs in skin give it a yellowish discolouration that is an informative sign of too much sugar consumption.

Trigger skin inflammation

Inflammation is the body’s response to anything it detects as an irritant, which can present itself in different ways throughout the body. Sugar causes cortisol, the body’s stress hormone, to soar. This triggers inflammation, which can spur a variety of inflammation-linked skin conditions to erupt from eczema to rosacea and psoriasis.

To combat this irritation, supplement your diet with anti-inflammatory foods like ginger, turmeric, green tea, and blueberries.

Worsen acne

Inflammation resulting from high sugar consumption also can worsen common issues like acne. The AHA recommends that women have no more than 100 calories from sugar per day and men should have no more than 150 calories. For women, this means no more than six teaspoons of sugar daily.

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