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You know how you wake up in the morning and sometimes you look gorgeous and other times you look like you got hit by a mack truck? I realized that my mack truck is food. If I have no sugar, yeast or wine, I have no under-eye bags and my skin is perfect.’ – Mariska Hargitay, an American actress, producer, director, and former beauty queen.
The sweetness of sugar may taste good but if you read its ill-effects on your beauty and skin, you may not find it sweet after all. Sugar or sugary products have adverse effects ranging from early ageing, unwanted hair growth, etc. Read on to find out how sugar plays havoc with your beauty.
Sugar and acne
Acne is a skin disorder that has negative physical and psychological effects, especially in young adolescents and young adults. Commonly appearing on the face, neck, shoulders, chest and the back, acne occurs when hair follicles become plugged with sebum (the oily substance secreted by the oil glands under the skin) and dead skin cells. These blocked hair follicles then become inflamed or infected and produce red pimples with white centre, which we know as acne.
Several studies have suggested that acne has very much to do with high glycemic index diet. Glycemic index is a classification of carbohydrate containing foods according to their ability to raise your blood sugar levels. Higher the blood sugar levels in your body, higher is the glycemic index of that food. Sugars and sugary foods have the highest glycemic index.
Dermatologists believe high insulin levels in the blood and insulin resistance are responsible for development and exacerbation of acne. Although the researchers are divided in their opinion regarding the effect of low GI diets on formation of acne, several studies have suggested that reducing sugars from the diet can help reduce inflammation which in turn can control exacerbation of acne.
Sugar and wrinkles
Collagen and elastin are the two protein fibres that work together to give strength, firmness, and shape to the skin. When the glucose and fructose from the sugary foods link to the proteins in these fibres, they produce AGEs or advanced glycation end products and render both of them incapable of repair. This results in wrinkles, loss of elasticity (sagging), and reduced skin thickness.
The condition is aggravated by UV rays. The UV rays in combination with AGEs generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), producing oxidative stress leading to additional deleterious effects such as rough and red patches on the skin and further skin ageing.
Sugar and hirsutism
Well, high insulin levels in the blood has another distressing disadvantage that could mar your beauty. They could cause hirsutism. Hirsutism is an unwanted, male pattern hair growth in a woman. The hair grows in certain areas of the woman’s face and body, such as the moustache area and the beard area or the chest or back.
Hirsutism usually arises from excess male hormones, androgens (testosterone), and high insulin levels markedly increase androgen production. In simple terms, you develop insulin resistance if you consume lot of sugars, which in turn can cause excess hair growth in the regions you don’t want them to grow. The same principle can cause dark patches on the neck and body creases.
Sugar and your waistline
Even if you don’t believe beauty is just skin deep, sugar is still bad for your looks. Isn’t your beauty affected if you look flabby and unhealthy?
Consuming lot of sugary foods will raise your insulin levels and as we have seen, insulin directs the cells to store excess sugars as fat. So, the more sugars you eat, more the insulin spikes, and fatter you become. The thing is, not all carbohydrates will make you fat, it is just the simple carbohydrates, that is, sugary foods including sugar-sweetened beverages that will cause you to gain weight.
Well, these reasons should be sufficient enough for you to cut down on those sugars and achieve beautiful, glowing skin and hair.
