Is sugar bad for your skin?

 

If you’re off sugar to stay on track with your diet and lose inches for the festive season, here’s another huge beauty benefit – your skin will look fabulous and you can knock off some years from your face. Studies conducted have found a direct link between sugar and ageing. And even if ageing isn’t a concern, giving up sugar can give you multiple beauty benefits.

Sugar increases inflammation and causes your skin to break out. This is on account of it being highly acidic and it causes your blood sugar levels to spike and then fall. This kick-starts a process called glycation. Sugar attacks your skin by attaching itself to protein molecules, elastin and collagen. Without collagen, which is the primary structural protein of the skin, you’re going to see wrinkles and fine lines cropping up. Another area it affects is your digestive tract. Since it cannot be properly digested, it ferments in your gut and creates toxins. A healthy digestive tract will always reflect on your skin.

In addition, the inflammatory properties in sugar can cause redness or irritation. If you suffer from rashes or yeast imbalances often, sugar could be your culprit. By drawing all the water out of your skin cells, sugar causes dryness and puffiness. So make sure you stay well hydrated when you overdose on sugar. Apart from water, drink a lot of green juices and have fibre-rich foods. What you need to eliminate is all kinds of refined sugar and added sugars from your diet.