Aging is a process that none of us enjoy, you end up spending a lot of money on your skin hoping to find the magic combination of anti-aging products.
There are factors like stress, Sun and smoking which also contribute to speeding up aging but did you know that apart from these one of the biggest contributors is bad and unhealthy food.
In today’s article we’ll tell you all about 13 foods that speed up the aging process.
From sugar, processed foods to certain meats we’ll tell you about all these and more.
1. Sugar.
There’s a reason it’s on the top of our list, sugar is the biggest aging contributing food, it interferes with collagen and elastin which are your skin’s favorite proteins.
When sugar is broken down it binds to collagen, this binding to collagen can cause wrinkles and sagging of the skin.
Processed sugars are also metabolized faster in your body and can lead to high insulin response in the blood, high blood sugar speeds up your body’s aging process and is also responsible for making your skin look wrinkly.
It also leads to weight gain making you look older than you are, it’s just better to keep away from the sweets, candies chocolates with processed sugars and donuts.
Dark chocolates are safe as long as they’re made without added sugars.
2. Energy drinks.
Energy drinks are loaded with refined sugars, acids and other harmful chemicals.
It can damage your teeth and your smile never be the same again, making you look older. they also contain high sodium and caffeine content which lead to dehydration.
When you’re dehydrated your skin looks older and wrinkled the high amount of sugar in these drinks is also responsible for making you look older.
3. Deep fried foods.
Cooking foods at high temperatures increases inflammatory compounds known as advanced glycation end-products or AGES and yes AGES do indeed age you they encourage oxidative stress and inflammation in your body.
Which can speed up your aging, high levels of AG ease in your body has been linked to osteoporosis, niro degeneration, heart disease, stroke and other age-related diseases.
While some age e’s occur naturally in your body increasing the load with deep fried foods can accelerate their damage.
To avoid them try to cook the majority of the foods at low temperatures, eat wholesome unprocessed foods that aren’t deep fried.
This will allow your body to undergo its natural aging process rather than throwing it into overdrive.
4. Processed meats.
Processed meats like salami, bacon and sausages have become an integral part of a daily diet, but they can really speed up the aging process.
This is due to the presence of preservatives and sulfites in these meats, which are pro-inflammatory make me look older.
Additionally the high amounts of salt in these processed meats boost your water retention make you look puffy.
Processed meats also contain nitrates and other compounds which are known to be pro-inflammatory.
Inflammation causes aging from the inside out, the saturated fat in these meats is responsible for aging your heart.
You can replace these processed meats with lean meats such as chicken and turkey or simply load up on more greens instead for slowing down your aging.
5. Fast foods.
Your much-loved fast foods like pizza, hamburgers and french fries don’t do you any favors in the aging Department.
They’re loaded with harmful trans fats which caused blockages within your arteries and result in storage of fat in your body.
This makes your skin appear stiff and dull, trans fats also reduce the fluidity of your cells, put a burden on your liver and exert inflammatory effects within your body leading to older stiffer and more wrinkled skin.
You can replace the unhealthier versions of these fast foods with healthier versions like meatless pizzas quinoa burgers and baked fries.
6. Vegetable oils.
Vegetable oils like canola and soybean are highly processed and can lead to damage cell membranes.
This fastens the aging process and leaves you with an increased risk of heart disease.
Vegetable oils are also rich in trans fats which promote inflammation, making your skin more vulnerable to UV damage.
Aweakened skin barrier can lead to hyperpigmentation and sunspot Galore, since vegetable oils are used on a regular basis their risk is increased.
You can opt for healthier options like coconut or olive to avoid harmful effects of vegetable oil.
7. Alcohol.
Alcohol affects your body’s liver, the number one detoxifying organ when.
The liver is damaged or slowed in its ability to function well and flush toxins from your system the effects like acne, wrinkles and sallowness are visible on your skin.
Alcohol consumption can also prevent you from entering into the deepest most respirate of stages of sleep, which is necessary for replenishing your skin.
When you’re skimping on sleep your skin misses out on the important repair time and the results are visible with effectively older looking skin, dark circles and puffy eyes.
You can replace heavy alcohol with light beer and red wine but don’t do it every day.
8. Spicy foods.
Spicy foods can aggravate skin conditions like rosacea and can even damage your skin further.
This is because they dilate your blood vessels leading to a more blotchy looking complexion, spicy foods can also make your skin look older, by causing broken capillaries or spider veins, puffiness and permanent redness.
Spider veins can be tricky and expensive to treat and apart from expensive laser and intense pulse light procedures, there’s not a lot you could do about them.
The only way you can avoid spicy food related flare-ups as if you avoid it completely and opted for mild or non spicy food.
9. Carbohydrates or wheat.
Carbs and wheat products are converted to sugar if you don’t use, them this results in higher blood sugar.
Not only will this lead to wrinkled skin it could also lead to weight gain which will make you look and feel older.
Always try to keep carbs in check and unless you need the energy for a workout it’s best to grab fresh veggies or grilled chicken to munch on.
10. Salty foods.
Foods with too much salt in them lead to excess amount of sodium in your blood.
This in turn causes water retention in your body and the skin, this makes you feel bloated and makes your skin look puffy, tired and aged.
High-salt foods also cause dehydration they’re also known to damage the DNA by shortening the telomeres.
Which accelerates aging this is the reason why most detox diets invlve little to no salt.
Sodium is important for the body but can wreak havoc on your skin and health if consumed in high quantities.
So always try to keep your salt intake to a minimum.
11. Dried fruits.
Dried fruits are loaded with sugars which tend to get stuck in your teeth and when sugar sticks to your teeth bacteria forms.
Causing discoloration and eventually plaque and cavities if it’s not removed.
This can make you look older than you are they’re also high in sulfites which preserve food but are not always that good for your skin.
Sulfites increase free radicals which impede collagen growth making your skin look older.
So opt for whole fresh fruit instead if nothing but dried apricots will do brush your teeth right after eating or to sugarless gum.
12. Rice cakes.
Rice cakes are usually considered to be a healthy food, but they’re not as healthy as they seemed to be.
They have a glycemic index of more than 70 which is considered very high and are broken down by your body the same way as sugar.
Excessive levels of sugar in your body can deplete collagen, exacerbating the signs of aging. so try and go easy on those rice cakes next time.
13. Margarine.
For a long time margarine was touted as a better choice than butter, because of its low saturated fat content.
But it’s been found that people who regularly consumed heavy amounts of margarine have more wrinkles than those who ate less due to the presence of harmful polyunsaturated fats.
These polyunsaturated fats tend to increase inflammation leading to an increase in oxidative stress.
This damages your body’s organs including the skin leading to dry dull appearance in the formation of wrinkles.
Avoid margarine and opt for small amounts of real butter instead
do you eat a lot of these foods? are there any that we missed let us know?
