It may be banal or trite, but living in our society, it’s hard not to obsess — at least a little — about your weight.
As an adult, I’ve gained and lost the same ten pounds about eight or nine times. Given that I’ve gained and lost the equivalent weight of the Olsen twins combined over the past decade, you would think that I would learn to stick with a plan. But it’s not that simple.
One time in which I get in trouble is the holidays. I make a very rich, cheesy spinach and artichoke dip. There will be a four-meat Bolognese sauce, covered with layer upon layer of Parmesan-Reggiano. And then there are the cookies, the chocolates, and the decadent coffees. I have little power to resist any of it.
But it turns out that overindulging does more than just stretch out your skin a little and then spring back. It turns out that these indulgences can have long-term effects for your skin. Here, I’ll go over how different types of popular holiday foods affect your skin, and then swing back and talk prevention:
Grilled, Broiled, Fried, or Microwaved Meats: Bad
People believe that grilling or broiling is healthier than frying or microwaving, but when it comes to your skin, it’s not the fats or the grease that are doing all of the damage. Instead, rapid heating of any kind can cause damage.
When food is quickly heated to a high temperature, as with griling, broiling, or microwaving, advanced glycation endproducts, also called AGEs, form.
AGEs play an important role in the aging of all of the cells of your body, including within the skin. The AGE called glucosepane is believed to be in some part responsible for the toughened, hardened state of aged skin — as when the skin of the elderly looks paper thin, or doesn’t “spring back” like it did in its youth.
Slow-Cooked Meats: Good
Instead, a far better method of cooking is using a Crock-Pot or another slow cooker.
According to Aubrey DeGrey, an adjunct professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, slow-cooked meals should not form as many advanced glycation end products. In turn, your body digests the food more easily, as AGEs like glucosepane are not as prevalent. The digestive process should not result in the bloodstream being flooded with AGEs, and hence, fewer will accumulate (and be stimulated to form) in the skin.
Sugary Gravy and Sauces: Bad
Any corn syrup or maple syrup-based glaze will contain high levels of sugar, which in turn increases blood sugar levels.
By virtue of the basic logic of chemistry, the more blood sugar you have, the more sugar molecules you have forming AGEs.
Which leads me to another big no-no:
White Bread, Rice, and Unrefined Carbohydrates: Bad
If sugar leads to increased blood sugar, and increased blood sugar stimulates AGE accumulation and production….well, then white bread is the ultimate no-no.
According to an article by the Harvard School of Public Health, foods with a high glycemic index, like white bread, cause rapid spikes in blood sugar. Foods with a low glycemic index, like whole oats, are digested more slowly, causing a lower and gentler change in blood sugar.
Steamed vegetables: Good
Because a rise in blood sugar is associated with higher formation of Schiff bases and hence more AGEs, it seems advisable to keep blood sugar levels lower and more steady by consuming foods with a low glycemic index. Not surprisingly, most non-starchy vegetables have a very low glycemic index score, and hence should be great for your skin.
Vegetables have been found to retain 80% of their raw antioxidant capacity when steamed, but just 30% when boiled, on average. (Ending Aging)
Freshly Uncorked Red Wine: Good
There is proof that red wine, grapes, plums, peanuts, and other plant products containing resveratrol may promote the activity of sirtuins, agents that are currently suspected to prolong the life of fibroblasts (collagen-producing cells) by turning off gene expression for unnecessary tasks.
According to Dr. Sinclair of Biomol Research Laboratories in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, “One glass of wine is enough…within one day of popping the cork,” as resveratrol is highly unstable in the air.
Do me a favor: The next time you see a child, lightly press on her cheek. Almost instantaneously, the skin springs back, light and elastic. It’s a beautiful thing.
Conversely, if you see an elderly person and press on his cheek, you will notice the skin is paper-thin. It does not spring back readily. Some elderly skin is so damaged, it will actually stay imprinted for a noticeable amount of time (say seconds). This is due to damaged collagen. Years of excess sun exposure cause collagen to break down, damaging valuable DNA, and causing what skin cells are rejuvenated to be produced at a slower rate. To a lesser extent, excess sugar will also age the skin, causing cross-links in the collagen that make it less light and elastic.
How Does Food Affect Glycation?
For those of you who are especially scientifically curious, excess sugars from food age the skin in a very specific process:
1. A blood sugar glycates (attaches to) a protein molecule, forming a Schiff base.
2. The Schiff base either falls apart or forms a more stable product called an Amadori product. Examples of Amadori products include the molecule used to measure blood sugar levels, glycated hemoglobin (Hb1ac), in red blood cells.
3. The Amadori product forms an advanced glycation product (AGE), either directly or through the action of oxoaldehydes, such as methylglyoxyal.
4. The advanced glycation endproduct (AGE) undergoes glycoxidation, a process that is accelerated by the presence of free radicals. This is the super-dangerous part: Through glycoxidation, AGEs cross-link into a second, neighboring protein. These cross links have proven to be responsible, at least in part, for the hardening of cardiovascular structures, improper filtering of the kidneys, and, when the AGE is glucosepane, the hardened, stiffened collagen within aged skin. Cross links of the AGE glucosepane alter the structure of the collagen within the skin and accumulate as you age, progressively making collagen harder and more inflexible.
How Much of a Problem is Glycation?
It is well-believed that the vast majority of skin aging is caused by sun damage. We may associate wrinkles, fine lines, age spots, thinning skin, sagging skin, and a sallow complexion with age; but in truth, these are signs of cumulative DNA damage and slowed cellular turnover as a result of years of sun exposure. This is mostly because the sun causes your skin to release damaging free radicals.
However, glycation also plays a huge role. Think about actresses or popular celebrities in their 40s and 50s, like Julienne Moore, Jennifer Lopez, or Jennifer Connelly. These women have very few fine lines and wrinkles, and basically no age spots in their photographs, and yet, as beautiful as they are, you know they are not 25.
The difference, my friends, is (largely) glycation.
Glycation will make your skin appear thinner and less elastic over time. Glycation will also cause the skin to sag more over time, due to the damaged state of collagen.
What is the Best Anti-Glycation Skin Care?
My favorite anti-glycation skin care is AminoGenesis Age Control Anti-Glycation Serum ($49.95).
The secret to this serum is Albizia julibrissin, also known as Silk Tree or Mimosa of Constantinople.
It has been reported that Albizia Julibrissin has effects against glycation, in two different ways:
First, a preventive effect against glycation, to prevent its implementation;
Second, a reparative effect, called a “deglycating” effect or of “de- glycation”. This means that Albizia julibrissin can neutralize or detoxify the products as they are leading up to glycation, leading to a reparative effect on tired skin with in particular a loss of radiance and suppleness (US Patent).
Albizia julibrissin is hard to find in skin care products, and AminoGenesis Age Control Anti-Glycation Serum is one of the only products I’ve found with the ingredient. Truly awesome!
Albizia has been reported in various reputable journals to have anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory properties (Biochemistry and Medicinal Letters, Carbohydrate Research, Glycoconjugate Journal).
The cosmeceutical company San Medica also reportedly has an ingredient called Theraglycan-3, which is shown in their preliminary studies to prevent advanced glycation endproduct (AGE compound) formation. The preliminary studies look excellent: with twice-per-day use of either a 4 or 8% cream, the subjects were shown to look 8 to 10 years younger (Cosmetics Design, 2013). The cream has not yet been released.
Bottom Line
To keep the holidays from doing less damage to my skin, I’m trying the following this year:
- 1.) Slow-cooking meats, steaming vegetables, and drinking small quantities of red wine. And avoiding white foods and unrefined carbohydrates!
- 2.) Using AminoGenesis Age Control Anti-Glycation Serum, which contains the ingredient Albizia julibrissin proven to prevent glycation of the skin in two distinct ways.
What are your thoughts on this post? Let me know in Comments!