Acne Sugar Scares

Millions of years ago, Apes survived by eating sugar-rich fruits. One evolutionary biologist from Harvard, Daniel Lieberman even said that “Sugar is a deep, deep ancient craving”. This could be one reason why it’s so hard for us to avoid sugar altogether. However, many people avoid it for health, fitness, and many other reasons. In the world of skin care, sugar is connected with acne, what’s the bottom line about this? Let’s find out, and see what the scare is all about.

Glycation
First, to understand how sugar affects our skin, let’s get to know a term called Glycation, glycation happens when there is excessive glucose in skin fibers, this triggers a reaction where sugars stick to collagen, rendering the collagen useless. In a way, we can say that sugar destroys collagen, and collagen is a vital protein needed by our skin that fights the signs of premature aging.
Having a high sugar diet causes an increase in insulin growth factor that leads to oiliness and clogged pores eventually causing acne. But this doesn’t mean that you should avoid sugar altogether as this is impossible, avoiding glycation itself wouldn’t be good as it is needed by our skin as well. It is the excessive consumption of sugar in our diet that could lead to skin problems like acne. The key is to regulate the sugar in our diet, and we can do this with the following skin care tips:
Exercise – this has been known to reduce the amount of glycation that accumulates plus it has an anti-inflammatory property that helps fight against premature aging.
Skip the Smoke – smoking depletes the antioxidants present in our skin and decreases our body’s ability to fight free radical damage.
Vibrant colors will be your friend – with so many foods to eat, it’s really difficult to avoid or even identify which would be good for you or not, fruits and vegetables in green, red, yellow, and other vibrant colors are packed with antioxidants that help your body deal with skin damage and premature aging.
Intake Fiber – Fiber slows down glycation because it also slows down the absorption of sugar to help regulate your blood sugar levels which helps to steer clear of spikes in blood sugar levels that cause glycation.
Cut-down Alcoholic Drinks – while an occasional wine may be good for your body for its antioxidants, having it too often will cause a spike in sugar which is what you should avoid when trying to minimize glycation, with this, moderation would be the key.

Use skin care products with collagen – There are natural skin care products that have collagen in the ingredients to help promote the production of collagen in your skin to keep it in a healthy and radiant glowing state.
The key takeaway here is that glycation is a natural process, even though it causes our skin to age, does not mean that we should avoid it. Glycation itself is part of the body’s natural way to keep it healthy but it’s our lifestyle that spikes the sugar levels that cause a high level of glycation-end-products which leaves collagen useless and makes our skin prone to acne and other skin problems.