We are all aware that sugar is not good for us - whether because it is 'fattening' or because it rots our teeth. But actually, the dangers of excess sugar intake go far deeper than that. Like oxidants, which are a major cause of ageing and degenerative disease, excess sugar in the blood is also very damaging. In a process called glycosylation, sugar (glucose) in the blood attaches itself to proteins until they can no longer function properly. All the cells in our bodies - including hormones, enzymes, immune cells, carriers for nutrients and other substances such as cholesterol and oxygen - are partly made of protein. If the protein is coated with glucose, it cannot get to its destination or do its job.
People with diabetes provide a dear illustration of the effects of excessive glycosylation. Because of a lack of insulin (which gets glucose into cells), diabetics have elevated blood sugar levels, which need to be controlled. They are particularly prone to hardening of the arteries, loss of nerve function, and eye and kidney disease, much of which is due to glycosylation. Although these are extreme effects in people with the serious condition, diabetes, they illustrate the damage caused by generally having too much glucose in your blood. The effects of this can be similar, on a lesser scale: a more subtle ageing, or impeding of the way cells work and repair themselves.
Such damage by excess glucose can have a significant effect on your skin. Collagen forms an integral part of the skin. Indeed it makes up around 40 per cent of the body's proteins, so if it is damaged in any way - by glycosylation or oxidation - the skin becomes saggy and wrinkled. Such changes also affect the efficiency with which skin cells are nourished, supplied with oxygen and unburdened of their waste products, which is bound to have an effect on the way they work and look. Another, less well understood way in which sugar affects skin is in the case of acne - people with acne have been shown to process sugar poorly.
There are countless more reasons why sugar is a big no-no - not only sugar per se, but also refined carbohydrates such as white flour and many breakfast cereals which are converted into glucose during digestion. When any of these are consumed in excess of our energy needs, they are converted in the body into fats, it is only certain fats which contribute to the good health of our bodies and our skin, not those made from sugars. These fats can decrease the oxygen supply to cells, particularly those on the surface - i.e. skin and peripheries. To make matters worse, sugar prevents the release of the important fat, linoleic acid, from storage in the body, in effect creating a deficiency.
Sugars also slow down our immune response, which means we are less able to fight off infection. When we eat sugars and refined carbohydrates, they do not come naturally 'packaged' with the nutrients our bodies need to process them. This means they call on our reserves, depleting nutrients which could be used for more crucial purposes. For instance, sugar interferes with the way the body uses vitamin C, which is needed for the formation of collagen and elastin as well as for enhancing our immunity. What's more, sugar and refined foods create ideal conditions in the digestive tract for feeding yeasts and other unwanted organisms, as well as making digestion sluggish, which ultimately affects all parts of the body including the skin. |
