Skin & Sugar

Ah, sugar.  There is so much I could say about this topic in relation to skin and indeed systemic health, but I will keep it succinct for this blog post.  (Please get in touch for personalised 1:2:1 Consultations if this is a particular area of interest or concern or a nutritional goal of yours.)  However before I begin to discuss the effects of sugar on skin I want to clarify something very important.

Sugars found in fruits and vegetables are an innate part of naturally occurring foods.  Glucose sugar is also the body’s primary source of energy – without glucose to fuel our muscles and brain our systemic health may suffer.  So an appropriate* amount natural sugar is not necessarily bad nor unhealthy, but what I am going to emphasise in this blog post is that refined (white) sugar is processed or ultra processed, entirely man made, and therefore is unbeneficial to overall health.

* everybody’s ‘appropriate’ quantity will differ so please seek personalised nutrition advice if this is an area of concern for you.

So, foods high in natural sugars are known as complex carbohydrates (these usually have a high proportion of fibre in the food too), whereas foods high in refined sugars are termed simple or refined carbohydrates (and have very little or no fibre content).

Refined carbohydrate/sugar scores a maximum of 100 on the Glycaemic Index.  This is hardly surprising as the Glycaemic Index ranks foods in terms of the speed at which the sugars within the food enter the bloodstream during digestion.  Carbohydrate foods are chains of sugar molecules which are the quickest macronutrient to be absorbed in digestion.  Therefore it is carbohydrate foods which cause blood sugar fluctuations, and if the food is a refined sugar / simple carbohydrate which has no ‘buffer’ i.e. fibre, protein or fat, this triggers greater blood sugar fluctuations which may leave you feeling tired, slugging, lacking in energy and craving more sugar.  (This is why Nutritionists advocate food combining i.e. eating a fat and/or protein alongside a carbohydrate, since this will ‘buffer’ the immediacy of digesting carbohydrates / sugars, therefore slow down the rate at which sugars from the carbohydrate are absorbed into the bloodstream.)

So, how does this correlate to skin health?

Excess refined sugar can affect the skin through a process called glycation.  This is when sugar molecules bond with / stick to proteins, fats (also called lipids) or nucleic acids (chains of nucleotide molecules that store the genetic information in cells; the most well-known examples being DNA).  This forms advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which can be detrimental to collagen and elastin fibres in skin, potentially triggering sagging, less supple and drier skin.  Too many AGEs also potentially exacerbate wrinkles, and there is also a risk that the skin’s tearing process becomes upregulated (quicker) whilst its healing process may becomes down-regulated (slower).  None of this is great for skin health, quality or longevity.

Simple carbohydrates / refined sugars are also very pro-inflammatory which may exacerbate inflammatory skin conditions such as Acne, Eczema and Rosacea.  For those reading this with Eczema; do you notice your skin flares when you have had a particularly sugary diet?  Mine certainly does!

So which carbohydrate foods are which? Complex carbohydrate foods (containing natural sugars and fibre) include:

•     Fruits, especially berries

•     Oats

•     Vegetables, especially dark green leafy and starchy such as potato and sweet potato, (with skins on, but if you have an irritable bowel condition which means fibre is difficult to digest/tolerate, vegetables still contain vitamins and minerals … just a little less fibre)

•     Wholegrain bread, legumes (beans & peas), pasta, rice.

Simple carbohydrate / refined sugar foods (with little-to-no fibre) include:

•     Biscuits, cakes, sweets

•     White carbohydrates e.g. bread, bagels, croissants, pasta, rice

•     Foods high in trans and saturated fats

•     Foods grilled, deep fried or processed-baked at very high temperatures, so whereas potatoes are complex carbohydrates, chips, hash  browns and potato waffles etc. are simple carbohydrates.

NOTE: these also generate food-derived advanced glycation end products, termed dAGES, which research suggests correlate to high proportions of AGEs found in the skin. 

REFERENCES: doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqaa117 and https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.837222/full

In addition to dietary sources, the three biggest lifestyle factors to exacerbate the quantity and effects of AGEs on skin are;

• excessive and unprotected exposure to ultra violet light (excessive sunbathing)

• environmental pollutants

• smoking

So the take-away messages are; not all sugars are equal; complex carbohydrates with fibre and vitamins are beneficial whereas refined sugars should be minimised or avoided wherever possible, and avoid smoking.

REMEMBER: if you are taking any medications always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist as well as your Doctor before making significant dietary or lifestyle changes.  This blog post is written for educational purposes only and in reference to ‘food’.  It is NOT advocating taking dietary supplements.  It is very important to please always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist or your Doctor before introducing any dietary supplements into your health regime as these qualified professionals will be able to offer personalised recommendations.

If you are struggling with skin and/or nutrient (im)balance issues and you want to discover the inspiring & sustainable diet & lifestyle programmes offered by Nutritional Therapy, get in touch via the Contact Me page on this website, or directly on info@eatdrinkthinknutrition.co.uk for more information about 1:2:1 Consultations with Eat Drink Think Nutrition®.