Worried about Wrinkles? Then Stop Eating Sugar

Can sugar give you wrinkles? It seems that it can because high blood sugar levels react with collagen in the skin - in a bad way.

... Some skin experts believe that sugar is one of the worst culprits when it comes to ageing. The top part of our skin, the epidermis, is made up of four to five layers of cells, the outermost two of which are flattened and dead, and below it is a hive of activity packed with arteries, veins, lymph vessels and nerve fibres, oil-producing glands, sweat glands and two protein structures known as collagen and elastin, which act a bit like a body stocking, holding the skin together.

Collagen consists of bundles of interlacing protein fibres, which tend to run lengthways in the skin of the face and neck. White in colour, collagen has a great ability to absorb shock, giving the skin strength, resilience and firmness.

The view is that when blood-sugar levels are high — eg, when you have just eaten those mid-morning biscuits — a process called “glycation” takes place in the skin, which involves the blood sugar binding to the collagen fibres, making them harden. Read more