If you’re a Brit or are at least spending time in the UK today, you will probably be in the vicinity of someone sprinkling lashings of sugar and lemon on a sweet pancake… I am. At this very minute my family are tucking into a short stack like there’s no tomorrow. And normally I’d be right there with them. But I can’t now because I have just been reading about the adverse effect of sugar consumption on skin ageing and quite simply my vanity is getting the better of me.
Yes, yes, we all know sugar is bad for our teeth and our blood sugar, and some of us even know now that it weakens our immune system too (more on that further down). But can sugar really accelerate ageing? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.
How? In a word, Glycation. Glycation is actually a natural process occurring in your body all the time. What happens is the glucose (sugar) in your blood combines with proteins in skin cells to produce the cruelly named AGEs - Advanced Glycation End Products. AGEs weaken collagen and elastin in the skin (responsible for skin firmness and elasticity) which encourages wrinkle formation and sagging. In addition, Glycation converts the strongest of our collagen fibres into weaker forms which are less resistant to ageing, thereby accelerating the degenerative process even further.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, it is in fact the AGEs that adversely affect our antioxidant levels, thus making us prone to illness (from bacterial or viral attack). Antioxidants also help protect us from sun damage so AGEs can make us more vulnerable to premature ageing from excessive sun exposure, not to mention skin cancer.
Still want to eat that triple choc chunk brownie? No, me neither. Sad times. Spread the word folks. If telling people about the risk of diabetes doesn’t deter all junk food addicts from the Krispy Kremes, you can bet the idea of premature ageing will raise a few more eyebrows… what a happy, vain bunch we are 
As well as avoiding sugar, apparently we can combat premature skin ageing by exercising, eating a low-glycaemic diet, in general, and some say cinnamon (an anti-inflammatory) can help prevent the attack of AGEs too… It is also imperative to pack in heaps of antioxidants as well, so that you are replenishing those which may be trampled on by the nasty AGEs, inside and out. (If you’re a fan of SOPHYTO Organics you’ll know we pack ‘em in to all our products so you’ll be quids in there, whichever ones you pick 
Dr. Nicholas Perricone (famous for putting Kim Cattrall on a red-carpet-ready omega-3-loaded salmon-only diet) is well known for his anti-sugar mantra. Now, we may not agree with everything he puts in his products but he’s right on about this one. To read his wise words, click here.
For even more info on this sad, sad subject, check out the following: