So what exactly is glycation? It largely takes place

when sugars such as glucose and fructose form non-enzymatic

bonds with nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. They

cross-link and then produce what is called glycotoxins. Here

are some things you can do to help slow down glycation. Increasing

your water intake helps to increase the body's ability to

produce collagen and elastin. If you supplement your diet with

vitamin B1 and B6 as AGE inhibitors,

thiamine is a powerful antioxidant and will help fight free

radicals. When AGE receptors accumulate a

significant amount of AGEs or ages over

time, it can result in... Welcome to the Holistic Skin Guru, where

what's on the surface is just as important as what's underneath.

I'm your host, Aamena. Let's dive deep into the world

of holistic skincare. Hi

everyone and welcome back. Sugar is not your friend. It's

a silent killer. We always talk about diet, but how many

people are paying attention to the sugar they consume

and the impact that it's having on your skin? Sugar

sag or glycation is a real thing. Prevention is

better than cure. A diet high in sugar can cause the

skin to droop, dull the appearance, and is termed gligation

face. Sugar damages the collagen in the skin. Most of

the time, we consume sugar in foods without even knowing it.

So we need to control the levels of sugar in our diet. So

what exactly is glycation? It largely takes place when

sugars such as glucose and fructose form non-enzymatic bonds

with nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. They

cross-link and then produce what is called glycotoxins, which

are advanced glycation and the end product of

that is AGES, A-G-E-S. Now the

telltale signs are cobblestone or crosshatch

lines above the lip and below the lip, discoloration or

hyperpigmentation marks on your skin, deep lines in

the nasolabial folds, or even the chin line. You'll

see like a diagonal line that goes across the chin. That is

a sign of glycation. When your jowls start to sag down and

it's starting from the midface, you have that one line

crease in the chin. These are all signs that glycation is

taking place in the skin. When AGE receptors accumulate a

significant amount of AGEs or ages over

time, it can result in tissue damage, vascular

endothelial cell damage in your blood cells and

inflammation in vital organs such as your lungs or

your kidneys. So how does glycation affect your skin?

So we already know that we need a good amount of collagen in our skin,

which maintains the skin's smoothness and elasticity. During

the glycation process, the glucose fructose from

the sugars link to the amino acids in your skin's two

major proteins. These are collagen and

elastin. The cross-linking then produces AGES,

or A-G-E-S, and the glycation occurs. The

damage from the glycation process on collagen-elastin fibers

in your skin cannot be reversed and cannot be

repaired, resulting in sagging and wrinkled skin.

So this is very important. Pay attention. Moreover, non-enzymatic

glycation can induce oxidative stress, which

is an imbalance of cell damaging free radicals and

the antioxidants that can fight them off. This can lead to

further cell damage in the form of lipid

and free radical damage. In one recent study, they found

that strictly controlling sugar levels over a four-month period

resulted in a 25% reduction in glycation. So

think about your sugar intake in your diet and how you

can prevent the onset of glycation. The bad news is

once it starts, we cannot reverse it, but we can start

to turn things around. Start thinking about encouraging collagen

production in your skin, and of course, cut out the sugars from

your diet. The good news is that we can produce more collagen

and elastin by boosting our fibroblast in the

skin using devices like LED therapy or

by collagen banking and doing such treatments such as SQT

biomicroneedling or Haifu, which both stimulate

collagen production deep in the skin. So keep

away from excess sugar because they create collagen damaging

molecules. Part of aging is glycation, but

we need to keep in mind the rate at which it occurs. When

we want to boost the collagen, we need to be able to heal

well. So if our blood sugar rises, our

skin ages or A-G-E-S are sticky and

cross-link the collagen fibers, which ultimately weaken

our collagen. This is what we call sugar sag. It

will usually show in about age 35 to 40. So

what does this mean for you? Start thinking about what

you are consuming on a daily basis. If

we can bring our sugar intake down to about 10% of

our daily calorie intake. This is a recommendation from the World

Health Organization, which is the biggest health organization in

the world. We want to keep away from hidden sugars like those

in pastas, salad dressings, sauces,

sports drinks, cereals, juices, yogurts,

which can put you over your daily sugar limit. Even our milk

contains added sugar and we don't even think about it. So look

at all the ingredients and know what you are consuming so that you can control

the levels of sugar that you are ingesting. Now here are some things

you can do to help slow down glycation. Increasing your water

intake helps to increase the body's ability to produce collagen

and elastin. If you supplement your diet with vitamin B1 and

B6 as AGE inhibitors, thiamine is

a powerful antioxidant and will help fight free radicals. Vitamin

C on the skin is a natural antioxidant and

it helps to strengthen the skin. So load up on

antioxidants. They neutralize and protect the body from

free radicals. This is how we can fight glycation or

the early onset of glycation. Vitamin C

is preferable, and we want one that is plant-based, not

synthetic. Make sure it is plant-based because this is

gonna be your long-term friend. The next thing you can

do is get enough sleep. Sleep is incredibly great

for your beauty routine because your skin rejuvenates while

you are sleeping and will start to produce elastin and

collagen in a more quality state of

sleep. Melatonin is great to take to help you to go

to sleep in a natural way, and it gets your sleep quality up.

You can't overdose on melatonin. You can find natural melatonin

in health food stores or pharmacies, and that's the one

that I would steer you towards. Collagen peptides taken through

supplements will increase your own collagen production. This

is not speculation. This is a fact. There are a

number of studies on this, so we know that we can see

results with it. Lastly, protect your skin from harmful UV

rays. UVA supercharges the glycation effect

in the skin, so sugar and sun will destroy your

skin the fastest. Before you come at me about sunscreens causing

cancer, please check out my other video on sunscreens and

what you need to know about them. The damage from the glycation process

on collagen and elastin fibers can neither be reversed nor

repaired, resulting in sagging and wrinkled skin.

Did you know that sugar could affect your skin in this way? I'm

interested to know if you've ever experienced anything that you

think may be glycation. Leave the comments below. Thank

you for joining me on Holistic Skin Guru. If this episode

has helped you get one step closer to achieving your skin

goals, I'd love your support with a five-star review

on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. And don't forget

to subscribe on your favorite platform too. If you've

got any questions about your skin, I'd love to hear from

you. Connect with me at Holistic Skin Guru on

all platforms. Don't forget, as a listener, you can get 10% off

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