Why Your Sugar Habit Is Ruining Your Skin

Added sugar is in everything. It is the most popular ingredient added to foods in the UK. It’s in your breads, yoghurts, ketchup, barbecue sauce, cereals, deli meats, even your salad dressings.

What is added sugar? They are the sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those in fruits. Here is a list of the common added sugars that could be in your food:
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• agave nectar (yes, it’s true! not a health food.)
• cane sugar
• corn sweetener
• crytalline fructose
• dextrose
• evaporated cane juice
• fruit juice concentrate
• glucose
• high fructose corn syrup
• honey
• maltose
• molasses
• raw sugar
• sucrose

If you’re not looking, your daily added sugar intake can add up and that is like pouring gasoline on the small fire that is chronic inflammation. The more regular inflammation, the more red, broken out, and irritated our skin. The less added sugar, the more even-toned, healthy, and clear – it’s biological! 

The average person consumes 117 grams of added sugar in one day, the equivalent of 22 teaspoons. You can imagine if you took in 22 teaspoons of white sugar in a day? You would immediately feel noticeably unhealthy. Unfortunately with it hidden in a huge amount of processed food and beverages, we may not consciously feel the same as we blindly consume sugar day in and out.

Is fruit considered added sugar? The answer is a happy NO! Added sugar is processed. Fruit is natural, created by the earth, designed for you and hundreds of thousands of animals to eat. Yes, it has sugar, but it’s also packed with fiber. That natural fiber is what makes fruit digest COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY in your body than a bag of oreo cookies. So if it’s whole fruit – eat up! 

Here are a couple of questions to evaluate your relationship with added sugar:
• Are you eating some sweets or biscuits or cakes everyday or most days?
• Do you consume added sugar beverages everyday or most days?
• Do you have dessert everyday or most days?
• Do you find you can’t stop after you start when eating something sweet?
• Do you keep sweet treats and snacks around the house?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, perhaps it would be a good idea to reconsider your relationship with sugar. Know that the less you eat, the less you will crave. The less added sugar in your daily and weekly diet, the better your skin and body will function, look, and feel.

Emma x