Sugar And Your Skin's Collagen And Elasticity
Reading Labels: The Case To Moderate Sugar Intake To Preserve Your Skin's Collagen And Elasticity
When I read that sugar in our diet contributes to aging skin it was enough to motivate me to try to moderate my intake. But there is far more to it than healthy skin. Recently I attended a panel discussion about healthy eating choices and learned about hidden sugars and how it relates to the rise of metabolic diseases.
The big takeaway is whether you want to moderate your sugar intake for skin health or metabolic health, you've got to read the food labels. Because there's so much hidden sugars in processed foods. There are many names for sugar when it comes to labeling so look for any words that end in -ose such as maltose, dextrose, sucrose, and fructose.
Other examples of forms of sugar include high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrates.
The day after the panel discussion I decided to read some labels in my pantry and on a whim calculated the sugar content in my healthy kale smoothie. This is the smoothie I loved and made several times a week, the one my kids teased me about. By my calculations, there are 47 grams of sugar in my 'healthy' kale smoothie. Forty-seven grams. This is the equivalent of 11.75 teaspoonfuls of sugar. Horrified! Needless to say I haven't made that kale smoothie since. The silver lining is that I became the learning lesson of the day as I shared my story of perceived healthy eating with my kids. Since that eye popping experience I've been trying to read food labels on a regular basis. In 2018, manufacturers will be required to comply with new FDA food label guidelines, but why wait?
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