8 Foods That Make Skin Age Faster & You Look Older

Skin is the biggest organ of the body and a reflection of one's health, so it is essential to make sure the food you eat also keeps your collagen and skin elasticity intact. Here are eight foods that make skin age faster.

The saying 'you are what you eat' reflects the different ways our bodies communicate based on what we eat. One of the ways to track how well food you eat treats the body is through the look and feel of the skin. This means different types of food can strain the body and cause it to age fast.

Our skin is our biggest organ, and some foods can cause it to age quickly and lose elasticity. Here is a list of foods that can harm how your skin ages.

1. Coffee

While most people start their days with a cup of coffee to perk them up, this can also be a reason to get them down if they are against aging fast. That's because the caffeine naturally contained in coffee beans dehydrates the body, resulting in dry skin and causing the skin to age.

In addition to the caffeine, sugar, which is often paired with coffee, is also not good for the skin. Therefore, experts recommend avoiding caffeine and sugar to help keep the skin hydrated and even reduce the risk of non-melanoma skin cancers.

2. Sugary drinks

Drinks high in sugar, such as soda and energy drinks, as well as desserts, are also culprits of skin aging. That's because they can trigger a process called glycation.

When your body consumes more sugar than your cells can process, the excess sugar molecules combine with protein to produce advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, which harm the skin's collagen, a protein that keeps our skin firm and healthy. Therefore, it is better to reduce the amount of sugary drinks you consume and gravitate towards a bottle of water more often.

3. Red meat

Fatty red meats like beef, pork, and lamb generate free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can speed up the process of cell damage and affect the skin's collagen production.

It is advised to stick to poultry and try to avoid processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, sausages, and pepperoni because they are high in sodium and saturated fats, which cause inflammation and dehydration.

Choose leaner meat cuts like chicken and turkey, which are filled with amino acids and will help with collagen production. Other less expensive substitutes are eggs and beans.

4. Agave

Agave is known as a better and healthier substitute for sugar; however, it contains 90% fructose. This type of sugar gets broken down only in your liver, and when the liver is overworked, it damages cells and affects your skin negatively.

5. High-fructose Corn Syrup

High-fructose corn syrup is mainly used as a sweetener for many soft drinks and fruit drinks. It also affects your body's ability to use copper, which is key to producing collagen. It also contains calories and can put a person at risk of having diabetes or heart problems.

6. Spicy food

Some people love spicy food, but the heat from the spice causes the blood vessels to swell and risk them breaking as well, leading to purple marks on the face.

For women going through menopause who also have rosacea, spicy food can cause the skin to flare up. Additionally, the sweat from the temperature mixed with bacteria can cause breakouts.

7. Margarine

Using margarine, which usually contains trans fat, can affect your skin and overall health in many ways. The trans fat triggers high cholesterol and causes inflammation, leading to heart problems or strokes.

A healthier alternative would be avocados and olive oil. These are rich in anti-aging antioxidants and are delicious with salads or simply spread on bread.

8. Rice Cakes

While Rice cakes are known to be healthy snacks, they contain ​a high glycemic index, which causes high blood sugar levels. This is another aging accelerator. Instead of eating rice cakes, a healthier snack combination that's good for the skin is bell peppers with hummus. Red bell peppers are high in Vitamin C, which is good for the skin, and chickpeas, a key ingredient in humus, are rich in antioxidants.

Read here to learn the seven things that you need to throw out of your kitchen.