Food contributes to our health and lack of it. If we eat excessively or eat too little, there is a corresponding effect on our body, and if we consume the right sorts of food, it manifests as well.
Our skin looks clearer, we look healthier, and there is a certain glow to us. The most important effect is we look younger.
But what happens if we eat food that has no nutrients, but it’s just full of bulk instead of the healthy components that our body needs? It will surely show, and it is unflattering cause besides making you look unhealthy, it also makes you look older than your age.
Here are samples of 10 foods that ages you;
Food that has a high sugar content
Sugar attaches to the collagen in your body, which causes stiffness in your skin that eventually causes wrinkles, thus the elasticity of the skin lessens.
It contributes to the dryness of the skin that also causes dark circles and makes you look ten years older than you truly are. The sugar’s effect on the teeth is also immense as it damages teeth and causes discoloration.
Refrain from consuming too much sweet beverage, cakes, candies, or anything that has a high sugar content on the packaging.
Food that has a high sodium content
Canned foods and cured meat are foods that have a high salt content. It needs a lot of salt to maintain its freshness before it gets consumed by buyers.
Bacon, sausage, anchovies, jerkies, instant broth and stocks, boxed potato dishes, instant dishes, sauces are just examples.
Just like sugar, too much salt in the body causes dehydration and skin weakness that brought about the loss of collagen and eventually, causes wrinkles to manifest.
Not only does it show on our faces, but it also attributes to having a rise in blood pressure, which induces cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and heart problems.
Fried foods
Deep-fried foods or any food that is fried in oil releases free radicals that can eventually cause skin damage. Although there is an exception of oil such as olive oil as being healthier compared to other types of cooking oil for frying.
The free radicals cause acceleration in skin aging due to the action called cross-linking that ultimately weakens skin elasticity.
Additionally, deep-fried foods contribute to inflammation throughout the body, most especially those that are trans fats, as it raises your bad cholesterol (LDL) and lowers the (HDL) or the good cholesterol level. This is the reason you have an increased risk of heart disease.
Soda or soft drinks
Soda has a high sugar level. It also has a high caffeine content. When you drink sodas, you are just gulping in plenty of sugar, and it has no nutritional value.
Sodas can speed the cell aging, not to mention making you prone to chronic diseases.
It ages you because it also contributes to the drying of the skin instead of hydrating it. The caffeine alone can emphasize the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines, and causes puffy skin as well.
What’s more surprising is that due to caffeine, you have an intermittent sleeping pattern, and thus with poor sleep; you get dark eye circles and fine lines.
High meat consumption
High consumption of meat increases a person’s biological age and contribute to health concerns. They say red meat to be the culprit that leads to an increase in serum phosphate levels. It also generates free radicals that affect the capacity of the skin to preserve itself and produce collagen.
Men are often the group that prefers to eat red meat, and they have lesser vegetable and fruit intake. This also leads to them having belly fats and looking older than their actual age.
A person must have just the right consumption of meat, vegetables, and fruit to at least contribute to their healthy living and fitness. It is also advised to choose lean meats or consume more chicken meat or turkey.
Processed Meats/Foods
This includes bacon, hotdogs, sausages, frozen and canned foods are those which are processed and have different ingredients that are unhealthy such as sulfites, sodium benzoate, nitrites, benzoic acid, and potassium sorbate. The additives it contains are also high such as oil, sugar, flavor enhancer, and even MSG.
Make sure that when you are buying processed food, you are checking the ingredient and watch out for these lists of additives: dextrose, hydrogenated oil, trans fats, and maltose.
Processed food and meat are high in salt and sugar, which is the main culprit that causes skin dehydration, skin inflammation, lessens collagen production, among others. These ingredients cause toxins to build up in your liver, thus your skin does not look healthy, contributing to sallow, dry, and wrinkled looking skin.
Fast Food
Many fast-food companies were said to use trans fat and hydrogenated fats in their food preparation. This causes clogging in the artery and leads to stiffening of arteries. Although other fast-food chains are now trying to make their food more consumer-friendly by using healthy options like lessening sodium, using veggie meat, and using less oil.
Although many people are used to eating fast food, thinking, it can curve off their hunger fast, but their wellness is debatable with such choices.
If you are after healthy living, then it would be wise to forego driving through and buying a burger meal cause frequent consumption of these types of food will add to your older appearance.
Too much coffee intake
There is a saying that anything too much is not good. This includes coffee. Its high caffeine content causes dehydration as it is not replenishing our system’s need for water. With it being a diuretic, it can make you eliminate fluid. Our skin loses moisture in the process, adding to the dryness of the skin, dulling, and aging.
Caffeine habit can lead to caffeine addiction, as well because as you continue consuming your cups of coffee daily, it will soon be hourly until it is all that is in your system, replacing water.
When you have a high tolerance for coffee, it affects your central nervous system, increases anxiety, damages the bones, and gives you elevated blood pressure.
Water makes our skin glow, and it makes us look younger and gives us a nice complexion, but with too much coffee our skin loses its glow and makes us look older.
Foods that are roasted, grilled
Roasted and grilled meat sometimes gives you charred meat, and it can also give you a decade more in your looks. The reason that roasted, charred meat may contribute to your more mature appearance is the pro-inflammatory hydrocarbons it gives out that affects the collagen of your skin to the point of damaging it.
Roasting food is not that bad if cooked well and eaten in moderation, but having grilled, charred meat is the real culprit behind.
White Bread and refined carbs
This food is simply stripped of good nutrients, and all that is left is sugar. The starch turns to sugar as soonest it gets to your bloodstream, and the body works overtime to break down this sugar. White bread also has a high glycemic index that can cause inflammation in the body, which ages you as you feel its direct effects on your body.
Since it is just simple carbohydrates that burn quickly, it leaves nothing to the body for nourishment.
Whole food carbohydrates should be your option as it is healthier, and if you are someone who not only likes to feel young, but looks younger, you should be consuming whole food carbohydrates such as oats, bananas, sweet potatoes, quinoa, blueberries, among others.
If you are someone who is planning a major weight loss and would like to follow a diet plan, you should include good carbohydrates in your diet.
Energy Drinks
Many people who have a busy life would often gulp a few bottles of energy drink as it helps them stay alert and function perfectly the whole day. They get too dependent on it as their tolerance for it increases.
It gives you some pep-time since it has a high caffeine content, guarana (Brazilian cocoa), sugar, taurine, ginseng, carnitine, glucuronolactone, and B vitamins.
The issue with consuming too much of the energy drink is that it increases the blood pressure and the heart rate, plus it also adds to the anxiety of the already anxious drinkers.
With the high caffeine content of this energy drink, it affects the teeth as it strips it off the enamel because of its high acidity. Teeth get vulnerable to stains, and your teeth get discolored that can make you look ten years older or more.
Men’s health and women’s health depend on what they eat and how they take care of their well-being. By being aware of what they eat and making sure that they have balanced nutrition, they can worry less.
Since aging is just a normal process, as every one of us will mature, there are just some who ages faster than most people, and diet had something to do with it.
