11 Foods That Accelerates Aging Process

There are lots of factors that affect how you age, but the two main culprits that accelerate your aging process are advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and sun exposure. 

When fat or protein mixes with sugar, it forms AGEs. Not only this but what you eat also plays a crucial role in how you look and feel. 

This article presents the top 11 foods that accelerate the aging process and make you look older than you are. 

But the good news is that taking charge of what you eat can avoid having a negative effect on your health.

11 Foods That Can Make You Look Older

1. Sugar

Sugar is one of the contenders to skin concerns like acne. It creates collagen-damaging AGEs.

It is also responsible for weight gain, saggy skin, wrinkles, and harming your health.

Consumption of too much sugar results in starting a process known as glycation, a process that enables glucose to bind with lipids and proteins. 

It damages your collagen (a protein that contributes to skin firmness) and creates wrinkles.

2. Alcohol

It’s a host of skin problems like puffiness, redness, wrinkles, and loss of collagen. 

It depletes hydration, vitamin A levels, and nutrients, that impact your health. 

Drinking alcohol in access affects your liver.

When toxins start to build up in your liver, it won’t break properly. This causes skin damage and results in wrinkles, sallowness, loss of elasticity, dehydration, puffiness, loss of collagen, and acne.

You can drink alcohol in moderation to avoid having such impacts.

3. Trans Fats

Trans fats are found in deep-fried foods, canned frosting, fast food, and any junk food. 

Foods that are fried in oil at extreme temperature ranges release free radicals. These radicals form the basis of cellular damage to your skin. 

It also accelerates the aging process via cross-linking (it affects DNA molecules and weakens the elasticity of your skin).

Not only this, but it can also develop heart diseases and can stiffen your arteries. This constricts blood vessels and weakens blood flow which can cause wrinkles and premature aging. 

If you want, you can consume sweet potato fries, that aid collagen production.

4. Avoiding Healthy Fats

Healthy fats are vital for your skin and health. It encourages hair growth, builds robust cell membranes, reduces skin inflammation, etc. 

Some of the healthy fats you require for maintaining healthy skin are chia seeds, salmon, almonds, nuts, omega-3 fortified eggs, and wheat germ.

5. High-Salt Foods

You can find excess salt in popular products like chips, crackers, pepperoni pizza, cheese, cereals, etc. High-salt foods cause you to recollect water and feel bloated. 

The recollected water makes your skin look tired and puffy.

Moreover, it leads to dehydration and causes the cells to shrink. This results in faster aging with wrinkles on the skin.

6. Processed Meats

Some of the examples of it are pepperoni, sausage, bacon, and hot dogs. 

Since these meats are high in saturated fats, sulfite, and sodium, it dehydrates your skin. This results in causing inflammation.

You can eat leaner meats like chicken and turkey as they are packed with amino acids and protein that are needed for collagen formation.

7. Coffee And Soda

Coffee and soda do more harm to your health. It might also affect your sleep if taken frequently throughout the day. 

You might don’t know that poor sleep is connected with the risk of aging and wrinkles, fine lines, and dark eye circles.

Instead of having coffee and soda, you can have golden milk. Golden milk capitalizes on turmeric benefits along with black pepper, and coconut milk. 

Turmeric is rich in antioxidants and is an anti-aging compound.

8. Charred Meat

It comprises of pro-inflammatory hydrocarbons. It breaks the essentials of your skin and leads to aging. 

This doesn’t mean you should give up on BBQ, just ensure the removal of char from meat.

9. Spicy Foods

Spicy foods can cause puffiness and redness. It also dilates blood vessels and can cause rosacea, a skin condition. This soon turns into blotchy, red, and less youthful skin.

Regular consumption of spicy foods can lead to puffiness, permanent redness, spider veins, etc.

10. Baked Goods

Baked goods are rich in added sugar as well as fat, which leads to poor dental health, and weight gain. 

Since sugar promotes an unhealthy microbiome, it is inflammatory. This accelerates the aging process.

11. Dairy

Dairy increases inflammation that leads to oxidative stress (the main culprit of premature aging). However, its effects differ because every individual is unique.

You can get calcium from other sources like leafy greens, figs, almonds, and seeds that can improve skin health.

To keep your skin looking young and fresh, you can incorporate green tea, blueberries, extra virgin olive oil, fatty fish, green leafy vegetables, water, and pomegranates into your diet.

Moreover, you can consider facial exercises or facial acupuncture to smoothen wrinkles.