CONNECTOR.AE 34 CONNECTOR.AE 35 Health and Wellness Health and Wellness How Junk And Oily Food Can Affect Your Skin Health Pizzas, burgers, shakes, cookies, chocolates, ice creams, and all things savoury, sweet, and delicious may be a delight for our taste buds, but they can take a toll on our skin health. While they’re perfect for a quick snack or celebrating special occasions, junk food doesn’t just contribute to weight gain, obesity, and diabetes, it also affects your skin, leading to dullness, acne, and other issues. Connector spoke with skincare experts to explore how junk food impacts your skin and what steps you can take to prevent these effects. Junk Food And Skin Health Connection Eating junk food occasionally won’t cause much harm, but if you make it a daily habit, consuming foods high in sugar, unhealthy fats, and processed ingredients will eventually affect your skin. Over time, this can lead to skin issues like acne hives, wrinkles and much more. Sugary foods specifically create advanced glycation endproducts which deplete collagen levels and increase ageing.” How Sugar And Refined Carbohydrates Impact The Skin Most junk foods share a common ingredient, sugar and refined carbohydrates. Any food high in these two components is dangerous to health. Adding more to this, Dr. Umesh Nihalani from Dubai London Clinic and Speciality Hospital, says, “Sugar is a common ingredient found in many packaged foods, and it can have negative effects on both skin health and overall health. Excess sugar in the blood can lead to a process called glycation, which can damage proteins like collagen and elastin in the skin, leading to wrinkles and sagging skin. A diet high in sugar, known as a high-glycaemic-index diet, can also disrupt hormonal balance. This can lead to an increase in androgen hormone production, which in turn can contribute to conditions like acne. It’s essential to be mindful of your and inflammation. High glycaemic foods, such as sugary snacks and processed carbs, can raise insulin levels, triggering excess sebum production, which clogs pores and causes acne. Emphasising the impact of junk food on the skin, Dr. Umesh Nihalani, Specialist Dermatologist at Dubai London Clinic and Speciality Hospital says, “It’s often said that your skin reflects your overall health. Junk food that is high in preservatives, artificial ingredients, and unhealthy fats can contribute to inflammation in the body, which may exacerbate inflammatory skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis. It’s important to focus on a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins to support skin health. Additionally, junk food is typically high in salt, which can dehydrate your skin and increase the likelihood of wrinkles.” Junk food also impacts gut health, which in turn affects the skin and is linked to ageing. Natasha Rudatsenko, Founder of Health Nag, explains, “Skin health is often a visual representation of our gut health. Inflammatory junk food is dreadful for our gut health and creates issues such as leaky gut and food intolerances. This visually shows on our skin as acne, rashes, dry skin,
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