How damage to your skin reflects damage inside

AGEs cause premature ageing. How to stop them

In my previous post, I briefly described a recent study that revealed a link between ultra-processed foods and premature ageing. But do these UPFs actually cause premature ageing? It looks like they do, because they promote substances that damage collagen structures, including the skin.

If skin is damaged, so too are other, less visible collage-rich tissues.

Collagen accounts for 30% of all protein structures in the body, making it the most abundant protein in all mammals, including us. It forms part of connective tissue, muscles, bones and cartilage. It’s what gives skin its lovely, youthful elasticity.

Like all good things, collagen production declines naturally with age. Loss of elasticity and the appearance of wrinkles are proof of that. That’s just your skin. Elsewhere there’s joint stiffness and gut, bone, muscle and heart problems.

It’s one thing to lose collagen naturally with the passing of time, but it is a tragedy to destroy it prematurely through diet and lifestyle.

How you make collagen

Your body makes collagen from raw materials provided in your diet. The building blocks are the amino acids glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. The tools required to put it all together are vitamin C and the minerals zinc, copper and manganese.

I wrote earlier this year about the dietary sources of these raw materials in an article about the importance of collagen for healthy brain function. See:

Why You Need Collagen For Your Brain

The enemy within: AGEs

The body builds collagen, but it also destroys it. The enemy of collagen is something called advanced glycation end products, which have the very apt acronym AGEs.

AGEs are substances that are created when proteins in the body are exposed to circulating glucose. These AGEs bind with proteins and alter their structure and function. They are highly inflammatory and promote oxidative stress, causing free radical damage.

There is increased evidence of the involvement of AGEs in the disease process. The diseases most likely to arise because of excessive AGEs production include diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

The skeletal system is also affected, because bone is 30-40% collagen, and excessive AGEs production can lead to bone fragility and risk of fracture.

The main cause of over-production of AGEs is poor blood sugar control. Older people, especially older people with diabetes mellitus, are especially vulnerable.

‘The long-term high blood sugar state in patients with DM is a key factor promoting the formation of AGEs and the production and accumulation of AGEs is one of the main mechanisms of diabetes complications’

AGES in skin

You can’t see AGEs, but you can see their effect in skin, where they affect all layers.

The formation of AGES accelerates collagen damage, especially in the skin. As well as loss of elasticity and deep wrinkles, they can cause various skin problems including diabetic ulcers, infections, and non-healing wounds. They are also responsible for brown skin pigments and yellowing of the complexion.

‘This may explain the fact that diabetic patients are prone to suffer from dry skin under long-term high-sugar conditions’

There are two types of AGEs: the ones the body makes (endogenous) and the ones that are present in food (exogenous).