How Does Sugar Affect Aging? - Ask a Nutritionist

Transcript:

BRITNI: Hey there! Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition's “Ask a Nutritionist”. I'm Britni Vincent, a Registered and Licensed Dietitian with Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Today, we are going to be talking about something that's sneaky and causing trouble for so many of us as we age. It is sugar. I often get asked by clients, how does sugar affect aging?

So, I'm going to dive into all of that today. Now, when we think about aging, we often think about wrinkles, or maybe moving a little bit slower than we used to. Here's the thing: sugar might be making that aging process speed up. But here's the good news. There are some changes you can make to take control of that aging process.

How does sugar affect aging?

So I want to first talk about how sugar affects aging. Did you know that sugar doesn't just impact your waistline or your energy, but it plays a big role in how we age, not just wrinkles or skin, but when we eat sugar, even food like breads and pasta that are going to break down to sugar, those foods trigger something called glycation.

That's basically a fancy word for sugar attaching itself to proteins like collagen and elastin, which are what keep your skin firm and smooth. Over time, that glycation process makes those proteins stiff and weak, and that's when we're going to start to see sagging skin and wrinkles, but it's really not just about aging.

Sugar increases inflammation in the body

Sugar also increases inflammation in the body. All health conditions are linked to inflammation, and that inflammation may manifest as joint pain, fatigue, maybe brain fog. It may even affect memory. But let's talk about what is actually happening in your body when we're eating sugar. So you eat something sugary or even something with processed carbohydrates.

So maybe a muffin, maybe some crackers. In an ideal metabolism, your blood sugar is going to spike. Your pancreas then releases insulin, grabs onto that glucose in the bloodstream, carries it to our cells, and we have insulin receptors, so that insulin's going to help act as a key to unlock that receptor, carry that glucose in the cell, and then that turns to energy.

So that's what should happen. But here's the catch. We can only tolerate so many carbohydrates in one sitting. So by eating these high sugar, high carbohydrate foods on a regular basis, that whole process is going to work inefficiently over time. So that key is not going to be able to unlock that receptor to bring in the glucose very well.

And so what happens is we get a buildup of glucose or blood sugar in our bloodstream, and then our body is always trying to compensate. And so your pancreas is going to try to output more insulin thinking that that might help the situation, but really it just makes it worse. And what this can lead to is inflammation, weight gain, specifically in the midsection, and then eventually something called insulin resistance, which you can think of as a spectrum.

And insulin resistance, if not addressed, would eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. The really great news here is you can reverse this by cutting back on sugar and these processed carbohydrates, eating more real whole foods, you can heal that whole system. and reduce your insulin.

And then, the beauty of it is, you're going to notice those changes and how you feel. So here is the million dollar question. Can cutting sugar actually help you look and feel younger? Well, you know, it's not going to make you looks 20 years younger, but it can definitely make a difference. For starters, when you cut back on sugar, your inflammation is going to reduce.

This means your skin can actually start to repair itself and begin looking more radiant, reduce puffiness, redness. You know, some of the feedback that I hear from my clients is they notice improvements not only in their skin, but energy, aches and pains, brain function, you know, just to name a few. And some of these changes, really they can be noticed within weeks of reducing sugar.

And, you know, for some people it might take longer to notice these changes. But think about it, you are actually healing your body from the inside out. So, it is going to take some time to do all of that. Hopefully I'm motivating you to reduce some of your sugar.

Where sugar can be hiding + healthy alternatives

And let's look at where sugar is hiding. So you know where you could start in your own life. You know, it's not just about cookies and candies. Let's just take a look at what could be a very typical day for many Americans. Maybe you start the day with a bagel and cream cheese. It's super easy and you can kind of grab it on the go, but it could easily contain 50 grams of carbohydrates, which will break down to 12 teaspoons of sugar.

Instead, you could do something like eggs with turkey sausage and sauteed veggies, maybe even a side of fruit. Or you could make an egg bake once a week and just reheat that. By making this change and starting with a balanced meal, you're going to feel full longer.

Your blood sugar is going to stay stable. And it's going to have a noticeable impact in how you feel the rest of the day. And this is often where I recommend people start just with modifying their breakfast because it really does set the tone for the day.

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Let's move to lunch. I think a sandwich and chips is pretty darn common. But this meal could easily contain 60 grams of carbohydrates, which breaks down to 15 teaspoons of sugar. A better option might be using canned salmon and making a salmon salad with mayonnaise. Maybe you have it with some crunchy cucumbers, some fruit on the side, or maybe you have it over greens.

Lunch could also be chili with some avocado or sour cream on top. These examples are going to be filling and they're going to help to prevent that midafternoon energy crash and those midafternoon cravings that many people have.

Let's move to afternoon snack. Flavored yogurts are very common, and one of the sneakiest culprits of sugar. Some of those little single serve containers could contain as much as five teaspoons of sugar. An easy switch could be plain, full fat Greek yogurt. Greek has more protein, but if you prefer regular yogurt, you could do that as well. Top it with some berries, sprinkle some nuts or some shredded coconut on top.

That's a balanced snack that's delicious and that's going to carry you to dinner, and prevent you from getting home from work or school or whatever you're doing in the afternoon and wanting to eat whatever's in sight.

So dinner, very common dinner would be spaghetti and maybe some meat sauce. A lot of people throw in some garlic bread. And I definitely grew up eating this meal very frequently for dinner. But this could contain as many carbohydrates as people need for the entire day. This could easily contain over 100 grams of carbohydrates.

So instead, maybe you try meatballs or a marinara sauce with ground meat in there. And spaghetti squash instead of the pasta. This meal is still very satisfying but does not contain all of the carbohydrates in it. So it's going to prevent those sugar crashes later in the evening and can actually help to improve your sleep. I mentioned a couple recipes that we actually have on our website.

Balance meals & snacks with healthy protein, fat & carbohydrates

So I encourage you to go to weightandwellness.com and check out all of the recipes that we have and find some inspiration that makes it easier to swap out some of your higher sugar, higher carbohydrate meals. As you may have noticed, all of the alternative meals and snack options that I mentioned, they contained some protein, which would be meat, eggs, fish, yogurt, cottage cheese.

These meals also contained healthy fat like avocado, nuts, butter, olive oil. and fiber from vegetables or some fruit or beans. So that trifecta of protein, fiber, healthy fat, that's going to help to keep your blood sugar stable and reverse that insulin resistance, and reduce inflammation in the body, making you feel your best.

Biochemical connections to sugar & carbohydrate cravings

So here's the very real thing about this all, and I know a lot of you are thinking this. But I crave sugar or I crave carbohydrates. How am I going to do this? You are not alone. The reality is sugar lights up the same part of your brain as addictive drugs do; gives you a little bit of a dopamine boost and so you feel really good for a very short amount of time and the after-effect is you feel even worse.

But your brain may get addicted to that little boost of dopamine and you continue to seek out these sugary foods or these high carbohydrate foods. On top of that, if your blood sugar is going up and down throughout the day, that's also going to contribute to more sugar and carbohydrate cravings. If you have a lot of bad bacteria in your gut, guess what that feeds on? Sugar.

So the point is, there are a lot of biochemical reasons why your body is actually craving these foods. It is not a lack of willpower. And when I tell clients this, they feel really relieved. Because if we can figure out what is causing these cravings, then we can just get rid of them for good.

By starting to make these changes and eating more real food, most people notice these cravings reduce, even within a week or two weeks, which makes it so much easier when we can just knock out those cravings.

And here's the takeaway. I know that cutting sugar can be overwhelming, but you don't need to go cold turkey unless that happens to feel right for you. You could just start small, maybe swap out one sugary snack for something with protein and healthy fat and some fiber in it. Or, like I mentioned earlier, focus on a balanced breakfast and that will help you to feel better throughout the day and reduce those cravings.

And over time, these little changes are going to add up to make a big impact in your body, and you're going to start to notice more energy, less inflammation, and even brighter skin. All things that we want, right? If you're looking for more guidance on all of this, we are here to help, and we have lots of options. I encourage you to check out our 28-Day Sugar Challenge,

Check Out Our 28-Day Sugar Challenge

Or you could schedule a one-on-one appointment with one of our dietitians.

Schedule Nutrition Counseling

We would love to support you through your health journey to just feel your best and reach your health goals. You can visit our website at weightandwellness.com or call us at 651-699-3438 to find out more information.

And I want to thank you so much for listening to Dishing Up Nutrition's “Ask a Nutritionist”. If you found this episode helpful, I encourage you to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. And if you yourself have a nutrition question that you would like us to answer, I invite you to join our Dishing Up Nutrition Facebook community. So search Dishing Up Nutrition on Facebook. Once you've joined, feel free to ask whatever's on your mind. Have a great day and thanks again for listening.