5 Foods That Speed Up Aging and Cause Weight Gain
Aging and obesity often go hand in hand. As we age, we burn fewer calories, our metabolism slows down and we gain weight. Aging and obesity are influenced by genes, lifestyle habits, environment and diet. However, diet is a major factor in appearance and health, far more than genes.
Certain foods can quickly lead to wrinkles, body wastage and obesity. Reduce your intake of these foods and you’ll see a noticeable improvement. Let’s take a look at which foods are most likely to contribute to obesity and aging:
Sweets
Sugar, while delicious and providing energy and a good mood, is very costly. Why?
Imagine that humans evolved for hundreds of thousands of years under completely different conditions. Back then, people didn’t know what sugar was, or even porridge. The most readily available calories came from fruits – their carbohydrates and fiber coexisted.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a glass of cool water on a hot day? Of course! But what if it’s being splashed with ice water on a cold day when it’s -10 degrees Celsius? Sugar irritates the body like this intense cold.
Sugar destroys collagen, which is directly related to healthy and youthful skin. Sugar is a quick and easy calorie that converts directly to fat and weakens the immune system.
Therefore, minimize your intake of sweets. Replace them with fruits whenever possible. You don’t have to give up sugar completely, just start controlling and tapering off your sweet tooth.
Margarine, Smoked Meats, and Mayonnaise
These foods are rich in trans fats. While natural fatty acids are beneficial to the body, protecting the skin, helping hair and maintaining a healthy complexion, trans fats lack these key components. Importantly, they inhibit the activity of “beneficial” fatty acids.
Alcohol
The scary thing is that all alcohol, including wine and beer, causes dehydration, which damages the skin, especially the facial skin. Alcohol also triggers a surge in the stress hormone cortisol, which immediately converts all calories into fat. Alcohol chemically stimulates stress, rather than relieving it.
Energy Drinks
Energy drinks contain psychologically addictive ingredients, and while they do boost energy, this effect is temporary. In fact, eating nuts and dried fruits provides longer-lasting energy. Energy drinks are sweet and damaging to tooth enamel, and can also cause fatigue after the effects wear off.
Chips
Potato chips top the list of harmful foods. They combine easily digestible starches and trans fats, the perfect combination of empty calories that deal a serious blow to the liver. Long-term consumption of potato chips can trigger atherosclerosis. In some countries, atherosclerosis is very common among young people, but in other countries, where nutritional habits are better, it is less common.