DEMON SUGAR - PART II

Dear Friend,

In a previous post I talked about the formation of AGE’s and how they contribute to advanced aging through premature wrinkling of our skin. Now I’ll discuss changes you can make in your life to reduce AGE formation and reverse their damage.

1. Reducing sugar intake to 10% of your daily calories including hidden sugar in highly processed foods and fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup is believed to produce more AE’s than any type of sugar and is found in almost all processed food from soda to crackers. When you start reading package labels you will be amazed to find fructose corn syrup in almost everything we eat.

2. Take at least one milligram of Vitamins B1 and B6 each day. Both vitamins are strong AGE inhibitors.

3. Wear a sunscreen of at least SPF 30 daily. AGE’s develop more rapidly in skin exposed to the sun according to a study done by the British Journal of Dermatology.

4. Increase consumption of antioxidant rich fruits, vegetables and nuts as well as applying antioxidants topically by using products containing green tea, vitamins C and E, and seaweed.

5. Look for products that contain aminoguanidine and alistin which block formation of AGE’s. Aminoguanidine keeps AGE’s from binding to the collagen and elastin in our skin while alistin attracts AGE damage to itself as a decoy thereby lessening the damage to the proteins in our skin.

An easy, inexpensive toner that contains the powerful antioxidants of green tea or cranberry juice can be made using the following recipes.

GREEN TEA TONER FOR NORMAL SKIN

Mix 8 ounces of distilled or filtered water with 1 green tea bag and allow sitting at room temperature until the water just begins to turn light yellow. Discard tea bag. Add 1 teaspoon of rice vinegar to toner. For a pleasant scent add several drops of oil of lavender or another essential oil. Place mixture in a spray bottle and apply to face immediately after the second cleanse.

You will notice that a brownish cloud will form in the bottom of your bottle after a few days. This is a natural by-product of the rice vinegar interacting with the green tea. Please discard the toner when you see this and make a new batch. You can extend the life of each batch by storing it in the fridge. Toner stored in the fridge during summer months will be extra refreshing.

If you have oily skin and acne you may want to substitute the following recipe.

CRANBERRY TONER FOR OILY SKIN
Mix 8 ounces of distilled or filtered water with 1 tsp unsweetened cranberry juice. Place mixture in a spray bottle and apply to face immediately after the second cleansing.


Hugs,

Carolyn Johnson