After reading this blog, you will know all you need about what is AGEs and will guide you into how to avoid or reduce AGEs, fortunately motivating you to take back control of what you eat and improve your overall health, and look younger.

 

What Are AGEs?

 AGEs stand for Advanced Glycation End-Products, and it’s easy to remember as its AGE related. AGEs make us look older faster… and it’s mainly food related.

What we eat can make us look older!

 AGEs are substances that form when protein or fat molecules combine with sugar molecules in the bloodstream. This process is called: GLYCATION.

As we age, AGEs accumulate naturally in the body over time, contributing to inflammation and oxidative stress.

Besides premature aging, high level of AGEs will damage every organ in the body, leading to various health conditions, including aging skin, Alzheimer’s, liver failure, diabetes, heart disease, renal failure, arthritis, kidney failure, and high blood pressure.

 You often hear about inflammation and antioxidants; their role is to protect us against those diseases. With AGEs inflammation and oxidative stress goes through the rough. You can think of AGEs as a key inflammation root. One straight way to protect ourselves against inflammation is therefore reducing AGEs consumption.

AGEs levels are so important that many health practitioners are using them as a marker of good health and measuring them in your body to prescribe a diagnostic and advice.

 

Understanding AGEs and Their Formation

 Diet is the main contributor of AGEs. Reviewing your diet is the number one priority. You need to not only avoid foods that are high in AGEs, but also be aware of how they are cooked. Certain form of cooking can make your AGEs level skyrocket by up to 100 times!

You might think that you are eating healthy, but without knowing it you are increasing your AGEs level, simply by the way your food is cooked.

Though it tastes yummy, barbecuing, grilling, roasting, baking, frying, sautéing, broiling, searing, and toasting multiply your AGEs levels from 10 to 100 times!

Just look at the impact of food cooked at high temperatures:

 

 

Each time I look at this graph I am conscious that I need to pay immediate attention to what I eat.

 

Dietary Sources of AGEs

 

Foods highest in AGEs include:

 

• Meat, especially red meat, beef, pork, and lamb
• fried foods (French fries, fried chicken)
• certain cheeses,
• fried eggs,
• butter,
• cream cheese,
• margarine,
• mayonnaise,
• oils,
• nuts,
• Processed junk food (Pastries, baked goods, and other processed snacks).

 

Yes, I got it, being healthy is no simple matter. Simply keep in mind that these foods can accelerate the aging process by promoting inflammation and oxidative stress in the skin.

 

What food should I eat instead?

Making simple changes to your diet and lifestyle can help reduce the accumulation of AGEs and promote collagen production.

Choose fresh, and whole foods which are lower in AGEs.

1) Fruits and vegetables. We all know that we should eat more of them to get all healthy antioxidants and minerals. They are rich in anti-inflammatory compounds and have a lower burden of AGEs.

Some examples of good food

- Leafy greens: Spinach, kale, and collard greens

-  Fruits: Berries, citrus fruits, and apples

- Vegetables: Broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots

2) whole grains have lower levels, even after cooking

3) Choose leaner cuts of meat: opt for grass-fed, hormone-free meats to reduce AGE intake.

4) Prepare meat using low-heat methods: Slow cooking or sous vide cooking can significantly reduce AGE formation.

5) Reduce consumption of processed junk food: Limit your intake of baked goods, pastries, and other processed snacks.

 

What are the best methods of cooking to avoid high levels of AGEs?

 As said multiple times, the way you cook your food is as important if not more than the food itself. Choose healthier cooking methods.

Rather than using dry, high heat for cooking, try stewing, poaching, boiling, and steaming.

Cooking at lower temperatures is a good indicator. If you are fond of soup, broth, stews you are for the win. Slow cookers are thought to be one of the healthiest ways to cook food.

Consume low fat dairy, less meat and more vegetables.

 

Can I reduce the level of AGEs I’ve already accumulated?

 

Short answer: yes!

Ok, we now understand that some foods are making our AGEs levels go through the ceiling! And we know that from now and then we will have to eat those. Sometimes to indulge, sometimes because we have no time to cook, or sometimes because there are no other choices, unless you stop socializing, travelling, or living like a monk😊

 

When AGEs accumulate, they can seriously damage health

Your body has natural ways of getting rid of harmful AGEs naturally. But if you are consuming too many AGEs, the balance gets broken, and your body cannot handle the surplus. This complete imbalance will trigger most chronic diseases.

A study comparing 2 groups of older women, one with low AGE diet and one with high AGE diet has shown that those with the high AGE diet are twice as likely to die from heart disease.

You can also help your body eliminate AGEs when taking antioxidants supplements. Supplementation can be very helpful in dialing back AGEs level. Our AGELESS and RADIANCE are full of antioxidants to reduce inflammation and AGEs.

 

EXERCISE to reduce AGEs

 

Even without the food impact, a sedentary lifestyle your AGEs levels go up. Whereas when you exercise, your AGEs level goes down. Even by just increasing the number of steps you take per day; you are getting rid of AGEs.

 

Finally, take supplements specifically designed to hinder AGEs.

 

In laboratory studies, natural antioxidants, such as vitamin C, polyphenols, curcumin, grapes, blueberries, zinc can block the formation of AGEs and reduce their levels. AGELESS and RADIANCE are packed with those to help you look younger and be healthier.

 

To conclude:

We are often too busy to cook and will eat anything that is easily available, such as processed food, junk food, fast food. We hardly have time to prepare a good, healthy meal, or at least we don’t take the time to do so. It’s in our nature to be lazy. Those modern diets are contributing to our slow death… our fast aging… Most of our diseases are connected to our AGEs level.

Not only the food that we take creates AGEs, how it’s cooked is even more important. When certain foods are cooked at high temperatures, AGEs increase exponentially. Foods cooked at high temperatures, when fried, toasted or grilled have a high content of AGEs. Temperature is a key piece of the puzzle.

Fortunately, this change is not that difficult. Choose healthier cooking method, add some exercise and take some anti AGEs supplements. Highly recommend AGELESS by SKINEDIT, packed with antioxidants to tackle AGEs.

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