What we eat directly affects our appearance
You wash your face thoroughly, but breakouts won’t go away, your complexion looks dull, and the first wrinkles appear earlier than expected? What if the culprit is sitting right on your kitchen shelf? Recently, a Korean doctor listed the products that work against your appearance. You may have long suspected that certain foods harm your looks. Perhaps this list won’t surprise you, but it’s still interesting to learn how food and drinks can make us less attractive.
Where the List of Skin-Damaging Products From a Doctor Came From
What we eat and drink is directly reflected not only in our weight and well-being but also on our face. A Korean dermatologist published a list on The Korea Herald of five items that, based on his observations, are most commonly associated with dull, dehydrated, and faster-aging skin. After publication, the list quickly went viral.
It’s important to honestly note right away that this is not a rigorous scientific study with control groups, but an expert opinion from a doctor based on well-known mechanisms of how nutrition affects the skin. In other words, this is more of a warning and a reason to think than a proven verdict on each product.
How Alcohol Harms the Skin and Appearance
Surprisingly for many, the top spot went to alcohol, not food. According to the doctor, alcoholic beverages dehydrate the skin, weaken its protective barrier, and accelerate aging.
Alcohol also reduces liver function, which in turn can lead to skin becoming darker and losing its healthy appearance. This creates a double blow — to the skin itself from the outside and to the body’s internal functions. In short, regular drinking makes the face look more tired and dull faster than you might think.
How Sugar and Sweets Accelerate Skin Aging
The second common problem is excess sugar. Sweets are not without reason included in almost every anti-rating for skin. High amounts of sugar are associated with loss of firmness and earlier appearance of wrinkles.
The thing is that excess sugar in the body can bond with proteins responsible for skin smoothness and elasticity. As a result, the face looks more sluggish and loses its freshness faster.
Why Salty Food Causes Puffiness
The third item is overly salty food. The mechanism here is clear to almost everyone — salt retains water in the body, and the morning after a salty dinner, the face often looks puffy.
Moreover, regularly consuming too much salt puts additional strain on blood vessels. Externally, this manifests as puffiness and a less-than-fresh appearance. The good news is that the effect of salt is largely reversible: reduce its intake and drink enough water, and the puffiness usually goes away.
The Harm of Fatty and Fried Food for the Skin
The fourth and fifth items are traditionally associated with heavy food — fatty and fried. Such food is considered one of the causes of inflammation and problematic, oily skin.
Excess fatty and fried food can increase the activity of sebaceous glands and provoke breakouts, especially in those already prone to problem skin. Plus, it’s a heavy load on digestion, which also doesn’t add freshness to the face. The point isn’t to give up your favorite dishes forever, but that regularly overdoing them shows on your appearance more noticeably than you’d like.
How to Reduce the Harm of Foods to Facial Skin
The doctor’s main message isn’t to scare you but to point out that appearance largely depends on everyday habits. If we boil it down to a simple list, you should be more careful with these items:
- Alcohol dehydrates the skin and accelerates its aging;
- Sugar and sweets are associated with loss of firmness and early wrinkles;
- Overly salty food retains water and causes puffiness;
- Fatty food increases inflammation and skin oiliness;
- Fried food adds extra strain and risk of breakouts.
Nobody is calling for completely eliminating all of this from your life. But if your skin has become dull, puffy, or problematic, it makes sense to take an honest look at your diet, because often the cause lies right there.
This viral list is a good reason to remember a simple thing: the face reflects what we eat and drink day after day. And even though this is the opinion of one dermatologist rather than a large-scale study, the mechanisms described have long been known. So sometimes the most accessible skincare isn’t a new jar of cream, but a little less alcohol, sugar, and salt in your everyday menu.
