Moving through Midlife | Helping Midlife Women Move Better and Feel Better

157 | Reversing the Clock: How Cutting 10 Grams of Sugar Can Transform Your Skin and Health

• Courtney McManus

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Can cutting just 10 grams of added sugar from your daily diet really reverse the biological clock? On this episode of Moving Through Midlife, we explore groundbreaking research from UC San Francisco that suggests it can, particularly for your skin health. Discover how even small changes in your sugar intake can lead to significant improvements in your biological age. We'll unpack the fascinating findings from a study involving diverse women and their epigenetic clocks, and learn why natural sugars in fruits and vegetables are the heroes your skin has been waiting for. The Mediterranean diet also takes the spotlight as a powerful tool for lowering epigenetic age and promoting not just better skin, but overall health.

Beyond the scope of glowing skin, this episode dives into the broader benefits of maintaining a nutritious diet, emphasizing the reduction of chronic disease risks. We share actionable tips to help you cut down on added sugars and boost your intake of nutrient-rich foods. For listeners who need extra support, the Moving Through Midlife community is here to guide you with coaching, ideas, and programs like Move Better, Feel Better. Let’s work together to embrace midlife and aging with confidence and health. If you find value in this episode, share it with a friend or leave a review. Join us at movingthroughmidlife.com to become part of our community and learn how we can support your journey.

Article about the Study: Healthy Diet with Less Sugar Is Linked to Younger Biological Age | UC San Francisco (ucsf.edu)

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Courtney:

Welcome to Moving Through Midlife. I am your host, courtney, a personal trainer and movement specialist who wants to help you move through midlife with more grace. Each week, we will discuss ways we can show up better for ourselves and our children without the burnout, children without the burnout. We will focus on overall health through habit stacking to help increase energy, provide movement snacks to help you move more throughout the day, while also moving your body more, and learn from professionals on moving through midlife with ease so that you can feel confident with aging. Gracefully, grab your earbuds and join me on a leisurely walk while we discuss moving through midlife. Last week, I shared with you a podcast that spoke about things that you can do to help with the aging process, and one thing that was mentioned was our skin health. And one thing that was mentioned was our skin health, and that is, for me, one of the biggest things that I noticed, and it was right around that 44, 45-year-old mark that I didn't really notice how I was aging until one day I just looked in the mirror and I was like, oh my goodness, things have changed Now for me. I thought it was because I was so busy living my life with little ones that I wasn't paying attention to myself at all, and I do think that that had something to do with it. But after reading the article, I do think that some of it is just this drastic change that occurs at that age. So that was one reason I wanted to bring that study to you. But when we talk about the skin, there was another study that I read that had to do with what we're eating and how it affects our skin aging Not only the appearance of us aging, but our epigenetic aging as well. So what is, if you've heard of like that biological clock that kind of determines what you're aging, not just what you're aging in real time, but what you appear to be aging in regard to epigenetics? So that was the study that I looked at, and this was a research study out of UC San Francisco and it links that the less sugar you eat, the younger your biological age appears.

Courtney:

Basically, what they did, was they took let me find it 342 black and white women, which I think is very good. I always wish that they would even go further with this by taking, you know, all different ethnicities, but I do like that they didn't focus on just one, because I think a lot of us will tend to think that, oh, based on their genetics they age differently, and so to be able to see different ethnicities just these two at the time it can kind of give us a broader look at how we're aging and how it's not just our genetics that are aging us. So basically what they did is they took these individuals there were 342 black and white women with a mean age of 39 years old, again in California. I don't know what it is, I guess there's a lot of research that comes out of that area, but thankful for that and they compared their diets with an epigenetic clock. So basically they're looking at the nutrients, the anti-inflammatory foods that people eat and creating like a biological clock based on that. What they have found with those different foods is it lowers your risk for chronic disease. So they're looking at that.

Courtney:

And then they're also looking at sugar intake separately. So they've taken these individuals and, depending on so, some people may not eat a healthy diet and then consumed a lot of sugar. And then they looked at other people who did eat a very healthy diet but still consume sugar. So they were trying to assess is the sugar what is increasing biological age, or is it just the unhealthy foods. That's increasing biological age, and what they basically found through this study was that those people that ate healthy, the younger their cells looked, but for each gram of added sugar they consumed, it was an increase in their epigenetic aids. Yeah, disappointing, huh. That's how I felt when I read the study. So, and they do say that by eliminating just 10 grams of added sugar per day is akin to turning back the biological clock by 2.4 months if it's sustained over time.

Courtney:

So just to make sure that you understand two things One is that this was in regard to additional sugar. This is not your fruits, your vegetables, your dairy products that have natural sugars in it. They were looking at additional sugars. I think it's important to note that a lot of these natural sugars that we have in our fruits also contain fiber. They also contain a lot of antioxidants, phytonutrients and the good things that our body needs. So we need to make sure that that is noted, because I know that for some of us who are following certain individuals, we may hear you need to eat low sugar fruits and things like that, and that is not something I think we need to be concerned about.

Courtney:

I truly think that for almost 100% of us, maybe 98% of us, we can manage. We can live a healthy life eating all fruits and vegetables. There are some cases where that might be a situation or an issue, or for those that are trying to really fine-tune, maybe certain things for competitions and athletes and things like that. So that was one that it wasn't talking about added sugars. The other thing is that the Food and Drug Administration says that we can eat. You know, it is recommended for women to not eat any more than 50 grams of added sugar a day. The other thing that they mention in this article is the diet that they had these women on and depending on you know so, for some of them they were on diets that were lowering chronic disease, and they mentioned that adherence to any of the diets that they recommended was significantly associated with lower epigenetic age, but the one that provided the most or the least age was the Mediterranean diet. So if you are interested in keeping that youthful look and want to ensure that you are aging gracefully, not only with your movement but say, with your skin health, then we need to look at the sugar intake and what foods you are eating.

Courtney:

Let's conquer the sugar first, what I would recommend you do when it comes to sugar is I would just keep a food journal or it doesn't even have to be a food journal throughout the day. All you're doing is looking at where am I adding sugar in my life? Now, it will mean that if you're eating packaged foods, you might want to look at the sugar within them. So always remember this is added sugar, so don't worry about your fruit or anything like that. All you're going to do is you are going to write down how many grams of sugar you are eating in a day. Now, if you're adding sugar to something, I want to make sure that you understand that one teaspoon of sugar is about four grams, so you can convert that as well and you're looking to see how much sugar are you eating in a day Added sugar Now.

Courtney:

If it's over 50 grams, then obviously there is work to be done. If it's over 50 grams, then obviously there is work to be done. But don't try to go hog wild and eliminate everything. That is where we make this huge mistake when we're trying to be healthier and I'm using that with air quotes because you know what really is healthier but if you're looking to decrease your sugar intake, don't say I'm not going to eat sugar for the next 30 days, because one thing that you can guarantee is, if you say you're not going to do it, you are going to want it more than anything that is going to consume you. So I always want to think what is a simple way that I can do this? And I'm just once you've kind of assessed on.

Courtney:

You know, for on an average day, if you've taken three or four days worth of journaling to determine what you're eating and you find that okay, on average I'm eating between 50 and 60 grams of sugar and I don't want to eat that much sugar in a day. I think I could go down to 30. So then start just working your way towards that, and you're going to look for what are the easy things that you can take out of your diet that are high in sugar, and I would say so. Any type of drinks that have added sugars are usually the easiest to get rid of and it's a lot of bang for your buck, so to speak, because if you're drinking, especially if you're drinking sodas, that is a ton of sugar that you can work on decreasing. So that's where I would start is just look at is there anything within my day that I can get rid of that's going to decrease my sugar? Does it mean I have to get rid of the ketchup and the barbecue sauce and all of those things? No, there probably is an area where you're having some added sugar that isn't necessary.

Courtney:

I also want to make sure that I'm very clear when I say this. I also want to make sure that I'm very clear when I say this. This does not mean that you can't enjoy a cupcake or a special treat on your birthday. I want you to look at your life as you know what you do 80% of the time and there are outliers. There are going to be those 20% days where you do celebrate and you do have certain things that you get to enjoy and appreciate. But what has happened to us over time is we spend 80% of the time celebrating and splurging and only 20% of the time eating healthy. So we've got to go back around and learn to really appreciate those special times and enjoy those treats for special occasions and maybe not have those specialty drinks every morning on the way to work, right Like for me and I'm not saying that I do things perfectly, trust me.

Courtney:

I've already said I like sugar. This is, you know, this is an area that I'm going to have to work For me. What I do try to do is I do not buy cookies, I do not buy treats, I do not buy cakes, I do not buy muffins. If I want those things, then I am making them. I'm baking cookies, I'm baking muffins. The problem is I like to bake, so therefore there's usually some kind of treat in the house. But my point being is that if you are going to say, go and get a seasonal drink from your local coffee shop from your local coffee shop, maybe, instead of having one every morning, maybe you create a special day where you go and you get to enjoy that new seasonal drink. And that's kind of what I do is I create a day out of it where we might my daughter and I will go enjoy one and go to the bookstore, and it becomes a real special occasion that we can celebrate together rather than getting it on the daily.

Courtney:

Okay, so basically, what you're doing is you're looking at your sugar intake over the next few days, you're assessing how many extra or added sugar you are getting, and then you're going to work backwards. And again, please don't do anything major. If you're having 100 grams of sugar a day, don't freak out. You don't have to drop 50 right away. Just start slowly. Where are my easy grams of sugar? I can get rid of what you know. Maybe I drink three sodas a day. I'm going to take two sodas out and I'm only going to have one a day. It'll be a special treat, or you know. That's how you need to look at it.

Courtney:

The other thing we're going to focus on is eating more of a Mediterranean style diet, and this is going to be lots of phytonutrients, lots of antioxidants within our fruits and our vegetables. We want to make sure that we're getting seeds and healthy fats in our diet, and nuts, nuts and remember this is all in the name of healthy, young in. So we want to eat more, consume more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, heart-healthy fats they love olive oil, olives, avocados and avocado oil. Those are going to be those healthy fats. You can work on getting lots of vegetables tomatoes, broccoli, kale, spinach, onions, cauliflower, carrots, brussel sprouts, pretty much anything that you want to enjoy vegetable-wise. Go for it. Your fruits remember we're not worrying about natural sugars. You can have whatever fruits you want apples, bananas, oranges, pears, strawberries remember, we're not worrying about natural sugars. You can have whatever fruits you want Apples, bananas, oranges, pears, strawberries, grapes, dates, prunes, figs All of that is great.

Courtney:

If you decide you want to make muffins or things like that, think about how you can change the added sugar by maybe using bananas and apples and dates to sweeten those muffins rather than using the added sugar. And again, this is not always. I'm just. These are things that you can think about trying and seeing if they work for you, that you can think about trying and seeing if they work for you. So for nuts, seeds and nut butters, there's tons of different nut butters you can enjoy Almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts. Don't forget the Brazil nuts for your selenium. Those are great Legumes you're wanting beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, whole grains.

Courtney:

Think more of your buckwheat, your farro, your quinoa barley, brown rice, oats. All of those are great those and then your dairy, your cheese, your yogurts and milk. If you can handle it, that is perfectly fine. Pay attention to yogurts and your milks to make sure there's not a lot of added sugar. Usually, yogurts can come with a lot of added sugar and a lot of added ingredients that honestly, I think are unnecessary.

Courtney:

There was one yogurt that I enjoyed and I noticed I started having a stomachache after eating it and I was like what is in there? I went back and I saw that there was cornstarch in it. Now, if you know I deal with a corn allergy, I would have never thought they would have put cornstarch in it. Now, if you know I deal with a corn allergy, I would have never thought they would have put cornstarch in yogurt. So pay attention to ingredient labels as well, and that is going to help you.

Courtney:

Again, this is not only just for skin health, if you have heard everything that they're talking about. This is for overall health. This is not only your biological health, the health of the skin but your overall health in regards to chronic disease. You're decreasing that risk of chronic disease when you increase your healthy food intake. So hopefully this has given you some actionable steps to help you decrease your sugar intake.

Courtney:

And if you struggle, join me over in the Moving Through Midlife community. I will commiserate with you. If nothing else, no, I'll try to give you some ideas. If you have favorite meals or things, or if you're really struggling, let me know where you are struggling and I'm happy to try to help give you some ideas on things you can do to change that. And always remember that you can head to movingthroughmidlifecom and pay attention to how you can work with me.

Courtney:

I offer community, I offer one-on-one sessions and I offer the Move Better, feel Better program that you can join for a little bit more opportunities to work with me and get some coaching. So again, I hope you all have a wonderful day and make sure to keep moving. A wonderful day and make sure to keep moving. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found something to take away to help you practice healthier habits, move more or handle the midlife and aging with grace. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review to help us reach more moms just like you Head to movingthroughmidlifecom to join the free community or learn how you can move more and feel better in your daily life.