The science of glycation - How bubble tea is ruining your skin.

We love our guilty pleasures - cakes and desserts, or if you're Asian, bubble tea.

But you might have heard of a buzz word in the skincare world known as glycation.

What is it? And is glycation real?

Here's how it works:

When you eat sweet foods, the sugar molecules attach themselves onto fats and proteins within your body and form Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs).

These AGEs damage your protein fibers by making them stiff and damaged. 

And if you recall in our previous article, collagen is a protein. So is elastin. In fact, these 2 happen to be the proteins that are most susceptible to glycation damage. 

As if that wasn't enough bad news, the glycation process also generates free radicals.

When the level of free radicals overwhelm our body's supply of antioxidants, we end up with oxidative stress - the precursor to skin aging. 

In fact, if you observe the skin of individuals who smoke or are regularly exposed to cigarette smoke, you'll notice that they often have a dull yellow tinge. This is because cigarette smoke generates a lot of free radicals and our bodies have to utilise large amounts of antioxidants to fight them, leaving us little left to fight the free radicals generated from glycation.

Over time, the accumulated damage from glycation and oxidative stress begin to show up as wrinkles, sagginess, and dull skin. This is accelerated by the time we're 30, a time where our collagen supplies dwindle rapidly.