Just as the word “glycosylation” will destroy your opponent in Scrabble, the process of Glycosylation destroys your body’s youthfulness from the skin right down to the arteries! At the skin level the glycosylation of collagen causes your skin to become less elastic resulting in increased wrinkles and skin stiffness. But that is just the obvious surface damage! Other changes are occurring deep inside the body at a molecular level!

Glycosylation happens when sugar molecules (glucose) circulating in the blood attach to protein molecules, reducing their effectiveness and contributing to inflammation. This entire process happens more easily and more quickly the older we get. Glucose itself is needed by the body as it gives our cells the energy required to function. Insulin is what moves the glucose out of our blood and into our cells where it is can be used. When we develop insulin resistance (Type 2 diabetes or being overweight) the insulin can’t get all the glucose into our cells, so it circulates in our blood, and damages the proteins in our body.

How does this glucose cause damage? It attaches onto another molecule on the outside of the cell, and interferes with the function of that cell. Imagine that you have your hands full and someone hands you something that you really want and need…but you can’t accept this item because your hands are already full. With glycosylation the receptors on the outside of your cell are occupied with the glucose molecules therefore the cell itself cannot do its job properly. When glucose attaches to protein molecules, these modified proteins are called Advanced Glycosylation End Products (AGE…an appropriate acronym don’t you think?). AGE’s are a key cause to cellular aging and dysfunction!

Of course the damage caused by glycosylation is much more than skin deep! It occurs in a variety of locations in the body:

a) The blood: The cells in the walls of your blood vessels are normally tight together. Glycosylation weakens the bonds between the cells making the wall leaky and vulnerable to tears. This damage is repaired by the body with cholesterol plugs, resulting in plaque in the arterial walls.

b) The eye: Glucose attached to the proteins in the lens of your eye, makes the lens more cloudy leading to cataracts. If the glucose attaches to the proteins in the blood vessels at the back of the eye, it makes them leaky. When bleeding occurs it is called diabetic neuropathy, a leading cause of blindness

c) Connective Tissues: Glucose attached to collagen in your connective tissue, leads to less elasticity, and interferes with the smooth function of your joints. This can lead to impaired joint movement and even arthritis.

d) The lungs: Glucose attached to collagen reduces the elasticity of lung tissue….when we breathe in, our lungs need to expand or stretch, and when we exhale the lung tissue needs to recoil to help expel the air. Loss of this elasticity results in difficulty in getting air in and out of your lungs. Eventually with enough long term damage you may end up with respiratory failure.

e) Blood Pressure: there is an automatic system in your body that regulates your blood pressure. Too much blood sugar destroys this auto-regulation system putting more stress on your artery walls (which remember, have also been weakened by excess glucose)

f) Nerves: Glucose inside your nerve cells, results in the nerve itself expanding, but the sheath around the nerve stays the same…like after eating that large Thanksgiving meal and having to undo the top button on your now uncomfortably tight jeans! Over time this causes damage to the nerves resulting in peripheral neuropathy, where the sensation is diminished most commonly in the feet.

g) Skin: Glucose attached to the protein molecules in the skin results in reduced elasticity, that more “stiff” appearance of the skin as we age. The cross linking of the collagen fibers also contributes to the formation of fine lines and deeper wrinkles.

Increased blood sugar happens when we indulge in sweets such as candy and deserts, but it also occurs when we consume simple carbohydrates such as breads, pastas, white potatoes etc. Ideally we should eat only low glycemic index foods. Visit http://www.glycemicindex.com to learn more.

So the next time you reach for that sweet treat, think about whether the brief enjoyment of that item, is worth the development or deepening of a wrinkle, or the accelerated aging of your precious cells and organs! Walk away from that food. Save your skin, and starve a wrinkle!

 Part #1 STRESS

In the past decade, we have seen a huge explosion of  surgical and non surgical facial techniques that improve the quality, tone and color of aging skin.  Now I have a particular interest in this area (may have something to do with my aging), and have I been asked many times, can I and how do we stop, or turn back the clock. First off, aging skin is a multi dimensional problem. 

The first topic I would like to discuss in this milti dimensional problem is STRESS. (watch for more to come)  Now we all know someone, who, after a traumatic experience (i.e.: someone, dies, divorce, is ill, in pain, does drugs, is jailed, and the list goes on, and we see the change in them (or yourself).  You have heard the words, “wow, they aged 10 years overnight”   Too true. 

Stress for  a lot of us is “a normal way of life”     

A lecturer once explained stress management to an audience, he raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?”  Answers called out, ranged from 20g to 500g. (or ounces, depending where you live)   The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.”  “If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm.  If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

Stress is universal.  It is universal across time and across cultures. Change, especially rapid change, produces stress. Constant change is stressful. The universality of stress indicates it has a biological basis. Research has shown that there is a hormonal stress response. This hormonal stress response links the Central Nervous System to the Immune System. It is when you are exposed to many stressors one right after the other or chronic stress that you are likely to get sick.

Chronic stress leads to an imbalance of the Autonomic Nervous System, the involuntary nervous system that controls the major functions of the body. This Autonomic nervous system imbalance, leads to chemical imbalances that result in a weakened immune system, thin skin, weaker bones, abnormal insulin metabolism, (means that your clothing suddenly shrinks without you knowing why, especially around the waist) fluid retention, (no it’s not that time of the month)   easy bruising, and a tendency towards depression (or for some, angry outbursts, even when your husband or wife, has not done something wrong).

In a stressful life, this scenario is often coupled with poor nutrition, impaired digestion, and poor assimilation of nutrients.

This can change, and change it must, for your own wellbeing, and for your own youth full looks.  You can join a gym, take long walks, run, jog, chase the dog (exercise burns the stress chemicals you produce)   Take a long bath with your favorite book (or whatever), 

Don’t spend so much time on the computer (yes dear) Get more sleep; eat more nutritional foods (snack on veggies not chips??)  Take up yoga, karate, belly dancing, painting, sculpture, and (expand your horizons) Remember stress can be your friend, such as when you have to get your income tax in on time (crap!!!)  but it can be very harmful to your  body and your good and youthful looks. Decrease stress = looking younger.

 Next, I am going to tackle why nutrition (food, how can food make me look younger? And you won’t believe it. ) changes everything (dang you look good) If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me of write your own comments.

1) Reduce stress levels: Researchers demonstrated that  the combination of meditation, walking and a change in diet, lengthened telomeres

2)  Eat a healthy diet of whole foods: Telomeres were longest in people eating Vitamin C (citrus, strawberries, red peppers) and Vitamin E (whole grains)  rich foods. Combine that with wild salmon, a high quality fish oil supplement, olive oil and green tea and you have a winning combination! Hong Kong researchers found the longest telomeres in men who drank three cups of green tea per day

3) Exercise regularly: sedentary people have shorter telomeres, to the tune of aging someone an extra decade!  

4) Oh yes, and quit smoking (2 packs a day x 20 years aged participants by an additional 7.4 years).

Perceived age as clinically useful biomarker of ageing: cohort study

The three biggest challenges to making positive changes in your life are motivation, cost and speed of results. The biggest challenge is usually motivation.  People know what they need to do to lose weight, lower their cholesterol etc. but they lack the motivation to make those changes.  Vanity is one of the most powerful motivating forces I have come across in my entire 30 year health care career. Prove to someone that making a lifestyle change will prevent or reverse a wrinkle and they are enthusiastically on board with the program.

Another challenge to health enhancement is the cost.  I have witnessed people who can afford the money to make lifestyle changes to improve their health, but they do not value this as a priority, so make the claim “they can’t afford it”. But they can afford beauty products or procedures that will enhance their looks! Why? Because they value this more than they value enhancing their health!

In this age of instant gratification we all want results fast! We do not want to wait to see a difference. Provide change in a short period of time and you capture attention!

Imagine if there was a protocol that produces results quickly (within 60 minutes), is affordable, involves no tissue damage AND enhances health? We have developed a protocol that enhances your looks, with results that rival Botox and collagen fillers, AND enhances your overall health as well!  Interested in learning more about this cutting edge protocol?  View this short video www.bit.ly/secondchanceintro

Did you know the signs of aging can be reversed with nutrition alone?  Eat all the right things, and none of the wrong things and you will see a difference in your face in 4 days! We have developed a 4 Day Nutritional Face Lift that we are happy to share with you. Drop us an email secondchanceface@gmail.com and we will forward you a copy. Be sure to take a photo of your face before and after your 4 Day Nutritional Face Lift as the differences you will see are significant!

So let’s embrace vanity as a positive force that you can harness to provide powerful motivation to enhance your looks and your health.