What is AGE?
You wake up on a Saturday morning and if no one has done it for you yet, you put on the coffee, pop some bread in the toaster and you might even caramelize bacon or onion and add to your egg and toast. Or if you prefer, maybe make pancakes and burn some butter on top. I bet thinking so much about food makes your mouth water. Hopefully after reading this you will think twice before putting the bacon in the pan instead of grabbing some fruits.
Let’s get to AGEs
The introduction of fire in food preparation brought changes into humans’ life. In several ways, eating became safer and offered a higher variety of foods for consumption. Later down the road, more modern versions of heat treatment entered the kitchens such as baking, caramelizing, grilling, roasting and deep-frying. These methods alter the taste and texture of food, which is attributed to the Maillard reaction. During this process, due to the heating of proteins and in the presence of sugars, a yellow-brown colour develops. It can also happen naturally in foods, but this preparation can drastically change the organic levels. AGE stands for advanced glycation end products, which are produced in the last stages of Maillard reaction. They are not only found in food, but also produced in our bodies naturally, or even tobacco is a source of them. The extrinsic ones contribute much more to the AGE pool in our bodies than what’s produced within.
AGE’s are a group of compounds that can be found both in processed and unprocessed foods, and they are accumulating in the body. If you had milk formula as a kid you received higher levels of AGEs than someone who was breastfed, since formulas are made at high temperatures. And hopefully during lactation your mother didn’t have a diet with a lot of these AGEs as they can pass it to the infants through lactation. When you were a small kid, surely you got some cookies as a treat, right? Well, all those biscuits and chips are one of the highest sources of these harmful compounds, because they all use dry heat technology. Sadly, modern diet is way too high in AGEs. It of course has a huge impact on our health.
They are gathering secretly
Collagen is a protein abundant in the skin, but with AGEs messing around, the skin can lose its elasticity and cause wrinkles, so it makes you AGE! The same compound, collagen, is an important marker of diabetes and high levels of it are associated with other metabolic diseases as well, such as acute renal failure, dental health, allergies, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). We are not done here yet, they can do more. Mimicking hormones are one of their powers as well. This, and their ability to influence hormone receptors, are the sources of hormone production in women that can moreover cause infertility. Due to the change in proteins it can affect the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and their amount can be tracked in the brain. Other proteins participate in the functioning of vessels and organs, which therefore can cause or worsen several diseases.
There is so much more to learn about these influential chemicals and you can also read more about them in the Do’s and donuts. It is really annoying that they have been accumulating in your body in your whole life and you didn’t even know about them, right? Unfortunately you can’t erase the past, but you can decide what you will have for breakfast tomorrow!
