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Did you know that the foods you eat have just as much of an impact on your skin as the products you put on your face? There are foods that help promote a youthful, clear complexion – like citrus fruits. If you eat a lot of oranges or grapefruits, you boost your collagen levels and help your skin heal and repair itself. But just the opposite is true when it comes to high fat foods that can increase your skin’s oil production and leave you with a greasy texture or even breakouts.
And this doesn’t stop at food – there are even some drinks that can damage your skin.
If you’re a red wine drinker, we’ve got some bad news for you. There is a lot of evidence that links red wine consumption to an increase of wrinkled skin. And this can be made even worse if you tend to drink red wine at night.
Most people wouldn’t expect to hear that red wine is one of the most harmful drinks to skin because it is actually not incredibly unhealthy for your body. While all alcoholic beverages have the potential to cause harm when consumed in large quantities, red wine contains antioxidants that some people believe can be good for you.
Red wine is unfiltered and unfermented, so it can cause red or blotchy skin. Plus, it has a high sugar content that can dry out your skin, which speeds up the formation of wrinkles as you age.
"Alcohol is a vasodilator, meaning it promotes the opening of blood vessels in the skin, which is how it leads to increased redness,” Dr. Sam Bunting explained to Cosmopolitan. “Red wine is one of the worst culprits, as it’s also a histamine releaser which again promotes redness and flushing."
If you can’t give up red wine entirely, try to steer clear of drinking it at night. This way, you can give yourself time to rehydrate yourself and your skin cells before the day is out. And any day you drink a glass or two of red wine, you should be sure to give your skin some extra love. Double cleanse and use an intense moisturizer before bed to keep your skin hydrated and wrinkle-free.
