Advanced glycation end products: the glycation process, health effects, and low AGEs diet.

AGEs is short for advanced glycation end products which is kind of an ominous warning because that's exactly what they'll do to your body.  AGEs will age you! 

The more technical term for advanced glycation end products or AGEs is "glycotoxins" because they are very harmful to the human body. 

Sadly, these harmful compounds will be found in some of your favorite foods and will usually increase as the flavor of your food increases!

Don't worry, you'll learn how to win the battle against AGEs!

The glycation process: creates harmful compounds!

AGEs are the result or end products of the glycation process.  Basically, glycation happens when sugar binds to proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) without an enzyme to control the binding.

In the cooking world, this is called the Maillard or browning reaction.

The glycation process is what turns your very expensive Thanksgiving turkey to a brown color.

Shockingly, that's exactly what can happen to the proteins inside your body.  Glycation doesn't just happen to your food - it can also happen internally!

Glycation will result in the formation of damaged protein structures!  This is a big problem for your collagen and elastin which results in wrinkles or aged looking skin.

High levels of AGEs are known to cause oxidative stress and inflammation!

Something to ponder:  glycation of cellular and extracellular proteins will produce a loss of function or an acquisition of a new pathogenic function.  Could AGEs be part of what creates zombie cells?  Hmmmm............

Advanced glycation end products may be in your favorite foods!

A significant amount of advanced glycation end products or AGEs will come from the foods you ingest everyday!

Fast Foods

Highly Processed Foods

Frankfurters

Bologna

Pizza

Roasted Nuts and Seeds

Peanut Butter

Cashews

Baked Goods

Yorkshire Pudding

Sugary Baked Desserts

Philadelphia Cream Cheese

American Cheese

Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese

Pan Fried Bacon

Pan Fried Eggs & Meats

Microwaved Sausage

Air Fried Meats

Deep Fried Foods

Broiled Steaks

Broiled Seafood

Roasted Meats

Barbecued Meats

Charred Meats

Grilled Meats

Browned Foods

Toasted Foods

Dark Chocolate

Sauteed Foods

Cooking your foods using high heat and without any water or other liquids will cause sugars to bind non-enzymatically with proteins or fats to form AGEs or glycotoxins. 

AGEs can also be produced from the oxidation of proteins and fats!

Foods high in protein and fat as well as foods high in sugar that are cooked, heated, or processed at high temperatures will be loaded with AGEs!

Advanced glycation end products can be produced internally!

As you've just seen, the foods that you consume can be loaded with advanced glycation end products or AGEs!

Did you know that high blood sugar will increase the formation of AGEs in your body?

In other words, your body can undergo glycation with the sugars that are left in your bloodstream to produce even more AGEs internally!

Consuming too many carbohydrates increase advanced glycation end products!

In general, when you consume too much sugar or carbohydrates, the glycation process that occurs in your body creates proteins that will be cross linked and barely functional.

Glycation of your cellular proteins will produce a change in its structure and loss of enzymatic activity!

When a protein is bound to a carbohydrate and its structure gets altered to the point that enzymes can no longer break it down - these altered proteins start building up in your body! 

These altered proteins will accumulate all over your body along with free radicals and inflammation.

Just so you know, fructose which is very abundant in fruit and galactose which is found in milk will undergo glycation at about 10 times the rate as glucose - Yikes!

Raw pineapple is a tasty tropical fruit which is rich in digestive enzymes. 

In particular, it contains a group of digestive enzymes known as bromelain.

Bromelain enzymes can break down proteins into amino acids and also has anti-inflammatory properties.

Whenever you consume foods that contain fructose or galactose, these foods should also come with enzymes like with raw milk or raw tropical fruits.

What other factors increase AGEs internally?

I think most people are unaware that too much fat in your blood will also increase AGEs.

One of the ketone bodies (acetone) that's formed when you go on a low carb diet can under certain conditions increase advanced glycation end products.

It's been reported that acetoacetic acid which is a type of ketone body will promote the production of reactive oxygen species and involves protein glycation to produce N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)lysine, one of the advanced glycation end products.

Advanced glycation end products can also be produced in your body from cigarette smoking or dehydration. 

Oxidative stress (radiation, alcohol, medications, drugs, environmental pollution, etc.) which creates free radicals and the decline of antioxidants like glutathione will also increase the formation of advanced glycation end products internally.

AGEs related health effects: do you have any of these health problems?

Be aware AGEs have been implicated in many age related health problems which includes inflammation and joint problems.

AGEs can stimulate the AGE receptor known as RAGE which may activate an inflammatory response.

AGEs can accumulate in your joints and in other skeletal tissues which will create mobility problems.

Advanced glycation end products: can your body get rid of these glycotoxins?

Unfortunately, your body will not be able to metabolize or get rid of AGEs very easily!

Your body deals with advanced glycation end products or AGEs very slowly.  Therefore, prevention will be your best strategy which is not accumulating more glycotoxins than your body can handle.

The half life of AGEs is about double the life of an average body cell.

This means that damage will last for quite some time especially to your nerve cells, brain cells, collagen proteins, arteries, organs, and DNA.

Unfortunately, AGEs are highly resistant to protein renewal that is needed to maintain the healthy tone of body tissues and organs. 

Your body's ability to remove AGEs through excretion by your kidneys may be limited!  Probably only 1/4 to 1/3 of the consumed AGEs will be able to be eliminated in your urine - at best.

Although, your body may have the ability to remove AGEs through antioxidant and enzymatic actions.

However, that would depend on if you consume enzyme and antioxidant rich foods.

Also, research appears to show that intermittent fasting may help with the fight against the accumulation of advanced glycation end products in your body.

Although, I'm not a big fan of constantly fasting - as in daily.

Low AGEs diet: calculating consumption of AGEs, cooking tips, and lifestyle tips.

Going on a low AGEs diet should improve your health and lower your risk of advanced glycation end products related health problems or diseases. 

Lowering the amount of AGEs by being conscious of the amount that you are consuming will greatly help with premature aging.

Did you know the average AGEs consumption in New York may be somewhere around 15,000 kilounits per day? 

That number is considered to be a relatively high AGEs diet.  Therefore, a diet significantly below 15,000 kilounits per day would be considered a low AGEs diet.

How many AGEs do you consume daily?

Use this tool to calculate how many AGEs you are consuming each day.  Be sure to scroll down on the page to search the database of foods. 

If this tool doesn't provide an amount, please don't think it's zero.

Did you know that a 3 oz. portion of grilled chicken will give you over 5,000 kilounits of AGEs?

Did you also know that a 3 oz. portion of broiled steak will give you over 6,000 kilounits of AGEs?

Cooking tips for a low AGEs diet.

Always remember, cooking by dry heat may increase the amount of AGEs in raw foods by 10 to 100 times! 

Dry heat cooking methods include grilling, barbecuing, roasting, pan frying, broiling, searing, sauteing, stir frying, deep frying, baking, and sweating.

Try these methods instead..................

Remember, water helps to prevent sugars from binding to the protein and fat molecules in foods. 

Using acid-based marinades that contain vinegar, tomato juice, lemons, or other citrus juices will cut down on the amount of AGEs (up to 50%) when cooking your foods in the oven or grilling.

Studies show that certain antioxidants can inhibit the formation of advanced glycation end products. 

Spices such as Jamaican allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and apple pie spice seem to provide a lot of protection against AGEs. 

Herbs like oregano, rosemary, and turmeric also offer protection against AGEs, but to a lesser degree than previously mentioned spices.

Lifestyle tips for a low AGEs diet.

Consume rare meats rather than well-done meats to cut down on AGEs.

Consume raw meat dishes like steak tartare.  Raw meats are significanly lower in AGEs.

Or raw seafood like sushi will help you to avoid consuming too many AGEs.

Switch to raw dairy products (especially raw butter and cream cheese) to cut down on AGEs.

Eat your eggs raw like "Rocky" to reduce advanced glycation end products.

Scrambled eggs will be lower in AGEs than fried eggs.

Or, try soft boiled or poached eggs to lower AGEs.

Lower your intake of sugar and high glycemic foods.  I recommend you stick to a low glycemic diet to lower the amount of AGEs created in your body.

Please be aware that a diet that's full of nutreint dense foods can be altered by the way you cook or process your foods. 

If I cook my steak, it's always rare!

If your not careful, you could end up with an unhealthy amount of AGEs which is not healthy!

Raw animal and seafood will be much lower in AGEs!

Remember that raw animal foods and seafood will contain life giving enzymes as well as the master antioxidant called glutathione. 

More lifestyle tips to lower AGEs.

Drinking antioxidant teas like yerba mate tea with your cooked meals may actually help to reduce the formation of AGEs.

We drank this tea on one of the farms that we stayed at for a few months because they had a yerba mate factory. 

They came up with so many different and very tasty concoctions that involved this tea. 

My favorite was yerba mate lemonade with raw honey - it was delicious!  I wouldn't make a habit of doing this because it could interfere with the digestion of protein.

Please remember a sedentary lifestyle (coach potato, etc.) will promote the formation of advanced glycation end products.

And a more active lifestyle with enough sleep to recover will help to reduce the formation of advanced glycation end products in your body.