5 Eating Habits That Are Aging You

Ali Wentworth

Everyone knows that poor eating habits are bad for your waistline, but you might not be aware of the aging effect of making bad food choices. Elisa Zied is the author of "Younger Next Week," and she stopped by the "Daily Shot" to share the top five bad habits that can make us feel and look older.

1. Overeating: Eating too much shortens your body's telomeres — the very tips of your DNA. "When you overeat ... you're actually harming your cells and you're speeding up the aging process and reducing your lifespan," Elisa says.

WATCH: Five Powerful Age-Defying Foods

2. Dieting: "Dieting basically sets you up for failure," Elisa says. "When you're restricting foods and food groups, when you're not giving your body the nutrients it needs, it sets you up ... for nutritional deficiencies." Losing too much weight too quickly can also lead to bitemporal wasting — the thinning of soft tissue over the temples. "Dieting is just not the way to do it," Elisa says. "It's about eating a lot of healthy foods and getting appropriate portions and exercising to create a deficit."

3. Nighttime eating: Eating too late at night can make for a less-than-restful sleep. "During sleep is when your skin cells and all your body cells regenerate and rebuild," Elisa explains. "You're setting yourself up to wake up and look groggy, look tired, feel just not like yourself."

WATCH: Seven Ways to Get on Track to Better Health

4. Skipping Meals: "Skipping meals just sets you up for failure ... especially when you skip breakfast," Elisa says. The low blood sugar resulting from a missed meal means that you'll have less energy to get you through the day.

5. Caffeine Overload: Make sure you consume all of your caffeine before noon or 2 o'clock at the latest. "If you're overdosing and you're drinking all day, it can dehydrate you and it could also interrupt your sleep," Elisa says. "That's going to affect your cortisone levels ... and it's going to have all these other metabolic complications."