Eating greasy foods or chocolate will cause you acne breakouts!
How many of us have heard this while growing up? While it is true that our diet can affect what happens to your skin, the response to such foods can vary person to person and our reaction goes as far as trying to treat our acne breakout by trying DIY recipes or products found in our cabinets from websites and Vloggers. As much and as bad as we want to rid these hideous breakouts because it does affect our self-esteem, it’s best to begin looking at what you are eating as a starting point. Because believe it or not, certain foods can help reduce acne symptoms (i.e. increased sebum production).
The following foods are ones you should avoid and they are dairy, refine sugars, whey protein and Omega-6’s.
Dairy – There have been many studies done finding the correlation of dairy consumption and acne breakouts, much of it has to do with the milk that come from cows that are given bovine growth hormones.2
Refine Sugars – Also known as high glycemic – simple sugars are known culprits found in foods such as candy, chips, pastry, sodas, and white breads (sigh) these are known to cause the rapid rise in blood sugar which increases insulin, as well as causing the oil glands to overproduce thus increasing your risk of getting acne.
Whey Protein – This type of ingredient can be found in items and used as a dietary supplement i.e. shakes. This ingredient is known to trigger acne growth because like refine sugars, it over produces the production of insulin. It contains insulin-like growth factor known as IGF-1 (along with other daily products), this has been reported to be linked to cause increase oil production = acne breakouts.
Omega-6’s – Can be found in fast foods, vegetable seed oils, shortening and margarine for example. Omega-6’s do help lower the bad cholesterol but as Westerners, our diet shows an imbalance in consumption leading to inflammation seen especially in the skin. You best bet is to consume more Omega-3’s and less Omega-6’s if you cannot avoid this item totally.
Try to offset the above foods to with foods that are low in glycemic department such as berries that are full of antioxidants to ward off the free radicals that wreck havoc on your skin, eat more veggies such as green leafy vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes all which are high in Vitamin A. Add zinc which has been know as one of the minerals that many acne suffers lack in their diets as well as turmeric which aide in reducing inflammation. As mentioned above add foods rich in Omega-3′s, this type of oil is great not only for brain health but help keeping your skin healthy from the inside, as well as reduce inflammation, acne symptoms, scarring and marks. Lastly, try eating more foods such as whole grains, unprocessed foods (veggies/fruits in their natural state), pasteurized eggs, grass-fed meat, fish, nuts, flaxseeds, and legumes (i.e. complex carbs).
Remember, what your put on the inside of your body is reflected on the outside! If you have any skin questions feel free to contact me: skinbyregina@outlook.com
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Try this recipe to help fight acne!! Strawberry Pistachio Summer Salad (From InMyBowl.com)
References: https://www.wakehealth.edu/Stories/Common-Myths-About-Acne https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322639.php https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4106357/ https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-that-cause-acne#section2 https://www.healthline.com/health/anti-acne-diet#how-diet-affects-the-skin https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/10-skin-friendly-foods-that-can-cure-acne/articleshow/68496800.cms http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/hypertrophy.html