Warning! Top 5 Acne-Causing Food You Need To Avoid
Seriously, how do you stop your skin from breaking out?
If you’re feeling frustrated about your acne not going away despite all the expensive products you’re using, don’t worry. You’re not alone.
Most acne sufferers actually rely on anti-acne products to end their problems once and for all. But you know what?
That isn’t the solution.
To completely get rid of acne, you have to pay attention to what you’re eating.
Your diet, much like your hygiene and skin care routine, can play a huge role in how your skin behaves.
Now, to help you get started, let’s take a closer look at the top foods to avoid for acne. Ready?
1. Refined Carbohydrates
Bad news:
White rice, white pasta and white bread aren’t only bad for your waist line. They can spell bad news for acne-prone skin, too.
Let me explain.
Refined carbohydrates possess a high glycemic index. It’s the measure of the food’s ability to increase your blood sugar as well as your insulin.
When your body produces too much insulin, it can make your hormones go crazy.
This includes the hormones that can directly affect your skin, like insulin-like growth factor and insulin.
As your hormone levels change, it causes your skin to produce more oil than necessary. This, obviously, causes more acne.
So, what should you do?
Simple.
Choose low glycemic foods as much as possible. This includes complex carbs, like brown rice and whole wheat flour.
2. Sugar
Basically, anything that can cause your blood sugar and insulin should be out of your diet. This includes refine sugar, like cane sugar and corn syrup, which you can mostly find in pastries, jams and deserts.
You can, however, enjoy natural sugars but they should be consumed in moderation.
Natural sugars are present in vegetables and fruits.
A word of caution:
In choosing foods, you should be cautious of food items that claim to be low-sugar. Most of the time, these foods compensate by adding more fat to its ingredients.
3. Fats
Now, why is fat bad for you?
Technically, not all types of fats are bad for you. You just have to be more careful with foods rich in saturated fats.
These fats can increase your body’s cholesterol level which can increase your skin’s inflammation. This causes more oil to be produced.
And you know what happens when there’s too much oil on your skin.
In addition to saturated fats, you should also be careful with trans fat. These fats are closely linked to inflammation and impaired nutrient absorption.
So, which foods should you take out of your diet?
Well, you should be careful with red meats, like sausaeges, bacon and lamb. You can also find saturated fats in cakes, pizzas and pies.
Instead of loading your diet with these foods, go with lean poultry, like turkey and chicken. Eat more foods with healthy fats like olive oil.
4. Dairy products
Drinking milk might sound good for your body but dairy products don’t spell the same good news for your skin, particularly if you are acne-prone.
You see, dairy products, like milk, cheese and butter, are loaded with high levels of hormones. This can greatly affect the level of hormones inside your body.
As your hormones become imbalanced, your oil glands become hyperactive.
They produce more oil and your pores get clogged.
If you can’t let go of dairy products, there are alternatives you can use to fill their slots in your diet.
For calcium, you can eat more leafy green vegetables and almonds as they are rich with this mineral.
You can also try soy and almond milk.
5. Alcohol
Technically, alcohol isn’t a food but it’s something you need to avoid if you want to get rid of acne.
Why is alcohol bad for acne?
Well, for one, alcohol can cause you to sweat excessively and this can leave your skin dry and dehydrated. As your skin experiences dehydration, it finds a way to compensate.
How?
As your skin thinks that it doesn’t have enough oil and moisture, it produces more sebum than necessary. This results in a handful of annoying skin issues.
Apart from that, consistently drinking excessive alcohol can also lead to nutritonal imbalance and weaker immune system. These are two things that can greatly put you at risk of breakouts.
Alcohol can also affect the quality of sleep you get. Although it can make you doze off easier, it’s likely that you’ll wake more frequently at night.
With this disruption in your rest and sleep, the skin fails to have enough time to rejuvenate and heal itself. Your body can also release more stress hormones in relation to this.
Cortisol, one of those stress hormones, has a direct effect on your oil glands. The mmore cortisol there is, the more active your oil glands become.
Now, if you are wondering if you should ditch alcohol for your skin, the answer is yes.
But, here’s the catch.
If you really can’t forget about alcohol, an occassional drink won’t harm. And while you’re at it, try to avoid dark drinks as much as possible.
Don’t drink too fast and in large quantities. You should also skip salty snacks while you’re drinking.
The combination of these two can cause dehydration and your skin wouldn’t want that.
Conclusion
In contrast to what most people believe in, topical acne products aren’t the only solution to skin breakouts. You also need to take care of your skin from the inside if you want to completely end your problems with pimples.
This is where paying close to your diet matters a lot. If you keep this list of foods to avoid for acne in mind, you’ll be able to limit the zits that grow on your skin.
If you can’t totally remove them, cut down your intake or find healthier alternatives. There are actually a lot of good choices if you just do your research.
Which of these foods are breaking you out? What other foods are you considering as acne triggers? Let us know!
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