Make A Lasting Impact On Your Skin
What wouldnt you do for clear skin? Americans spend billions on over-the-counter acne treatments every year, but those expensive scrubs, masks, and creams wont fix any breakouts if its the inside thats calling the shots.
Skin is how our bodies talk to us and if we dont pay close attention to what we put into our bodies, any message we get will no doubt be in red.
So how do we make sure the gut-skin communication is flawless?
Research has shown that low-glycemic, high-protein foods play a significant role in improving acne. So, start with a clean, wholesome foundation, like a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables!
Here are 10 of the best foods to help make zits and blemishes a thing of the past.
Kale outshines the other members of the cabbage family because its the most nutrient dense.
The antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals in kale work to reduce hyperpigmentation, which is the key to evening out your skin tone. Vitamin C also promotes collagen formation, helping to repair acne scars faster by increasing cell turnover rate.
Retinol, a vitamin A derivative, is ideal for fighting acne and warding off wrinkles. There are hundreds of retinol creams and serums on the market that promise to make your acne disappear, but for those who are under age 30, this strong ingredient may be too harsh for the skin.
So, eat it instead! Or at least, the original form.
- hydrate skin
- prevent any future breakouts
Cow’s Milk May Lead To Acne Breakouts
While cow’s milk is a low-glycemic beverage, some studies suggest that drinking this type of milk may be linked to an increase in acne breakouts. In these studies, all types of cow’s milk have been linked to acne. Heres what the researchers discovered.
Milk and acne
In one study, women who drank 2 or more glasses of skim milk per day were 44% more likely to have acne than the other women in this study.
-
USA: 47,355 adult women were asked to recall what they ate during their high school years. Only cow’s milk was found to be linked to acne. Women who drank 2 or more glasses of skim milk a day were 44% more likely to have acne than others.5
-
USA: 6,094 girls, aged 9 to 15 years old, completed 2 lengthy questionnaires about their diet. The girls who drank the most cow’s milk were more likely to have acne.6
-
USA: 4,273 boys, aged 9 to 15 years old, completed 2 lengthy questionnaires about their diet. The boys who drank skim milk were more likely to have acne.7
-
Italy: 205 patients, aged 10 to 24 years old, who were seeing a dermatologist for moderate to severe acne, and 358 patients in the same age range who were seeing a dermatologist for another skin condition were asked what they ate. The patients with acne drank significantly more cow’s milk than the patients who did not have acne. There were no other differences in diet between the 2 groups of patients.8
How To Get Rid Of Acne Scars
Scarring from severe cystic acne can have harmful effects on a persons self esteem, happiness and mental health. Thankfully, there are many different acne scar treatment options available, ranging from chemical peels and skin fillers to dermabrasion and laser resurfacing. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, these are all safe and effective acne scar treatment methods. However, Baldwin says its important to first clarify what you mean by scar.Many people point to red or brown spots leftover from old zits and call them scars, she says. These are marks, not scars and theyll fade with time. Scars have textural changes and are not flush with the surface of the skin. There are two types of acne scarsinnies and outies. Outies can be injected with corticosteroids and flattened. Innies can be either deep and narrow or broad, sloping and relatively shallow. Deep and narrow scars need to be cut out, but broader sloping scars can be made better by fillers, laser resurfacing and dermabrasion.
Learn more about acne scar removal below to see which method might work best for you.
Read Also: Why Do I Have Acne Around My Mouth
What Is Adult Acne
Adult acne is a breakout or appearance of inflamed pores, large pimples or cysts that are typical in adolescents, but this time occurring in adults.
In some cases, people can also develop acne for the first time during adulthood, a condition called adult-onset acne. This is most common in menopausal women.
According to research, breakouts happen in 35% of females in their 30s, 26% in their 40s, and 15% in their 50s or older years.
Food For Clear Skin #: Dark Leafy Greens
Think: spinach, kale, broccoliall the stuff you hated as a kid . Veggies are packed with iron, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins A, B, and E, which support your immune system, Dr. Engelman says. The phytochemicals and folates also help hydrate skin and keep it healthy. I apologize for calling salads dumb earlier. My bad.
Read Also: What Does Differin Gel Do For Acne
What May Help Acne: Probiotic
Yogurt is famous for its probiotics, but sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, and tempeh are all good non-dairy sources of the beneficial bacteria. A 2014 review of research in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows that consuming probiotics may stymie the release of inflammatory proteins and decrease sebum production, preventing plugged pores.
Clear Skin Diet Avoid Acne
Low-glycemic diet
Western diet is characterized by greasy foods, dairy and high glycemic load foods. The glycemic index of a food measures how fast that food raises your blood sugar. Eating high-glycemic foods leads to a spike in blood sugar levels and insulin. As a result, elevated insulin levels stimulate the secretion of androgens , which can prompt the sebaceous glands to boost sebum production. If you want to follow a low-glycemic load diet, you should avoid certain foods with processed carbohydrates, white bread, white rice and cookies.
How sugar impacts skin health
Chocolate, candy, ice cream and sugary drinks those are not just bad choices for those who watch their diet. If you suffer from acne, following a few dietary tips can go a long way, too. Not only can sugar damage the connective tissue, but it has a high glycemic index value as well. It causes healthy collagen fibers to lose their elasticity and accelerates skin aging. And of course, a high sugar diet can contribute to acne. Unsweetened tea and fruits provide a better and healthier alternative to candy and drinks that are high in sugar and fat.
Low-glycemic diet
How sugar impacts skin health
You May Like: How To Stop Period Acne
Can You Cure Acne With Diet
Have you tried cutting out or adding certain ingredients to your diet in the hope it will improve your complexion? When it comes to diet and acne, there are lots of myths about what you should do. But do the foods you eat really contribute to a break-out? We asked an expert
BBC One myth-busting show Food: Truth or Scare is back on our screens and in episode five on Friday 24 July the health experts tackle these common questions. We hear from one individual who, frustrated by acne, turned to the internet and followed advice to restrict her consumption of certain ingredients. She isnt alone in doing this a quick search of any social media platform brings up plenty of suggestions, advice and anecdotes about how certain diets and ingredients transformed an individuals complexion. But is all as it seems?
This is an issue I encounter daily in my clinics, says Dr Anjali Mahto, a consultant dermatologist and author of The Skincare Bible, who offers advice on the programme. Many people have tried to manipulate their diet to control their skin disease. Sometimes patients do this on the advice of well-meaning friends and family, other times because of poor information found on social media or the internet, she continues.
Fruits And Vegetables With Vitamin C
Vitamin C helps restore and build the collagen in your skin. This helps strengthen and rejuvenate your skin from the inside out. Vitamin C also aids in the production of new collagen, which helps prevent and heal acne scarring. Collagen also supports the capillaries that feed and nourish your skin helping to prevent acne. Citrus fruits, such as:
- broccoli
- Vitamin C helps restore and build the collagen in your skin.
Don’t Miss: How To Get Rid Of Acne Stains
Include Essential Fats In Your Diet
Cut down on harmful saturated and trans-fats but up your intake of good fats, as these make up the actual skin cells.
Essential fatty acids also keep the cell walls strong, so they retain moisture and nutrients, helping your skin look plump and refreshed.
The best sources of EFAs, such as omega-3 and omega-6, are oily fish including salmon, sardines and tuna, avocados, nuts and seeds.
Olive oil and pumpkin seed oil are also rich in EFAs, while coconut oil is becoming more popular.
Recipes To Help Clear Your Skin
- Vegetable Barley Soup: This soup is packed with fiber, which helps your digestive system get moving. The more toxins and waste you can excrete through your digestive system, the less chance your skin has to do it.
- Carrot Ginger Soup: This warm and cozy soup contains fresh ginger root which is a natural anti-inflammatory.
- Sleep Well Smoothie: This bedtime smoothie encourages sleep, which in turns helps your skin out.
- Apple Celery Smoothie: This smoothie is low in sugar and high in fiber.
- Pineapple Clear Skin Smoothie: The smoothie recipe below originated from the Fresh Start 21-day cleanse and contains avocado, the ultimate beauty skin food.
Drop a comment letting me know some of your fav foods for glowing skin, and let me know if you try this smoothie!
Read Also: Does Acne Go Away After Mirena Removed
Cortisone Cream Or Injection
Cortisone cream fights inflammation and is one of the acne remedies that can help prevent scarring from worsening. Available over the counter, cortisone cream can be applied directly to inflamed acne lesions to reduce swelling and redness. A doctor can also inject cortisone into a deeper acne cyst or lesion to shrink it and help prevent scarring.
I Ate Simply And Repeated Meals For Long
When I find a meal I like, I eat it over and over again! If I enjoy it, I know I can stick with it. I actually love rice and beans. Really! I not only could eat them every day, but I actually do.
But even though I might eat rice and beans each day, theres still variety. I vary the type of beans cookedone day might be lentils, another black or pinto beans, cannellini or limas. Of course, there are also many different types of ricebasmati, jasmine, long grain, and short grain. Even when you are eating the “same thing,” its still different. I found that keeping the base the same made it easier to cook everything, prevented decision fatigue, and increased the chances of success.
After my skin had been clear for a while, it seemed like I was onto something, so I wrote my book, The Clear Skin Diet with my sister to help other people suffering in the same way. I would have never thought that a devastating skin breakout would lead to being able to help people also suffering with debilitating acne. What looked like a curse actually ended up being a blessing.
You May Like: Is Beautycounter Good For Acne
Whole Grains For Regeneration
Replace white carbohydrates, such as biscuits and white pasta, with complex carbs like lentils, barley, rye and buckwheat.
These are all foods for healthy skin as they contain vital minerals to help regenerate the skin, including selenium research shows selenium can help prevent DNA sun damage and those dreaded old age spots!
Whole grains are also rich in fibre, which binds to unwanted substances and helps eliminate them from your body.
This in turn will support your liver which is the primary organ for detoxification, so a clean liver produces clean skin.
Cheek Acne Treatment #: Take An Oral Contraceptive
There has long been a debate whether birth control helps or worsens acne. For some women, taking an oral contraceptive can help regulate hormones and help get rid of cheek acne. If youre considering taking birth control for acne, you want to choose one that has the right amount of estradiol and low levels of progestin. Before you try to control your acne with birth control, youll want to speak with your doctor.
Also Check: What Moisturizer Is Good For Oily Acne Prone Skin
The Results Of A Clear Skin Diet
I never realized just how much food played into my skin issues, until I gave up dairy and sugar on this cleanse. I saw that certain foods were causing my acne and others were promoting overall health like…
Now: after the cleanse, my family still eats meat and the occasional dairy. Yet now we also make sure to include plenty of plant based meals to our week as well.
The Best Acne Products For Back Acne Treatment
The best acne products for stubborn acne on your back contain acne medication or natural acne treatment ingredients that kill bacteria, cleanse pores and nurture clear skin.
The Body Shop offers a soap-free body wash gentle enough to use on the whole body, with antibacterial tea tree oil for acne treatment. If youve wondered how to get rid of blackheads on your back, where they can be especially stubborn, give this affordable back acne treatment a try.
The Body Shop tea tree skin clearing body wash, from $13,
Neutrogenas acne treatment body wash contains the acne medication salicylic acid to fight back acne breakouts and prevent body breakouts. Use a small amount on a clean, soft cloth or body sponge to create a rich lather, then rinse clear.
Neutrogena Body Clear acne body wash, $6 for Amazon Prime members, Target.com
Those who prefer a bar soap over a liquid body wash can still benefit from acne-fighting salicylic acid with the Clinique Acne Solutions Cleansing Bar. This mild soap unclogs pores and removes excess oil without drying out skin.
Clinique Acne Solutions cleansing bar for face & body, $23,
Also Check: How To Get Rid Of Chest Acne
Recommended Reading: How Do You Get Rid Of Acne On Your Back
Refined Grains And Sugars
Foods rich in refined carbohydrates include:
- Bread, crackers, cereal or desserts made with white flour
- Pasta made with white flour
- White rice and rice noodles
- Sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages
- Sweeteners like cane sugar, maple syrup, honey or agave
One study found that people who frequently consumed added sugars had a 30% greater risk of developing acne, while those who regularly ate pastries and cakes had a 20% greater risk .
This increased risk may be explained by the effects refined carbohydrates have on blood sugar and insulin levels.
Refined carbohydrates are absorbed quickly into the bloodstream, which rapidly raises blood sugar levels. When blood sugars rise, insulin levels also rise to help shuttle the blood sugars out of the bloodstream and into your cells.
However, high levels of insulin are not good for those with acne.
Insulin makes androgen hormones more active and increases insulin-like growth factor 1 . This contributes to acne development by making skin cells grow more quickly and by boosting sebum production (
26 ).
Fast food items, such as burgers, nuggets, hot dogs, french fries, sodas and milkshakes, are mainstays of a typical Western diet and may increase acne risk.
A separate study of 2,300 Turkish men found that frequently eating burgers or sausages was linked to a 24% increased risk of developing acne .
Dont Miss: What Is The Best Pillowcase For Acne
Food For Clear Skin #: Coconut Oil
Although the other foods on this list are meant to be eaten to reap the benefits, coconut oil applied topically could possibly be effective in treating acne, thanks to the linoleic acid and lauric acid. Coconuts healthy fats and antibacterial nutritional composition keep acne away and help keep your skin hydrated, Dr. Engelman says. Of course, coconut oil is also known to be comedogenic, so it might not work for everyone. But hey, it could be worth a shot.
You May Like: How To Stop Cystic Acne From Growing
