7 Foods to Avoid for an Acne-Free Face
Acne as we know it is a common skin condition, which we usually get to learn about during teenage years while puberty strikes, bringing along all of the ups and downs of a body in its development process. However, its trigger period does not always have the same “deadline” for its presence, and many people, although having had grown out of their puberty stage, struggle with the presence of acne through their adulthood as well.
In order to learn how to handle acne, regardless of your age or if you’re seeking help for yourself or for your young one, you have to figure out what causes it, where its roots lay. Usually, a face full of acne could mean three main things: hormonal imbalance, a poor face care routine or a diet that is not working all that well. Obviously, other factors, such as stress and weather, or even simply genetics, can also influence the amount of acne present on one’s face and the difficulty of their struggle with it.
But fear not! This article will teach you how to gain control over one of those acne-inducing factors, the same one that impacts your overall health the most: your diet and overall eating habits.
While everyone has a few guilty pleasures when it comes to eating or snacking, not all of them can be healthy for us, much less if we are undergoing a struggle with such a common enemy: acne. Be it that we like to indulge in grabbing some fast food once a week, or pouring an extra spoon of sugar in our tea, such excess of certain foods or ingredients can only worsen the acne situation, more often than not without us even being aware of it. This especially goes for teens, as they are facing hormonal changes, so make sure to eat healthy foods if you are a teenager.
So what ingredients should we avoid putting in our food, or which foods should we steer clear of all together for a cleaner face, you ask?
Here’s a list of 7 of those foods to avoid for an acne-free face.
1) Fast Food
As mentioned above, fast food is a prime suspect for the appearance of acne on teenagers and young adults’ skin, but not limited to. The excessively greasy intake of food, coupled with its high levels of sugar present in the meals make fast food the surest way to end up with acne breakouts on your skin or blemishes.
2) Spicy foods
Spicy foods also fall in the category of things not to eat, mainly because of the acidic lycopene they contain, which can greatly irritate a person’s system, messing up their skin’s pH levels and, you guessed it, causing acne breakouts!
3) Sugar and Sweets
While most of us sweet lovers can’t help but add some extra sugar to whatever we see fit to just be a little sweeter in order for the tea or coffee or cake to taste just perfect, our guilty pleasure of indulging in extra sugary foods can cause a great deal of harm to our skin. A greater intake of sugar raises our blood’s levels of sugar and can cause issues to those who have insulin-related health issues. That all can cause blemishes and those dreaded pimples to show up on our skin, so cutting down on sugar would be a wise idea.
4) Dairy Products
When it comes to dairy products, milk, cheese, sour cream and so on can contain high levels of hormones, which will mess up your own hormonal balance and easily cause an acne breakout. Not only that, but they also increase the production of oils, and end up clogging the pores very easily, which leads to blackheads, pimples, and other issues. An intolerance to lactose can be even worse if added to the equation, and you might end up with more issues to take care of rather than just acne.
5) Food rich in fats
A diet rich in fats, especially omega-6 fats, causes lots of unnecessary inflammation because of its saturated fats, which are the most dangerous. Since meat is the main food containing such fats, it’s suggested that switching to a diet with omega-3 fats instead could be much more beneficial for one’s overall health and for a much clearer skin. Try switching out your usual steak with fish now and then, or add walnuts or flaxseed in your diet to try to counteract the inflammation caused by the fatty acids. Fat is also dangerous to eat excessively, due to its effect on one’s cholesterol levels.
6) Salt and salty foods
An excess of salt in our food can easily create an imbalance in our bodies, causing water retention most often, bags under the eyes and an overall skin dryness, which our body tries to counteract by creating more oil. The oil then clogs our pores and creates blackheads or pimples, and then you have got yourself a new acne episode to take care of. If you’re an adept to eating salty foods and are having a really hard time cutting down on the amounts of salt that you include in your meals, however, you could try to counteract this bad habit with drinking more water, to try to bring some balance to your body and to your level of hydration. Besides, trying to “wash down” all of the salt will do you more good than you can think of in the long run, helping to cleanse your kidneys as well and avoid all sorts of blood-related diseases.
7) Alcohol
While alcohol is not food, nor is it an ingredient found in food, it is still a factor which causes acne pretty often. It’s common knowledge that alcohol only dehydrates us, drying off the skin’s own personal reserve of fluid, which our body then desperately tries to replenish or replace, by creating excess sebum (the oil on your skin). Add the fact that alcohol can cause sweating if drank in larger quantities to the mix too, and you have got yourself yet another way for your pores to clog up.
In the end, what you can do about your diet and eating habits is to take a step back and analyze what you’re putting your body through when eating various negatively-impacting foods. If you suspect you might be eating something excessively, like sweets, for example, try cutting down on sugar for a while and see how that works out for your skin. It’s all about observing what causes your breakouts and what doesn’t, after all. Consulting a nutritionist is also an excellent idea if you’re set on heading down a skin-cleansing journey or if you think that other food-related ailments might be standing between you and an acne-free face. Remember to stay focused on your goals in order to achieve them!
