Potential Food Culprits Behind Acne
There has been a lot of speculation over the years if certain foods may spur on or cause acne, but there has been a debate raging amongst skin care professionals about whether diet even has anything to do with acne at all. I believe that acne and diet are closely related, and that certain foods and caffeine can spur on the production of oil and the imbalance of hormones, which is the recipe for acne in everyone. We’ve talked a lot about how caffeine and stimulants that activate the nervous system can have a huge impact on your acne, but let’s talk a little more about other foods that some believe may spur their acne on. Some believe that avoiding these foods has helped them to escape the ravages of acne vulgaris.
Let me be clear that I do not agree that all these foods cause acne, but rather I believe that the simple idea of avoiding too much sugar and avoiding caffeine and other stimulants is the key to remaining acne free. However, some people may actually have bad individual reactions to these foods which lead to acne.
List of foods that some believe contributes to acne :
Nuts. Some people believe that eating any type of nut makes them break out. Allergies to nuts are incredibly common. Especially peanuts, so by all means if you notice you break out every time you eat a nut of some sort, I’d cut nuts completely out of your diet. Almonds are a great acne fighter in my opinion though because they’re high in fiber and beneficial protein, and they also add omega 3’s to your diet, which are great for helping to balance the hormones and are also excellent for your skin.
Milk and all dairy products. Some people have seen a correlation between quitting all dairy foods and their skin clearing up. I personally have never noticed this on my own skin, but again, dairy products are something that definitely are a known cause of allergic reactions, and that doesn’t put them in the clear for acne causing by any means. Others, instead of giving up dairy, only purchase organic dairy that has no added hormones, as they believe it’s the hormones commonly added to dairy products that cause acne.
Red meats, or too much meat in the diet. Some people believe that, for the same reason as dairy with added hormones, that our meat these days is too loaded with hormones and causes people’s hormones to be out of balance, and therefore may lead to acne, so they either cut meat out of their diet or they buy only meats that are organically raised and range fed so that they are not getting the high hormone content.
