Acne Preventing Tip: Avoiding Trigger Foods

Although some scientists say that food and diet do not have anything to do with acne, I believe otherwise. You ask me why? It’s because of experience. That’s it. I do not need any scientific evidence as to why, because my body speaks to me. But since we all have unique DNAs, your body may be different from mine. Just as you may be allergic to certain foods that I’m not, we may also have different acne trigger foods. You just have to find yours on your own because no one knows your body more than you do. Listen to your body speaking to you. Now hoping it might help, I’ve made a list of MY acne trigger foods. But before that, know that these are not the direct or root cause of acne, but they do have the potential to make it worse.

1. Dairy

For people with acne, I know this is not the first time you’ve heard about this because it literally is on any “Not-to-Eat” blog posts on acne. While it is believed that milk can provide essential vitamins and minerals like calcium to the body, it might not be good for people with acne. Milk contains growth hormones like IGF-1. It is good for baby cows but not for you. It can make the already existing acne bigger. In fact, IGF-1 is one of the several factors of inflammation for humans. Furthermore, dairy causes insulin spike that will make the liver produce more IGF-1 in the body leading to more acne.

Dairy triggers the production of excess sebum (oil). Furthermore, dairy prevents the skin to remove unwanted dead skin cells, thus trapping them inside the pores leading to clogged pores.

2. High-glycemic foods and sugar

I’m not saying to cut off all carbohydrates in your diet. Carbohydrates are our main source of energy but it may harm when taken in great amounts. Eating sugary foods will increase the blood sugar levels leading to a spike in insulin levels. Insulin increase can mess up with the hormones and lead to acne breakouts.

Some of these sugary foods take too long to break down or digest and more insulin is produced to store them. The time it takes to break them down depends on the glycemic index. The higher the glycemic index, the longer it takes to digest them, thus more insulin. Some of the foods with high glycemic index include white rice, cereals, white bread and oats.

3. Oily foods

There are “good” fats for the skin such as the omega-3 fatty acids, but the “bad” fats can exacerbate acne inflammation. The basis boils down to the fact that these foods cause the fluctuation of hormones. Hormone fluctuation then leads to the hyperactivity of the sebaceous glands causing excess sebum production, thus the acne.

Diet is linked to the hormones. And hormones have a direct influence on the body’s processes including acne which is why there is what we call “hormonal acne”. It may not be true for some, but it surely is for someone like me.