The Anti Acne Diet - Foods To Eat To Reduce Acne

Mar 20, 2025

Diet is tricky, and when it comes to our skin there's a lot of confusion surrounding what we should and shouldn't be eating for acne-free skin. It's generally accepted that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains, which is rich in fiber and antioxidants, and diverse in the selection, is best for our health.

Making sure that you’re using the right products on your skin is just the same as fueling your body with the right foods. Keeping a healthy diet is a crucial part of having healthy and acne-free skin.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences defines a “functional food” as one that encompasses potentially healthful products that may provide a health benefit beyond that of the traditional nutrients it contains.

Our stress levels, hormones, diet, skincare and genetics are clearly manifested on our skin too. Combating acne starts with eating healthy.

We all know that acne is an inflammatory skin disease and filling our plate anti-inflammatory foods rich in antioxidants helps heal acne and keep them at bay.

BEST ACNE-FIGHTING FOODS

1. Vitamin A

Orange-colored vegetables include pumpkin, carrots and sweet potato and are rich in antioxidants like beta-carotene which converts to Vitamin A. This nutrient helps reduce inflammation and improve skin cell turnover, preventing clogged pores and acne.

Other sources include:

Spinach
Kale
Liver ( For Non-Vegan )

2. Probiotics for Gut Health

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for your body and skin. They help balance the good and bad bacteria. This acne-healing food helps with skin redness and reduces the life of cystic acne. Probiotics also help balance out the natural skin oils. You can pair it with prebiotics to get the most out of them.

Foods rich in probiotics:

Kefir
Kombucha
Kimchi
Unsweetened Yogurt
Sauerkraut
Miso

3. Zinc

Acne can result from having lower levels of Zinc. Zinc has anti-inflammatory properties which is great for relieving redness and irritation associated acne.

Foods high in zinc include:

Cashew nuts
Pumpkin Seeds
Chickpeas
Almonds

4. Antioxidants

Consuming foods rich in antioxidants helps protect your skin barrier and improve skin health by preventing free radical damage.

To eat foods rich in antioxidants look for

Dark Leafy Greens ( Spinach, Kale )
Berries ( strawberry, blueberry, blackberry )
Green Tea
Dark Chocolate with at least 70% cacao

5. Vitamin C for Collagen

Vitamin C works great for making sure our immune system is operating at its best. Vitamin C also functions as a building block for our skin to create collagen. The body needs 75 mg vitamin C/ day. Here's a list of easy to find vegetables that provide vitamin c.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes provide 24.7mg vitamin C. Red tomatoes contain lycopene antioxidants too.

Broccoli

Broccoli provides 81.2mg vitamin C, equivalent to 108% daily requirement.

Avocado

An Avocado provides 14.6mg of vitamin C.

Cabbage

Cabbage provides 12.7mg vitamin C that helps brighten the eyes, anti-aging. It also contains protein, fiber and calcium.

Watermelon

Watermelon contains 12.3mg summer vitamin C, equivalent to 16% daily needs and has high water content to provide hydration.

Strawberry

Strawberries provide 97.6mg vitamin C, equivalent to 130% of the daily requirement.

Pineapple

Pineapple provides 78.9mg vitamin C, equivalent to 105% of the daily requirement. It also provides 2.3g of fiber (10% of daily needs), and potassium.

6. Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Omega 3 fatty acids can help keep skin hydrated and help reduce inflammation. There's also some evidence and a good balance of omega 3s to omega 6 can reduce hormonal acne.

Sources of omega 3:

Chia Seeds
Flaxseeds
Walnuts
Seaweed
Fatty Fish like salmon, mackeral, herring ( Non-vegan)

7. Cruciferous Vegetables for Hormonal Acne

These vegetables contain sulforaphane which is an antioxidant and highly anti-inflammatory and help reduce acne breakouts.

Cruciferous vegetables contain indole-3 carbinol which is helpful in detoxifying excess estrogen from your body. Dominance in estrogen is being linked to high DHT levels as well as skin issues such as redness, excess oiliness and acne. Rising hormone levels cause the oil glands under the skin to grow. They're also high in fiber which is great for our gut health.

Sources of cruciferous vegetables: