By: Greg Mauro
Acne: what an annoyance. Those who are affected by outbreaks usually try every reasonable thing imaginable to both prevent and treat outbreaks. But what about your diet? You’ve heard rumors that greasy and sugary foods will lead to worse acne, but are these rumors true? Should you stop eating fast food and candy? Are there other things you should be eating?
Your diet does not dictate whether or not you will develop acne, but it can affect the severity of an outbreak. Acne is controlled by a variety of factors, so your diet cannot be the sole cause or prevention of acne, but it can be one of the factors that limit or aggravate the condition.
Eating healthier can help to control your acne. Eating foods rich with vitamins and minerals can help make your body as healthy as possible. Do not over look the importance of internal health and how it affects your external appearance. A healthy immune system can help to ward off any infections and help to control the levels of bacteria thriving in your system. Many nutrients help to clean up an neutralize free radicals that develop due to excessive sunlight, toxins and air pollutants. All of these factors lead to healthier and stronger skin cells.
There is evidence to suggest that diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugar can worsen acne breakouts. Both sugar and carbohydrates cause your body to produce more insulin and IGF-1, an insulin like growth factor. Production of both stimulate the male hormones (in both males and females) and oil. It is this oil (sebum) that fosters bacteria and fungus which lead to acne.
So as you can see, your diet is a contributor to acne, but not necessarily the main player. So your diet may affect acne, but is not the cause of. However, altering your diet can lead to small changes, and if you have ever suffered from acne, or are currently suffering from acne, you know that a little improvement goes a long way.
