People with acne usually suspect that there's a relationship between their eating habits and their acne. The advice out there is unclear and people are unsure about what's true and what is not.
When I was younger, I always thought that acne and oily skin was linked to the quantity of chocolate I ate. Since then I have gone through periods of bad acne, without any chocolate being involved. There's also been weeks where chocolate has been a regular part of my diet and my face has been pretty clear.
I now understand that oily skin and acne is way more complicated, and the diet is 1 of many factors that can effect your acne. The relationship between what you eat and acne is not based on 1 item or type of food. It is based on your diet as a whole.
Scientists now believe that the western diet can actually lead to worsened acne and oilier skin. If your diet is heavily based on processed carbs and sugar then there are adjustments that you could make to your diet to improve your the condition of your skin.
When we consume processed carbs and sugar , our body produces more insulin and growth factor. This then leads to an increase in male hormones which then leads to an increased production of sebum (the oil on your skin). It is the surplus oil that your skin produces that leads to worsened acne. You might say that chocolate can have an effect on acne, but it's not only the chocolate, it's the diet as a whole.
A health professor at Colorado State University compared some acne data between the US,Papua New Guinea and Paraguay. In the US, the eating habits of the participants were primarily based on refined carbs and 80 to 95% of them suffered with acne. By comparison, in the other countries where the diets do not include processed carbs, acne was non-existent. This is just 1 of several studies that link the processed carbohydrate based diet to oily skin and acne.
Try to reduce the amount of processed carbs and sugars in your diet, and introducing more fruit, vegetables and proteins.
Dairy products have also been associated with acne. It is actually non-organic dairy products that may be the issue. This is something my mum regularly points out. Non-organic dairy products contain hormones and bio-active molecules. It is the hormones that cause the problem. Hormones effect the body in a wide variety of ways. If you drink non-organic milk, try switching to organic milk for a while and see if it makes any difference. There have been studies that prove this theory too, however this is such an easy adjustment to make that I encourage trying it out yourself.
One more thing to think about is food allergies. Now in this case, acne could be down to one type of food. If you are intolerant to a sort of food then acne may well be one of the side effects caused by consuming that food. Lactose intolerance is a common one so it could be dairy (organic or not) that's causing the acne. Other common intolerance's are are eggs and wheat. If it's an intolerance that's causing your acne then it’s fairly hard to find out. The negative effects may be so mild that it's tricky to notice what it might be or even if you've got an intolerance. If you find that your acne is really closely linked to a type of food that you eat, try giving it up for a week or so and seeing if it makes the difference.
