We all know that certain foods can have an effect on your body internally, but have you thought about how it affects your skin on the outside?
Here is a list of 5 foods and drinks that can cause acne. Some of these foods we eat on a daily basis for breakfast/lunch/or dinner. While it may be difficult to completely avoid these foods, limiting your consumption will help decrease your chances of triggering acne.
- Dairy: For those that love milk or yogurt or anything made from dairy can also trigger acne. Diary naturally has growth factors and hormones that can trigger acne. Growth hormones create an overproduction of skin cells which block the skins pores, causing acne. Milk products also raise insulin levels in the body, which increases the production of skin oils.
2. Caffeine and Alcohol: Consuming coffee increase the cortisol levels in our system. Cortisol is our stress hormone. Consumption of caffeine can cause high levels of cortisol which causes acne. The rise in these levels can cause an overproduction of sebum which also causes acne. On the other hand, Alcohol can cause imbalances in estrogen or testosterone levels in your body leading to a breakout. So that one or two glasses of wine a day or cocktails can be taking a toll on your skin.
3. Greasy Foods (fast food): Contains trans fats, carbs, and saturated fats. That disrupt the hormone levels and cause inflammation leading to acne breakouts. Although it’s fast and easy to get this food, it also increases insulin levels which again also causes breakouts.
4. Chocolate: Chocolate has been a suspected acne trigger since the1920’s. Exactly why chocolate might increase acne is unclear, but studies have found that eating chocolate increased the reactivity of the immune system to acne-causing bacteria.
5. Shellfish: Yes, Shellfish! So shellfish is full of Iodine, which causes inflammation within the skin. If your already have clogged pores the iodine will just accelerate the inflammation within the skin causing pimples.
The easiest way to find out if any of these foods are actually contributing to your acne is cut out these for at least one month and see if your skin clears up. You can use the simple process of trying one of these foods at a time and see if any of these trigger an outbreak.
