Tuesday, 13 December 2011

The Effects Of Diet On Your Acne And Oily Skin

People with acne usually guess that there is a relationship between their diet and their acne. The advice out there is unclear and people are unsure about what is true and what isn't.

I used to think that oily skin and acne was related to the amount of candy I consumed. Since then I've gone through periods of terrible acne, without any candy being involved. There has also been times where candy has been a common part of my diet and my face has been reasonably clear.

I now know that acne is much more complicated, and the diet is only one of many factors that can effect your acne. The relationship between your diet and acne is not based on a single item or type of food. It is based on your diet as a whole.

Scientists now believe that the western diet may actually lead to oilier skin and worsened acne. If your diet is heavily based on sugar and refined carbs then there are adjustments that you could make to your diet to improve your skin condition.

A health professor at Colorado State University compared some acne records between the US, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea. In the US, the eating habits of the individuals were primarily based on refined carbs and 80 to 95% of them suffered with acne. By comparison, in the other countries where the eating habits don't include refined carbohydrates, acne was non-existent. This is just one of several reports that link the refined carb based diet to oily skin and acne.

When we eat refined 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's the excess oil that the skin produces that leads to worsened acne. You might say that chocolate does effect acne, but it's not just the chocolate, it's the diet as a whole. Try to decrease the amount of processed carbs and sugars in your diet, and adding more vegetables, fruit and proteins.

Dairy products have also been linked to acne. It's actually non-organic dairy goods that may be the issue. This is something my mum actually points out. Non-organic dairy products contain hormones and bio active molecules. It's the hormones that cause the problem. Hormones effect the body in so many different ways. If you drink non-organic milk, try changing to organic milk for a week and see if it makes any difference. There have been scientific studies that prove this theory too, but this is such a simple adjustment to make that I recommend trying it out for yourself.

One other thing that's worth thinking about is food allergies. Now in this case, acne could be down to one type of food. If you're intolerant to a sort of food then acne may 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 issue. Other common intolerance's are are eggs and wheat. If it's an intolerance that is causing the acne then it is pretty hard to find out. The negative effects can be so mild that it's difficult to notice what it might be or even if you have 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 few days or so and seeing if it makes the difference.

If you want to know more about oily skin then just head over to foroilyskin.org!

View the original article here


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  2. The cause of acne and oily skin is our diet, so this is important to take care of our diet for good skin. You have published good information about skin problem.
    Acne Treatment