There has been a long-standing debate on whether the food you take in has any relation or effect on acne breakouts.
This article tends to bring forth the link between food and acne and also give you a list of food that serves as the culprit by aggravating acne.
Can Food Worsen Acne?
Though the link between food and acne has been a debatable one, some experts suggestions have been made and also established.
One of the most frequently suggested reasons for food that may cause acne is that of allergy.
Acne breakouts are often a result of an allergy to certain kinds or varieties of food or food group.
In spite of allergy to some food item or group, if you decide on taking it in, the body tends to undergo toxic reaction.
The increased toxicity in your body leads to inflammation which not only causes redness and swelling but also damages the skin leading to further clogging of the skin pores and thereby bringing the pimples from beneath to the outer surface of the skin.
While on the one hand toxins may be released as a result of an allergic reaction, on the other hand, some foods are naturally toxic.
The consumption of such foods that are high in toxic content tends to damage the liver.
The liver is an organ responsible for flushing out the impurity and toxicity of the body and its damage leads to further accumulation of toxins in the body thereby causing acne breakouts.
Furthermore, it is extremely important that you have a healthy body which will reflect on your skin too. A balanced, good diet will naturally reflect on healthy and glowing skin.
What kinds of food can aggravate acne?
There are some specific food items that are associated with acne breakout. Some of them are mentioned below:
Chocolate
The effect that chocolate may have on acne breakouts is mostly associated with the sugar and fat content of the chocolate.
The rise in fat and sugar content in our body may disturb the blood sugar balance which in turn will cause a change in the hormonal balance in our body, affecting the primary cause of acne breakouts.
Dairy products
Dairy products, when taken in large quantity and that too regularly, may also cause skin troubles. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, dairy products are high in fat which causes hormonal imbalance when the fat content increases by affecting the blood sugar level.
With the presence of certain enzymes that are already present in our body, these hormones are converted in hormones in our body that stimulate the production of sebum and excessive sebum production is the main reason behind acne breakout.
Furthermore, if one is allergic to milk, it will lead to the release of toxic substances that cause bacterial accumulation under the skin.
Some of the dairy products include cheese, ice cream, and others.
Grains
This majorly includes the presence of refined carbohydrates.
The carbohydrate and sugar that grains contain may cause a hormonal imbalance in your body, causing a rise in the level of androgen which spikes up sebum production and causes increased severity and frequency of acne breakouts.
In case it causes an allergic reaction, there may be a release of toxins in the body which will cause inflammation and further breakouts.
Caffeine
This includes drinks like coffee, tea and other energy drinks along with some kinds of medicines. This affects acne breakouts in two ways, though indirectly.
Firstly, it tends to induce the release of stress hormone which has been known to affect the breakouts adversely by causing an imbalance in the hormones and stimulating inflammation and redness.
More importantly, it tends to disrupt the sleep pattern which is not only generally known to affect the skin adversely but also leads to increased level to stress which in turns puts in the earlier mentioned cycle of breakouts.
Processed food
Most processed food is not very easily digestible and can cause an allergic reaction.
When the body reacts to some allergy, it releases toxins which can cause inflammation and facilitate bacterial accumulation.
It has also been known to contain sugar and fat, the accumulation of which may cause a hike in blood sugar level and therefore may affect the hormonal level which stimulates the sebum production under your skin facilitating blocking of the skin pores.
It also mostly contains additives and preservatives which are mostly not safe for the health of your skin and on the contrary make your skin dull.
Red meat
There have been given two ways in which red meat may affect a severe acne breakout.
It naturally contains animal hormones in it, which when consumed may increase our hormonal level affecting an excessive sebum production.
Moreover, the difficulty in digesting red meat can lead to allergy which often leads to inflammation and skin damage.
Sea food
Seafood in general including fishes and shrimps contain iodine in excess. Iodine has been known to break the skin with its roughness.
Though it is an essential nutrient, high quantities may be harmful not only for the skin but also for health in general.
Trans-fat food items
This may include donuts, fried chips, cookies and chocolate among other such heavily fried items.
It tends to affect inflammation of the skin which helps in bringing on the surface, the pimples that are usually beneath the skin surface.
Inflammation may also cause redness and swelling of the skin.
Bacon
This is high in Omega-6 fatty acid which though is an essential fatty acid, is also responsible for inflammation and irritation of the skin.
Summary
Though there have been not many studies concretely establishing any link between the food you consume and acne breakouts, it is general consciousness that what you eat reflects on the health of your skin.
Even though the food is not most directly responsible for acne breakouts, it is intrinsically linked to it.
The above-mentioned food items go a long way in, if not causing, then at least aggravating the already existing instances of acne breakouts.
It is therefore advisable that you avoid taking these food items as much as possible in order to ensure healthy and glowing, pimple free skin.