If you suffer from acne, you are not alone. Especially among teenagers and young adults, acne is an extremely common and often mortifying condition. Many acne treatment guides focus only on treating the skin, but often the source of acne is in the foods we eat. Acne is usually the result of pores becoming clogged as they attempt to expel waste from junk foods. To deal with acne, it is often best to look at one’s diet and cut out some foods that often cause this condition. Read on for some of the worst acne reducing foods out there.
The top acne food offender may surprise you. As it turns out, ordinary wheat bread can often lead to acne flare ups. The key ingredient we are worried about here is gluten. Gluten is the protein found in wheat that forms the strands that allow bread to have its airy, bubbly, crumby texture.
Scientists have found that an exceptional number of people, even those who are not technically allergic to gluten, can nonetheless have a gluten sensitivity that affects the body’s ability to deal with inflammation. Acne is at its heart inflammation of the pores, so even a mild gluten sensitivity can seriously impact the body’s ability to deal with acne.
The next item on the list should be no surprise: even a small amount of potato chips can have a huge impact on the health of your skin. This popular junk food is absolutely loaded with oil and carbs, both of which are murder for skin. The seed oils that are usually used for potato chips contain high levels of omega-6 fats, which are extremely bad for the skin. In addition, the high levels of carbs in potato chips can spike insulin levels, which reduces the body’s ability to deal with inflammation. As discussed above, acne is an inflammation, so making the body helpless against inflammations will very often result in a break out.
Milk is one of the more surprising entries on this list. After all, milk makes for strong bones, right? While the calcium content makes milk better than some drink choices, it is far from the healthiest thing you could be drinking.
Dairy products, similar to the rush of carbs from chips and other junk foods, produce an insulin spike that impairs the body’s ability to deal with inflammations like acne flareups. In addition, milk also contains many hormones designed to help young cows grow big and strong. Unfortunately, when these hormones are introduced into a human body that has entered puberty, this causes hormone imbalances that lead to acne for much the same reason that being a teenager puts one at greater risk for acne.
When dealing with an acne problem, it is an understandable mistake to believe that the main problem is skin deep. However, most acne flareups have a deeper issue that can only be treated by changing the chemistry of one’s body. Eating some of these terrible acne reducing foods can be a big trigger for acne flareups.