3 Ways Your Diet Is Giving You Acne
1) INFLAMMATION
Inflammation creates a thicker, more ‘gluggy’ sebum that is more likely to block the sebaceous glands, and create an environment that is perfect for acne-causing bacteria to breed. Inflammatory status also impacts the hydration of the skin, skin barrier function, skin repair capacity, the natural desquamation or exfoliation process of the skin, cell to cell communication (a skin cell’s ability to tell the body what it needs), and the production of pro or anti-inflammatory mediators.
Is your omega 3:6 ratio all wrong? Are there too many inflammatory omega 6 fatty acids in your diet such as vegetable oils (canola sunflower, soybean) which are in most packaged food items? Is your meat/dairy/poultry/seafood of the grass-fed and wild caught kind or grain-fed with higher inflammatory potential? Are you consuming enough Omega 3s from cold-water, oily fish (very likely you aren’t and this is where supplementation through your practitioner comes in!).
Do you need to ditch GLUTEN!? It’s a major cause of gut inflammation that affects the skin via the gut-skin axis and can set of an inflammatory cascade.
DAIRY! Do you need to ditch the cow’s dairy for 12 weeks as we put out the inflammatory ‘fires’ in your body? Dairy really sensitises the hormone receptors in your skin to the actions of testosterone, so it could be aggravating hormonal acne.
Are you consuming poor quality soy products (soy milk, tofu etc) and that’s exacerbating your hormonal/cystic acne?
Other inflammatory food sources to reduce/eliminate: excessive caffeine, soft drinks, alcohol, corn, peanut butter, takeaway foods, most packaged food items.
SNEAKY ONE: barista nut mylks often contain vegetable oils (hint: Milk Lab!) and are a big source of sneaky inflammation in the diet you might not consider, but consume every day. Opt for dairy alternative milks like unsweetened Nutty Bruce, Inside Out, Mandole Orchard, & Pure Harvest. Also be conscious of your tinned tuna and tinned fish- are they swimming in and soaking up inflammatory vegetable oils?
2) NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES
There’s so much you need to AVOID when it comes to acne, but what about what you need to EAT MORE OF?
Our skin requires an abundance of zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, B vitamins, iron, calcium and essential fatty acids for functions including the skin barrier and acid mantle, skin repair, collagen synthesis, and skin-immune function. These vitamins & minerals are typical deficiencies I pick up on in acne blood tests.
Are you missing out on the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, skin supportive benefits of these key skin ingredients? We can overcomplicate health, and overcomplicate clear skin. If you aren’t nailing the basics of a healthy diet which includes getting the right nutrients, fibre and prebiotics for your gut, and phytochemicals with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory action, then you are essentially making your acne journey a lot more difficult, and could be unnecessarily seeking the ‘cause’.
Consider the following questions: is your diet lacking a major food group- for example are you vegan or vegetarian? Do you consume red meat? Do you consume seafood? Are you getting at least 5 big handfuls of veggies every day? Do you eat 40 types of plants per week? Do you eat 1-2 serves of seasonal fruit per day? Do you eat the same thing every day and so your diet lacks variety?
3) BLOOD SUGAR
Blood sugar and insulin resistance is a HUGE factor when it comes to acne & in particular acne associated with PCOS, and is the driver of up to 70% of hormonal acne presentations.
When treating acne, we need to get rid of sugar and white/processed carbohydrates, this includes all ‘natural’ sweeteners that still impact your skin including agave, coconut syrup, honey, brown rice syrup etc (hint: stevia and monk fruit sweetener are blood sugar friendly!)
Whole fruit (not dried fruit or fruit juice) is fine, just cap it at 1-2 pieces per day. For women with PCOS and significant blood sugar dysregulation, you may be encouraged to avoid or limit higher GI and higher fructose fruits (fructose causes more cellular damage than glucose) such as mangoes, cherries, watermelon, figs & pear.
Get your carbohydrates from vegetables (bearing in mind that starchy veggies like potato, sweet potato and pumpkin cause a greater glucose spike than low GI veggies like your green leafy veg), & complex wholegrains such as quinoa, black rice, red rice, pulse pasta etc.
Ensure you are having 30g of protein with every meal, and 15g with snacks. Make protein, not carbs, the star of your meal.
Manage your stress levels - stress impacts blood sugar! Stress drives glucose release from the liver, leading to chronically elevated blood glucose and insulin. Insulin stimulates sebum production, and androgen production! Even women with terrific diets can have acne due to dysregulated blood sugar resulting from a constant state of ‘fight or flight’.
Some blood sugar hacks: have 1 tablespoon of ACV before meals, go for a 10-15 minute walk after higher carb meals, don’t have carbs/sweets on an empty tummy- pair them with a fat and a protein, limit ‘sweet treats’ to 1-2 times per week maximum, and get the support from nutritional and herbal supplements prescribed through a practitioner.
By Phoebe Ackland, (BHSc Naturopath)
Available for naturopathic consultations for women struggling with acne, perioral dermatitis, Rosacea, PCOS & other menstrual cycle-related conditions or digestive issues.