Could Your Diet Be Causing Your Acne

Many doctors and dermatologists like to say that there is no link between the diet you eat and acne. The concept of what food you eat and this most irritating of skin conditions is often dismissed as a generally known yet common ignorance, and is often debunked routinely in beauty magazines and skincare journals.

Yet, most folklore specialists argue that most common concepts and so-called myths actually have a basis in fact. While this fact is often twisted and a victim of being told many times by many different people, most often the essence of the story has some truth in it. So, has this been the case for the link between diet and acne?

The answer is that no one really knows, as there have been no verified clinical studies that really prove either way. There is some truth in the fact that doctors and dermatologists are not absolutely unbiased when it comes to claiming there is no link between diet and acne; by prescribing drug treatments, a doctor will earn the endorsement of a drug company and some kind of reward is usually standard. However, the idea that doctors are deliberately ignoring more conventional methods of helping a person – such as adjusting their diet – in the pursuit of profit is a controversial one, and one that – of course – all doctors deny.

Yet a quick search through the internet finds plenty of advocates, who seemingly have no financial interest in advocating a diet change yet do so anyway.

The truth of the matter is that altering what is eaten may work for some people in their battle against acne, while for others it won’t. This is probably coupled with a liability to other causes of acne and problems associated with them; the general consensus seems to be that the milder forms of acne are controllable with diet. General advice is to eat plenty of fresh fruit, fish and vegetables as well as cutting back on refined carbohydrates and fats.

Whether this is effective or not is still open for debate, and may well vary from case to case. However, the type of diet suggested by those pioneering a non-medicinal treatment for acne is a good diet for anyone to follow, suggesting healthy eating and a balanced diet. It simply becomes a matter of trying it for yourself. In the worst case scenario you’re eating a diet different from usual, but nevertheless still good for you, and your acne remains unchanged. In the best, you find a simple, non-medicinal cure for your acne and improve your general health, too. The decision is yours.

Natural Aids for Acne

It is more than a little tempting, when suffering from acne, to throw oneself upon the mercy of the retailers and the manufacturers of acne products. From skin strips right through to microdermabrasion, the cosmetics and skin care industry seem to have a thousand answers to your one acne problem.

An acne sufferer could spend a small fortune on the well known, always advertised branded products that flood the shelves of chemists and supermarkets. Some of these products may work, while some are little better than the old con artist snake oil. Knowing the difference between these is extremely tricky, and even user reviews can be tampered with by the manufacturers to give a more glowing view of their product.

So, where to turn? There are two options; firstly, you can systematically try every product available on the market, spending half of your wages until you find one that works for you. Or, you could look beyond the expensive marketing strategies and turn instead to nature. After all, cures and treatments for acne that come from natural sources have been around an awful lot longer than celebrity-endorsed products have!

One of the most popular natural remedies is Aloe Vera. This can be taken as a tablet on a daily basis, or can be used as part of a cream. If choosing the latter option, be careful to read the list of ingredients thoroughly before purchasing. This is because many companies will use harsh, damaging chemicals on creams for acne and then try and ease past people’s natural resistance to such chemicals by included a tiny percentage of aloe vera in the cosmetic make up of the product and advertising based on this. Aloe vera creams that are entirely natural are available on the internet and should not be expensive.

Another popular natural acne remedy is tea tree oil, which is sometimes referred to as melaleuca oil. This tends to be marketed as a pure ointment, cream or oil which can be smoothed on to the skin. Tea tree oil is a natural antibacterial, helping to fight the infection which causes acne, and it also has soothing properties which will lessen the tightness of skin.

Other natural supplements often spoken about include green tea supplements, olive leaf extract and liquorice root extract. These all have various properties and levels of efficacy, but all are significantly cheaper than branded remedies, and are better for your skin overall, too.

Eat Right And Your Skin Will Reward You

There probably isn’t a person reading this who was not told by at least one adult during their childhood that eating junk food would give them spots. Maybe it was potato chips, maybe it was chocolate. Maybe it was pizza – which certainly used to be a popular one, and gave an extra depth of pathos to any “pizza face” jibes that got thrown around. The truth is that a bad diet can lead to bad skin, and that eating and drinking the right things can have big rewards when it comes to looking good on the outside. Eating the wrong things can have disastrous results, even if you wash twice daily and use all the most expensive treatments.

Firstly, it is true (up to a point) that too much chocolate will have an adverse effect on your skin. Refined sugar-based products do terrible things to your facial skin and do nothing to inhibit the production of excess oils. A bar of chocolate every so often is fine – everything in moderation, after all – but if you make a daily habit of it, and go beyond the one bar, you will soon see the ill effects. Caffeine is another thing that should be taken in moderation. Excessive caffeine – it is a diuretic after all – will cause your skin to dry out and will mean that you miss out on important nutrients.

So what should you eat? Well, fish is never a bad option. Ideally not coated in breadcrumbs, a bit of fish every few days will allow your skin to get the supply of oils that it needs in order to thrive. And if you pair that fish with some good vegetables – carrots and green veg like broccoli or spinach – you will get a good supply of Vitamin A, which helps keep the skin healthy. Vitamin E is an important contributor as well, and is present in nuts – specifically hazelnuts or almonds – which you can snack on when you get peckish. And if you drink water regularly, it will flush the system of impurities, meaning there is no need for you to get blemishes any more.