Acne and Food

You can hear all kinds of crazy stories about acne and nutrition—and read a lot more on the Internet. So how does anyone know what to believe?

Here are the three most common myths busted.

1. Chocolate does not cause acne

Fried foods don’t, either. There is no little pipeline that carries oil from your intestines to your skin. Oily foods have nothing to do with the skin’s oiliness, and oil isn’t the cause of acne, anyway. Acne occurs when testosterone and other hormones stimulate the growth of skin over pores so that the oil, sebum, that keeps the skin flexible and wrinkle-free, gets trapped inside. When bacteria degrade this oil, then there can be whiteheads, blackheads, and various kinds of inflammation.

2. Also untrue is the myth that no food has any effect on acne

The foods that can keep acne from clearing up or even trigger new outbreaks are those that are high in iodine. This nutrient can cause skin outbreaks, but only after it builds up over a period of weeks or months. Iodine is abundant in ocean shellfish, such as lobster, shrimp, and crab, sea vegetables such as kelp and nori, and in spinach. Eat a spinach and lobster salad every day for lunch and sushi every evening for dinner for six weeks and you are asking for acne. Foods that are high in iodine may cause outbreaks or they may interfere with acne treatment.

3. Nutrients In Creams

Another fallacy making the rounds is that you can provide nutrients to your skin by dabbing them on in expensive creams and lotions. The reason your skin doesn’t absorb nutrients you put on it, as contrasted to those you put in it by including them in your diet, is that it is covered with a layer of dead cells called the stratum corneum. These dead cells on top of the skin cannot absorb nutrients, and they block nutrients from going lower. Applying collagen directly to your skin can give the illusion of nourishing the skin, as the collagen itself can absorb water and plump up, that is, until the first time you wash it off. Vitamin C, however, can be absorbed into the top layer of the skin, when it is provided in the form of ascorbyl palmitate.

Those are the three most common myths about acne and food—what about the truths of nutrition that supports recovery from acne? Here are three things nutritionists can tell us about good dietary habits that can help you recover clear skin.

i. Drink water

You don’t actually have to drink the often-recommended eight glasses of water a day. The scientific research indicates that the benefits of hydration begin when you drink as little as 5 cups of water a day—there’s no need to spend you whole day going to the bathroom just so you can have clearer skin. Getting enough fluid keeps the tissues under your skin firmer so the skin is supported and pores stay open. It also prevents the drying of your skin that causes flakes of dead to skin to accumulate over and block pores.

ii. Eat foods that are rich in vitamin C.

It doesn’t hurt to take supplemental vitamin C, but you should not try to get all of your vitamin C from a pill. That’s because the foods that are rich in vitamin C, especially citrus, also provide bioflavonoids, antioxidant compounds that complement vitamin C as a way of stimulating the growth of collagen that keeps the capillaries in your skin healthy. Healthy blood vessels supply the skin with nutrients, carry away potentially inflammatory substances, and help keep pores open.

iii. Don’t be afraid of fat

Just be sure you get the right kind of fat. The fat that is found in olive oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, and cold-water fish like salmon and tuna modulates a process through which the body makes pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory hormones. If you get more of the “good” n-3 essential fatty acids from these food sources or from supplements, your body reduces the production of inflammatory hormones and your skin gets a chance to clear.