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Best and Worst Foods to Eat For Acne Prone Skin
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How a Change in Diet Can Avoid Acne Skin
Adult acne is real and depending on your skin type, your diet affects it. However, there are ways to combat blemishes, pimples and blackheads. Along with skin care and treatments, specific types of foods can be beneficial for a cleaner and clearer face.
Pay Attention to What You’re Eating

Dermatologists strongly recommend that patients pay attention to their diet and observe what affects their acne. Hence, before you devour that tasteful meal or snack, ask yourself a couple of questions
- Does a particular food or beverage trigger an immediate breakout or worsen existing acne?
- If something triggers a breakout, what happens when it is removed from your diet after a day, week, or month?
These are essential questions in targeting why acne manifests. Moreover, taking preventative measures will help you discover what are the best or worst foods for your skin.
Which Type of Foods Are Potentially Harmful
It is not just food alone that prevents acne. There are layers of reasons that cause breakouts. This includes key factors like genetics, lifestyle, hormones and blocked pores—to name a few.
However, there is research that certain foods may worsen acne in skin, while others improve it. Luckily, there’s a list of a few possible triggers to keep in mind.
Dairy
Although yummy, it is one of the most lethal triggers of acne. A 2018 NIH study revealed that the relationship between dairy intake and acne development were positive. Thus, the research determined that all types of dairy resulted with more acne occurrences.
Moreover, the natural and added growth hormones in milk triggers hormonal acne to flare up in the skin, and force oil glands into overdrive. Therefore, it is best to lay off dairy products and substitute it with vitamins to avoid breakouts. At the very least, consume it in moderation.
Sugar
It is not only detrimental for teeth, but skin as well. Most importantly, sugar found in high-glycemic foods increases inflammation and triggers acne to flare up in the skin.
Multiple studies about the relationship between sugar and acne development reveal adverse effects. The American Academy of Dermatology determined that a low-glycemic diet may reduce the amount of acne occurrence.
Furthermore, this diet helps eliminate spikes in blood sugar that causes inflammation. Moreover, the spikes also cause the body to produce more sebum, an oily substance in the skin. Consequently, these two factors lead to acne.
Although there is ongoing research about diet and its relation to acne, it is better to play it safe. A low-glycemic diet includes healthy greens and fats, some fresh fruits, beans, and steel-cut oats.
Worst Foods For Breakout Acne
- Potato Chips and Crackers
- Pastries and Cookies
- White Bread
- Soft drinks and Artificial Flavored Juices
A Korean Diet To Help Fight Off Worst to Mild Acne
The goal to achieve flawless and poreless skin is more reality than dream. This is all thanks to Korea’s surprisingly low-glycemic, vegetable and seafood-based diet.
In a NIH study by Korean researchers, it surveyed adults who followed a typical low-glycemic Korean diet for 10 weeks. The results showed a drop in patients’ acne severity, sebaceous gland size, and overall inflammation.
Moreover, Korean foods contain ingredients that help maintain skin health. Therefore the diet became a form of acne treatment. These are a list of traditional Korean foods that may help treating acne.
Kimchi
Kimchi acts as a probiotic superfood because it contains lactobacillus, a healthy bacteria also found in yogurt that helps fight off intestinal infections. Moreover, inflammation in the gut is tied to skin issues like acne. Therefore, adding kimchi to the diet is beneficial.
Apart from acne reduction, kimchi may prevent wrinkles by adding moisture to your skin. Furthermore, A 2015 study also revealed that a daily kimchi diet helped improve skin barrier and increase hyaluronic acid, a moisturizing ingredient found in skincare products, after four weeks.
Makgeolli
Makgeolli is a rice wine drink that nourishes the skin. It’s slightly sweet in flavor and contains 6-8 percent alcohol. It is made from fermented rice, yeast and water. The alcoholic beverage is like a sweet milky sake.
The benefit of the alcohol is that one bottle of makgeolli acts as a probiotic. Like kimchi, it has lactobacillus, which means that it contains the same ingredients that treat both the digestive system and skin.
Moreover, it can also be applied directly to the skin, as it’s seen in the popular Korean beauty brand Tony Moly, known to sell makgeolli sheet masks. In addition, makgeolli is rich in amino acids and vitamin B, which helps brighten the skin.
Seaweed soup
Given its long Korean history, the delicious soup is a cherished meal. Additionally, it is known to fight skin cancer.
The recipe is simple and quick. The seaweed is soaked in beef or seafood stock for 10-15 minutes. It is then seasoned with soy sauce, salt, garlic and sesame oil.
This is a special soup in Korean culture. The seaweed soup is the first thing a woman eats after giving birth, and is also a birthday soup. Furthermore, the mineral-rich broth contains lots of skin care nutrients.
For example, one sheet of seaweed consists of omega-3s, which help your skin maintain a natural oil barrier. In addition, research reveals that seaweed soup also helps protect the skin from sun damage.
Barley Tea
Don’t be mistaken by the simplistic hot or cold beverage. It plays a huge role in skin repair. Barley tea contains high amounts of antioxidants that are effective in preventing skin damage.
It helps improve the formation of peroxynitrite, an oxidant that penetrates and fights skin tissue. Moreover, it helps reduce wrinkles.
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