What’s your comfort food? Cheeseburger? Pasta? Bet it’s pizza.
Putting on Netflix, getting comfy on the couch, and ordering pizza sounds like a perfect evening plan.
You enjoy that delicious pasta and wake up with a pimple the next morning.
Spoiler alert! Do you know your comfort food is playing with your skin?
Yes. There are certain types of food promoting acne breakouts, and your favorite cheeseburger is one of them. No kidding.
These foods call out to the hormones in your body to hangout, and all you get is acne.
Wait. Don’t panic because foods that cause acne have equally delicious alternatives. And in addition to a suitable diet, a simple skincare routine can clear out your acne.
Let’s talk about what to eat to remove pimples and what to avoid.
5 Types of Acne-Promoting Foods and Their Alternatives
If your skin is already acne-prone, the chances of you getting a breakout by eating below food are higher.
Besides, anything in excess is not healthy. Get a pen and paper. Let’s plan the right diet for you.
1. Dairy Products
Not everyone is lactose tolerant. Your body might not be an excellent host to milkshakes, butter, cheese, or other dairy products.
Dairy products, especially cow milk, end up increasing the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in your blood.
IGF-1, in turn, promotes cell growth, which means more sebum on your skin. The growth factor also triggers certain hormones. Together all this results in an acne breakout.
What to Eat: Prefer consuming plant-based milk such as coconut milk or cashew milk. Butter can be replaced by olive oil. And cashew cheese will be as delicious as regular cheese.
2. Refined Grains and Sugar
These two keep the cycle of acne breakout, ruining the peace in your life. Again, sugar and refined grains such as white rice can boost IGF-1.
White bread, pastries, pasta, white potatoes are all culprits. The more you love fries, the more your skin is going to suffer.
Sugar-enriched items are those foods that cause acne on the jawline.
What to Eat: Whole grains are the apparent alternative to refined grains. I prefer sweet potato, brown rice, brown or whole grain bread, gluten-free food, and fruits. Delicious and healthy indeed.
3. Fast Food
No matter how much we all love fast food, deep down, we all know that it’s not good for health.
Fast food contains everything that’s going to worsen your acne. Excess cheap oil, sugar, cheese, bread, butter; no less than a monster for your skin.
Fast food can trigger hormones causing acne and are also heavy to digest, causing other health issues. Do you know these food items can ruin your hair too?
What to Eat: Don’t worry though, no-one is stopping you from cooking a healthy burger. Use alternative food, and that burger would be bliss. Make sure you use less sugar. Eat a lot of green vegetables.
4. Chocolate
Look who is another culprit behind acne breakouts. Chocolate is a comfort food, especially during periods.
It makes you happy but can also trigger hormones resulting in pimples on your pretty face.
Even though there is no strong correlation between chocolate and acne. Study shows that cocoa and chocolate boost the chances of developing pimples and cysts.
It’s IGF-1 all over again.
What to Eat: High fiber diet is the best option to prevent acne. You can also include eggs in your diet along with carrots. High fiber food can control blood sugar levels and naturally clears acne.
5. Food That You Are Allergic/Sensitive To
There are some specific food items that one might be allergic to such as peanuts. Your body fails to recognize certain food items and treats them as a threat.
To fight the threat, your body sends an army of pro-inflammatory molecules that trigger hormones.
That’s why specific food items that you are sensitive to can result in acne breakouts.
What to Eat: First of all, skip eating food that your body cannot digest easily or treats as a threat. I prefer light food that is less inflammatory.
Now that you are well aware of foods that prevent acne let’s walk through a simple skincare routine that can improve clear skin chances.
Skincare Routine
First thing first, cleanse the infected area of your skin every day with Proactiv or another acne treatment. Cleansing and exfoliating will remove all the dirt, oil, dead skin cells from the pores.
If you have oily skin, use a water-based cleanser.
A toner will help you maintain the complexion along with moisturizer to have soft skin.
Use a face mask once a week to absorb the right nutrients into the skin.
Sunscreen is as vital to your skin as a hat to your head. Sun Rays can damage your skin, promote acne and premature aging. Not to mention life-taking skin diseases.
Do not forget to put on sun protection before leaving for work/college.
All you have to do is plan a hormonal acne diet along with a skincare routine. That’s the least we can do for our skin.
Use your regular skin products or try something natural like Averr Aglow’s Luminous Clear Skin kit. It has 40+ natural ingredients. A week of this skincare kit, and you’ll have a glowing result.
Lovely ladies, don’t let that cheeseburger ruin your day. Get a healthy diet and shine from within.
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