You have probably heard about it, but why can carbs in your diet give you acne? It’s actually high glycemic foods that cause acne and I’m going to explain how they cause acne, teach you to know which foods these are, and give you tips for an acne-fighting diet!
Scientists have found that people who eat lots of highly refined carbs are more likely to get acne. Our modern western diet is loaded with highly refined carbs – including those foods in the image above! Those are obvious, but highly refined carbs are also found in cookies, chips, white bread, crackers, cereals, candy bars, pasta, pizza, white rice, hamburger buns etc. Western teens and adults eat a lot of these foods. You would expect acne to be common – and it is!
It’s the high glycemic foods that appear to trigger acne.
Cut down on high glycemic foods and your acne should improve. To understand this, you need to know:
In simple terms, the glycemic index of a food measures the food’s ability to quickly increase your blood sugar, which in turn tells your body to make insulin:
Foods with a higher glycemic index number increase your blood sugar faster than foods with the same amount of carbohydrates but a lower glycemic index number.
When your body has to produce tons of insulin because you ate tons of refined carbs (white flour, sugary foods etc.) then complex things happen with your hormones – including hormones that act on your pores. These hormones are your androgens, (like testosterone), and ‘insulin-like growth factor’. They cause your pores to make blackheads and secrete more oil. They even change what’s in your skin oil, making it more ‘pimple forming’.Â
Basically, eating refined carbs causes your hormones to go crazy, your pores go crazy and you get zits.
Dermatologist Cynthia Bailey, MD
Frankly, it’s an amazing example of how complex the body is. Who but a scientist could unravel the connection between you eating a doughnut, increasing testosterone and a growth factor, the end result of which is your skin forming blackheads and pimples?
Modern teens, and many adults, eat a lot of highly refined/ high glycemic load carbs -and this causes acne.
Eat foods with a lower glycemic index value:
Good guidelines for a healthy diet, including recipes, are included in my free e-Book for an Alkaline Mediterranean Diet Guide.
If you’ve been eating a ‘normal’ American diet, then starting to eat more veggies, fruit, lean protein and whole grains will probably help your acne. The added bonus is that these are great foods for your overall health and I’ll bet you feel great too!
While you are tuning up your diet, be sure to use proven non-prescription acne medicines built into a skin care routine that fights acne, skin dryness, and protects from scars and brown marks caused by acne. Â
I’ve created my Ultimate Acne Solutions Kit with a skin care routine that’s like a trip to the dermatologist when it comes to effectiveness. The key to this routine is that I’ve personally,
I’ve set you up just like you’ve had a trip to the dermatologist, minus the trip!Â
This skin care routine is built from the best proven medicated ingredients to treat acne – and it will improve your acne too.
So….. which snack food should you chose to help prevent acne????
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Please note that scientists are just beginning to understand the connection between high glycemic foods and acne. I expect we’ll be getting even more recommendations in the coming years.
Reference:
Whitney P. Bowe, MD et. al. Diet and Acne, J of the Am Acad Dermatol 2010;63:124-41
Photo Attributions:
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