You may want to look younger, but having spots like a greasy teenager probably wasn’t what you had in mind. Acne is a common problem, especially if you have oily skin, but there are ways in which your diet can help.
1. Pick up more protein: Your skin cells react and recover faster from infections with a high intake of protein, as these prevent the secretion of oil onto your skin. This hampers the main cause of acne, as well as causing your skin to replace old cells quickly and become more light and soft.
2. Choose the right kind of fats: You might think fats aggravate your skin problems, but in fact you need a 1:3 ratio of omega-3 and omega 6 fatty acids to help your brain work properly and also fight acne. For omega-3, turn to olive oil, flax seed oil, fresh salmon, etc., while you can get omega 6-fatty acids from beef, red chicken, all nuts and peanut butter.
3. Find your favourite fruits: No food is better than fruits for skin wellness. Try apples to gradually reduce acne, or apricots for the vitamin A, vitamin B complex and fibre you need to control and fight spots. Bananas are a known boost to anti-ageing wellness, as their high content of potassium acts against acne-causing bacteria, while cherries help to cleanse your blood, which is vital in suppressing spots and pimples. For vitamin A and C try cantaloupe melons, or else pick papaya and other citrus fruits.
4. Eat vital vegetables: A strong way to clean up acne is by eating raw vegetables, especially the key players. Carrot is beneficial as it contains vitamin A, carotene and magnesium, while the nutrients in cucumber (notably vitamin A and vitamin C) control your acne and enrich your skin tone. Spinach is a skin superstar, providing you with iron, vitamins A and K and antioxidants, and finally garlic can control your skin’s oil balance, so you might want to add it to dishes or even directly apply garlic juice to the spots themselves.
5. Choose acne-treating carbs: Carbohydrates have a huge impact on your body’s inflammation and the balance of your blood sugar. This means that the carbs you eat have to be suitable for acne; low-glycaemic carbohydrates. These carbs don’t exacerbate inflammation, so try to get your carbohydrate fix from beans, legumes, oats, barley and quinoa, and eat them along with protein to effectively treat your acne.
6. Make sure you get all your vitamins and minerals: We’ve touched on this with the fruits and vegetables sections, but vitamins and minerals are so vital to your skin health that it bears repeating. The essential vitamins for preventing acne are vitamins A, C, D and K, while your non-miss-able minerals include magnesium, potassium and zinc. The reason why these nutrients are so important is that they have the properties you need to fight against harmful bacteria, exfoliate your skin of any dry and nasty bits, act on those persistent pimples and eliminate the inflammation on any skin rashes you might have. You’ll probably get all the vitamins and minerals you need if you eat a decent amount of fruit and veg – especially those listed above – but if not, talk to your doctor about deficiencies and the possibility of vitamin and mineral supplements.
7. Limit your consumption of dairy and processed foods: Milk products antagonize your affected skin, because they are high in saturates animal fats. This means that they promote the growth of bacteria, and so you’ll never protect your wellbeing against acne. Processed foods likewise promote the growth of acne and skin problems, as these contain skin-harming preservatives.
