What to eat when you’re dealing with acne
Your skin shouldn’t feel tight after cleansing
When someone comes in with acne, I always like to ask about food and diet. While I don’t think it’s helpful to start with a long list of foods to avoid, I do want to know what they’re eating most days, whether their meals are keeping them full, and if they’ve noticed the same food affecting their skin more than once. That gives us much more to work with than trying to blame the last thing they ate.
Start with your usual meals
If you’re busy, it’s easy to get through the morning on coffee, pick up something sweet in the afternoon and only have a proper meal at night. Before worrying about individual ingredients, I’d look at where we can make those everyday meals more substantial.
Try including some protein, vegetables, a carbohydrate with fibre and a little healthy fat. For example:
- Eggs on toast with avocado and tomato
- Salmon with kūmara and cooked greens
- A chicken, rice and vegetable bowl with olive oil
- Oats with berries, seeds and yoghurt, if yoghurt agrees with you
There’s plenty of room to change those around. Eggs, fish, chicken, tofu and legumes can all provide protein. Vegetables can be fresh or frozen, and cooked vegetables may be easier to eat if raw ones leave you bloated. Oats, wholegrains, kūmara and legumes are ways to add fibre, while olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds add healthy fats.
Water is a good main drink. If you regularly have soft drinks, energy drinks or sweetened iced drinks, try easing back on those, and enjoying a glass of water instead.
Do sugar and refined foods affect acne?
Research suggests that diets high in foods that raise blood sugar can quickly make acne worse for some people. That doesn’t mean you can trace a breakout back to one biscuit! I’m more meaning like how often sugary drinks, sweets, pastries or refined snack foods are taking the place of meals.
Having lunch with some protein and fibre will problably make the afternoon a lot easier easier than trying to rely on willpower when you’re hungry at three o’clock.
What about dairy?
Cow’s milk has been linked with acne in some studies, though that doesn’t mean milk is a trigger for everyone. You don’t have to remove all dairy just because you have breakouts, but if you’ve noticed a pattern, we can talk about it. I’d also want to know if you’ve recently started a whey protein shake, as some people notice changes in their skin after adding one.
What about if your digestion is playing up too?
A specific food can be considered nutritious and still leave you feeling uncomfortable. If large salads or servings of beans make you bloated, try cooked vegetables, smaller portions or a different source of fibre instead.
NOTE: Persistent stomach symptoms are something to discuss with your GP, particularly if you’re concerned about H. pylori.
Do you need to follow a Candida diet?
You’ll find plenty of ‘Candida cleanse’ food lists online. They often remove fruit, grains and other foods without first establishing whether a Candida infection is present. If that’s what you’re worried about, the real next step is getting it assessed so you know what needs treating.
Let’s have a chat
At your next appointment, let me know what a normal day of eating looks like and whether you’ve noticed anything changing with your skin or digestion.
It doesn’t need to be a perfect food diary, but we’ll put that information alongside your skin care, treatments and health history, and we can make changes based on what you’re actually experiencing.
👉 Book a skin consultation with Jemma
~ Jemma
