Diet taboos for acne

The three types of foods that need to be avoided most during acne are high GI refined carbohydrates, dairy products that increase insulin-like growth factors, and highly inflammatory trans/saturated fats. The remaining controversial taboos such as "spicy" and "hair-raising foods" are essentially individual differences, and there is no need to apply them across the board.

I once met a little girl who was just a sophomore in high school. She had acne for two years. She applied adapalene and took isotretinoin again and again. When I asked her about her diet, I found out that she drank three bottles of skim milk every day in order to grow taller, and also ate white rice with the brown sugar cake made by her grandma. After replacing skim milk with sugar-free and low-sugar yogurt, and replacing half of her staple food with whole grains such as corn and sweet potatoes, 70% of the redness, swelling and acne on her face disappeared in less than a month. This is actually stepping on the most common dietary minefield - the double buff of high GI and dairy products.

Current mainstream evidence-based research in dermatology has confirmed that high GI foods will rapidly increase blood sugar after entering the human body, induce a large amount of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1) secretion, directly stimulate the sebaceous glands to excessively secrete oil, and provide a perfect breeding environment for Propionibacterium acnes. Of course, there are also different views in the nutrition field. They believe that as long as the blood sugar load (GL) is controlled within a reasonable range throughout the day, eating crispy pork in hot pot once in a while or eating a cream cake for a birthday will not cause acne the next day. The fear is that eating white porridge, brown sugar steamed buns, and refined rice noodles as daily staple foods will provide nutrients to acne every day.

A more hidden pitfall than high GI is actually dairy products that many people think are "healthy". Many people still get acne even after quitting sugar. When looking at the diet list, two bottles of skimmed milk a day accounted for the greatest risk of acne. Current research has made it clear that skimmed milk has a higher risk of causing acne than whole milk - the fat is removed during the skimming process, but more free IGF-1 is retained, which makes it easier to stimulate oil secretion. Of course, not everyone has to give up milk completely. I have no problem drinking sugar-free yogurt at room temperature, but I tend to close my mouth when drinking fresh milk. If you drink milk for two weeks in a row and your acne doesn’t get worse, you don’t need to go into any special dietary restrictions. After all, the benefits of calcium supplements are real.

Speaking of this, someone must ask, what about peppers? I had three pimples after eating hot pot last week. Isn’t it spicy? To be honest, there is currently no evidence-based medical evidence that proves that chili peppers can directly cause acne. The most likely culprits of acne breakouts after eating hot pot are the iced milk tea, the peanut butter in the dipping sauce, and the butter-filled duck intestines that have been cooked for a long time. These combinations of high sugar and oil are the core of acne breakouts. But we have to admit that there are indeed some people who already have inflammation, redness, swelling and acne. Eating spicy food will dilate capillaries and make the acne redder and more painful. These people can just avoid it. Don't just eat spicy food after others say "spicy food won't cause acne". You have the final say on your face.

As for the "fat food" taboos that have been passed down for many years, such as seafood, beef, mutton, mango, etc., it is essentially a matter of individual food allergies or intolerances. If you eat shrimp and you will get acne the next day, then you put shrimp on your blacklist. If others eat it and are fine, it is because they have good tolerance. There is no unified standard. In order to get rid of acne, I heard someone say that I should go vegetarian, so I ate white rice and fried vegetables every day. As a result, the acne got worse. Later I learned that the GI of pure white rice and white noodles is higher than that of many fruits, which was not helpful.

Oh, by the way, don’t believe in the folk remedies of “drinking herbal tea to get rid of acne” or “eating bitter melon to get rid of acne”. Most herbal teas on the market add more sugar than milk tea. Drinking too much will cause acne breakouts. Eating too much bitter melon will hurt your stomach. There is really no need to suffer this. You can eat low-GI strawberries, blueberries, and cherry tomatoes. Supplementing vitamins can actually help fight inflammation. You don’t have to go overboard and dare not touch fruits.

In fact, in the final analysis, diet is only one of the influencing factors of acne. Staying up late, stress, hormone fluctuations, and poor cleaning all play a role. Don't leave all the blame to food, and don't dare to eat anything and make yourself malnourished. The most reliable method is actually to keep a simple food diary. Write down what you eat if the acne gets worse the next day, and slowly understand the "minefield" on your face. This is 10,000 times more effective than the cookie-cutter list of taboos on the Internet.