AUTHOR
STEFANIE VALAKAS Stefanie is an Accredited Practising Dietician and nutritionist , an expert in fertility and pregnancy and founder of The Dietologist . Follow Stefanie on Instagram
@ the _ dietologist or Facebook
@ thedietologist .
CAN YOUR DIET AFFECT ACNE ?
Learn what the current science says about diet and acne .
To all those out there suffering with acne , I can relate ! This is something that has always followed me throughout puberty and into adulthood . It can be very upsetting , stressful and isolating when you just can ’ t seem to fix it – no matter how many creams or medications you try ( and trust me I ’ ve tried them all ). So how can what you eat help to control debilitating acne ?
What is acne ?
Acne is the most common skin condition found in men and women . Acne is caused by an overproduction of sebum . Sebum is an oil that is designed to prevent drying out of the skin . When excess sebum is produced , it combines with dead skin cells to clog up your pores and form those dreaded pimples .
Many things can contribute to acne . These include :
} bacterial infection } genetics } high levels of stress } increases in testosterone during puberty or due to
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ( PCOS ).
Too often , diet is blamed for worsening acne , but is this actually true ?
Unfortunately , we ’ re still not 100 % sure . There are big gaps in the current research and further studies are needed . But Iet ’ s examine some of the common dietary recommendations you may have heard of and how scientific they actually are .
10 YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE