Your Diet And Acne

So are you tired of constantly being told to watch your diet, drink lots of water, and to get plenty of exercise?  Most people are.  But if you have acne or any skin problem for that matter, it's time to start listening to this advice.

Let's explore a bit closer the connection between your diet, your level of physical activity, and your skin's overall health as well as your outbreaks of acne.

How Diet Affects Your Skin

When you eat anything, the food breaks down to its most basic chemical makeup and these elements are then absorbed into the body's digestive system.  These chemicals are used in the way the body need to, such as absorbing calcium to be sent to the bones and teeth and water molecules for every single cell in the body.  Chemicals and other materials that are not used are turned into waste and expelled in the bathroom.

Most everything we eat is absorbed into the body and winds up somewhere in our system.  Proteins, amino acids, and things such as this are sent everywhere in the body and this includes the skin.

Which means that an excess amount of oil or fat in the diet means excessive oil on the skin.  Some oil is good and helpful; your skin needs natural oil to keep itself soft and healthy.  But when you eat a ton of fried foods including things such as potato chips, packaged foods, and things such as this then that oil will wind up on your skin including the skin on your face.  Too much oil means the pores get clogged and acne results.

You might immediately think that you don't eat a lot of oily food but you need to consider this carefully.  Excessive oil means more than just deep friend foods.  Consider the following:

§         Meats cooked in their own fats, such as hamburgers in a frying pan or anything in a roasting pan.  These foods are basting in their own oils and fats almost as much as food that is deep fried.

§         Red meat has a high fat content and also contains a lot of acids that are difficult for your system to break down.  These acids and the fat in red meat can translate into damaging particles for your skin.

§         Oil makes a great preservative and is used in many packaged foods.  This includes breakfast or toaster pastries, canned stews, and items such as these.  Virtually anything in a box or can has some type of added oil to it as a preservative.

§         Most cakes and other desserts have a large amount of oil added to them so that they're moist.  Think of when you bake a cake - you always add oil to the mix.  Purchased items have this much oil as well; this means cakes, pies, cupcakes, and pretty much all dessert items as well.

§         Chocolate is very high in natural oil and many people find they break out when they eat chocolate.  Typically you must have a preexisting sensitivity to it but this doesn't mean that it's completely safe either.  All that extra oil will wind up on your face.

So you can see from reviewing this that you might actually get more excess oil in your diet than you think you did.  If you start out your day with packaged toaster pastries, have a burger for lunch and cake sometime during the day, you're getting a lot of extra fat and oil in your diet.

Good things to eat for problem skin. 

Since the bad stuff we eat winds up on our face, it's only logical to think that the good stuff winds up there too.  And it certainly does; when we follow a good diet, it shows.

Vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids are needed for the skin to look healthy and glowing.  Vitamins help all parts of the body to repair itself and to get rid of dead cells and so on.  When we lack these vital nutrients, it can show.

You may be tired by now of hearing how important fresh fruits and vegetables are to your health but there's a reason why doctors and nutritionists continue to preach this sermon over and over again.  Fruits and vegetables seem to be packed full of all the important elements needed for your overall health, including the health of your skin.

While all fruits and vegetables are good for the skin, it seems that those with higher concentrations of vitamin A, C and E offer the most benefits.  These would include:

§         Oranges and other citrus fruits

§         Apples

§         Bananas

§         Peaches

§         Plums

§         Berries of all types

§         Leafy green vegetables, including lettuces of all varieties but especially those that are dark green such as spinach and collard greens

§         Tomatoes

What about supplements? 

If you don't have the best diet and aren't one to incorporate all those leafy greens and important fruits and vegetables, you might consider taking a supplement.  A good multi-vitamin can go a long way toward keeping your skin healthy and helping your body to nourish is properly.

What You Drink Makes a Difference

Would you believe that the body is made up mostly of water?  When you don't have enough water in your system your body reflects that.  Your digestive system cramps up, your blood becomes thick, and your skin becomes very dry.  You may be tired of also hearing about how important water is but when it comes to your skin's appearance, it's imperative that you get enough water.

Some people think that drinking beverages like coffee, tea, and soda are just as acceptable as drinking water when it comes to your body's need for it.  Unfortunately caffeine is a diuretic meaning that it causes you to lose water and moisture from your system, so these beverages actually do more damage than they do any good.

If you absolutely hate water and aren't likely to add it to your diet, try some alternatives.  Add some fruit juice to your water; you can cut it half-and-half or just add whatever makes the water more palatable for you.  Or try a drink mix such as Crystal Light or something else sugarless.  You may also find that if you just keep a bottle of water with you all the time then you're more likely to drink it, and may even find that you really do like it.

Physical Activity and Skin's Health

There are many benefits to being physically active, and clearer skin is only one of them.  But what is the connection between physical activity and good skin?  Let's take a look at how being more active affects the body's systems overall.

Increased blood circulation. 

Your heart is pumping blood throughout your body at all times; if it wasn't, you'd be dead.  But of course the more often your heart beats the more often this blood is going to go through your body.

Blood circulation serves many functions for the body.  Blood cells carry with them nutrients and oxygen which sort of "piggyback" for a ride to every cell in the body.  You need to eat to get nutrition and other important elements that your body needs to continue its existence, but this nutrition is delivered to the body's cells through the blood.  This includes the skin.

So when you exercise and increase the number of times your blood is circulated throughout the body you're getting that vital nutrition and oxygen on a more consistent basis.  This is like tending to your garden - it needs water and nourishment on a more consistent basis.  Someone with a lush garden or lawn is obviously caring for it more often than the person with the lawn or garden that's patchy, rough, or with flowers that are wilted and dying.

Another reason that this increased blood circulation is so important is because the blood not only acts as a delivery van, it also acts as something of a garbage truck!  What this means is that as the blood travels in its circuit it not only delivers vital nutrition and oxygen to the cells of the body but it also picks up dead cells and other waste material as well.  These elements are filtered out through the lungs or otherwise disposed of, but it's the traveling blood cells that actually do that collection work.

So when you exercise and increase the number of times the blood goes through your system you are picking up those wasteful cells and materials; this means that your skin will have that "healthy glow" as dead cells and other waste materials are cleared from it more often as well.

Most people who exercise regularly or who get regular physical activity throughout the day usually note an improvement in their skin's overall texture and tone and even report that their acne often clears up as well.  No doubt the blood getting rid of those dead cells and other elements that clog pores and cause blackouts is contributing to this healthier appearance.

Oxygen is another important element when it comes to your skin's health.  The skin needs those oxygen molecules to be healthy and to clean itself out; this oxygen is only delivered by the blood.

So you may be tired of hearing people constantly telling you to get on the treadmill or to join a gym, but you can see that regular physical activity affects your skin's health as well as all other parts of your body's health as well.

Some Controversy About Food

There has been some controversy in past years about whether or not certain foods cause people to break out.  Studies have shown that not everyone that eats chocolate or greasy and fried foods suffer acne breakouts, so some people claim that they must not cause these.

But on the other hand, it has been shown that when some people make changes to their diet and cut down or cut out these greasy food choices then their skin does clear up in certain circumstances.  Very often those that cut out or cut down on very fatty meats such as bacon, hamburger, and processed foods and who cut out fried or greasy foods report that their skin becomes much clearer and they seem to have much less oil on their skin as well.

It seems that as with so many other things, you may need to have a preexisting sensitivity to things such as chocolate for it to really bother your skin, but there's no controversy as to whether or not healthy food actually does make your skin look healthy. 

Vitamins and minerals are important for all aspects of your health and this includes your skin, so there's no reason to avoid eating right.  While many people may argue as to whether or not certain foods make you break out, there's no arguing that eating healthy fruits and vegetables is going to work as a protection for your skin and your health.