4 Foods To Avoid For Glowing Skin

Hello lovely humans!

Hope you’ve all had a stellar weekend and are looking forward to the week ahead. (Hopefully you also have air conditioning and have not been sweating the way I’ve been the last few weeks. Although, I know I shouldn’t complain: my last apartment was freezing all year round, so this is a nice change of pace. I’d just like if I didn’t sweat whenever I think about moving.)

I’ve spent the last couple weeks reflecting on the blog, as I do, thinking of what I want this content to look like. And I think we’re going to try something new (and if it doesn’t work, we’ll pretend it never happened). I’d like to pick a focus every month to write about, so that way I can give as much information as possible!

For our first monthly theme, I want to talk to you about skincare: mainly how to get glowing skin. I’ve already written a post on 10 foods for glowing skin, and answered some questions about what to eat for acne, but I thought I could use the rest of the month to dive in deeper.

So to kick us off, we’re going to talk about 4 foods to avoid to get glowing skin (because if you didn’t know, there’s a pretty big link between diet and skin health!).

1.REFINED SUGAR

You probably saw this one coming, but when it comes to skin health and glowing skin, sugar and high glycemic foods are a big culprit. This is because refined sugar (like pastries, crackers and sweets) cause a spike in blood sugar which then leads to an increase in insulin. Insulin can then go on to increase sebum production and cause skin cells to produce more rapidly, leading to acne. (1)

Research shows that those with acne tend to eat a diet higher in refined sugars, and that a low-glycemic index diet is correlated to reduced acne severity. (2,3)

How To Make It Work: For an easy win, swap out your sodas for flavoured sparkling water. You can also make healthy versions of your favourite treats (check out some recipes for ideas). And while you don’t have to completely give up your favourite foods, it’s worth taking a break and finding healthy alternatives while you work on improving your skin.

2.DAIRY

Another thing you might want to consider removing from your diet is dairy. Research suggests that those who eat more dairy (especially ice cream) tend to have worse acne, with teenagers in particular being affected by this. (4,5) This may be because milk raises insulin—especially when it’s found in a sweet treat, like ice cream.

How To Make It Work: Thankfully, there are a lot of non-dairy options out there now, and they are so much better than they used to be. (I for one, love Coconut Bliss non-dairy ice cream more than regular ice cream, and that’s a bold statement.) Look for dairy alternatives made from coconut or nuts (like almond milk, coconut yogurt or cashew sour cream) or make your own! I went mostly dairy-free about two years ago because it was negatively impacting my digesting, and honestly, I rarely miss it.

3.CHOCOLATE (maybe)

Okay, this one kind of depends.

The jury is still completely out on whether or not chocolate causes acne, but there are some studies that show that that might be the case. One study found that adolescent males who ate chocolate had more breakouts in the following weeks, while another found that males who ate capsules of cocoa powder had more severe acne than the placebo group. (6,7)

How To Make It Work: If you think chocolate may be affecting your skin, try temporarily removing it for a weeks. Reintroduce and notice how your skin reacts.

4.PROCESSED VEGETABLE OILS (OMEGA-6s)

Another culprit that affects your skin? Processed vegetable oils (like canola, soy and corn).

Not only do these oils tend to be inflammatory—which we want to avoid when dealing with acne—they also can offset the balance of omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. A typical Western diet tends to be really high in omega-6s and low in omega-3s, with the ratio being somewhere around 15:1, instead of the ideal 4:1 or less. This causes an increase in inflammation which can worse acne. (8, 9)

How To Make It Work: Swap out cheap processed oils for extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil. These oils offer up anti-inflammatory benefits that can help promote skin health. It may also be worth taking an omega-3 supplement to help restore that healthy ratio.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

When it comes to glowing skin, diet and lifestyle can go a long way. We’ll be diving more into this later this month, but for now if you’re looking to improve your skin health, start by making these simple changes to your diet!

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