Are You Sure Your Diet Doesnt Affect Your Acne?
For those of you who have met me, you know I am often mistaken for being an 18 year old
when in actuality I'm 27. I'm currently teaching after-school cooking classes in Brooklyn to
middle school kids and I was mistaken for one of the students by an employee. I almost got in
trouble for being in the hallway!
All I can say is that the organic food and vegetables
must be working!
...and I use Oil of Olay (with SPF) everyday although I am searching
for a more natural product that I will like.
Developing Acne
Around the age of 18
I started developing a mild case of adult acne. It actually wasn't too bad, but I noticed it
because my face had always been very clear. I was stumped as to why this was happening.
I solved the problem, and I thought it would be great to share my discovery with you. Not
only to show how food does affect our skin, but also because maybe it will work for you
too!
Caffeine
Around the same time I developed the acne I was also becoming a
social coffee drinker. It took me awhile to put two and two together, but I eventually
experimented with eliminating the coffee. Guess what! The pimples went away.
Hmmm...
So what could it have been? I then figured out that my skin would break out if I had soda,
chocolate, or tea. The common factor was caffeine. In fact, I was so sensitive that even
decaf caused me to have blemishes. (Decaf still contains a small amount of caffeine leftover
from the process.) I also later discovered that alcohol would have the same effect.
I'm
not a dermatologist, and many of them will tell you that what you eat does not affect whether
you have acne or not, but I will tell you from first hand experience that it does. What
seemed to be happening was that caffeine or alcohol would stimulate oil production in my skin
(probably because of increased hormone levels). The oil was probably being produced at a
faster rate than my skin was able to naturally slough off dead skin cells, therefore my pores
would get clogged.
This is my non-technical version of what I think must've been
happening
My Skin Is CLEAR!
I've eliminated all forms of caffeine and alcohol and
my skin is clear. Of course I get the occasional zit, but not often. I also find that I need
to wash my face with a washcloth or exfoliater in the evening and that will keep the
occasional pimple to a minimum.
