How should I eat to overcome acne?

Beautiful women all yearn for smooth and flawless skin and regard acne on their faces as the number one enemy in life. They wish they could wipe it off like the [skin whitening] of the photo editing software. During the long acne period, this dare not touch, that dare not eat, for fear that eating the wrong thing will aggravate acne. So, will eating affect acne?

Acne is called acne vulgaris in medicine. In fact, before 2007, the mainstream view in the international dermatology circle was that the correlation between diet and acne was very small, mainly caused by genetic factors and high androgen levels.

However, this concept changed after 2009: in March of that year, the International Society of Dermatology published a retrospective review online, clarifying the relationship between diet and acne to some extent.

Eat more what?

Seafood: You must be surprised to see this. Aren’t many people saying seafood can’t be eaten? In fact, there is no need to avoid seafood when acne occurs.

Seafood contains essential unsaturated fatty acids, Especially linolenic acid, which is lacking in the Chinese diet. Eat more seafood when acne occurs, Especially seafood with low mercury content, such as anchovies, perch, salmon (i.e. Salmon), hairtail, yellow croaker, canned tuna, shrimp, crab, etc., but to avoid eating fish with high mercury content, such as square head fish, shark, swordfish and Atlantic mackerel (mackerel), the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in our diet can be adjusted to better promote the recovery of acne.

Vegetables and fruits: Yellow vegetables and fruits such as oranges, carrots and tomatoes are rich in carotene, which helps maintain normal metabolism of skin keratinocytes and reduce sebum secretion after being converted into vitamin A in the body. Vegetables such as cabbage, cabbage heart, kale and broccoli have antioxidant effect, which may be beneficial to inflammation repair.

Foods rich in selenium: Whole wheat bread, salmon, lobster and other foods are rich in selenium. Selenium can promote antioxidant effect and help repair inflammation. At the same time, selenium can also increase the content of vitamin E in blood. Studies have proved that low vitamin E levels in blood can aggravate the inflammatory reaction of acne.

Green tea: Tea polyphenols in green tea can reduce the level of oxygen free radicals in skin and inhibit the effect of androgen on hair follicle sebaceous glands.

Eat less what?

Sweets: Especially foods with high glycemic index (GI). Glucose index (GI) is an important indicator used to measure the blood sugar response of human body caused by food. Foods with high GI, such as cornflakes, white bread, cream cake, etc., can increase the content of free androgen in blood by reducing insulin sensitivity. Androgen is an important reason for promoting acne formation.

Dairy products: Both whole milk and skim milk can aggravate acne because milk contains IgF-1. It is an inflammatory factor that promotes keratinocyte differentiation and accelerates keratinization of hair follicle sebum ducts. Excessive cutin and sebum mix to form cutin plugs, which become the best nutrients for bacteria, fungi and mites.

Some fitness enthusiasts develop acne after supplementing whey protein, because whey protein is precisely the protein that is most likely to produce IgF-1, so while increasing muscle strength, users have to accept the side effect of oily skin and even acne.

It is suggested that people with acne use yogurt instead of pure milk, because it is likely that lactic acid bacteria will use IgF-1 in fermentation, so the IgF-1 content in yogurt is significantly lower than that in other dairy products.

Saturated fatty acids: Most commonly found in the fat of pigs, cattle, mutton and other animals. It can increase IgF-1, and acne patients need to control their intake.

The above mentioned things to eat less are not completely impossible to eat, but only to reduce appropriately. The most important thing for skin health is to have balanced nutrition. If you say anything that will aggravate acne, you should not touch it at all. In the long run, it will lead to malnutrition, sallow complexion and emaciation, but the skin will be even worse.

Diet plays an auxiliary role in the recovery process of acne and is not a treatment method. If acne has a tendency to become more and more intense, you should go to dermatology department in time to eliminate whether there are endocrine and other problems, or whether special drug treatment is needed.

Responsible Editor: Zhang Jingyuan