Foods that make acne worse

There’s a TON of information on the internet when it comes to your diet and acne. Don’t eat sugar, eat lots of fruit, don’t eat fatty foods, drink matcha powder. It can be confusing when there’s so much information. Even more frustrating is when the information you’re following isn’t true and makes your acne worse.

So here it is plain and simple. This is what you should avoid when you have acne.

Iodine (found in salt). This is the number one food you should be avoiding. Things like seafood, iodized salt, taco seasoning with tons of salt, anything with high amounts of iodine will aggravate acne. In fact I have a map of the United States in my office where I pin little flags where all my clients live. Most of these flags are in coastal states where people have diets with more seafood, seafood containing iodine.

We talk about your diet and how to best avoid iodine in your diet when you enroll in one of my acne programs. Removing iodine from your diet is actually really easy, and you won’t be giving up your favorite foods! I’ll teach you all of this and help you along the way.

Dairy, the one you always hear about. This one is true, dairy is a big acne aggravator. Not only does it contain iodine, but also added hormones. Whey protein is also dairy, so make sure to avoid protein drinks and protein bars containing dairy.

Soy is another culprit. Foods like edamame, soy sauce, soy protein are all foods that should be avoided.

BIOTIN also known as B7, this one seems to come up a lot. Commonly in “hair, skin, and nails” vitamins, it can be confusing why this is so bad. Remember from past posts, acne exists because of a predisposition for your skin’s pores to shed too many layers of skin, then accumulating and causing a pimple, pustule, or papule. Biotin speeds up cellular turnover, which is why you might notice your hair growing faster when you take it. Unfortunately when you have acne biotin just adds fuel to the fire. Watch out for biotin in supplements, health drinks, and especially avoid egg yolks which have a high amount. B12 also acts like Biotin, so be careful.

Androgenic foods like peanut butter, peanut oil, canola oil, and vegetable oil should be avoided too.

We go over this extensively in your consultation when you decide to make the choice to clear your acne. I will teach you how to change your diet to help your acne, and teach you how to introduce foods back into your diet when you graduate your acne clearing program.

***Food is not the cause of acne. Diet can have an impact on acne, but it takes hitting acne at every angle to get it clear. Diet combined with, herbs, supplements, and most importantly products used in the right way will clear your skin.***

Birth Control and Acne

Birth control pills, IUDs, implants and shots are widely used today and prescribed often as a means to control acne. Most forms of birth control can have the potential to cause acne and weight gain in those susceptible.

Typically birth control is divided up as estrogen or progestin dominant and have varying degrees of androgenic (testosterone like) effects. As a general rule of thumb, those with the potential for higher androgenic symptoms should be avoided for people prone to acne because they promote breakouts. As an acne sufferer it is important to **speak with your doctor about selecting a form of birth control that is higher in estrogen and lower in androgen potency.**

The most commonly prescribed in this category are:

Brevicon

Necon

Tri-Nessa

Demulan

Ortho Tricyclen

Tri-Previferm

Femcon

Ortho-Novum

Tri-Sprintec

Kelnor

Ovcon

Zovia

Modicon

Previferm

MonoNessa

Sprintec

It is best to AVOID the following that are high in androgen activity and low in estrogen:

Alesse

Kariva

Nexplanon

Amethyst

Lessina

Nordette

Apri

Levora/Levonest

Norplant

Azurette

Linessa

NuvaRing

Caziant

Loestrin

Ogestrel

Cryselle

Lo-Feminol

Ortho Tricyclen Lo

Cyclessa

Lo-Ogestrel

Ovral

Depo-Provera

Lo-Ovral

Paragard/Copper IUD*

Desogen

Lutera

Portia

Emoquette

Marvelon

Reclipsen

Estrostep Fe

Microgestin

Seasonale/Seasonique

Implanon

Mircette

Sronyx

Jolessa

Mirena or Skylar IUD

Triphasil/Trivora

Only you and your doctor can determine what form of birth control is right for you. The above is just a basic guideline that should be used to initiate a conversation between you and your physician. If you are considering using birth control, it is important to know that it can be associated with a high risk of blood clots, weight gain, nausea, mood changes, depression and breast tenderness. Serious side effects include strokes, digestive issues and embolism.

Finally, it is entirely possible to treat acne without using birth control. If you have no underlying health issues that require you to be on birth control and are considering using birth control only to control your acne, please feel free to talk with me to get some additional perspective on how I can help you without the use of birth control. 

*Although the Paragard/Copper IUD does not contain any hormones, it has been observed that it has aggravated acne.

Adult acne: You’re not alone, I promise.

What’s worse than acne? Adult acne. The easiest way for me to speak about this is for me to first tell you a bit about my own experience….

I had acne in high school like most kids. Nothing too bad, but enough where I begged my mom to buy me Proactive, or take me to see a dermatologists. Nothing ever really worked, but my acne sort of just cleared up on it’s own as I grew up. I was happy with my skin for a while, I got the occasional pimple but really nothing to call home about.

Fast forward almost 10 years at this point my skin is horrible. Constantly caking on makeup to cover it, trying products to clear it, spending hours on the internet in hopes of finding the solution. I just didn’t understand. I was an adult, I washed my face, I didn’t have a horrible diet, but still…. Acne. Even after I decided to pursue a career in skincare and go to esthetics school, I couldn’t figure it out and no one could help me! Eventually I found the answer, and have clear skin now, but it took a while to figure it out. Lucky for you reading this, I’ve done the hard part for you.

There’s so many factors to an adult's life that surface acne, just as there were factors that made your acne surface as a teenager. Or maybe you didn’t even have acne as a teenager and now you do! So let me tell you what’s going on.

According to a study presented at the American Academy of Dermatology’s annual meeting this March more people are suffering from acne now than ever before. Over 50% of adults continue to get acne well into adulthood, so don’t feel like you’re alone.

Okay Mackenzie, but why the heck is this happening??

Well… as I have mentioned in previous blog posts. Acne is hereditary, and something has to “trigger” it for it to show on your skin. Some people just never grow out of it. Some people never see it, and then all of a sudden at 45 years of age they have a face full of it! Why it laid dormant for so long is a mystery, but as an adult there’s many things that can contribute to acne being triggered.

Hormonal fluctuations in your adult years can certainly have an impact. Things like:

  • birth control

  • Plan B

  • pregnancy

  • premenstrual syndrome

  • medications, and

  • menopause

If you are a women, learn about the birth control you are taking, how it effects acne, and consider switching to something acne safe. Please visit my blog post about acne safe birth control if you have questions.

Medical conditions like PCOS or Thyroid disorder can cause mayhem in your skin.

Medications like lithium (for bipolar disorder), thyroid medications, anticonvulsant medications, lo-dose birth control, corticosteroids, etc can trigger acne.

Pore clogging makeup, skin care, laundry detergent, and hair care can be one of the BIGGEST culprits for acne. Even products that say “non-pore clogging” or “noncomedogenic can’t be trusted as they aren’t regulated terms. If you’re ever in questions, refer to my list of pore clogging ingredients.

Stress may be one of the biggest factors in adult acne. As adults we sometimes have monumentous amounts of stress that a teenager would never experience. Acne is almost always associated with some elevated levels of testosterone, it’s almost unheard of for someone to have low testosterone and acne together. When your body becomes stressed your adrenal glands go into a “fight or flight” response increasing testosterone. This would show in the amount of acne you see in your skin.

The good news! Acne is acne. It doesn’t matter if it’s on a teenage boy or a 50 year old women. It responds the same way to product, active ingredients, diet changes, and supplementation with herbs. So if you’ve lost hope, I can help you. The majority of my clients are those suffering from adult acne… men and women. If you’re tired and frustrated and want your acne cleared for good please schedule a consultation with me and together we will get to the root cause!