Many people fight a constant battle with hormonal acne. Hormonal acne is a condition where breakouts can form even during adulthood due to overproduction of sebum, clogging the pores, which lead to breakouts and pimples.
If you have hormonal acne, there are many treatment options that you can try, including birth control pills and anti-androgens. But without a proper healthy diet, these treatment options may not be the ultimate solution to eliminate your hormonal acne.
What you eat plays an essential role in managing hormonal acne. When you consume certain food, it will send signals to trigger the release of hormones, like insulin and androgens. Androgens are sex hormones responsible for developing sex characteristics in men, women and even children.
With this in mind, you can avoid or decrease the symptoms of hormonal acne by avoiding these top five trigger foods.
Sugar
Sugar is unavoidable, and it’s everywhere. While you can’t avoid it, you can control yourself. Eating too much sugar can lead to a wide range of health problems, including acne.
It can cause pimples by overstimulating the production of your insulin, a hormone responsible for the storage of sugar as fat and the development of cells for energy. When your body releases too much insulin, it begins to get confused. Instead of storing sugar as fat, it keeps it as an energy source.
The result? You get exhausted, and when you don’t have energy, you start to eat more food, usually the same type you’re consuming, eventually leading to higher insulin production.
You can avoid sugar by maintaining a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. You can also replace sugar with stevia, coconut sugar, maple syrup, or other sweeteners that won’t spike your insulin production.
Dairy
A lot of people think that dairy is good for you. However, dairy products act as a trigger food for acne.
When you consume dairy products, like milk or ice cream, your body releases insulin. And when that happens, it will lead to the production of androgens, which can cause acne.
The problem lies in the fact that many people are sensitive to lactose and cannot digest dairy properly. It can cause a greater imbalance in the androgen levels in the body.
To solve your problem, you can replace dairy with soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or any other milk that does not contain casein. You can also replace dairy with your own homemade yogurt.
Alcohol
Alcohol is a rich source of calories. What’s more, it can cause hormonal acne by releasing stress hormones.
Alcohol can also cause hormonal acne by increasing your skin’s oil production. As a result, it can clog your pores and cause breakouts.
Processed Food
Processed food contains plenty of salt, artificial preservatives, and colours. These ingredients can lead to hormonal acne because they increase your blood circulation.
Increased blood circulation can boost sebum production, clogging your pores and causing more breakouts.
Try to avoid processed food. Instead, stick to fresh food that you can eat without heating or preserving them.
Refined Carbohydrates
Refined carbohydrates, like bread and pasta, are packed with starch. And starch, once it’s in the body, releases sugar into the bloodstream.
Remember, the more sugar you have in your bloodstream, the more chances you can trigger your insulin to release cortisol, which can cause hormonal acne.
If you’re having a hard time getting rid of your acne, control your consumption of bread, pasta, sugar, and other types of food loaded with carbs.
Conclusion - Hormonal Acne
There you have it! Listed above are the five top trigger foods that may cause hormonal acne. Next time you have a breakout, try cutting down on sugar, dairy, alcohol, processed food, and refined carbohydrates and see if your breakouts will subside.
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