Does Junk Food Cause Acne Breakouts?



It’s a general belief that what you eat can affect your overall health and your appearance, including your skin. So, do you think junk food can cause a breakout or acne?

It’s important to note that "unhealthy" foods are not necessarily the cause of acne. However, eating "good" food can definitely help keep your skin healthy, radiant, and younger.

What is acne all about?

Tooth decay and pimples are common symptoms of acne, a chronic inflammatory skin disease that primarily affects the face and upper body. Cysts, nodules, blackheads, whiteheads, and pimples are all types of acne.

It is the most common skin disease in the United States, affecting up to fifty million Americans a year. At least eighty percent of people in the United States have acne between the ages of twelve and twenty-four.

Acne is likely to be multifactorial and can be caused or exacerbated by genetic factors, stress, hormones, and age. It usually occurs at puberty when sebaceous glands are activated, but it can occur at any age. While it may not be harmful, it can leave scars and marks.





How does diet affect acne?

Acne is the result of a multi-level process in the skin, in which diet plays an important role. Skin cells do not peel off or move as they should, causing dead cells to clog pores and keep protein and oil under the skin. Bacteria can feed on these elements and form blackheads and pimples.

Over the years, different types of foods have been seen as causing acne in one way or another - even water! In fact, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that a high intake of carbohydrates and/or fats affects the formation of excessively oily skin and consequently the appearance of acne. Also, no study has shown that eating unhealthy foods, such as chocolate or fatty foods, is in any way related to the occurrence of acne. The challenge is that so many factors can make acne worse that it is difficult to isolate just one.





How do Dairy products and acne relate?
Dairy products have been associated with acne for many years. There are claims that some people who suffer from acne eliminate milk from their diet and notice an improvement in their condition. The results of a study from Harvard Medical School gave life to this experiment. The results were interesting. They showed a strong link between milk consumption rate and the severity of acne. Equally interesting is the fact that the observed results were independent of the fat content of the milk, regardless of whether it was full, reduced-fat, or skimmed.

Dairy-based instant breakfast drinks, cottage cheese, and cream cheese showed statistically significant connections with acne, while other dairy products had little or no effect. In the study, girls were more affected than boys. It has been suggested that hormones produced naturally in cow milk (especially pregnant cows) cause an increased effect in girls.

If you are a teenager and are thinking of excluding milk from your diet, keep in mind that milk is an essential source of calcium for people your age. With a dairy-free diet, you will need to provide enough calcium.





Relationship between stress and acne
It is often said that stress is connected to the type of food you eat. Stress can make acne worse. So, if you are a person who eats more junk food in stressful situations, you are more likely adding to the problem. Try monitoring the food you eat. If you think that a certain type of food worsens your acne, it’s advisable to limit your intake, whether under stress or not!

In doing this, you need to be reasonable because malnutrition will obviously not benefit you. However, it is uncommon to see people being malnourished as a result of giving up on junk food high in fat or carbs or other foods that people complain of as the cause of acne.





Conclusion
Acne is not caused directly by what you eat. There are several factors involved in the development of acne, but moderation should always be the watchword. Excessive eating will have a really negative effect on your body - your acne just follows that up!