You are how old and you still suffer from acne?
There is nothing worse than thinking you are done with the days of looking for the best acne products, reading acne complex reviews and dreading having to leave your home.
Do not fret, you are not alone, and a simple change in diet can help to clear up bothersome acne at any age.
There is a large link between diet and acne and a few simple tips that are worth your time to try out.
1. Foods to avoid: To prevent adult acne, avoid foods that are known as 'high inflammation' foods.
Refined flours, refined sugar, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners and dairy products.
Now, this all being said on Grandmother's Kitchen website where there are desserts a plenty?
Here is the truth: in our own home kitchens, once we find recipes that work using traditional ingredients (aka. refined flours and sugars), if it is a recipe that we plan to make frequently we do the following things to increase the nutritional benefits and decrease the inflammation response, all of which will help to prevent adult acne (and the same goes for teenagers).
2. When baking try these healthier substitutions:
For dairy milk - try unsweetened almond milk, or rice milk (this will change the taste, but only a tiny bit)
For refined white bleached flour - try organic brown rice flour (it is a bit grainier, but an excellent substitute to all purpose flour)
For refined white sugar - try baking with unpasteurized honey. Since this will increase the moisture content of your baked good, you will usually only need about 2/3 of the amount of regular white sugar. Keep experimenting with your recipes. Generally you never need as much sugar as is called for.
All ingredients - when possible, buy organic. There are higher nutrients to maintain good health of body and skin, and at the same time, there are no pesticides which can also cause inflammation in the body and lead to adult acne.
For eggs - when you can, buy organic, farm fresh eggs which will be higher in nutrients and also lower in chemicals that can cause inflammation in your skin.
Chocolate chips - try unsweetened dark chocolate, chopped into chunks.
3. Acne fighting food products to include daily:
High Omega-3 foods: walnuts, flax oil, ground flax seeds, hemp oil, hemp hearts, wild salmon
High antioxidant foods: blueberries, raspberries, green tea, dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds (all organic when possible).
High fibre foods: fresh (and organic) fruit and vegetables, whole grains all help to decrease the effect of acne causing hormones.
Dark Chocolate - at least 70% cocoa, help to improve blood flow and improve skin health.
The trust is this, any one of can suffer from embarrassing adult acne, and remember that the tips above will not only help to fight acne, but also you will see as recommendations for many other health benefits as well.
Grandmother's Kitchen Nutritionist, Heidi Rasmussen, BScN