The 6 Worst Foods for Your Skin
What's on your plate can dictate how healthy your skin is! Here, six offenders to avoid if you want a glowing, dewy complexion
We never stop battling with our skin. Just as it seems we've finally conquered acne, it's already time to fight fine lines and wrinkles. And all the while we're navigating SPF and vitamin D—skin care is certainly trickier than those face wash commercials would have us believe.
Try as we might to find the perfect product for our own unique combination of problematic skin, it turns out we may want to approach skin care from the inside out.
"Every dermatologist will attest that a well-rounded diet will better support a healthy immune system," Bobby Buka, M.D. and dermatologist says.
Yes, what you eat—and drink—can keep your exterior in excellent condition. There are foods to keep skin hydrated and soft and foods that protect skin cells from damage (i.e. wrinkles). And there are even foods that might hurt our skin.
However, they may not be the ones you're thinking. "We've all heard of the allegedly 'forbidden' foods that supposedly trigger acne breakouts, such as fried foods, fatty foods, caffeine, nuts, chocolate, and even red meat," Neal B. Schultz, a dermatologist also in practice in New York City says. "The reality is that in well-controlled statistical studies, these foods do not cause acne breakouts."
There are still a few culprits to watch out for. In the piece below, you'll find the foods the experts suggest to steer clear of. Let us know in the comments if you notice changes to your skin after eating these or other foods.
Shrimp, crab, lobster—and also certain leafy greens like seaweed and spinach—are naturally high in iodine, and a diet with too much of this element can lead to acne, says Dr. Schultz. However, "these breakouts are based on an accumulated amount of iodine over time, so there's no relationship between eating high iodine foods one day and breaking out the next," he says. Instead, he advises that people who are particularly acne-prone consume these foods a couple of times a month rather than a couple of times a week.
