Welcome to the

“Acne Free Diet: Eating Food for Clear Skin”

section of How To Clear Your Acne!!!

The Acne Free Food Laws You MUST Know

I’ve created this website containing more than a decade worth experience of articles, pictures, videos, reviews and anything that you could ask for on how I cleared my acne, things that I tried that didn’t work, and how to clear your acne. This is the section where I discuss different foods that you should or should not eat. Please click on the different food categories below to get started!

I’ve been talking for a while about not being able to eat this food or that food. And I think it’s about time we talked a little bit about what kind of foods you CAN and SHOULD eat to help clear your acne and give you clear skin.

I have noticed that when I eat well, my skin improves and when I don’t eat well, my skin degrades. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that your body is constantly trying to repair itself and stay healthy.

Of course, right? It’s obviously trying to live as long as it possibly can fighting off the disease, faulty genes, and whatever junk food you put in it.

When you give it the RIGHT food to do it’s job, it will automatically give you healthy hair, strong bones, clear skin, etc…

So why not just follow the “healthy diet” that everybody else is eating? Isn’t that considered “eating right?” Shouldn’t that clear up my acne because THEY don’t have acne, right?

I wish it was that easy. Never the less, we have to understand that everyone’s body is different. And we have to understand that people who have acne, however they got to that point, have different dietary needs than people who do not have acne.

So what can people who have acne eat? Let me tell you…

If you have never heard of MyPyramid, it’s a food guide pyramid designed by the USDA, the United States Department of Agriculture, recommending what kind of foods and how much of what foods for the average person to eat in order to live a healthy lifestyle.

The problem is that we are not the average person.

None the less, I’m going to be using the USDA Food Pyramid Guide, or the MyPyramid, as a reference to talk about how the foods in each major food group to stay healthy.

GRAINS

What the USDA recommends for a healthy diet is that we get most of our energy from grains. But the problem is that most grains are converted into glucose and then spike blood sugar level in a way that aggravates acne.

This problem usually doesn’t exist for people who don’t have acne. However, if you already have acne and you’re eating a lot of grains, you may end up with more break outs than you like.

So what I would suggest is for you to cut down on grains and eat less than what the Food Pyramid above suggests. This is not to say that you’re never going to be eating grains again or that you will be eating very little grains for the rest of your life, it’s just a temporary lifestyle change until we get the acne “situation” under control.

So when it comes to grains, eat less!

And if you are going to eat some form of carbohydrates or grains, then make sure you pick forms of grains that are high in carbohydrates such as whole grain wheat or oatmeal. Don’t be fooled by other products which are “multigrain” or “enriched.” Multigrain just means multiple grains, which is just a lot of different grains mixed together. It has very little to do with actual nutrient content and the amount of fiber. Enriched grains are often products where everything is stripped away and only nutrients such as folic acid and iron are added back in.

It’s kind of a ridiculous thing, enriched foods, because it’s like taking away all the vitamins and nutrients from a food and then adding back a few nutrients and calling it “enriched.” Many people don’t know this and buy this kind of product thinking that it’s… well… “enriched.”

SO HOW MUCH GRAINS SHOULD I EAT?

Very little. And when I say very little, I mean basically none, if possible. I’d actually recommend cutting out grains for several weeks and then, little by little, working up to no more than a handful a day at the most.

After several months, you might be able to have a serving or two of healthy, fiber rich grains.

I know this is going to be tough especially because, in today’s society, practically all the foods revolve around breads, pastas, noodles, rice, or some sort of carbohydrates. Fortunately, you’re one of the lucky people who are going to change their lifestyle and improve your health early. And a nice byproduct or reward of such an early change is also a clear face.

So be strong. This is probably going to be the toughest challenge for most people, but if I can do it, then so can you.

GRAINS YOU CAN EAT

None for a few months.

After a few months, one small serving or a handful of any whole wheat grain or oatmeal. Not too often though, maybe every other day or every two days.

After 6-8 months, every so often you can have a normal portion of healthy, fiber rich grains.

VEGETABLES

What You Eat Does Affect Your Skin.

I would say that you can pig out in this category, but you have to be careful of what you decide to pig out on. This is because there are certain vegetables out there that contain a lot of sugar or have nutrient inhibitors in them.

Vegetables that currently come to mind that you can eat are:

* Lettuce
* Spinach
* White & Red & Green Onions
* Tomatoes
* Legumes
* Broccoli
* Cabbage
* Celery
* Peas
* Cucumbers
* Cilantro
* Artichoke
* Asparagus

No carrots, no avocados, no sweet potatoes, no potatoes, no yams, and no corn.

Carrots have too much sugar. Even though it’s natural it’s still sugar.

Avocados contain a ton of omega 6 essential fatty acids which will through your body off balance.

And potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and corn contain too much sugar or will be converted into sugar in your body.

SO THE GENERAL RULE IS…

Most vegetables are okay, except for the ones that contain too much sugar or are converted into sugar in your body. Either way, they spike blood sugar level and thereby cause inflammation at a cellular level. The inflammation then aggravates your acne and you have on your face… a breakout.

Try to eat fresh vegetables and not the vegetables that are cooked because fresh vegetables usually contain more vitamins than those that are cooked under high temperatures. This is because vitamins usually degrade under extremely hot degrees. However, there are certain vegetables in which nutrient content may be enhanced when cooked like the tomato.

And of course, if you happen to be allergic to a type of vegetable, please don’t eat any more if it. It will definitely cause reactions in your body that are unimaginable. And if you don’t know what you’re allergic too, you may want to create a food log for the next couple of weeks and keep track of what it is that you’re eating, when your body reacts, and how it reacts.

Can diet help clear my acne?

Do the foods I eat even affect my skin?

How are diet and acne even related?

For years, the common belief was that diet was in no way connected to acne. Turns out, we may have been wrong.

A study conducted by the Australia’s RMIT University and Royal Melbourne Hospital Department of Dermatology have discovered what they consider a “solid link” between acne development and what we eat.

Associate Professor Neil Mann, from RMIT University’s School of Applied Sciences, led a research team spending more than two years studying the metabolic changes in glucose and insulin levels from the human diet and the relation with skin.

Professor Mann, along with Robyn Smith, PhD and Royal Melbourne Hospital divided forty-three males, between the ages of 15 and 25, into two groups. The first group was given foods with a low glycemic index, such as whole grain breads and pasta, legumes, as well as high protein foods. The second group was fed a more “typical” teenage diet consisting of white bread, potatoes, and sugary drinks and snacks.

The results, researchers say, were astounding.

After 12 weeks of the experiment, the boys in the high protein-low glycemic index group showed a fifty percent reduction of acne.

What they concluded was that carbohydrates with a high glycemic index may influence the development and severity of acne. On the opposite end, a diet high in protein and carbohydrates with a low glycemic index contributed to healthier acne free skin.

The results of the study were presented at the 15th Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology, and have been published in the July 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the August 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Dr. Mann, along with the Australian College of Dermatologists, has published a book, “The Teenage Anti-acne Diet,” including the findings of his research.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

Will dieting alone clear your acne? Probably not, but having a healthy diet will certainly improve your overall health and in turn give you better skin. What’s a healthy diet? That’s where I come in.

Real Fast & Easy Recipes That You Can Eat with Clear Skin