We already know a lot about how the food we eat affects our bodies. For example, plenty of Omega-3 is good for the heart, calcium is excellent for our bones and teeth, carrots for the eyes and the skin, hmmm? What foods are good for the skin and do certain foods cause break outs?
Scientists have long wondered if a link existed between break outs and the food we take. To answer this question once and for all, scientists performed an experiment in 2002 that was published in the Archives of Dermatology. Researchers studied 12000 people in Papua New Guinea and 115 people in Eastern Paraguay. These people eat a stable diet of natural fresh plant foods and lean meat that they themselves raise. Not a single break out was recorded by any of them. Good genes? Not really.
People with a similar genetic make-up in the west eating food rich in refined carbs, processed foods and saturated fats develop break outs, while people with not so similar genetic make-ups on a different fresh foods diet do not develop break outs. The environment may play a role, but the real culprit is what's on the plate before you.
A diet with a high in glycemic index, that is a diet rich in processed foods such as refined grains and bread may cause an increase in break outs. This is because the refined grains are quickly broken down to sugars. The body reacts to these sugars by increasing the production of insulin, a hormone that assists the body to absorb sugars.
In a 2007 study, researchers forwarded that insulin plays a role in break outs. The study was conducted on 43 teenage boys and men. For three months, some ate a diet rich in glycemic load and the rest ate a carbohydrate heavy diet, unconcerned by the glycemic index. In their findings those who ate the low glycemic index food had far less breakouts and experienced an improvement in their skin.
There you have it. The food you eat will have a bearing on the condition of your skin. After all, the skin is a reflection of the body.
