Diet, Foods, Nutrition and Acne | Vitamin A and Zinc for Pimples

Nutrition and Acne

Vitamins, minerals and the foods you eat can play a role in the health of your skin - and may also have an impact in acne.

This doesn't mean that you can pop a few vitamin pills and get rid of acne. But vitamins, in supplements or lotions, can be a helpful addition in helping to keep acne under control.

Although there is no solid evidence that food causes acne, many people say they see a connection in their own lives. For example, they may claim chocolate aggravates their acne, or fried foods or spicy foods. It's common sense - if you notice that your acne seems worse when you eat certain foods, then avoid those foods as much as you can.

Vitamins and minerals for acne

What about the impact of a healthy diet on acne? Vitamins and minerals, in particular, have been studied as they relate to acne.

Some vitamins have been found useful when used in topical creams and lotions for acne. For example, Vitamin A is the key to the topical acne treatments Retin-A and Accutane. Vitamin C is another ingredient found in many lotions for skin, and may be useful in the fight against acne.

Another vitamin, Vitamin C or ascorbic acid, is an antioxidant. Antioxidants help to counter damage caused by skin irritants known as free radicals. In foods, Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C lotions are also available, and may help to improve acne.

Minerals are also important when it comes to acne. For example, zinc deficiency has been linked to acne in some studies. Zinc has also been connected with the reduction of scar formation. In the diet, sources of zinc include oysters, lean meat and poultry. Zinc is also found in topical products that are applied to the skin.

If you tend to eat a lot of junk foods, you just can't get all the nutrition you need, so you may be thinking about supplements. If you do use supplements, check the label to avoid huge doses of any one vitamin or mineral. Check the expiration date too, to make sure the product is still potent. And store vitamin and mineral supplements in a cool dry place, where children can't get to them.

Remember too that taking too much of a vitamin or mineral can be toxic and very dangerous. Make sure you do not exceed the recommended dosage if you are using supplements.

Carbohydrates and acne

The term glycemic load is used as a relative measure of how much carbohydrate is in the diet and how quickly that food is converted in the body to blood sugar. Some studies have shown that a low-glycemic-load diet may help against acne. A diet that is low glycemic has fewer carbohydrates, and more complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are those that take longer to digest, for example whole wheat bread that's high in bran would be considered a complex carbohydrate, while white bread would be a simple carbohydrate.

In one study, male acne patients in their teens and twenties spent twelve weeks on either a low-glycemic diet or a regular diet. The low-glycemic-load diet was 25 percent protein and 45 percent from low-glycemic-index carbohydrates. Acne lesions were counted, and at the end, the low-glycemic group had fewer than the control group. This may suggest that nutrition-related lifestyle factors can play a role in the severity of acne. However, further studies are needed to confirm this.

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Updated September 2008

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