Acne. Eczema. Dermatitis. Psoriasis. You’ve landed here because at least one of these bother you. Perhaps it’s your own skin. Or, maybe it’s the skin of a friend, relative or co-worker that makes you cringe/cry/sigh. In any case, you wish it wasn’t so.
Chronic skin problems affect self-esteem, and therefore can create anxiety about one’s future in the social, romance and career realms. Having them can also increase your risk of other diseases. In essence, having skin problems can be life-altering, limiting one’s enjoyment of life just like it would for someone with an internal disease such as Crohn’s disease, diabetes or irritable bowel syndrome.
But wait: if those are ‘internal’ diseases, does that mean skin problems are ‘external’ diseases? If so, that would imply that what is happening on the surface of the skin would have nothing to do with what’s going on beneath it, or what you put into, not just on, your body. Is that what your dermatologist told you when you asked if food has anything to do with your skin condition? What if I said that dermatologist was wrong?
The fact is, the studies that ‘proved’ that diet has no affect on acne were done over 40 years ago and were based on bad science. Any scientist who reads them will tell you that. Unfortunately, since then, the studies that prove that food matters to skin haven’t hit the mainstream media. I suspect this is because the focus has been on drug-based or surgical management of skin disease.
In addition, the marketing of creams, lotions and scrubs is often done in a way that encourages us to believe that you must have been using the wrong product for your skin, that the cause of your problems can be corrected with a better product. But if you are reading this then you may be able to speak from experience that really, your skin problem cannot be healed with topical products alone. If you believe this, you are in the right frame of mind to consider that what you’re eating may not be the most suitable diet to keep your skin problems under control.
So, what’s food got to do with it? What we eat interacts with your body chemistry starting the moment you put it in your mouth. Since each of us has a unique set of genetic and environmental factors that interact in their own way, it’s important to record what you ingest in a food log. Remember to write down what you drink, too! Also include some brief notes on how your skin looked and felt, and what your digestion, mood and energy levels were like. This is a great start to finding out if your diet may be affecting your skin problem. So if you haven’t already, download my free food log and start filling it out!
