Nutrition for impure skin
The skin can be influenced by a wide variety of factors. Especially nutrition can have a decisive influence on the appearance of the skin and the development of skin impurities. While an unhealthy diet usually leads to visible skin impurities, a targeted change in diet can demonstrably refine the skin’s appearance.
People who have trained for an unhealthy diet increase the risk of developing impure skin and acne many times over. However, in most cases, an extensive change in diet with a pronounced renunciation of certain foods is not necessary at all. Just a few tips can help to effectively prevent impure skin and refine the skin texture.
People who suffer from acne or visible skin impurities should reduce their intake of certain foods as far as possible. In this context, the diet should be optimized in such a way that the affected person avoids the following foods as far as possible: The bad influence of all those foods is mediated by an increase in the blood glucose concentration.If the sugar content in the blood increases, the pancreas begins to produce and secrete large quantities of insulin. This endogenous substance is a so-called “stress hormone”, which can have a negative influence on the appearance of the skin.
A long-term increase in blood glucose levels due to an unhealthy diet therefore inevitably leads to impure skin and/or acne. However, affected patients do not have to completely stop eating these foods. In most cases, a targeted regulation of the sugar and fat intake already helps to avoid impure skin.
In addition, there are some foods whose regular consumption can even lead to a significant improvement of the skin condition and the disappearance of impure skin. Among the foods that are important in this context are In addition to nutrition, a sufficient fluid intake should also help to effectively prevent impure skin. People who suffer from impure skin or acne should therefore make sure that they drink at least two to three liters of water daily.
Ultimately, there is no scientific evidence that diet is a relevant cause for the development of impure skin. It must rather be assumed that skin impurities and acne are caused by the interaction of many factors. However, observations of affected persons suggest that a change in diet can significantly improve the appearance of the skin and alleviate existing symptoms.
For this reason, a change in diet for people with impure skin should always be considered a sensible measure.
- High glycemic foods (bread, chips, crackers, sweets)
- Sugary foods (cakes, desserts, sweets)
- Fatty food (chips, pizza, junk food)
- Sweet drinks (lemonade, cola)
- Milk products
- Fresh vegetables
- Fresh fruit
- Fish
- Long chain carbohydrates
The term impure skin is used whenever the appearance of the skin and especially the surface of the skin is altered by color changes in the form of redness or when changes in the skin’s condition, such as scaling, irregularities of the skin surface or dents, become apparent. The impure skin is usually made visible by the so-called blackheads, small black spots that accumulate in the sebaceous glands of the skin.
In impure skin, the sebaceous glands fill up with sebum, hair components and bacteria, mostly staphylococci, which, once they have penetrated the skin, can lead to inflammation. There are a variety of causes for impure skin. The most common cause is hormone-related.
The male sex hormone testosterone has the property of stimulating sebum production in the skin. This leads to increased sebum being produced in the skin, which can also be deposited. Since the hormone production of testosterone mainly takes place in young adolescents, girls and boys usually suffer from impure skin during puberty.
If the ducts filled with sebum become inflamed, the so-called comedone formation occurs. White blood cells are lured from the blood stream to the site of inflammation and form a purulent accumulation, which then becomes visible as pimples. Psychological factors such as excessive stress can also upset the skin’s environment to such an extent that the skin becomes impure or the above-mentioned hormone-dependent cause is intensified.
Furthermore, impure skin can also be toxic. Somewhat less common is the so-called chloracne. Especially competitive swimmers who spend a lot of time in chlorinated pools often react with impure skin, the so-called chloracne.
Patients who use creams containing cortisone or take anabolic build-up products often suffer from the so-called cortisone acne. Even if cosmetic skin creams are applied too frequently, the skin can react with pimples. This is mainly due to the additives of certain creams which can trigger a kind of allergic reaction.
Even highly greasy skin creams can cause the skin to produce even more grease and sebum as a reaction, which in turn can lead to severe impurities. The treatment of impure skin first aims at avoiding the cause. Thus, triggering cosmetic substances have to be avoided.
Impure skin that is caused by hormones does not need to be treated in mild cases, in severe cases treatment with certain creams prescribed by the dermatologist can be used. In addition, treatment can be attempted with UV radiation. Here the patient stands in a kind of tube and is irradiated.
This procedure must be repeated several times.In severe cases, microdermalabrasion can be used, in which the surface of the impure skin is abraded after it has been anaesthetised. This procedure must also be repeated several times, depending on the severity of the disease in impure skin. Impure skin, which consists mainly of blackheads, can be cleaned by levering the sebum out of the skin.
The skin should not be manipulated by the patient himself, but after cleaning the skin, a suitable cosmetic device should be used (available in cosmetic shops). In the case of so-called acne vulgarin, treatment with antibiotic-containing ointments or systemically with tablets can be attempted. The active ingredient doxycycline is mainly used for this purpose.
Women can try treatment with female sex hormones for hormone-related impure skin. The side effect of the “contraceptive pill” is reduced acne formation. Impure skin is a common and actually harmless disease, but in some severe cases it can also lead to scarring and inflammation.
