Wednesday, March 6, 2013

What You Eat May Be Responsible For Your Acne

Did you know that more than 17 million Americans are acne sufferers? What do you do to get rid of acne?  The most common way to fight acne is to find an effective topical cream and apply that to the infected area. There is another way to clear up your complexion and most people don't pay enough attention to this area: Watch what you eat. Yup, changing your diet could help keep the acne away.

According to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of Academy of Nutrition and Dietics, acne sufferers should cut out dairy products and high GI (glycemic index) foods. These kinds of food were found to contribute to acne problem. This was the conclusion of researchers from the New York Medical College and New York University after scrutinizing studies ranging from the year 1960 - 2012. All those studies contained data that studied the relationship between diet and acne.

pasta

So, what exactly is the glycemic index? It is a measurement to show how fast certain foods will spike up your blood sugar level. Ideally, you want to choose foods that have a low GI. Foods that are high GI include white bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.

Besides cutting out dairy products and high GI foods, you can turn to thyme to help fight your acne. This natural herb, when applied topically, is able to kill the bacteria that causes acne. The effectiveness of thyme on acne was presented at the Society for General Microbilogy's Spring Conference in Dublin. In fact, it is said to be a better antibacterial solution than benzoyl peroxide.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadircruise/8532366231/