Foods That Are Bad For Skin

Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 9:16 [IST]

We all try hard to maintain the glow on our skin. Going for a facial, eating the right type of foods, applying healthy face packs and washing the face regularly is a basic skin care routine. However, few silly mistakes can damage your skin and make you look dull and dark.

It is a true saying that, you are what you eat and your appearance reflects your diet clearly. If you eat healthy foods, you will be healthy and good looking too. However, eating unhealthy food and maintaining a bad lifestyle definitely affects your skin as well. There are few foods that can be harmful for your skin. A poor diet increases the production of inflammatory chemicals on the skin that leads to skin problems like acne, blemishes etc. An improper diet also increases the signs of ageing.

So, closely watch out what you eat. There are few foods that are bad for your skin. According to experts and researchers, the below foods damage the skin.

Foods that are bad for the skin:

Shellfish

Shellfish is rich in iodine and this can be harmful for your skin. Iodine rich diet is very bad for the skin as it leads to dehydration and acne.

White bread

Foods rich in high glycemic index like white bread, white pasta, potato chips etc increases your blood sugar levels and affect the skin. High glycemic index is also associated with acne breakouts.

Fried food

Fried foods are very bad for the skin as it clogs pores, leads to acne, increases bacteria build-up and causes flaky skin. As they are rich in trans fats, dried food digest slowly and this increases toxins in the body.

Caffeine

It dehydrate the body and makes you look dull and dry. Caffeine increases cortisol (stress hormone) which speeds up ageing process and damages the skin. Moreover, caffeine thins the skin. To have a healthy and glowing skin, have hydrating foods like watermelon, lettuce and cucumber.

Milk

Dairy products especially milk is considered bad for skin. Many cows are being fed hormones to keep lactating year around. These hormones increases acne, breakouts by increasing the production of estrogen.

Salt

Excessive salt consumption is one of the causes behind puffy eyes. Swelling under the eyes is due to dehydration and can also increase the formation of fine lines.

Sugar

If your blood sugar level shoots up, your skin starts looking bad. This is because high sugar content in the body affects tissues like collagen, thus weakens the skin. So, avoid artificial sweeteners and starchy foods.

Red meat

Red meat is considered as one of the most harmful foods for skin. Although red meat is very good for the health ue to its richness in iron, vitamins and calcium, you can replace red meat with fava beans, carrots and spinach.