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Diet for skin against acne
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025

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A common cause of acne is a careless attitude to nutrition. Therefore, a simple diet for acne is an effective way to treat this disease. It recommends eliminating foods that are harmful to the skin and preparing tasty and nutritious meals for every day from healthy products.
Indications
Why is a diet recommended for skin problems? After all, it would seem that there is no direct connection between the skin and the digestive system.
In fact, the skin is very sensitive to the processes occurring in the body. If the intestines are clogged with undigested remains, they inevitably begin to rot; slags accumulate, which eventually get into all the organs and have a bad effect on their functioning. This is necessarily reflected in the skin, which reacts by forming inflammations.
- Indications for prescribing an acne diet are the presence of inflammatory rashes on the face and other problem areas. The goal of an acne diet is to eliminate them.
Acne can also appear due to other reasons - low immunity, hormonal imbalance, allergic and hereditary predisposition, some diseases. Rashes are provoked by cosmetics and medications, poor quality food, very oily skin and other factors. Therefore, a diet should be recommended by a specialist, as a rule, as an additional element of general therapy. And the patient should be patient, since an acne diet does not bring immediate results.
Diet for acne on the face, forehead, back
The correct diet for acne on the face, forehead, back consists of stewed, steamed, baked, boiled dishes, sufficient amount of liquid and various products containing ingredients useful for the skin. What products does the diet for acne include? The following products are dietary:
- lean meats and poultry are a source of protein;
- fermented milk products and cheese – contain protein and vitamins;
- seafood, fish oil – rich in healthy fats;
- olive oil, liver, oysters – replenish reserves of zinc and vitamin A;
- wheat, nuts – a source of selenium and antioxidants;
- currants, carrots, cucumbers – rich in vitamins and fiber;
- buckwheat, cabbage, legumes - enrich with vitamin B, necessary for controlling enzymatic reactions.
Regular water and green tea are recommended as a source of liquid. As can be seen from the short list, these products are quite enough for a complete and varied diet, without feeling any particular inconvenience from restrictions. Moreover, you have to limit only harmful food, which is generally not recommended for anyone, since it causes not only acne, but also more serious pathologies.
Prohibited products:
- sweet treats;
- baked goods;
- alcohol;
- fatty, spicy;
- canned goods, semi-finished products, concentrates.
General information acne diets
The essence of the diet is to regulate the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, eliminate the accumulation of intestinal toxins and the cause of malfunctions in the body. The diet for acne suggests that plant-based foods be balanced correctly with other products. You should eat fractionally; hot dishes should have a comfortable temperature for the body.
It is useful to start the day with a glass of salted water (0.5 tsp). Every half hour during the day, drink a cup of low-fat kefir - to remove excess moisture and normalize the microflora.
- Greens, cereals, wheat sprouts, grain breads, fresh and dried fruits are excellent for cleaning the contents and walls of the intestines. Instead of bread and rolls, eat dry biscuits and crackers.
An important component is low-fat fermented milk products, especially yoghurts, kefir, and homemade cottage cheese.
Of protein products, fish, seafood, meat are recommended - no more than 3 times, eggs - twice a week. Cook food by steaming or stewing, make a steam omelet from eggs or whites.
No less important element is drinking. You need to drink enough, more than 2 liters per day.
All fatty and fried foods, sweet and smoked foods, canned and fast food, carbonated drinks and baked goods, ice cream, condensed milk and coffee are removed from the diet.
It is advisable to combine dietary nutrition with physical activity, walks in the fresh air and appropriate care - depending on the type and age of the skin.
Diet for clearing facial skin from acne
Briefly speaking about the diet for cleansing the skin of the face from acne, it involves the inclusion of tasty and healthy food in the permanent menu. From the recommended list of products, you can prepare a variety of dishes that will suit the taste of every gourmet, take into account the patient's taste preferences and the characteristics of his disease.
Acne diet dishes that are suitable for anyone:
- Fish with vegetables: pieces of fillet and carrots cut into strips are placed in a steamer for half an hour.
- Salad: sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and onions, boiled beans, mixed and dressed with olive oil.
- Beef in foil with a side dish: wrap a portion of meat in soy sauce in spinach together with chopped onions, zucchini, carrots, peppers, and herbs. For a side dish - buckwheat or other cereals, they are cooked separately.
It is advisable to have fruit or vegetable days, try not to eat bread. If this is impossible, buy yesterday's rye flour bread. The intervals between meals should be no less than 3-4 hours; snacks are undesirable, except for fruit.
Important functions are removed by liquids; preferably pure natural water, which removes toxins and promotes cell regeneration.
At the same time, you should carefully care for your face, according to the recommendations of a cosmetologist or dermatologist.
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Diet for acne on the face for a week
Sometimes women try to hide a rash under a layer of powder or tinted cream when it appears. But this method does not solve the problem, since it is hidden inside, not outside, and requires a competent approach. One of the points of treatment is an acne diet.
Recommended food - plant fruits, cereals, rye bread, fermented milk, lean meat, water, juices, teas. From the set of permitted products, for convenience, a diet for acne on the face for a week is prescribed. By the way, to improve digestion and immunity, garlic, lemon and ginger are introduced into the menu, and to remove harmful components, drink a lot of liquid.
Sample menu by day (you don’t have to start on Monday):
- I
Breakfast: oatmeal with milk, fruit.
Lunch: chicken broth, egg.
Dinner: fish with vegetables, a slice of bread.
- II
Breakfast – cottage cheese.
Lunch: turkey soup.
Dinner: some beef with vegetables, milk.
- III
Breakfast – fruit salad, kefir.
Lunch – vegetable salad, rabbit soup.
Dinner: buckwheat porridge, fermented baked milk.
- IV
Breakfast: millet porridge, fruit, jelly.
Lunch: beef soup, bread.
Dinner: chicken fillet with vegetables.
- V
Cottage cheese, salad.
Lunch: fish soup, canapes with cheese.
Dinner: fish with vegetable garnish.
- VI
Breakfast: egg, vegetables, kefir.
Lunch, soup, fruit salad.
Dinner: meat, pearl barley, jelly.
- VII
Breakfast: millet porridge, fermented baked milk, fruit salad.
Lunch: fish soup, a slice of bread.
Dinner: fish, cottage cheese.
In practice, improvement is not immediately visible. Despite this, the dietary regime should be followed further, combining it with external cosmetic or pharmaceutical preparations, until a lasting positive effect appears.
Drinking diet for acne
Drinking regime is a mandatory condition of the diet against acne. And it is no coincidence, because liquid dissolves and removes poisons and slags, provides moisture balance, cell turgor and performs a number of vital functions. Still mineral or well water (2 l) should be drunk by every person who wants to clear the skin of any kind of rash.
- The drinking diet for acne includes, in addition to water, natural drinks - green tea, berry fruit drinks, uzvars, compotes, kissels, fruit and vegetable juices. Neither during the diet nor after it should you drink bright artificial drinks, even world brands. Dyes, flavors, preservatives, gases, which such products abound in, are harmful not only to children, but also to adults of any age.
One of the reviews on the topic under discussion tells about the results of a drinking diet, which was used to cleanse the skin and lose weight. A drinking diet in this case is the consumption of exclusively liquid food. You can eat as much as you want, but solid foods are prohibited. For 10 days, the woman drank fresh kissels, low-fat kefirs, liquid yogurts, cocoa, fresh and store-bought juices, mineral water, and sweet tea.
I drank a lot of water. I didn't feel very hungry. After ten days, it turned out that my skin had cleared up and my weight had decreased by 5.5 kg. According to the user, after two months, my skin was still clear, but my body weight started to increase. Which confirms the high effectiveness of the drinking diet for acne.
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Acne Cleansing Diet
It is known that among some peoples of Africa and Asia there is no such disease as acne. Analyzing the facts, scientists concluded that, in addition to genetic predisposition, the way of eating plays an important role. Namely: with an abundance of vegetables and fruits in the diet, the risk of acne and other rashes is reduced to a minimum. These observations, along with other studies, formed the basis of modern diets for acne, in particular, cleansing.
The acne cleansing diet works in stages: it "sweeps out" the intestines, regulates digestion and then consolidates the results. For long-term results, healthy eating should become a way of life, especially if you have a clear tendency to breakouts. Features of the diet:
- daily fiber intake 20-30 g;
- replacing fatty foods with lean oils and white meat;
- elimination of peanuts, limitation of other nuts;
- avoiding fried, salty, canned, and fast food foods;
- in the acute phase – exclusion of fatty milk, sour cream, ice cream, limitation of milk porridges;
- baked goods, sweets, alcoholic and sweet carbonated drinks, potatoes are not included in the diet;
- vegetables, garden fruits – daily food;
- consume a minimum of salt and spices, but enough fluids, vitamins and minerals, especially A and selenium;
- adherence to the regime, dinner – no later than 8 pm.
The cleansing diet performs several tasks: it eliminates harmful substances from the intestines, improves the appearance and condition of the skin, and normalizes metabolism. The rules of such a diet do not deprive a person of tasty food. It is easy to prepare a variety of dishes for every day from the proposed products. But if the acne is too intense or the problem is neglected, then one diet will not do. You should consult a dermatologist for advice and medical help.
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Acne and the Gluten Free Diet
A gluten-free diet is based on a complete rejection of food containing gluten. This is a complex protein found in some grain crops - rye, wheat, barley, triticale. This type of diet is used to treat one of the autoimmune diseases and for some other medical indications related to gastrointestinal problems.
Not everyone accepts the gluten-free diet for acne. And it is not easy to stick to it, since you have to exclude not only the listed grains, but also all products made from them: flour, pasta, pastries, cookies, waffles, dumplings, mayonnaise, beer, even cooked sausage. All this, as well as semi-finished products, are difficult to exclude forever.
The good news is that those who gave up these products for just a few weeks had acne go away on a gluten-free diet for a long time. To replenish vitamins B and folic acid during this period, you should take the appropriate medications.
The list of gluten-free products is quite large. These are corn, rice and buckwheat cereals, meat, eggs, legumes, fruits. Use rice flour instead of wheat flour. In large stores, you can find products marked "gluten-free" or with a special symbol - crossed-out ears of corn.
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Porridge diet for acne
The exceptional usefulness of porridges is evidenced by the fact that this is the first food, after milk, recommended for infants. The body perceives such dishes with pleasure, and with their help it is easily cleansed of excess metabolic products and poisons formed as a result of improper nutrition.
- The most popular of the porridge diets for acne is buckwheat. But many people do not like its smell and taste, so what should they do? Is there an alternative to the buckwheat diet for acne?
It turns out that pearl barley has similar properties. It is less nutritious, so it is recommended to follow it for only 5 days. Pearl barley is prepared and consumed for a mono-diet in the same way as buckwheat.
Other cereals are also used to cleanse the intestines: oatmeal, rice, barley, wheat. The cleansing effect is based on the high content of fiber in such food, which stimulates the intestines.
The acne diet with the use of various cereals lasts 10 days. During this period, eat as much as you want, but only porridge - without butter, salt, sugar, milk. The washed cereal is boiled in water until done, alternating, for example, oatmeal, rice, buckwheat, rice again and oatmeal. When you feel hungry, you immediately eat a little porridge, and so on all day.
Water is drunk before or half an hour after a meal. In addition to mineral water, unsweetened tea or coffee are allowed.
The porridge diet is a comfortable way to cleanse the gastrointestinal tract of waste and toxins. As a result of such procedures, well-being and the condition of many organs, including the skin, improve. The rash decreases and soon disappears completely.
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Buckwheat diet for acne
Among the various diets for acne, the buckwheat mono-diet stands out. Although it contains quite a lot of carbohydrates, the effect of the buckwheat diet for acne manifests itself after a week. The point is that, having sated itself with useful components from buckwheat, the body begins to feel a lack of other substances, including fat, so it burns its reserves created earlier. At the same time, buckwheat improves blood circulation, strengthens blood vessels, and vitamin B improves the condition of the skin, nails, and hair.
From several diet options, we will choose the one that includes a minimum of additional products, namely lemon and honey. Salt, sugar, oils are strictly prohibited.
- Cook 200 g of cereal in a saucepan, stirring during cooking, divide the finished product into three parts. This is a daily portion, which should be consumed in three doses. Half an hour before breakfast, you need to drink a portion of boiling water cooled to an acceptable temperature with a spoon of honey and lemon.
The lunch and evening portions can be washed down with either green tea or water, without gas or other additives. During breaks, also drink a lot, in total up to 3 liters. Coffee and strong teas cannot be drunk. Continue the diet for a week, before repeating, take a 3-week break.
It is important to exit the diet correctly - gradually, reducing the dose by half, and then continue to eat moderately, preferably high-quality products. Especially if you want not only to eliminate acne, but also to keep your weight under control.
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Menu for a week of diet for acne skin
When developing a diet for acne, it is quite possible to take into account the patient's taste preferences and make it not only healthy, but also tasty. As in many other cases, it is recommended to make a menu for a week of a diet for acne skin. It can be written according to the following scheme, taking into account the permitted products.
- For breakfast, an egg, a light salad (from boiled vegetables), sandwiches or fruit plus a decoction of bran, rich in fiber, are suitable. It improves the functioning of the digestive tract, supplies the body with vitamins and microelements necessary for the skin.
- Second breakfast – apple or pear.
- Lunch – soup with sour cream, a meat main course with mashed potatoes or cereal porridge, light tea.
- During an afternoon snack, it is enough to drink juice or a healthy decoction, for example, from rose hips, with dried slices of white bread. Berries are poured with boiling water and infused in a thermos for 6 hours. Sugar and honey improve the taste of the drink, as well as dried fruits - raisins, dried apricots.
- For dinner, it is recommended to have porridge, for example, buckwheat, cottage cheese and compote. Before going to bed, you can drink a portion of kefir.
It is advisable to drink bran and rose hip drinks daily. Aloe tincture can be useful in this sense, the juice of which contains various microelements and vitamins that help get rid of acne.
This diet should be followed for several months. Alternating products will make the diet complete and supply the body with everything it needs. And all efforts will definitely be rewarded with clean and healthy skin.
Benefits
The acne diet has a wonderful effect on the entire body. The benefit of the diet is that it is cleansed, normal digestion and metabolic processes are established. Some experts quite seriously put an equal sign between a clean intestine and the same skin.
For this to actually happen, it is necessary to adhere to certain principles.
- The diet should be varied; it is necessary to alternate products and include a lot of fresh produce – vegetables, berries, natural drinks.
- Plant foods rich in dietary fiber, as well as lacto- and bifidobacteria containing bactericidal substances, will help restore functions.
An important step is to give up sweet, spicy, salty, white bread, nuts, and chips. It is equally important to follow a drinking regime: you need to drink up to 2.5 liters of quality water daily, which removes harmful and toxic substances.
An important component is bran, rich in dietary fiber. They are added to main courses, the daily portion is several spoons.
Heat treatment is carried out using the following methods: boiling, stewing, baking, sautéing, steam. It is ideal to cook in a steamer or multicooker, which do not require extra fats and preserve the maximum amount of usefulness. One of the principles of dietary nutrition is a minimum of salt and spices.
Without fish or fish oil, the diet will be incomplete. Flax seeds will replenish omega acids, bright vegetables – vitamin A, various nuts – vitamin E.
Diet soups should be prepared every day. One day a week can be a fasting day, with a diet exclusively on a plant-based menu.
Zinc, which affects the sebaceous glands, is found in asparagus, bran, oysters, calf liver, stewed beef, and vitamin B is found in cabbage, legumes, cheese, and kidneys.
Cleansing has a beneficial effect on mood and well-being, activates efficiency and physical strength.
What can and what can not?
There is no strict diet for acne. In response to the question: "What can I eat?" for people with skin problems, experts recommend food that normalizes the gastrointestinal tract and metabolism. That is, this diet can be considered a diet for acne.
What can you eat?
The principles of the diet are to eat steamed or boiled food five times a day.
- A glass of honey water is recommended on an empty stomach, and kefir, fresh compote or prunes at night.
- Vegetable and cereal soups, vegetable broths, and meat broths are allowed.
- The menu includes omelettes, soft-boiled eggs, and meat.
- Bread, white and rye, is healthier than yesterday's.
- Dumplings, syrniki, cottage cheese and other low-fat dairy products.
- Porridges with water and milk are essential dishes in the diet.
- Fresh and dried fruits, weak tea, and coffee substitutes are also allowed.
It is easy to create a tasty menu for a week from the listed products. Nutritionists explain that in practice, dietary restrictions are easier to bear if you know what dishes you will eat in the following days.
Having excluded harmful products for this period, it should not be forgotten that they will not cease to be harmful even after the problem is eliminated. So, you should not abuse them under any circumstances, and if possible, permanently replace harmful food with healthy analogues.
What shouldn't you eat?
Nutritionists have long studied which products worsen the condition of the skin, in particular, provoke acne. What should not be eaten? There are enough such products in the diet for acne, these are:
- sugar, candy, cookies;
- carbonated drinks and juices with colorings;
- alcohol;
- full-fat milk;
- fried foods;
- semi-finished products;
- fast food.
Sweet dishes cause a release of sugar into the blood, which is fraught with disruptions in the functioning of the pancreas and intestines. And this has an adverse effect on the skin.
Alcohol affects the liver, which reacts with skin rashes. At the same time, under its influence, the oiliness of the skin increases, which also provokes the formation of acne. Drinking quality wines is allowed - in small quantities and not often.
Milk, which is necessary in childhood and adolescence, ceases to be useful over time. But it is hardly worth giving up this product completely. The golden mean can be milk with minimal fat content.
Fast food products are limited in the acne diet. And fast food, chips, crackers and similar products are not recommended at all.
Contraindications
The products included in the acne diet are considered healthy food, so it has virtually no contraindications. The abundance of liquid recommended for the drinking diet is undesirable for people suffering from kidney and liver diseases.
Before starting treatment, it is necessary to remember that acne may be caused not only by digestive disorders. Therefore, in each case, it is necessary to undergo examination and consult with specialists. The diet is contraindicated for those who require special nutrition.
Possible risks
At the beginning of the acne diet, it may seem visually that the number of breakouts has increased. This is not a cause for concern, since it is associated with the removal of impurities. Soon the picture changes for the better.
Other diet-related risks may arise if the diet is unbalanced or if there are various diseases. For example, people with kidney disease may develop edema from drinking too much.
Complications
Possible complications include stomach upset caused by too much fruit. In this case, their quantity is reduced or increased gradually so that the digestive organs have time to get used to it.
There is no information about other complications. On the contrary, the acne diet can provide additional benefits: get rid of excess weight, improve the condition of not only the skin, but the entire body.
Reviews
The reviews are absolutely contradictory. From a categorical rejection of any diets for acne and drinking plenty of water - to 100% confidence in their effectiveness. Which only confirms the idea that each person is individual, so it is not the disease that needs to be treated, but the patient. And only a competent specialist can help in choosing a treatment method. By the way, many articles also mention the skeptical attitude of some doctors to diets as a method of treating acne.
The Right Diet for Acne
Improper nutrition, in particular, a passion for flour, sweet, fatty dishes, fast food and alcohol, often becomes the cause of acne. The correct diet for acne involves minimizing or completely eliminating all of this and replacing it with a variety of healthy products. The emphasis in the diet for acne is on lean meat and oils, fish and seafood, whole grain cereals, low-fat fermented milk drinks, and a fruit and vegetable group that does not contain starch.
- It is better not to heat-treat vegetable oils, but to use them fresh. In addition to the three main meals, it is advisable to include two intermediate meals in the diet. If you reduce portions and reduce caloric content, you can achieve another goal - to lose extra pounds. You can eat at any time of the day, but preferably no later than three hours before bedtime.
It is important to use healthy cooking technologies: steaming, stewing, boiling, baking. Nutritionists recommend still water and dyes as drinks. In addition to the main products, ginger, lemon, parsley, and garlic are used. The ingredients contained in them cleanse the blood, normalize metabolism, stimulate the immune system, and destroy pathogenic microflora.
The advantages of dietary nutrition are that the body does not experience stress, receives food fully and on time, normalizes weight and the condition of many organs. Such a diet can be continued constantly, occasionally deviating from the regime, if there is a desire. When following a healthy diet, skin problems usually go away and do not return.
An acne diet does not eliminate skin care. Vitamins of group B or multivitamins will help to enhance the effect of the diet and care.
Acne does not just appear on a person. To eliminate it, you need to understand the cause of its occurrence and, according to the indications, take an acne diet. It happens that such a diet solves the problem of rashes forever, especially in combination with an active lifestyle, without bad habits and abuse. In difficult cases, complex treatment of problem skin is required.