A couple chocolate bars would a day would not be good for my skin or my health. I'd try reducing that to a few squares of quality dark chocolate a day if I was you.

Thanks for your reply paigems. Do you personally find eating sugar affects your skin?

Yes, when I eat a lot of sugary things my skin doesn't look as good. Chocolate would be especially bad for me because my skin also does not like dairy.

I would think 'dairy' products would be more the culprit more sugary stuff.

I don't see why. Some people have no issues with dairy, but for most it is a good idea to avoid excess sugar.

I have a sweet tooth as well, but haven't noticed any clear connection between my acne and sugar. There have been days when I consumed much more sweets than usual, but it didn't cause me a break out. There have also been days when I didn't eat any sugar at all, but broke out a bit. Junk food and especially chips have caused me breakouts on the other hand. And stress. Mostly stress.

 

I would think 'dairy' products would be more the culprit more sugary stuff.

I don't see why. Some people have no issues with dairy, but for most it is a good idea to avoid excess sugar.

Yes. Sugar causes a spike in insulin, which is a hormone. People with acne tend to be sensitive to hormone fluxuation levels, so you want to try and avoid these spikes and dips.

Skim milk has also been linked to insulin resistance, which could be the culprit for some

Sugar often causes spikes in hormone levels and therefore increases in the production of acne triggers.

Dairy can trigger inflammation in some people (i.e. my mom and I avoid milk because it worsens her psoriasis and makes my acne more inflamed)

Drinking a glass of water before and after you eat candy/chocolate could possibly help because water is good for your skin either way and it may dilute the sugar so it won't be as bad. <-- this is just a theory of mine based off of the fact that fruit has some naturally occurring sugar and a high water content and drinking water before, during, & after could lessen the effect when you absolutely have to have chocolate

I find that salty foods break me out. Which is terrible because I love salty foods. I dont know if its so much the salt as it is the grease that comes with food like McDonald's (which I know is bad for me but sometimes I'm in a hurry)

I'm also a sweet tooth. I cut almost all sugar and processed foods (as well as gluten, dairy and caffeine) a couple of months ago and my skin continues to break out. So, I don't think there is an immediate reaction to it. It seems like it does have an overall effect on your health/hormones, but in my opinion the solution here is not to cut everything out (you'll cave in sooner or later) but to try to get your body not to respond so strongly to the foods you eat. So far I'm attempting to do so by eliminating the supposedly worst foods you can eat (grains and dairy) and letting your gut slowly heal itself, consuming a lot of water, adding selenium-rich foods and reducing stress levels.

There was a period in my life before BP when I had an eating problem, I would binge on sweets uncontrollably, especially chocolate bars, every day, it was crazy...I also remember that my face was inundated with acne at that time. That being said, my mental health was out of whack as well (=stress) and that may have been the actual cause. It's interesting that even at that time I didn't have cystic acne and now I do.

However, a friend of mine who's also suffering from mild acne swears it's because of sweets. Yet she's never been able to stick to a no-sugar diet for more than a week to test it properly.

Hello below is the set up I have been using for 3 months now. So happy to finally be on top of my spots. It is so worth the effort.

No dairy products

Drink plenty of water

Drink matcha green tea or regular green tea instead of coffee/energy drinks/black tea

Use PureChimp Super Cleanser

Use brown instead of white. For example brown rice instead of white rice.

Cut down on sugary foods

Exercise at least 3 times a week

I hope this helps you. After 3 months I found its easy to follow & its just all a good habit now.

Hi holly,

I thought I'd share my experience with the sugar and acne connection with you. I was convinced that I had candida and my severe cystic acne was related. I went on a candida cleanse for a month. I took ALL sugar, gluten, and refined carbs out of my diet. I followed the candida cleanse regime that you can find with a quick google search.

Unfortunately, I didn't see much of a difference in my skin after a month. I was so dissapointed since it took so much work and self-will to cut out sugar. Cutting out gluten and carbs wasn't as difficult as eliminating sugar(there is sugar in EVERYTHING!).

Anyways, I thought I'd let you know my experience. I wish you the best.

I quit sugar in October, but I really can't say it's made any difference to my acne. My complexion lately looks brighter and healthier, but this may be because one of my coping mechanisms when I had cravings was to drink a lot more water.

However, for anyone who has quit sugar too, well done! Anyone thinking about it - please consider the enormous health benefits of a sugar free diet. We are not just the skin people see on the outside. Many much worse illnesses than acne have been linked to sugar consumption.

Sugar IS addictive - it's hard to give up not just because it's in everything we eat, we also experience withdrawal when we stop having it.

Also now when I have anything sugary (like the piece of cake I had on my birthday), I often get stomach cramps and by the next day I have sometimes seen more acne on my face (as at my birthday - massive breakout). I can't say for certain that the sugar caused that - like other people when I cut out sugar, my dairy consumption dropped significantly too. I now believe that I have a problem digesting milk products. It's funny, a few months after I quit sugar it was like I got someone else's digestive system and I don't know how this one works.

On 2/25/2015 at 3:45 PM, Pianina said:

I have a sweet tooth as well, but haven't noticed any clear connection between my acne and sugar. There have been days when I consumed much more sweets than usual, but it didn't cause me a break out. There have also been days when I didn't eat any sugar at all, but broke out a bit. Junk food and especially chips have caused me breakouts on the other hand. And stress. Mostly stress.

for me, dairy defiitely causes break outs.

On 2/25/2015 at 10:02 AM, HollyS90 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I was just wondering if anyone else finds a link between their acne & sugar consumption? I have a major sweet tooth, and eat a couple of chocolate bars each day. Apart from the chocolate, the rest of my diet is very healthy. I noticed that when I completely gave up all sugar a few years ago, my acne disappeared after a few weeks, however this diet was very restrictive and was too hard to maintain.

 

I would be interested to hear if anyone else is very sensitive to sugar, and how it affects their acne.
Hey.
I have tried not eating sugar, carbs etc and it made no difference for me. I did it for over 12 months. Dairy does make me break out almost immediately. Were the bars milk chocolate? Maye thats why. If not maybe youre sensitive to cocoa or sugar.