Acne and Diet: What You Need to Know

By Elizabeth Leppart, MS, LN
February 24, 2025

The Inside-Out Connection

What does your diet have to do with acne? Everything! Many of our clients who list acne as a health concern say their breakouts started around puberty and have lasted into adulthood. Often when clients come to us, they've already tried an excess of expensive topical acne treatments to treat acne with little to no success.

The acne and skin-care markets are full of products that claim to remove excess oil and deep clean every pore. However, topical treatments aren't a simple solution because acne and other skin conditions are usually stemming from the inside out. These products work to mask symptoms rather than heal the problem at the source.

Your Skin's Best Friend: Nutrition

The food we put into our body can greatly affect the health of our skin. It is our largest organ, after all! If you've never tried cleaning up your diet to clear up your skin, here's an invitation to try it.

For many of our clients, and for myself, good nutrition has been the solution to overcoming acne and improving my skin's appearance.

So my question to you is: Does acne plague you or anyone you know? If so, read on to discover the dietary factors that might impact your acne breakouts.

Dietary Fats Are Crucial:

When focusing on real, whole foods for skin health, understanding the role of dietary fats is crucial. While some fats support skin health and reduce inflammation, others can actually worsen skin conditions like acne.

The refined vegetable oils commonly found in processed foods - including canola oil, soybean oil, and corn oil - can increase inflammation in the body, potentially contributing to acne breakouts.

Instead, focus on incorporating anti-inflammatory fats that support skin health:

• Avocados
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Wild-caught fatty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids
• Unrefined coconut oil
• Raw nuts and seeds

These beneficial fats help reduce inflammation and support the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins essential for skin health. When combined with a whole-foods diet, these healthy fats can help create an internal environment that promotes clear, healthy skin.

Why Dairy Might Be Your Skin's Enemy

Although it's been touted as an essential food group, milk and other dairy products can wreak havoc on the skin, a fact I wish I had known earlier because I drank a glass of milk with each and every meal.

Milk contains growth hormones, such as insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which can be lead to acne breakouts.¹

In addition to the hormonal imbalance, the milk protein casein is difficult to digest and can aggravate skin. Skim milk in particular has been found to be even more problematic. It can cause the body to produce more insulin and insulin-like growth factor resulting in breakouts.

Try eliminating dairy products for four to six weeks to see if you see measurable acne reduction.

The Truth About Sugar and Skin

The typical American diet of soda, bagels, cereal, crackers, French fries and pasta can set us up for skin problems. All of these foods are loaded with sugar and ingredients that lead to high blood sugar levels and high insulin levels. This means that eating processed carbohydrates causes the body to secrete the hormone insulin.

High insulin levels affect skin very much like the growth hormones found in milk and lead to clogged and irritated pores.² I've since changed my eating habits to whole, real foods, but even nowadays when I choose to eat something sugary, I break out within a couple hours and my face feels greasy.

It's amazing to witness the immediate correlation to sugar and is a great reminder of why I mostly stick to real foods. Give this experiment a try and cut out those processed carbs and added sugars.

Hidden Sugar

Okay, so we know sugar's not great for our skin, but here's the tricky part - it's hiding EVERYWHERE! And I'm not just talking about obvious sweets. Things like "healthy" smoothie bowls, granola, flavored yogurt, and even some protein bars can pack as much sugar as a candy bar. These sneaky sugars spike our insulin just like regular sugar does, leading to that not-so-fun inflammation and oil production we talked about.

Want to know something wild? Even some "sugar-free" foods can cause the same insulin spike because they use ingredients like maltodextrin or rice syrup. Sneaky, right?

Blood Sugar's Impact

While the connection between added sugars and acne is clear, there's a broader relationship between blood sugar and skin health that deserves attention. Many seemingly healthy foods can cause rapid blood sugar spikes that trigger breakouts. For example, foods like white rice, fruit smoothies, and even instant oatmeal quickly convert to sugar in your body, potentially causing the same inflammatory response as obvious sugary foods. These quick-converting carbohydrates can stimulate excess oil production and inflammation, just like their sugary counterparts.

The Role of Food Combinations

Building on this blood sugar connection, it's important to understand how combining certain foods affects your skin. This elevated insulin response often leads to increased inflammation and oil production, potentially worsening acne.

The solution lies in strategic meal planning. Instead of eating carbohydrates alone or combining them with unhealthy fats, focus on creating balanced meals. Include a variety of animal proteins, healthy fats, and fiber-rich vegetables for your carbohydrates. This combination helps moderate blood sugar levels and reduce the inflammatory response that can trigger breakouts.

For instance, if you're having eggs for breakfast, add some vegetables like tomatoes and spinach, and cook them in real butter. Or pair your salmon filet with vegetables roasted in avocado oil and a half cup of wild rice for dinner.

The Hormone-Acne Connection

When I suffered from acne in my teens and twenties, it was cyclical as a symptom of PMS. If you are menstruating and notice that breakouts happen around that time of the month, especially along the jaw line, it is likely hormonal.

One essential, but often overlooked, key to hormone balance is regular bowel movements. We store excess estrogen in our stool to be eliminated. These estrogens actually reabsorb back into our bloodstream if not eliminated through regular bowel movements, often presenting themselves as acne as they try to excrete themselves through the skin. This was a big cause of my acne as a young adult, and once I was able to improve my bowel regularity through diet and lifestyle changes, my skin naturally cleared up and I wasn't fighting cyclical acne month to month.

We have many resources to explore on hormone balance and estrogen dominance to help you put those pieces together, which we've linked at the bottom of this article to get you started.

To get 1:1 support with hormones and acne, schedule a customized nutrition counseling appointment with a dietitian or nutritionist.

Schedule Here

Supplements for Clear Skin

As nutritionists and dietitians who work with people of all ages, we understand that acne can be embarrassing and affects your confidence. Let me share five supplements that can be particularly beneficial in addition to a healthy diet:

Essential Supplements for Skin Health

Omega-6 GLA: This essential fatty acid helps hydrate your skin and reduce irritation. It also plays a role in hormone balance if you are dealing with cyclical acne.

Omega-3: This essential fatty acid reduces inflammation and helps with skin problems from acne to rosacea.

Zinc: A deficiency in this important mineral may actually show up as acne. Zinc supports skin health by fighting infections and controlling skin oil production.

Bifidobacteria: This beneficial bacteria supports digestion and detoxification. You may be surprised to learn that an unhealthy digestive system can result in acne.

Collagen: This important building block makes up all of our tissues, the largest one being skin. Mixing a scoop of this in your daily beverage of choice, hot or cold, will give you that extra support for generating healthy skin.  

Clearer Skin Starts Here

By removing dairy and refined, ultra-processed carbs from my diet, and supplementing with key nutrients, I am happy to look in the mirror and see clear, healthy-looking skin. If you are struggling with acne, I know how you feel. I also know there is hope to get better!

Try some of these strategies for yourself and see how your skin improves. If you continue to have acne, there may be other contributing factors that can be addressed nutritionally one-on-one and you can can reach out to set up an appointment with a nutritionist.

Book an appointment with one of our nutritionists.

Additional Resources:

For more information on hormones, check out these resources:

• Read: A Supplement We Suggest for PMS & Menopause for more on GLA
• Read: Signs of Estrogen Dominance: What That Means & How To Fix It
• Listen: PCOS for more on hormones and menstrual cycles

For more information on skin health, check out these resources:

• Read: Helping Your Skin Stay Healthy
• Read: 3 Surprising Signs Of A Dairy Sensitivity
• Listen: Food Connection to Acne

Melanie Beasley RD, LD adds more information and insight to the subject of acne and diet...