Alcohol and caffeine

• How they hurt skin: Your morning cup of coffee and those after-work cocktails can cause many skin problems.
  • Alcohol expands blood vessels, allowing increased blood flow, which may result in redness, flushing and broken veins. Also, alcohol has a drying, moisture-zapping effect. In addition, it breaks down tissue components of your skin, leading to sagging.
  • Caffeine can cause many of the same skin symptoms as alcohol, including redness and dryness. Experts claim that hot beverages, such as tea and coffee, heighten these effects, compared to caffeine in cold beverages like soda.

    It also "prevents your body from making good use of the vitamins and minerals from your food," explains Women Fitness. Plus, caffeine raises certain hormones linked with stress, which can also make skin look worse.

• Cut down or cut out if you’ve got:hi sar.

High glycemic foods: Carbs and sugars

• How they hurt skin: Carbs are found in foods like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes. Not surprisingly, sweet treats, such as cookies, cake and candy, are full of sugar.
  • High glycemic foods: Our bodies convert carbs and sugar to blood glucose very quickly. The measure of how long this takes is called the glycemic index. Foods quickly converted to glucose are high-glycemic.

    If we load up on carbs and sugars, our glucose levels go up. "When the glucose level is too high, the body increases its production of insulin to get it back down," according to the National Skin Care Institute.

    So what happens to skin when our insulin levels are too high? Oil production rises and skin cells die quicker. Oil and dead skin cells block pores, which can lead to acne breakouts. Not surprisingly, studies show a correlation between a high-glycemic diet and acne.

  • Risk of wrinkles: Sugar binds to skin protein, causing wrinkles, explains Gregory Nikolaidis, M.D., of Westlake Dermatology to KEYE-TV — a binding process called glycation.

    After these sugar/skin protein bonds are made, damaging structures called advanced glycation end products — or AGEs, for short — are formed. AGEs destroy collagen (which keeps skin firm), causing wrinkles. Then, free radicals are created, which damage skin cells.

    Particularly in people over age 35, the effects of glycation become stronger. Diabetics are also highly affected by glycation: they "can have up to 50 times the number of AGEs in their skin as those who don’t have diabetes," dermatologist Karyn Grossman, M.D., tells Karyn Repinski in Prevention.

• Cut down if you’ve got: Oily skin, acne or wrinkles. "Keep added sugar to no more than 10 percent of total calories" you consume in a day, writes Repinski. Also, limit other types of sugar, including like high fructose corn syrup and dextrose.

Red meat, preserved meats and cold cuts

• How they hurt skin: Red meats "contain arachadonic acid, a natural inflammatory substance," notes Women Fitness — which aggravate skin conditions like psoriasis.

  According to a 2001 study at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, participants (who were all over 70 years old) with more wrinkles ate more fatty and processed meats than those with less wrinkles. And while that doesn’t necessarily mean that fatty meats cause wrinkles, there might be a link.

  In addition, according to aging/wellness expert Andrew Weil, M.D., meat comes from animals that eat toxins and other harmful substances. So, if we eat large amounts of meat, it's possible that these have a negative effect on our skin.

• Cut down if you’ve got: psoriasis or aging skin.

Salt and salty foods

• How they hurt skin: Sure, they’re tasty. But before reaching into a bag of chips or pretzels, be aware that salt dries out skin. It also contains iodine, which "dermatologists believe may trigger acne," according to Helen Foster, author of The Beauty Book. Salt may even trigger redness and flushed skin.
• Cut down if you’ve got: dry skin, sensitive skin, acne or rosacea.

Spices and preservatives

• How they hurt skin: We add spices to foods for extra zip and zing, creating new flavor combinations. Plus, preservatives like sodium nitrate or sulfites extend the life of certain foods, preventing them from spoiling.

  But, although they enliven the taste of bland food, spices and preservatives can lead to skin redness, flushing, burning and irritation. They can also cause flaking and itchiness.

  Some of these spices seem like obvious culprits, such as pepper, paprika and garlic, whereas, unlikely offenders include cumin, nutmeg and cinnamon. Even condiments like ketchup, mustard and mayo could have these effects, cautions Women Fitness.

• Cut down if you’ve got: sensitive skin, psoriasis or rosacea.

The bottom line

Keep these points/pointers in mind:

• Ultimately, whether you have the above skin conditions or not, everyone can benefit from a wholesome diet, which focuses on moderation.

  No single food affects everyone’s skin the same way. Eating a specific food may cause a certain symptom in one person’s skin, but it won’t cause the symptom in someone else.

• Believe a particular food is causing your skin problems? Start a food diary. Keep notes on what you eat, when you eat it and whatever skin symptoms you might notice.
  • Suppose you observe that after drinking caffeine, you experience skin flushing. In response, cut back on the caffeine. If you modify your diet and still don’t see improvement in your skin, head to a dermatologist.

See also:

Chew on This: Foods that Foster Healthy Skin

Exercise: Another Essential Part of Your Skincare Routine

Look to Nature for a Gentle Skincare Routine