Eat these 5 foods for clear skin
Diet plays a huge role in acne and overall skin health, so here are 5 foods I would incorporate into my diet if I was struggling with acne again.
First up, acne unfortunately isn’t as simple as just eating these 5 foods and then magically getting clear skin. It might be, but I don’t want to promise anything.
These foods are really important, but you also got to just overall eat a clean, healthy, whole foods diet. There are also certain foods I would eliminate from my diet as they can worsen acne, so subscribe to my substack so you don’t miss it when I publish that.
Alternatively, you can check out my full acne course here, that covers everything from diet to lifestyle and environment and everything in between.
Okay, let’s get into these foods.
Food 1: Fatty fish
This is probably the number one food you can incorporate into your diet to heal your skin, for a lot of reasons. Multiple studies have looked at the effects of fatty fish, or more specifically omega 3 fatty acids, on acne, and found amazing results.
This review study highlights a bunch of anti inflammatory mechanisms that omega 3 fatty acids have, and how they lead to better skin. It also highlights a bunch of studies looking at both fish consumption and fish oil supplementation and how both lead to improvements in acne.
Basically, omega 3 fatty acids are goated. They directly counteract the inflammatory pathways that drive acne.
The problem is that most don’t consume enough omega 3 fatty acids. Not only do we not get enough omega 3, we also get too much omega 6. Having a proper omega 3 to 6 ratio in the body is important for optimal health and keeping inflammation in check.
Epidemiological studies clearly show that there is a correlation between your omega 3 to 6 ratio and how healthy you are. If you have a high amount of omega 6 compared to omega 3, you’ll have more inflammation and worse health.
However, it’s important to point out that this is correlation studies, which are most likely confounded to some degree by the fact that people who consume a diet high in omega 6 and low in omega 3 are normally the people who eat a lot of processed foods and junk food, don’t exercise that much, sleep poorly, etc.
However, there is also mechanistic data to support the fact that keeping your omega 3 to 6 ratio low (1:1 to 1:4) is beneficial for your overall health and inflammation, and therefore skin health.
The best way to do that is to eat more fatty fish. HOWEVER, not all fish are equally beneficial. I would stay as far away from farm raised fish as possible. First of all if you care about the quality of life for the fish, but also just because farm raised fish is so much more unhealthy.
They are pumped full of antibiotics, fed a super low quality diet, and are overall much unhealthier fish compared to their wild counterparts.
This obviously manifests itself in the meat that you eat.
Secondly, I would try to stay away from large predatory fish most of the time. These fish are higher in heavy metals, which bioaccumulate in your body, causing all sorts of problems like increased risk of cancer, inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases and so on.
Think fish like tuna, mackerel, sword fish, shark, etc.
Now you might be thinking “well what f*cking fish can I eat then?”
Wild caught salmon, sardines (fresh or in water or olive oil), anchovies, small local fish and occasionally larger fish like tuna or mackerel.
Wild caught salmon is my personal favorite, but for the most part I consume sardines as they’re cheaper and more convenient. They are also a great source of zinc which is great for improving acne (more on that later).
Food 2: Sauerkraut/kimchi
This is another great food for skin health. I don’t have a direct study looking at sauerkraut, but we know how important your gut health is for skin health through what is known as the gut-skin axis.
Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi are super high in probiotics (bacteria), that promote a healthier, more diverse gut microbiome.
More healthy bacteria and microbes = better gut health = better skin health.
So instead of wasting money on all these “probiotic” supplements that are super overpriced and filled with crap, just eat some sauerkraut or kimchi.
You can make it yourself or buy it in most supermarkets.
It’s simple. Up your intake of fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi and your skin will thank you.
Food 3: Kefir
Kefir is another fermented food, this time made by fermenting milk with kefir grains. Kefir is super high in probiotics, which once again will help your gut health, and therefore indirectly improve your acne through the gut-skin axis.
On top of that kefir is also just high in a bunch of important nutrients, so whether you’re struggling with acne or not, you would benefit from regularly consuming kefir.
If you can, I would recommend getting raw kefir as this retains more of the vitamins, minerals and beneficial probiotics.
You can also make it yourself from raw milk and kefir grains.
You can drink kefir as it is, or top it with fruits, honey, granola, etc. to your liking. I personally love to just drink it by itself. It’s quick and easy, and I enjoy the taste.
Food 4: Bone Broth
The next food is bone broth. Bone broth is amazing cause it’s super high in collagen (if you make it right), the protein that makes up most of your skin.
Collagen is just important for overall skin health and appearance, but the real reason bone broth is specifically good for acne, is because of the effects it has on gut health. It’s high in gut beneficial amino acids like glycine, proline and glutamine, which help keep your gut lining tight and healthy.
Earlier I talked about how important this is, in particular to prevent leaky gut and the inflammation and acne it brings.
However, its important you get the right bone broth. A lot of store bought bone broth is bullshit. First up, filled with additives and ingredients you don’t want. Second of all, and even worse, super low in protein (the collagen you want) because they don’t prepare it right.
They do this to cut costs, and you just end up with a product with no real benefits. A true bone broth will have about 8-10g of protein per cup, which tells you that you’re actually getting the amino acids you need.
Cheap ones will have around 2g per cup which obviously isn’t gonna cut it.
Either make sure you buy the right one or just make it yourself by simmering bones and other collagen rich parts of the animal with some vegetables and stuff (look up a recipe). I prefer either beef or chicken broths.
You can drink bone broth as it is or add it to stews, soups, etc. for a nice collagen boost that will benefit your gut.
If you’re lazy you can also consider just taking a collagen supplement. It’s a lot easier and provides you a lot of the same beneficial, anti inflammatory amino acids like glycine and proline.
Just make sure you get one that’s tested for heavy metals and other contaminants so you know you aren’t ingesting bad stuff.
This is the one I use if you’re interested: Puori Collagen
Food 5: Oysters
Oysters are a true superfood, and they’re especially great for improving acne because:
They’re super high in zinc
High in omega 3 fatty acids
I talked about the benefits of omega 3’s earlier so let’s focus on zinc in particular here.
Studies consistently show that zinc is important for treating acne. Acne patients generally have lower serum levels of zinc compared to non-acne individuals and supplementation with zinc, both topically and orally, have been shown to improve acne severity.
I am generally not a huge fan of supplements, both because of how they’re made and also that you might run into other nutrient deficiencies/problems when taking isolated compounds for long periods of time.
For example, when you consume high amounts of zinc over an extended period of time, you deplete your copper, which causes problems for your skin and overall health.
Therefore, if you want to take a zinc supplement it’s important to supplement it with a copper as well to avoid running into issues.
But with real foods you don’t really run into these problems. For example, oysters are extremely high in zinc, providing about 30mg per 6 oysters, but they’re also really high in copper which helps balance it out.
Therefore I would just recommend eating oysters a few times per week if you can, as that will meaningfully contribute to the amount of zinc shown clinically to improve acne, without running into the copper depletion problem.
On top of that oysters are also super high in omega 3’s like I mentioned earlier, along with a good amount of other micronutrients, making them far superior to a lab made zinc supplement in my opinion.
So really, oysters might actually be the number 1 food for skin health and acne, just because of the combination of acne beneficial nutrients.
So eat your oysters fellas. You can even get them pretty cheap if you look the right places. Whole foods for example sell 12 for $12 every friday, which is a steal in my opinion.
And there you have it, these are 5 of the best foods you can add into your diet to improve your acne.
Obviously it’s also super important to just have a good baseline diet. Eating high quality whole foods. Meat, vegetables, fruit, eggs, high quality dairy and so on. Preferably organic if you can afford it.
On top of that it’s also important to limit certain foods and prioritize a healthy, active lifestyle. Getting sunlight, exercising, stuff like that.
All these things contribute to the overall quality of your skin and are super important.
If you’re interested I cover everything you need to know in my full acne course which you can find here: Veritas Method
But that’s pretty much it.
Thanks for reading and godspeed.
— Kasper Veritas