What you eat has a close relationship with the health of your skin. Studies show that spicy food is not very good for your skin health. Eating spicy foods causes inflammatory reactions and makes you sweat. The dirt and oil on your skin get trapped in the sweat, which results in acne and pimples.
If you are a spicy food lover and at the same time you have acne-prone skin. Be careful what you eat. Your food habit might be triggering skin problems and acne.
There are some other factors as well which are contributed by spicy food resulting in acne. In this article, we will discuss all the possible reasons why eating spicy foods cause acne.
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What causes pimples and acne?
Before discussing the effects of spicy food on your skin, you need to understand acne and what causes this condition.
Our skin has millions of tiny pores, and when these pores are blocked by sweat, dirt, oil or dead skin, these cause a bump on your skin called acne.
Acne is a very common skin condition in teenagers. A hormonal change could be one of the reasons for acne in your teenage years. However, your lifestyle and eating habits play a critical role too in developing acne. Eating spicy food is also considered bad for acne. It does not itself cause acne, but it certainly increases your chances of getting acne. Let’s get into the topic and find out the reasons why spicy foods cause acne.
Is spicy food bad for your skin?
Spicy or peppery foods are not a very good companion for your skin. A healthy diet always reflects in your healthy skin. Spicy foods are not considered healthy because spices do not have much nutritional value.
Eating spicy food causes a burning sensation. It stimulates blood circulation and raises your body temperature. This increase in body temperature results in excessive sweating, which eventually traps the dirt and oil on your skin, causing acne.
Spicy foods do not act as a stimulant for everyone. For some, it might not cause inflammation, but for others, it can trigger inflammation. This inflammatory reaction causes your blood vessels to dilate, resulting in your skin becoming red.
Eating too much spicy food increases the risk of breaking out of blood capillaries leading to serious skin conditions like skin dryness, red bump, facial flushing, or skin sensitivity. This condition is commonly referred to as rosacea. If you are sensitive to spicy food, you should avoid eating such foods as they may trigger inflammation which could be very bad for your skin health.
How does eating spicy food cause acne?
There are many reasons because of which spicy foods cause acne. Let’s discuss all of them one by one in detail:
Gut health
Eating spicy food is often related to an upset stomach. Capsaicin present in spicy foods stimulates gastric mucus production in your stomach. In the intestine, it triggers some reaction that draws more water into your colon. This results in diarrhea.
Acne is the symptom of a weaker immune system. More than 70% of your immune system lies in your digestive tract.
An upset stomach or condition like diarrhe means your immune system is activated, and it is not happy with the spicy food.
The activation of your gut immunity impacts your overall immune system. It activates the immune system in other areas of your body- such as skin immunity- can become over-activated leading to acne.
A healthy digestive system is very important for acne-free skin. If you have some issue digesting spicy food, it is best to avoid it for the sake of your skin health.
Acidic lycopene
Spicy food contains acidic lycopene. It is a plant nutrient with antioxidant properties. Spices, especially peppers, are known to have a high level of lycopene in them.
Lycopene disturbs the pH balance of your skin, causing skin irritation and acne. Not everyone shows the same sensitivity to lycopene. Some other adverse effects of lycopene are that it causes gastrointestinal issues and eventually results in skin problems like acne and breakouts.
Inflammation
Spicy food creates inflammation in the gut. This affects the digestive system resulting in an upset stomach, acid reflux, or other symptoms. Sometimes these symptoms could reflect on the skin in the form of acne. If you are already suffering from acne and keep eating spicy foods, it will worsen your acne condition.
Excessive sweat
One of the major downsides of eating spicy food is sweat. After you have your spicy meal, your body temperature rises, which causes more sweat on your skin. The dirt, oil, dead cells and bacterias get trapped in sweat and settle down on your skin.
This trapped ball of dirt clog your skin pores and cause acne. Sweating after eating spicy food is a very common condition. However, to avoid any breakouts, you can always wash your face with water to remove any such dirt from the skin.
Oily skin
Inflammation triggers an overproduction of sebum. It is a natural oil secreted by sebaceous glands present underneath the skin. Sebum works as a skin moisturizer, but this overproduction of sebum and sweat attracts dirt and bacteria.
Accumulation of bacteria around your oil gland clogs pores and increases the risk of pus formation. This is the reason why some acne hurts sometimes.
Conclusion
Spicy foods can harm your digestive health. It causes inflammation and oily skin. Eating spicy food impacts your skin negatively and often results in acne and breakouts. For most people, eating spicy food does not cause any repercussions, but for some, being sensitive to spicy foods can trigger inflammation, acne, and a lot more skin disasters.
