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This post will show you which drinks clear your skin, which food to eat to clear acne and give you glowing skin, anti acne drinks, things not to eat or drink if you want to clear acne. Also, I share the healthy & unhealthy eating habits that have either caused my acne or cleared it. It’s all from my own experience but lets back up a little bit…
You see when I was growing up, I had smooth glowy skin but after I gave birth to my son, my skin changed a lot.
I have oily skin and as such I’m prone to acne breakouts. But even so I cannot tell you the number of times I have had bad skin breakouts. And don’t even get me started on the skin care routines and products I have tried.
And don’t get me wrong.
There are skincare products for oily skin I use that work but this is what I noticed.
These skincare products will not work if you’re not keen on what you’re eating.
What you eat and drink will reflect on your skin. So if you love junk food, smoking, drinking etc, with time you’ll notice the rapid downward spiral of your skin health.
In short, if you want a glowy skin, you’ll need to start taking care of what you eat. And that’s what I did.
So in this post you’ll get:
- The diet that will help you get a glowing skin – This is what I do.
- What to do if you drink alcohol and still want a glowy skin.
- The secret to a glowy skin for those who have hormones that cause acne breakouts.
Lets get into it.
The Diet to a Glowing Skin
When you decide to change your diet to have a smoother skin, dont change everything overnight.
Start by incorporating one or two items in this list I’m about to share with you. That way you’ll be able to sustain the diet change.
If you don’t, you’ll overwhelm your body suddenly. And you might get adverse effects like I did as you’ll learn in just a few.
What I Stopped Eating & Drinking
Caffeine
Where are my coffee lovers? Raise your eyebrow if you love you cup of coffee. I know I do but I had to stop taking it. And when I did I realized two things.
I am caffeine dependant. Meaning it’s hard for me to function without a few cups of coffee. So for over two weeks I was struggling to get out of my bed and even get energy to do anything. It was really bad to the point I thought I was depressed. Hahahahaa lol ? I wasn’t. I was later to learn I was going through caffeine withdrawal effects. Boy is that thing rough.
And two, my skin stopped breaking out. The funny thing is I have very good acne products that serve my skin really well. But every other night I would wake up and find a nice big pimple on my cheek or my forehead.
Can you relate?
If it does, then it’s time to cut down your caffeine intake. Don’t make the same mistake I did by completely cutting out coffee from my lifestyle. Instead reduce the number of cups per day you take over a period of time until you are no longer drinking any coffee.
All types of Fatty Foods
I don’t only mean fries when I say fatty foods. I also mean, the way my food is cooked.
This one took some time for me to notice but I realized that every time I would air fry my chicken rather than deep fry it, my skin didn’t break out.
Also, the type of oil I use for my cooking changed. Instead of using fortified oil, I use vegetable oil or coconut oil in small amounts.
Being an African, all the meals are either fried or deep fried ?? so it is quite hard to go over to your friends or family’s homes and not eat.
So every time I go their homes I take lotsa water.
Sugar
When I say sugar, I also mean sweets, candy and all those good chocolate bars. For sweets, I have cheat days and on a daily basis, I have switched out on what I snack on because I’m a snacker.
But, to be honest, I still take sugar just not in the same quantity I used to.
And this might not be the case for many of you reading this but sugar makes me gain weight…
And every single time I gain weight, I lose that nice glowy skin. So if I want to increase weight, I simply switch up my breakfast to this weight gain morning diet and my skin doesn’t break out.
Speaking of breakfast, there’s on other thing I cut out of my diet in the morning.
And that’s…
Butter.
Butter is very oily and in as much as I love how it makes my bread taste I had to switch it out for something that has more natural fat.
I’ll talk about what I switched it out to in just a sec. But this one really made such a huge change in how my skin looks.
You see every time I break out, I get whiteheads and blackheads or papules. When I stopped taking butter, I stopped getting papules. And the change was almost too hard not to notice.
Ill also say that there were daily habits that also contributed to the disappearance of the blackheads and the whiteheads for me to be able to get a glowing skin.
So in short, its not only the foods that I stopped eating that contributed to a soft skin.
Now lets get into what I currently eat on a daily basis
What I Eat to Get & Maintain A Glowing Skin
Breakfast Food
Breakfast is usually very light for me. I actually don’t like having breakfast. I’m just forced to do it because I need the energy to get things done. So you’ll realize my breakfast is not typical advice for someone who has a huge breakfast.
But lets get into it.
Bread with Avocado Spread with Boiled Egg and Tea
Boiled Arrow Roots With Air Fryed Bacon and Cup of Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
Fruit Bowl Made of Oranges, Bananas, pawpaw, watermelon, avocado, Mango and Red beetroot.
Beef sandwich made from leftover beef stew, lettuce, onions, tomatoes with siracha sauce and onion sauce and toasted bread
Toasted bread drizzled with honey and tea
Banana Smoothie with a Sandwich.
I will usually switch them up. So I don’t necessarily eat them as I have stated. But I ensure to eat all of them in a whole week for breakfast.
Sometimes life happens and I have just tea and plain bread. And I go about my day.
But ever since I changed out what I eat for breakfast, I’ve seen such a huge change in my skin. It’s softer, more plumb and less prone to breakouts even when I’m stressed.
Lunch Foods
I love eating lunch. It gives me that extra boost to finish up my day with a bang.
Remember I told you how I love coffee… Well I only did because I couldn’t get past lunch time without falling asleep. And because I work from home, Id end up with a bunch of work to do at night which then made me go to bed really late… Which then made me wake up late and have to take coffee to get any energy.
It’s just a bad no energy cycle that will have you dependent on taking coffee.
So in order to break this cycle I needed foods that would keep my energy high up after lunch… And not sleepy.
Essentially I didn’t want to eat anything super filling.
So lets get into it.
Mediterranean salad.
Spring Roll Bowls
Chicken lettuce wraps
Pita Pizza without the cheese.
Ratatouille (I love this one)
As you can see most of my lunch meals are salads or wraps. And they are amazing in keeping your high energy especially if you add moringa to your smoothies and incorporate pineapple juice or the actual fruit with your lunch.
Dinner Foods
I used to have a heavy dinner and never understood why I always had stomach issues until I read an article about the causes of gastritis…. And guess what one of the reasons was a heavy dinner.
So I have cut down on the amount of food I take during dinner. I’m still working on this one but the small changes I’ve made so far have really changed my overall health. Like I don’t complain about stomach issues as much as I used to. And I think it’s a step in the right direction.
Now with my dinner. I have a mixture of boiled foods, dry foods and soups.
Let’s take a look at them
Vegetable stew served with asparagus and mashed potatoes
Fish and Ugali served with baby spinach
Air fried Chicken with rice
Rice and beans served with raw shredded carrots
Curry Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Bowls
When it comes to my dinner, I focus on eating vegetables, proteins and nuts rather than carbs.
If I have to eat carbs, like rice and potatoes, I boil or bake them. I avoid the extra fat that is added when you fry or deep fry your carbs.
Extra Drinks
Water
I know you have heard this over a gazillion times but water really does a lot of wonders to your skin.
If you want to know that it’s not a lie, reduce the amount of water you take significantly and notice the change in your skin. You will have less glowy skin, your skin will start to breakout and get ashy.
In fact, this post from a dermatologist says that it can take a little over 24 hours to notice a positive change in your skin if you take 10+ cups of water.
But remember there’s so much more to radiant glowing skin than just hydration. It’s about your habits, your diet and your skin care routine.
So if you do start this diet to a glowy skin, remember to incorporate the rest because they’re also as important as your diet.
What to do If You Drink Alcohol and Want A Glowy Skin
I love drinking wine and since my diet change, I’ve tried to lower my intake of wine. But I love it especially when I’m having my dinner.
And it really was making my journey to a more plumb skin harder than it needed to be.
So instead of stopping to drink, I just started drinking a little more water every time I drank wine or any sort of alcohol.
And when I started doing that, I noticed a huge huge change.
Within a week of keeping up with my new diet and taking lots of water during or after drinking alcohol, my skin completely changed.
My skin was brighter more glowy and even my friends began to notice the change in my skin.
So if you drink alcohol, take a little more water.
For example, every glass of wine I have, I take three extra glasses of water. And if I have a couple of beers, I drink two water bottles. This is the water bottle I use.
This whole system to a glowing skin is amazing but what if you have hormone related acne?
Well, I have the answer for you.
Supplements to Take To Get A Glowy Skin If you have Hormone Related Acne
These supplements are not only for those who can’t do the diet, it’s also for those who have hormonal acne.
This is especially the case if you find you get acne when you’re about to be on your period or like me, you got acne problems after you gave birth or you’re on hormonal drugs.
But if you cannot changed your diet, it’s best if you cut out the things I’ve mentioned. That way, you’ll be able to give your skin a chance to look plumb and healthy.
Also, supplements will only work if you also have a skincare routine. In short, supplements cannot in isolation. That’s why you also need a diet and a routine.
Here are the top supplements that will help you clear acne and have a smooth and glowy skin.
Vitamin A
Zinc Sulfate
This study shows that if you take 400 – 600mg of Zinc supplement, your acne will clear up after 12 weeks.
Vitamin D
Omega 3s
