They say you are what you eat, but it's not that simple when it comes to healthy skin. People looking to improve their skin health may think changing their eating habits is the answer, but this isn't necessarily the case. While food can affect your skin under certain circumstances, much of the information available on the internet is not based on sound scientific research.
While people post on blogs or social media about dietary changes that they believe made a difference to their skin, many other factors may have played a role in their situation, and other people may not experience the same effects. You should not make any changes to your eating habits based on anecdotal evidence. One success story is not enough to prove that something will work for everyone.
One of the biggest misconceptions about nutrition and dermatology is an overemphasis on the role of food allergies in skin conditions. While some food allergies can affect the skin, they generally play a limited role in skin diseases. Food allergies are not the cause of every skin condition. People tend to blame them much more than they should.
Gluten, in particular, can be mistakenly identified as a source of skin inflammation. Those with inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema may cut gluten from their diet in an effort to improve their condition, but such a change would only really make a difference for those with a diagnosed gluten allergy or hypersensitivity. The vast majority of people can eat gluten without any problems.
It's not a good idea to leave out certain things because they can cause you to miss out on important nutrients or eat too many other things to make up for what you're leaving out. On the other hand, you should be more careful when adding supplements to your diet. You can't just take a supplement off the shelf and think it's going to work for you. For a supplement to be beneficial it must be the right supplement taken at the right dose for the right person.
Before changing your eating habits, talk to a doctor first. In addition to an accurate diagnosis of the skin conditions, it can explain what existing scientific research is saying – and what is not being said – about how nutrition can affect the skin.
