Just the word “acne” conjures up feelings of embarrassment and anger, emotions that were usually made worse by the fact that we were teenagers when breakouts occurred and, well, were already pretty emotional to begin with.
Still, from time to time, most adults still get a bit of acne, so it makes sense that you’re looking to fight back.
Fortunately, you don’t need to cut out spicy foods to do so.
What Causes Acne?
This is the million-dollar question. If you figure this out, you’ll never have to work again and people – especially teenagers – will praise you wherever you go.
At the moment, no one has the answer and while many people have suggested spicy food causes acne, at least in part, the truth is actually a bit more frustrating.
We’ll discuss whether or not spicy food causes acne in a moment, but the most prevalent influence on this skin condition seems to be a hormonal one. In other words, if you have bad acne, you most likely have your parents to thank.
Still, we can flesh this out a bit more.
Acne is what happens when the pores on your skin become clogged. Usually, this happens on your face, which is just one more reason to hate acne: it’s almost impossible to hide from the outside world.
However, acne is also often found on the neck, back and chest. That’s because these areas also have a large number of oil glands.
When these glands become clogged with oil and/or dead skin cells, they produce a soft film that plugs the hole shut. This, in turn, becomes a great place for bacteria to grow and thrive. Bacteria generally go on to cause inflammation and the result is what we know as acne.
Blackheads form when the plugged pore actually opens to the surface turning the mixture of oil and bacteria its signature dark color.
The reason why acne has become synonymous with puberty is because this is when young people begin producing androgen. That hormone causes the aforementioned glands to grow in size and produce oil.
Pregnancy and oral contraceptives can also produce hormonal changes that bring about acne.
Why Cleaning Your Face Can Make the Problem Worse
One of the most persistent myths about acne is that people who have it aren’t hygienic, that they need to clean their face more.
Unfortunately, when people take this to heart, they often go about scrubbing their faces to the point of making the acne significantly worse. Overly harsh products can do the same.
While it’s always a good idea to gently wipe away oil and dead skin from your face, doing it too aggressively will most likely cause a greater amount of acne.
Fact or Fiction: Spicy Food Causes Acne
Speaking of myths, many people believe spicy food causes acne. This is another false belief that simply refuses to die no matter how many times it’s disproven.
For one thing, growing up, we all knew one or two people who could eat whatever they wanted and their faces always looked perfect. Again, this speaks to the fact that hormones are at play here.
To be fair, some foods may have an effect. We’ll get to that in a moment, but even then, you simply can’t get around the impact hormones have.
Also, if spicy food causes acne, the whole of India would have pimples, blackheads and whiteheads. The same goes for the population of Thailand and, really, most of Southeastern Asia for that matter.
These cultures and dozens more around the world treat spices as a major staple of their diets. Yet, you don’t see the type of acne problem in any of them that you’d expect if this explanation carried any water.
As a caveat, we will point out that everyone is different. While no spicy food causes acne in everyone, you could have a slight allergy that triggers a breakout. If you notice something like this happening, then back off from the spices for a while and see what happens.
Also, there is a popular explanation that is meant to prove that spicy food causes acne which we should quickly address.
In short, it says that eating spicy food makes you sweat and this sweat clogs your glands, causing breakouts.
While this is true, in theory, you’d have to be eating a lot of spicy food on a regular basis for this to become a realistic problem.
Furthermore, if you were eating this much spicy food, it only follows that you’d build up a tolerance to it, too, meaning you’d quickly quit sweating that much.
Don’t Forget About Other Foods
Earlier, we mentioned that while the myth that spicy food causes acne doesn’t have any evidence behind it, there are some foods that may, in fact, play a role.
Again, though, just to reiterate, hormones are the biggest culprit here.
Greasy foods are definitely linked to breakouts. This also helps explain why so many people are vehement that spicy food causes acne. A lot of greasy food is covered in hot sauce, so it’s just a matter of making a false connection.
Another food item that makes acne worse is chocolate. Now, this is also a controversial subject, so let’s take a moment to explore it.
Chocolate doesn’t cause acne. As we’ve pointed out before, though, it is one of those foods that will make a hormonal problem worse. In short, chocolate tends to be high in fat and sugar. These two ingredients increase your body’s production of sebum, which is the oil that can go on to block your pores.
Another problematic food item may be cheese for similar reasons. While cheese may be low in sugar, it does up your body’s production of insulin, which, in turn, ensures you store more sugar.
As we just covered, this sugar triggers the production of sebum, which blocks pores, which creates acne.
The good news, though, is that you know the truth behind the myth that spicy food causes acne. As long as you don’t pair spices with grease, fatty foods or sugar, you should feel free to indulge in it.
Don’t feel doomed by your hormones either. For the vast majority of people, the body rights itself around their early 20s and acne ceases being an issue.
Also, as long as you’re gentle and don’t use overly harsh chemicals, regularly cleaning your face will help keep your glands clear.