Foods to avoid for clear skin: Grains/pseudo grains (rice, corn, wheat, barley, and more)

The big picture is that grains are actually seeds that grow into plants. Seeds can’t grow if they’re eaten so nature has armed several seeds (including beans which is covered next) with defense chemicals to discourage animals from eating them. The link above goes into more detail why these defense chemicals cause problems in some humans.

One of our clients used to eat rice every day and would get small bumps or an itchy face daily. For years, they had no clue that rice could be problematic, so for years, they chased a solution to their skin problem and overlooked the true root cause. Now, when they eat rice, they view it as a cheat meal and accept the “L” if their skin flares within the next few days.

Foods people find yummy like breads, pancakes, sweets, and pizza are typically made of wheat. You may have heard about gluten. For a subset of people who get skin issues from breads/wheat, gluten is the primary reason why. To learn more on why wheat and gluten are problematic, read this.

List of commonly used grains and pseudo-grains.

For a deeper dive on why grains are problematic for some read this.