Similar to refined foods, refined sugar is often a problem because of what it comes from or how it’s made. One of our clients gets skin rash when they eat pure cane sugar bought in stores. These can sugar products are supposed to be “natural.” Cane sugar comes from the juice of a plant. The juice of the plant is sweet but not too sweet! When our client drinks this juice straight from the plant not a product in stores, they have no skin reaction. This makes think that some of the cane sugar in the stores isn’t purely cane sugar. Maybe the way they processed it from the plant to the sugar involved non-natural foods. Note: We’ve manually tried juicing a sugarcane plant and barely got any juice out of it, so the ability to create bags of cane sugar is eye-brow-raising to us. We do know that any product with sugar in its ingredients list has a large chance of impacting the skin.
How to know if something has sugar in it
You can simply look for the word “sugar” in the ingredient list of any food. If it contains sugar, then eat the food at your own risk. The sugar can be problematic even if all the other ingredients in the food are from whole foods. Also, if a food has ingredients you’ll likely see a line with the description “Includes x Added Sugars” like the picture below
What about sugar alternatives like stevia?
There is research suggesting that alternatives like stevia have their own risk factors. You are free to try these alternatives but if you do, we recommend you closely monitor your skin for any reaction.
Clear Skin Nutrition: Table of Contents
- Foods to avoid for clear skin:
- Refined and processed foods
- Foods to avoid for clear skin: Trans fats/Chemical additives/artificial colorings and flavorings
- High fructose corn syrup
- Grains/pseudo grains (rice, corn, wheat, barley, and more)
- Legumes (beans, lentils)
- Refined sugar/Sugar alternatives
- Nuts & Seeds
- Refined oils aka Vegetable oils
- Dairy & Eggs
- Nightshades (potatoes, peppers, and more)
- Alcohol
- Foods that can cause skin issues:
- Foods you can eat for clear skin
