Hormonal Acne: What to Eat to Balance Hormones for Clearer Skin?
- Do you tend to break out before you period?
- Are your breakouts often along your jawline, chin and the lower part of your face?
- Do you get painful cysts beneath the skin that take ages to disappear?
If you’re thinking ‘that’s me!’ as you read those questions, you likely have hormonal acne.
If your hormones are out of synch, you may be experiencing other symptoms too:
These symptoms are all indications that indicate that something is off with our hormones.
Which of my hormones are out of balance?
The most common hormonal imbalances I see with my clients are the following:
- Sex Hormones
Stress, medications like the pill and accutane, and dietary patterns can all affect the balance of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in our bodies. Inflammation always plays a key role in sex hormone imbalances too.
- Adrenal Hormones
Imbalances in adrenal hormones can result from a poor diet, food allergies/intolerances, poor quality sleep, and chronic stress. Our adrenal hormones and sex hormones are closely linked, so imbalances in one can affect the other.
- Thyroid Hormones
Our thyroid hormones control our metabolism in every cell of our bodies, but they also regulate our epidermis. Diet can affect thyroid hormones, and gluten sensitivity is very common in these cases. Some clients have underlying or subclinical underactive thyroids, so it’s important to identify that on the path to healing the skin.
What can I do about my hormone imbalances?
Hormones play a role in most types of acne, and although rebalancing your hormones takes some time and commitment, it is achievable. You can rebalance your hormones, and you DON’T have to live with breakouts and bad skin.
If you feel like you’ve tried everything and nothing worked… then you haven’t tried everything. The truth is, if you had tried everything, your skin would be healed. So if you’re still breaking out, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed, it just means that there’s still some work to do.
I know this can seem like a daunting task, especially when you’ve already tried so many different things – what will make things different this time around? The fact is, most people try to fix their acne with topical products, or mediations that simply ‘mask’ the symptom. This approach doesn’t get to the root cause of the acne, so the acne keeps coming back. The great news is, sorting out your diet and getting to the
If you feel like your hormones are a mess and you don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place.
Our diet has a big influence on how our body makes hormones. Getting your diet in tip-top shape is a great way to start the journey to balancing your hormones and clearing up your skin.
6 Foods to Include for Hormonal Balance
Wild salmon
Salmon, especially wild salmon, is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids which are associated with better hormonal balance. It also contains vitamin D, which plays a huge role in keeping our gut healthy and functioning optimally.
Ground flaxseed
Adding a tablespoon or two to your diet daily is a great source of fibre, which helps to keep us regular and minimise the effect of the more harmful types of oestrogen.
Cauliflower
Cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale and broccoli are good sources of sulphuric compounds that help our livers make the enzymes that detoxify our hormones.
Seaweed
Seaweed is a nutritional powerhouse, full of minerals and vitamins including iodine, copper, calcium, magnesium, manganese, vitamin B2, and vitamin C. Seaweed favourably alters oestrogen metabolism, if eaten in moderate amounts over time.
Brazil nuts
Are a great source of methionine, which is something called a ‘methyl donor’, meaning it supports phase II liver detoxification of sex hormones. Supporting liver detoxification is key to healthy hormones.
Beetroot
Beetroot helps to balance hormones by lowering inflammation, and the compound betaine supports the liver in removing excess oestrogen.
I hope this gives you a good place to start building up your diet to support clear skin.
Download my recipe e-book for some skin-loving recipes!
In health,
Kim
