How diet impacts your skin

As a teenager, it’s easy to just funnel whatever cookies, candy and pizza you can get your hands on into your mouth. But, have you ever thought about how healthy eating for teens can impact their skin?

With many negative effects of eating a poorly balanced diet, one thing is for sure, your skin can pay the price!

So, what kind of foods should you be weary of?

Eating too much of anything, no matter what it’s made of, can lead to problems if you’re not careful! So, watch out for these four categories that can get you into trouble.

#1 Watch out for carbohydrates!

Although a delicious donut, Hershey bar or regular Dr. Pepper might sound tasty, it can cause collagen and elastin in your skin to breakdown and spiral your insulin levels out of control.

As if that isn’t enough to scare you away from carbs, too much sugar build-up can produce an advanced glycation end product that causes acne, saggy skin and washed out complexion to take hold.   

#2 Don’t eat too many fatty proteins!

Remember, when you used to think those dark circles under your eyes were caused by a lack of sleep? The ugly truth is you’ve been eating too many fatty proteins!

Although, red meat, cheese and yogurt are good for you to eat. They can also dull your skin and create those puffy eyes.

#3 Limit your caffeine intake!

Caffeine may give you the boost you need to make it through your day, but it can also increase the amount of breakouts on your body, too! This is  do to the increased production of cortisol, otherwise known as a stress hormone.

#4 Don’t go overboard with salt!

While having a bag of puffy Cheetos with your lunch won’t cause immediate skin damage, iodized salt will. If you eat large amounts of junk foods you run the risk of having beastly breakouts with inflammation and causing your skin to age faster than normal.

What else is affected by a poor diet?

Not only can eating a poorly balanced diet cause acne and other skin related damage, but other things can be affected as well.

#1 Growth

With 2/3 of American teens not getting the necessary calcium they need to grow strong bones, there could be problems for them as they move further into adulthood, such as osteoporosis. That’s why healthy eating for teens is so important!

#2 Learning

Your diet isn’t always affecting your body physically, but it can also affect your body mentally! Without the proper amounts of fruit, vegetables and other core food groups, your brain lacks the fuel it needs to excel academically.

So, what should teens eat instead?

Healthy eating for teens can’t be found in a fad diet or a fast food meal. A teenager needs a rich diet with nutrients mixed with physical activity. Pay attention to the calories your teen is ingesting and base their intake to their weight and activity rate.

Whether teens are eating carbs, protein, fat or vitamins, all of these things need to based on their size, growth rate and amount of activity they partake in.

With 80 percent of teenagers that have acne and other skin problems, one solution to minimize the effects of acne is to eat a balanced diet.

DREAM, one of the Midwest’s well-known youth mentoring organizations, provides life-changing and life-enriching experiences to at-risk youth through mentoring and after-school programs in Omaha, Nebraska, and Springfield, Missouri. Their proven approach puts children in a comfortable setting where they’re encouraged to discuss openly, learn, and grow as individuals. Are you interested in getting involved with DREAM? Contact us today.