Types of carbohydrates?

     There are two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex. Each of them exists in natural or refined form. Simple carbohydrates are also identified as sugars, and can be found in their natural form in fruit and vegetables; you can find simple carbohydrates in their refined form in biscuits, sugar cakes and pastries, soft drinks, chocolate and others. On the other hand natural complex carbohydrates are found in fruits like bananas, rice, barley, nuts, potatoes and others. These complex carbohydrates can also be regarded as refined sugars, and be found in the white bread, biscuits, breakfast cereals, white flour, etc. All carbohydrates, no matter if they are simple or complex, are assimilated in the body and form glucose. The blood carries the glucose around the body and takes it to cells to be transformed into energy. When we ingest sugars and refined carbohydrates, they are rapidly converted into sugar and our body has to produce more insulin to get the sugar out of the blood and into the cells. One of the reasons acne appears is rapid rise in blood sugar. So the normal conclusion would be to stay away from sugars and refined carbohydrates, in general avoid all heavily processed foods.

White bread and acne

     According to some scientists, acne has nothing to do with greasy foods or chocolate. They suppose the cause of acne is a diet loaded with processed foods, like white bread. This theory states that enzymes from white bread break down too quickly, and our body responds by producing more oil in which grow bacteria that cause acne. According to this new theory, a whole succession of events exists between eating white bread and having acne. First the white bread is more rapidly digested, releasing an overflow of sugar into the blood. After that, the body responds by producing the insulin and also too many male hormones. These things make your skin’s pores to be filled with large quantities of sebum, in which acne bacteria lives. The sebum blocks your pores, encouraging bacteria to develop, thus resulting acne. So, we must avoid as much as we can white bread, even replace it with whole wheat bread because this one has more protein and nutrients and, at the same time, slows down the digestion.
     Specialists state another important thing – in many cases the skin cells of people with acne don’t have the ability to metabolize sugar correctly. Insulin is the hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps sugar to arrive in the body cells. In many cases people with acne have a messed up system for taking up blood sugar by the skin cells, due to insensitivity to insulin. Specialists believe this is as aspect that contributes to acne breakouts. But sugar is not the only problem. Refined carbohydrates, such as the ones found in white bread, are transformed quickly into sugar in the body. This requires an increased effort on the part of the pancreas, meaning also a bigger effort on the part of our system. This considerably reduces the immunity. Reduced immunity turns into a cause of acne, because acne involves infection. If you want to have a strong immunitary system to fight off acne infections, reduce or eliminate white bread from your diet.

Diet: causes or not acne?

     Although there are still a lot of controversial opinions, the general believe is that diet has a more trivial part in the aggravation of acne than was formerly believed. Doctors declare diet doesn't cause acne. Why is that? This may sound cynical, but some people believe this is because they are under enormous pressure from the part of pharmaceutical companies to prescribe antibiotics, topical creams, and other treatments. But the truth is nobody knows for sure if diet causes or not acne. You might have acne and also a fairly healthy diet, while your friends eat fried food, chocolate, pizza etc. and have clear skin. This is because there are quite a few reasons why some people get acne and others don't. If you are inclined to get acne, diet can surely aggravate it.
     Acne is believed to be hereditary. If acne exists in your genes, this means that some foods will influence your skin condition. Also, if you have a predisposition to acne as well as having a problem metabolizing carbohydrates, your diet surely influences acne. On the other hand, if acne is not present in your genes, in this case you won't have acne after eating these foods. Every person is unique and every person's skin is unique. This means that some people may have acne from only one type of food or from different types of food.

How to conduct scientific researches

     Another important fact that doctors do not take in consideration is the way they conduct the experiments. In their studies referring to the connection between diet and acne, they make a big mistake by using people who don't have acne or never did. This means they feed people that have clear skin with big quantities of doubtful foods like white bread, chocolate, etc and they expect these people to get acne. And if they don’t, the doctors incorrectly come to the conclusion that foods don't affect acne. Of course these people will not have acne even if they've been eating junk food all their life, because they don’t have it in their genes. Instead doctors should take people who have acne and then experiment with them by entirely cutting out of their diet specific foods and monitor the results. This would be a more accurate way of conducting an experiment, only because a lot of people that have acne also have some other problems, for example some have difficulties with metabolizing carbohydrates. And people with clear skin don’t have these problems.

     While doctors are still not certain whether or not diet cause acne, a healthy diet can help give your body the necessary tools to fight acne. Don't skip meals and try to eat fresh fruits instead of french fries. Also be careful about what carbohydrates you’re eating and there’s a pretty good chance you will defeat your acne.

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