Acne-Safe Sugar Alternatives

Refined sugar is in many processed foods, as well as pantry staples. It's close to impossible to eliminate refined sugar all together, but there are substitutes we can make to avoid it as much as possible.

Refined sugar absorbs very quickly into the bloodstream and when it does this, our blood sugar levels increase quickly too. When this happens, the body responds by rapidly spiking your insulin level in order to herd the blood sugars out of the bloodstream and into the cells.

Unfortunately high levels of insulin are a nightmare for acne prone skin. Why? Insulin makes androgen hormones and growth hormones, which boost sebum (oil) production...resulting in acne.

Eliminate (or minimize):

• White Sugar
• Brown Sugar 
• Powdered Sugar
• Agave Nectar
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Pancake Syrup

Replace Refined Sugar With: 

• Stevia (Sweet Leaf Drops is my personal favorite!)
• Raw Honey (local is best!)
• Coconut Sugar
• Monk Fruit
• Dates
• Maple Syrup

Not only is sugar a big trigger for acne, an overabundance of sugar causes an inflammatory response in the skin called Advanced Glycation End (or AGE, for short). This inflammation begins when excess sugar molecules attach to the protein in our skin.

This attacks our collagen & elastin fibers (the tissue that keeps our skin young & firm) and begins to accelerate the aging process.

Wrinkles are just the start. You can also expect a loss of radiance and sagging skin. These signs begin to show up around the age of 30 or 35.