Published on: 11/2/2015IST

Jyoti Negi Last updated on: 11/2/2015, Permalink

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Is Vitamin D Deficiency Causing Acne Problems?

Vitamin D increases the absorption of calcium from the gut and due to the extreme acidity of our diets in this nation, we’ve already got too little calcium in our bones but too much in the rest of our tissues — therefore the body regulates the production of Vitamin D to compensate.

Vitamin D, Your Blood Sugar, and Acne

There’s a huge connection between blood sugar regulation and acne. Specifically, insulin resistance, the precursor to diabetes, means you have too much insulin circulating in your bloodstream. Insulin stimulates overproduction of the sebaceous glands in the skin, which produce sebum. Too much sebum clogs pores, leading to acne.

As it turns out, Vitamin D is very important in maintaining insulin sensitivity. In fact, Vitamin D might be more closely linked to diabetes than is obesity. That’s pretty staggering.

Vitamin D, Inflammation, and Acne

As anybody who’s gotten a big zit before an important night knows, acne, especially cystic acne, means inflammation (that’s what makes zits so red and angry-looking).

Vitamin D is anti-inflammatory for a number of conditions, not the least of which is the skin. A solid reason to make sure you’re getting enough of it. And by the way, this isn’t just for acne. The same goes for psoriasis and eczema, too, or any inflammatory skin condition.

Vitamin D, Your Diet, and Acne

Yes, you should eat foods that are high in Vitamin D (including fatty fish, cod liver oil, and shiitake mushrooms), and get out in the sun for at least 5-15 minutes per day without sunscreen. But in my experience, this alone won’t do it.

What you really need to do for both – to improve your acne and to increase your Vitamin D, is eat a whole foods based diet, and cut out all the acidifying processed food, such as pickled beets, cocktail onions, cherry peppers, red bell peppers treated in an acid brine, fermented green olives subjected to processes (such as lye treatment or washing with low-acid foods).