Foods that cause rosacea breakouts or flushing:

Foods are a big factor behind rosacea, or flushing and blushing that can lead to rosacea breakouts. “Rosacea-triggering foods contain precursors to histamine and can cause you to flush and blush, ultimately leading to rosacea breakouts,”

If you’re wondering what histamine is, it’s a chemical that’s stored within our body and found in certain foods that can cause — you guessed it — skin flushing.  examples of foods that contain more histamine are bananas, avocados, and eggplant so you’ll want to avoid them altogether or eat them infrequently in small doses.

Foods that cause cystic acne:

It’s important to note that cystic acne can be triggered by different types of foods for different people. Because of this, it can be hard to nail down exactly which foods are at the root of your problem. If you want more targeted help and recommendations you should make an appointment with a dermatologist.

That said, “High carb foods and dairy can exacerbate cystic acne,” . “Also, some people are [specifically] sensitive to chocolate, cheese, or red wine.”

avoid processed foods, sugar, and excessive amounts of alcohol whenever you can. If you’re struggling with immediately eliminating all of these, she recommends keeping a food journal and eliminating one of the foods on this list for weeks at a time in order to determine if it’s the cause.

What to eat instead:

It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables are good for your skin, but they can really help your skin’s overall appearance, both in terms of color and texture. There are nice benefit to eating carrots, or foods that contain beta carotene like sweet potatoes, winter squash, cantaloupe, and even kale and spinach. “Beta carotene is what I call ‘over-the-counter accutane’ as it mimics the effects of accutane without the toxicity,”  In other words, it’s super skin-clearing and can lead to fewer breakouts and blemishes.

For other skin-clearing solutions, Alexiades encourages people to “look for omega oils from flaxseed or fish to build the skin barrier, which keeps the skin plush and clear.” Alexiades also mentions vitamin B as being helpful for keeping skin blemish-free — which you can purchase over the counter.

If anti-aging is your concern — . “Resveratrol is a master anti-aging compound found in red grapes — this is an excellent fruit to eat when in season,” . If you’re not a huge red grape fan, try popping them in the freezer — it makes them taste almost like candy! There are other options as well: “Teas have excellent antioxidants, especially green tea and can be drunk year-round,” . “Now that it is summer, watermelon [may help] repair skin and fight the effects of sun damage to boost anti-aging benefits.”