Breakout Busting Smoothie

For anyone struggling with acne, it is impossible to truly heal your skin and banish your breakouts without first examining and addressing your diet.

Nutrition plays such an important part in correcting the imbalances that cause acne to arise in the first place, with key nutrients assisting your hormones to regulate, balance sebum production, promote healthy cell turnover, soothe the digestive tract and assist with skin healing and regeneration.

This smoothie recipe truly is a fantastic example of food as medicine, and is literally bursting with skin supporting foods. It’s also filling, nourishing and delicious too!

The active ingredients within the smoothie have all been selected for particular medicinal purposes:

Spinach - is rich in Vitamin A needed for a healthy gut, as well as healthy cell turnover on the skin. This prevents the lingering of dead skin cells that clog hair follicles, leading to pimple formation. As a bonus, spinach is also rich in chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants which is cleansing, alkalizing and anti-inflammatory.

Avocado - rich in monounsaturated fats, including a precursor to Omega 3 (ALA), avocado is fantastic for combatting inflammation in the body, and providing healthy fats needed for a smooth, supple and moisturised complexion. In addition, avocado also contains over 20 other vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin K, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, folate, copper, phosphorus and fiber.

Berries - contain a high level of antioxidants, which are used by acne prone skin to combat the damage and stress caused by breakouts, inflammation and potential scarring. Antioxidants also combat the environmental stressors our skin is exposed to, such as pollution, excessive sunlight, chemicals and synthetic makeup or skincare, preventing the premature aging of skin.

Tahini - is one of the richest sources of plant-based zinc available to us. This vital mineral is one of the primary nutrients acne prone skin is crying out for! Zinc not only re-balances the hormones that can cause acne in the first place (androgens), but also works as an antioxidant, wound healer, immune booster and skin regenerator. A true miracle worker for your complexion.

There are also several foods purposefully excluded from this smoothie, as they can aggravate or trigger breakouts:

Dairy - is especially important for acne-prone individuals to avoid, as it can trigger inflammation in the body, leading to the formation of pimples/comedones. Dairy can also aggravate and inflame the gut lining, which is highly linked with skin health.

Sweeteners - as they cause blood sugar peaks and drops. Due to it’s effect on androgen production, insulin also plays a key role in the formation of acne. Therefore, it is best with acne to completely eliminate white/processed sugar, and avoid excessive intake of whole food sweeteners such as maple syrup, rice malt syrup and agave. Eating several pieces of fruit per day is fine.