Does Stress Cause Acne?
Stress plays a huge role in your health and well-being. When I look back at my life, I had the worst skin breakouts of my whole life when I had the most stress in my life. I was super stressed when I lived in Vancouver, Canada. I went to college every day and also worked three jobs to be able to pay for my living expenses.
Vancouver is a beautiful place to live, but really expensive - especially for a foreign student like me. I was super stressed as I had to work a lot, didn’t have any time to hardly sleep, exercise or eat healthy. My friends and I ate a lot of carbs and fast food as it was quick and easy and also very cheap. We also worked at McDonald’s. Guess where we got our free lunches and dinners? And my skin clearly showed all the stress with more redness, breakouts and inflammation.
Does stress really contribute to acne and skin issues? Yes, and it happens through different mechanisms and pathways in your body.
Acne, Stress and Inflammation
Research studies show that psychological stress triggers the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-gamma, IL-6 and TNF-alpha). What are pro-inflammatory cytokines? In simple words, they are the type of cells that are secreted from immune cells and other cells that increase inflammation in the body. More stress contributes to increased sebum production and more breakouts. One study found that stressful life events were strongly associated with the severity of acne breakouts. Stress also increases substance P which causes higher lipogenesis in sebocytes and also increases inflammation. Increased inflammation can mean increased acne.
Stress and Oxidative Stress
Stress contributes to higher levels of cortisol. High cortisol levels lead to oxidative stress. What is oxidative stress? Oxidative stress means an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in your body which causes increased inflammation and depletion of antioxidants. This can further lead to DNA damage. Again, increased inflammation can mean increased acne.
What I often see in clinical nutrition is that clients that are stressed out and went through major stressful events are often deficient in many nutrients, especially glutathione (master antioxidant), vitamin C, magnesium, vitamin D, zinc and N-acetyl cysteine) and many others. It’s super important for your optimal health to have healthy levels of these nutrients as they not only help to provide what your skin needs from the inside out, but they also protect your body from harmful toxins, bacteria and help prevent serious health issues.
Stress and Blood Sugar Imbalance
Increased stress can lead to insulin resistance, weight gain and blood sugar imbalances. For example, many clients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) have blood sugar imbalances. They are more likely to struggle with acne. Some large randomized controlled trials have also found a strong connection with increased acne in people who ate more sugar and high-glycemic foods (flour, bread, cereal, pasta, soda).
It’s another link that we can’t ignore. It does matter what you eat and what lifestyle you lead. Everything is connected in our body.
Stress and Gut Microbiome
There have been a lot of research recently in the importance of healthy gut microbiome and its connection to skin health. If you have a lot of good bacteria (good guys in your gut), they help support your immune system and make sure that the bad guys don’t take over in your gut.
Research studies have also found that stress, especially depression and anxiety, cause changes in the gut microbiota and leads to increased inflammation and intestinal permeability (leaky gut) which can contribute to skin inflammation. There is also a strong gut-brain-skin axis that connects gut microbes, diet, oral probiotics and acne severity. It means that physiological stress plays a huge role in the health of your gut. More research studies are needed to confirm the exact mechanism behind gut-brain-skin connection, but it looks very promising.
How to apply this research to your everyday life? All this points out to the fact that if you can decrease stress and support your body with probiotic-rich foods and probiotic supplements to help restore healthy gut bacteria, you’ll see improvements in the health of your skin. More studies are still needed to determine if the topical application of probiotics are helpful for reducing acne. But it doesn’t hurt to try.
I truly believe in finding the root issue of your skin breakouts. I have seen that many of my clients often have underlying gut imbalances, candida, leaky gut or yeast overgrowth. If you address these issues, you won’t just improve your skin, but also improve your digestion and overall health.
I went through a very stressful time in my life, and found later that I had candida overgrowth and low levels of healthy gut bacteria.
Now, I want to share some of my favorite ways to lower stress. Give them a try:
· Physical Movement
Physical movements change your emotions! I am sure I don’t need to tell you all the health benefits of exercise. You already know it. It is the best tool to lower stress and anxiety. I always say that you should find a workout or movement that you enjoy. Then, you’ll stick with it long term. If you hate it, you won’t do it long term. I love going to the gym a few times per week to do some cardio and to lift weights. I also love yoga. It helps me to relax and be more mindful and present. On the weekends, my family loves to swim on the beach or play tennis. If the weather is bad and I don’t feel like leaving home, my hubby and I would do YouTube workouts from Rebecca Louise. Check her out. She has some amazing videos. If you travel a lot, you can do her workout videos in your hotel room. No equipment needed.
· Deep Breathing Exercises & Meditations
I started doing deep breathing exercises and meditations about a year and a half ago when I was finishing my graduate degree. I was really tired, stressed and almost burnt out. I would meditate for 10-15 minutes every day after work before I hit the books. It was a life saver! Many research studies show that meditations can help: lower stress, lower blood pressure, increase your body’s resilience to stress and improve your mood and well-being. It can also help you stay more present and calm during stressful times in your life, lower inflammation and pain and so much more. My favorite app for meditations is Insight Timer. It’s free and it has more than 1,000 different meditations. Check it out. I also tried and liked Calm and Headspace.
· Gratitude Journal
References:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5722010/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30406964