Some people are blessed with flawless skin, smooth as a baby’s bum. I am most certainly not one of those people. I have struggled with keeping my acne under control for as long as I can remember. And I've tried everything possible to see if my skin will change.
The biggest improvement happened when I went vegan, which completely cleared my skin in a weird fluke before it got worse.
Background
Up until a few weeks ago, I drank a minimum of three cups of coffee everyday, but I recently read an article that said the caffeine in coffee could be a trigger for people with hormonal acne. I figured I might as well add quitting coffee to the list of attempted remedies.
Coffee has a number of health benefits. My typical order is plain black coffee with a dash of almond milk, because I know that the extra milk and added sugar can cause more acne, especially if your hormones are out of whack (like mine).
Once I found out that the usual cup (or cups) of coffee can actually be triggering to acne, it didn't seem unreasonable to put to the test.
What's In Coffee That Causes Acne?
Coffee is acidic and contains high levels of caffeine. The high dosage of acidic caffeine in a regular cup of coffee triggers a stress response in the body, essentially putting the adrenal glands into overdrive, pumping out excessive amounts of stress hormones.
The high amount of stress hormones coursing through your body can also mess up normal blood sugar levels by increasing the amount of insulin in the body. The excess insulin causes more oil to be produced, more oil equals more clogged up pores, which means more acne.
The high level of insulin produced from drinking coffee cause inflammation in the body, making preexisting acne even more red and swollen. I've always noticed this, but I never really considered the idea that it was making my acne worse. The combination of all of these factors could be a recipe for disaster for someone with hormonal acne like myself.
Replacing Coffee With Tea
I was not looking forward to this. I am not someone who drinks tea, but I was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of my skin. The first morning I woke up and craved my usual vanilla coffee with almond milk, but alas, I disappointedly reached for a pack of green tea instead.
I bought about six different flavors of tea (a little excessive, I know) but it was necessary to cope with my caffeine withdrawal. Thankfully, I didn't have as many headaches as I was expecting, but I was still struggling with this sudden change.
I changed my usual Starbucks order to an almond milk matcha latte, which was a huge adjustment at first.
The Results
My skin still isn't flawless, but quitting coffee definitely helped clear it. My face is still covered with scars, but I've noticed that it is more smooth than it was when I was drinking coffee. It's also appears less red and irritated. I noticed that my pores also look less congested than before, and any breakouts healed much faster.
I now drink around three cups of tea everyday and I stick to ordering a matcha latte, instead of my usual. My skin is still far from perfect, but after seeing the improvement since quitting coffee, I don't plan on drinking it any time soon.