Does Caffeine Consumption and Drinking Coffee Cause Acne?

Caffeine dehydrates the skin!

Caffeine is a natural diuretic which can increase the amount of time you have to go to the bathroom and thus increases water loss through urination. This can lead to dehydration. Dehydrated skin can lead to congestion, blackheads and breakouts on your skin. Having dehydrated skin can trigger excess oil production, thus causing acne.

Caffeine increases your stress hormone (cortisol).

A lot of people drink coffee in the morning for that pick me up of energy, as caffeine stimulates your adrenal glands to produce adrenaline and more of your stress-hormone (cortisol). Cortisol increases your androgen hormones, which can increase the oil production on your skin leading to acne breakouts. Anything that has the potential to increase your stress hormone, like caffeine, has the potential to trigger your acne breakouts. If you are experiencing chronic stress, this can also lead to high levels of inflammation in the body.

Drinking a lot of caffeine later in the day can affect your sleep cycle.

Caffeine can cause insomnia, especially when you consume a lot of caffeine daily or consume caffeine closer to bedtime. Sleep is essential for your hormone health. Your body, brain and skin need at least 7 hours of sleep per night to recover and rejuvenate optimally.

Caffeine can affect your gut health and absorption of nutrients.

Caffeine is a stimulant, which can increase the motility of the gut. This means that food and the contents within your gut gets propelled faster than normal along the GI tract. This can lead to looser stool or diarrhea, both of which contribute to dehydration. Caffeine can affect nutrient absorption in the gut. Caffeine depletes important vitamins (B vitamins, vitamin C) and minerals (iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium, calcium), especially when coffee is consumed with food. When it comes to skin health, many nutrients are needed for skin cell repair, growth and immunity. Being deficient in certain nutrients can trigger acne.

Cutting back on caffeine

You can start by tracking how much caffeine you consume and decrease your coffee intake by one cup per day. You can challenge yourself to give your body caffeine breaks on the weekends. Or challenge yourself to eliminate caffeine for a full month to help nourish your adrenal glands and your nervous system. You may experience withdrawal symptoms within the first few days of eliminating caffeine. You will soon reap the benefits of eliminating caffeine after a month when you're sleeping better, having more energy than you thought was possible, feeling less anxious and having clearer skin. 

You can change your morning habits by having hot lemon water, a green juice or an herbal tea as coffee replacements. Instead of grabbing for your morning coffee, try working out in the morning. You can go for a walk or practice yoga to help increase your energy in the morning.

Decaf Coffee

Decaf coffee has the same antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. It’s best to drink “naturally decaffeinated” decaf coffee that doesn’t use synthetic chemicals in the extraction process. You can look for the organic seal on decaf coffee, as there are not always specific labeling rules disclosing how coffee becomes decaffeinated. You can also check that your decaf coffee was swiss processed. The swiss water decaf process uses an environmentally friendly and chemical free ways to remove caffeine from coffee.

Caffeine-Free Coffee Replacements

• Golden Milk Recipe: https://minimalistbaker.com/5-minute-vegan-golden-milk/
• Mushroom elixirs like Four Sigmatic (be aware that some mushroom blends are mixed with coffee, choose ones that is exclusively mushroom based). Mushroom latte recipe: https://minimalistbaker.com/5-minute-mushroom-latte-2-ways/
• Herbal teas
• Upgrade your water: add cucumber, berries, lemon or lime for added flavour
• Dandy blend herbal beverage

Is coffee recommended for acne?

A Lot of research can be conflicting on whether coffee drinking is good or bad. Coffee does have some beneficial properties like antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. And like mentioned above, caffeine has a lot of negative effects that can lead to acne breakouts. At the end of the day, it’s best to listen to your body for interpreting how coffee makes your body feel. If you are dealing with chronic gastrointestinal issues, adrenal exhaustion, chronic stress, leaky gut, dehydration, anxiety, thyroid issues, constant acne flare ups, cystic acne then avoiding coffee may be ideal choice until these conditions improve. You can use caffeine-free coffee replacements until you heal your gut, nervous system, adrenal glands and skin.

If you decide to continue drinking coffee, take your coffee black and eliminate artificial sweeteners, sugars and dairy from your coffee. White sugars and dairy have been shown to trigger acne breakouts. To prevent dehydrate have a 16oz glass of water first thing in the morning before drinking any coffee.