Oily Skin Causes: Foods That Make Your Skin Oily

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Dewy skin is in, but a healthy glow is not the same as an oily complexion. While it’s totally normal to have oily skin, excess sebum can contribute to more than just unwanted shine. Skin congestion, breakouts, and blemishes can all be worsened by extra oil, but chances are they're all stemming from the same source. Excess oil production, like many skincare woes, starts from within. Your skin is a direct reflection of your diet and certain foods can trigger oil production and lead to more sebum being produced, causing breakouts.

You might have tried every acne-busting, salicylic-acid-packed serum out there, but if you’re eating foods that make your skin oily, it will be hard to get a handle on things with skincare alone. To get to the core of it all—pun intended—we spoke to a nutritionist and dermatologist to find out once and for all which foods cause oily skin.

Meet the Experts

Patricia Boland is a dermatologist and Vice President of Research and Development at Colorescience UK. She has nearly two decades of experience in the beauty and cosmetic industry.
Jenna Hope is a registered nutrition consultant and founder of Jenna Hope Nutrition Consultancy. Her clients include individuals and leading brands, such as ASOS, Google, and Soho House.

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Salt

We know, we know: it's not how we wanted to start this list, either. But salt is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to affecting our skin's appearance. “Consuming excess salt can cause dehydration, water retention, swelling, and eye bags,” says Boland. “It can also lead to an increase in oil levels as the skin tries to combat the dehydration caused by salt.”

What to Eat Instead: Resist giving your dishes a healthy sprinkling from the salt shaker, and see if any of your staples like beans and soups come in a low-sodium variety.

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Red Meat

Red meat may also be contributing to extra shine on your skin. "Red meat, such as sausages, beef, lamb, and bacon, can be high in saturated fats, which can increase inflammation in the skin," says Boland. "This excess inflammation can cause excess oil to be produced."

What to Eat Instead: Switching some of your red meat intake to poultry or fish will help reduce the amount of fat you ingest, suggests Hope.

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Meat Substitutes

Impossible and Beyond burgers are delicious but too good to be true: Many meat substitutes use soy by-products that are highly processed, which may also lead to excess sebum production. Several also contain high levels of saturated fat.

What to Eat Instead: Try a bean-based patty substitute the next time you've got a craving for a burger.

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Sugar

It's easy to think that if salt is a no-go, surely its opposite, sugar, will be safe territory. No such luck, actually. "Research has shown foods high in sugar increase the production of IGF-1, a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, but also can cause an overproduction of sebum, aka excess oil," says Hope.

What to Eat Instead: Try switching your sugary afternoon snack for an apple or oatcakes and guacamole.

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Refined Carbohydrates

Foods high in refined carbohydrates (white bread, white pasta, and white rice), can also increase the production of IGF-1, according to Hope. That makes spaghetti and meatballs a double whammy in terms of fueling your skin's unwanted oil output.

What to Eat Instead: This switch is easy: Reach for whole wheat, brown, or otherwise less-processed grains (bonus: you also might see belly fat disappear).

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Dairy Products

A hard truth for cheese-lovers everywhere: Dairy products, in general, may cause breakouts. "Because high-quality dairy products are associated with other health benefits, I'd always suggest limiting refined carbohydrates before dairy," suggests Hope. Try eliminating one at a time to make sure you can correctly attribute any differences in your skin to your diet changes.

What to Eat Instead: Some research suggests that skim milk may be more likely to cause acne, thanks to that pesky IGF-1, so whole milk options are actually a better bet if your pizza is the only thing you want to be blotting with a napkin.

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Alcohol

The natural diuretic properties of alcohol might mean dehydration for your skin. As we now know, dried-out skin can kick oil production into overdrive.

What to Eat Instead: Opt for drinks with non-alcoholic ingredients and make sure to hydrate before and after imbibing.

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Fruit Juices and Dried Fruit

Beware of mocktails as a healthier alternative to alcoholic concoctions. While fruit juices may be healthier than taking a series of shots, they (along with dried fruits) contain concentrated levels of the natural sugars found in whole fruits. As we mentioned earlier, high sugar intake can wreak havoc on the skin by causing inflammation and increased oil production.

What to eat instead: Whole fruits provide all that natural sweetness in healthier concentrations, add a handful of nuts for a dose of protein and skin-loving fats. For drinks, you can't go wrong with water. But if you're looking for a bit of pizzazz, squeeze some fresh citrus juice into your glass or opt for sparkling water instead.

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Peanut Butter

The delicious spreadable snack contains a large amount of fat—specifically omega-6 fatty acids, which are proven to cause inflammation and breakouts in the skin. RIP, secret spoonfuls right out of the jar in the middle of the night.

What to Eat Instead: Opt for tree nuts or seeds with omega-3 fatty acids, which may actually calm skin's inflammation.

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Fried Food

It seems obvious, but we're here to confirm your fears: state fairs' fantastic varieties of fried food are basically one big booby trap for your skin. Saturated and trans fats are to blame here, again potentially causing inflammation that your skin may race to correct with oil production.

What to Eat Instead: Avocado or olive oils make better frying options if you're going to indulge or invest in an air-fryer for all the crunch with hardly any of the harm.

Byrdie Tip

Zinc plays a key role in maintaining the function of the sebaceous cells, which are responsible for producing oils to nourish the skin, says Hope. Seafood, yogurt, and oatmeal are a few foods with naturally high levels of zinc, or look into a dietary supplement to make sure you get plenty of it.

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Coffee

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that extra shot of caffeine may not be doing your skin any favors. That afternoon pick-me-up or morning jolt you're after also comes with a surge in the stress hormone, cortisol. And that goes double if you're adding sugar to the mix. Cortisol spikes not only put stress on the nervous system but also trigger the body to produce oil.

What to Eat Instead: Green tea can provide enough caffeine (but far less than a cup of coffee) to feed your energy levels without sending stress levels into overdrive. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that may help with general skin appearance and mitigate sebum production.

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Soft Drinks

There's nothing quite like the first few bubbly sips of a soda. But, the sugar-laden beverages are bad news for IGF-1, a peptide hormone that can create excess oil if it is overstimulated, as Hope explains.

What to Eat Instead: Diet sodas exist for just this reason—harm-mitigation. Or, try sparkling water if it's just the fizz that you're after.

Article Sources

Byrdie takes every opportunity to use high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.

Danby FW. Acne: Diet and acnegenesis. Indian Dermatol Online J. 2011;2(1):2-5. doi:10.4103/2229-5178.79851
Ozdarska K, Osucha K, Savitskyi S, Malejczyk J, Galus R. Rola diety w patogenezie trądzika pospolitego [Diet in pathogenesis of acne vulgaris]. Pol Merkur Lekarski. 2017;43(256):186-189.
Musial, C., Kuban-Jankowska, A., & Gorska-Ponikowska, M. (2020). Beneficial properties of green tea catechins. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(5), 1744.

Whoa—These Foods Could Be Causing Your Oily Skin