3 Best Tips to Keep Your Super Bowl Sunday Acne Skin-Friendly

You want to throw a rocking Super Bowl party--what you don't want to do is ruin the fun by chowing down on foods that may sabotage all your progress to get acne-free. Luckily, there are easy ways to turn your Super Bowl Sunday skin-friendly without ruining the fun.

1. Make it from scratch

You know that pizza you were planning to pick up from the local takeout? Oh, and that store-bought guacamole? Forget about them and make your own. We know you're busy, but think of how much better you'll feel knowing you're munching on the healthiest, most nutrient-dense pizza and guacamole possible.

Toss your own whole wheat pizza dough into a thin crust. To keep the sugar to a minimum, skip the tomato sauce and top with a variety of fresh, organic, veggies--tomatoes, peppers, spinach, squash, you name it--and a sprinkle of organic cheese. Bake and slice into small, finger-food-sized squares and share with your friends.

For the guac, simply mash 6 large avocados and combine with 3 chopped tomatoes, 3 chopped tomatillos, 1 small chopped red onion, 6 chopped cloves of garlic, some sea salt, fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice to taste. For extra heat, add in a chopped jalapen~o pepper. Serve with fresh-cut carrots, zucchini and celery. If you can't forgo the chips, just stick to whole grain chips and limit your intake.

2. Limit the bad stuff

So you made some healthy versions of your favorite Super Bowl snacks, but now you have another problem: your friends all brought snacks too, and though they're not skin-friendly, they are oh-so-tempting.

We're here to tell you, it's okay. It's okay to try that sugar-filled, football-shaped cookie your friend brought that you know wasn't made with "good" sugars. It's okay to have a little beer. Don't be so hard on yourself for wanting to veer a little from your skin-friendly diet.

However, don't get too far off course. Remember that all sugar--even "good" sugar and foods that easily and rapidly convert into sugar like potatoes, pasta, crackers and potato chips--can cause two major types of damage to your skin:

1. Inflammation, which may affect your organs, including your skin.
2. Glycation, which is a chemical reaction similar to the one that occurs when you fry meat. Collagen (a building block of the skin) deteriorates, and as a result your skin loses its elasticity and brightness. (To put it simply, your skin ages.)

3. Watch the snacking

It's easy and tempting to stuff your face all day long on Super Bowl Sunday, especially if that's what everyone around you is doing. But even if everything on the table is "healthy," you still need to be conscious of how much you're eating. Moderation is always key, and conscious snacking this Sunday will keep you from feeling down on yourself later. After all, your body is one unit, and overtaxing your digestive system could set you back on your New Year's resolution for clear skin.

If you need a little extra motivation to limit your intake, try this: Every time you feel tempted to lick the guacamole bowl dry or have a fourth helping of that skin-friendly dessert you whipped up, imagine your body feeling great and thanking you tomorrow because you didn't. Imagine your skin glowing 2 weeks from now because you made good choices today.

And if you're still worried that you'll need a little extra help to get through Super Bowl Sunday, feel free to increase your dose of AcnEase for a week to discourage inflammation.

With a Promise of Clear Skin,
Dr. A