It’s not the chocolate or the greasy fries - it’s the salt on those fries.Yes, it is salty foods and food high in iodides that are the culprit in making acne worse. Below is a list of foods typically high in iodides. We tell people to not go crazy around eliminating these foods, just be aware of eating too much of them.

For example, we had a client who was almost clear. She came into our clinic all broken out and we couldn’t imagine what was going on - I asked her if she was eating a lot of seafood or seaweed. She said, “why yes, I’m sprinkling kelp on my food every day.” As you can see by the chart, kelp has the most iodide of any food. We got her off the kelp and her skin cleared again.  So, as you can see, it would be a good idea to get uniodized salt to use at home, cut down on going for sushi, and cut WAY down on milk and cheese.

Also, almost all vitamins  contain iodides in the form of iodides, iodine, potassium iodide, or kelp.   Women’s Ultra Mega from GNC and Dermavites (on the internet) are two safe choices.

It is interesting to note that Iodide is showing up in unexpected foods, like bread (wheat products,) meat, and dairy products. Soy milk and breads often contain carageenan, a seaweed-based additive. Farmers feed their livestock nutrients with Iodine in them and it is passed on to you, the consumer.

Iodide Contents in Food (parts per million of iodide)

Salt
Iodized Salt (1/4 tsp) - 100
Seasoned Salt - 40
Sun Evaporated Salt - 30
Uniodized Salt - 19

Meat/Poultry
Beef/Liver - 325
Turkey - 132

Seafood
Kelp - 1020
Cod (3 oz) - 87
Squid - 39
Crab - 33

Vegetables
Asparagus - 169
Broccoli - 90

Dairy
Cheddar Cheese Spread - 27
Milk - 11
Butter - 26
Mozzarella Cheese - 13

Miscellaneous
Tortilla Chips w/ salt - 80
Potato Chips w/ salt - 40