Do Peanuts Cause Acne Breakouts?

First of all let me put out this disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, dermatologist, scientist or any type of researcher. I am simply a person who suffers with adult acne. And through a totally unscientific, unplanned experiment I came to the conclusion that peanuts can cause acne.

All my life I have heard medical professionals dispute the fact that certain foods can trigger acne. I never knew if I should believe these professionals, or go with my gut feeling that certain foods were triggering my acne.

When I turned forty, I was determined to stop this cycle of acne. I had tried every acne treatment and beauty product with minimal success. I was tired of the psychological damage my acne was having on my life. So I went to see an esthetician and started monthly chemical peels.

These peels are expensive, and it took a few months to see improvements, but for the first time since childhood my pimples were under control.

But then my husband came home with a bag of peanuts. I hadn’t had peanuts in the shell for a long time. They looked absolutely irresistible!

For about a week I snacked on these peanuts. I had them in-between meals as a quick snack, and I also sat down with a bowl full of peanuts each night as I watched TV. After all, peanuts are a healthy snack, right?

The following week my face started to feel differently. When I looked in the mirror I could see the oil starting to accumulate on my nose. Then the dreaded pimples started to emerge. By the end of the week I was suffering from a full-blown acne attack.

I had forgotten what it was like to have my face hurt from acne. I had forgotten how humiliating it was to be seen in public when acne had taken over my face. I knew people were wondering, “What happened to her face?”

It was then that it dawned on me. It had to be the peanuts. All of my acne symptoms started after eating peanuts on a daily basis.

So I immediately quit eating the peanuts. I was no longer tempted to grab a few peanuts in-between meals or have them as an after-dinner snack.

I saw the improvement in my skin almost immediately. The inflammation in my face was down and my face began to heal. It took about a week for the acne to subside, and another week for the pimples to disappear. Unfortunately it left a few acne scars which will take a while to fade.

Since then my face is back to being under control. I continue to get monthly chemical peels and I expect I will still have some hormonal break outs each month. But nothing compared to that week when peanuts triggered one of my worst acne breakouts ever.

Is it possible that I have a peanut allergy? Yes it is. But maybe you do too. A Naturopathic Doctor told me that many people are allergic to peanuts- not because of the actual peanut – but because peanuts grow underground and get moldy. It may be the mold that people are reacting to. And peanuts are found in many products including peanut butter and anything cooked in peanut oil.

So while my experience does not qualify as a scientific experiment, it’s good enough for me to realize I need to stay away from peanuts. And at this point in my life I’m willing to give up anything that would cause that awful acne cycle to start up again.