I’ve pretty much beaten the fact that drinking a lot of caffeine, or a lot of other nervous system stimulating beverages like coffee and caffeinated tea, may make certain people break out more than others. I personally break out pretty quickly when my body is on caffeine overload, or any other type of energy and nerve system stimulant.

This is usually because the person’s hormones are particularly susceptible to being thrown off balance by these types of stimulants, and therefore they produce more sebum when their nervous system is overstimulated. Sometimes I may see a lag time of a day or two on a caffeine binge and a breakout, but it almost assuredly always happens when I drink a lot of it, or when I’m under large amounts of stress or anxiety.

So, when we talk about soda, particularly caffeinated sodas, like the ever so popular and seemingly addictive diet colas that are out there, there are a lot of ingredients besides the caffeine itself, that really aren’t skin friendly.

And for those that have acne prone skin, we need all the dietary help we can get when it comes to getting the right hormone balancing foods and nutrients in our bodies so we can “fight acne from the inside out” as has become such a popular marketing phrase for so many of the popular acne fighting supplements today.

Phosphoric acid is a common ingredient in soda, and although it is no so much caloric in and of itself, it breaks down into sugars in your body. Sugar is another skin sin, and you should strive to minimize it in your diet, if not totally eliminate it (I know, this is impossible, I love desserts and especially chocolate and that’s just never gonna happen for me, but I do try to minimize it).

Sugar basically can throw off your blood sugar levels, which in turn aids in breaking your face out by turning on the hormones that cause acne or throwing them out of balance. It also is bad for your collagen, as it makes your collagen cells rigid, which is why we look more aged. Your collagen cells should be soft, and pliable, and excess sugar in the diet makes them rigid.

Soda is also loaded with artificial flavors, chemicals and a host of other body and cell toxins that boil down to nothing but trouble for your skin. If you think drinking diet is any better, then you’re wrong because artificial sweeteners have their own host of bad side effects as well. The bottom line is that you should try to steer clear of any type of carbonated soda and try to drink non carbonated, healthy drinks in it’s place for your skin.