# Is Olive Oil and Salt Necessary For the Body But Bad For Acne? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296 "2014-09-23T02:35:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/1 "2014-09-23T02:35:19Z")
I have bad acne. I have stopped putting vegetable oil and olive oil on my vegetables and don’t even put salt in my food such as broccoli and chicken breast and salmon because i read salt isn’t good for you. However, i read salt is a necessary nutrient. If thats the case, does one need salt if they dont eat outside food? I know lot of food have salt when they eat out but i dont eat out at all because i try to eat healthy. Eating healthy does seem to help my acne a bit but i havent put salt on my food for a very very long time. Is that good or bad? Could you have problems in your body if your body never takes any salt at all? Most ppl who eat processed food already take lot of salt so they dont need any additional salt. I dont eat processed food so im very curious about this. What about olive oil? Can you not put any oil or sauce on your food like vegetables and its perfectly fine? Also is there big difference between extra virgin olive oil and regular olive oil? The thing is i dont mind not having olive oil nor salt but worried this might cause problems for my body if i don’t have any of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/2 "2014-09-23T02:45:39Z")
You are misguided in your desire to fight your acne. Neither olive oil or salt contributes to acne in any significant way. Stop messing with necessary nutrients (olive oil itself isn’t necessary but fatty acids are) and practice good hygiene, buy some Stridex pads and visit a dermatologist if all else fails. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/3 "2014-09-23T02:53:55Z")
Salt (i.e., sodium) is a necessary element for all living things, but that being the case, it is naturally found in virtually everything we eat as food, processed or not. Unless you sweat a great deal, perhaps through doing hard physical work in a hot climate, you do not really need to add any extra (except that it tastes good, and its harmfulness is often much exaggerated). Much the same applies to oil. Yes, there should be some lipids (fats and oils) in your diet, but most foods contain some anyway, and, for the most part, you r body can make its own out of other nutrients… You may need small amounts of certain, so-called, essential fatty acids (found particularly, though not exclusively, in fish) in your diet, but there is certainly no nutritional advantage in putting olive oil on your salad. People just do it for the taste. ETA: And yes, **Ambivalid** is right that cutting the salt and olive oil from your diet will not impact your acne. ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/4 "2014-09-23T02:54:53Z")
Okay lets disregard the acne then. However theres are certain foods that i eat that definitely causes acne and those foods are the most pouplar ones that many ppl agree on. But if you dont ever put olive oil or add salt on your food, is that dangerous for the body? I believe olive oil isn’t necessary but if you dont have any salt… is that bad? I checked and the foods i eat such as salmon and chicken breast which i steam… they do have sodium but very little which is what i want. I read low sodium diet is good such as 200-300mg but what if you have no sodium at all whatsoever? Or is that basically impossible since im eating chicken breast steam or salmon steam and broccoli? I checked online and they have very little mg of sodium so that means thats fine? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/5 "2014-09-23T03:10:19Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > However theres are certain foods that i eat that definitely causes acne and those foods are the most pouplar ones that many ppl agree on. Except that’s not true. With a few general exceptions food doesn’t cause acne. [Do certain foods trigger acne breakouts? | HowStuffWorks](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/foods-trigger-acne-breakouts.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/6 "2014-09-23T03:14:44Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > I checked online and they have very little mg of sodium so that means thats fine? Humans need between 180mg and 500mg of sodium daily to operate properly. The CDC recommends that we have less than 1500mg. [http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssodium/](http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssodium/) What is your daily intake? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/7 "2014-09-23T03:20:08Z")
Eat plenty of vegetables, especially root veggies and leafy greens and you’ll get sodium just fine that way. If you’re eating salmon regularly you’re getting good fatty acids. If your diet is otherwise fairly fat-free, a tablespoon or two a day of a good fatty-acid oil throughout your day’s cooking is good for you. You seem to get a bit obsessed about your food a times. Relax, dude! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/8 "2014-09-23T14:23:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Except that’s not true. With a few general exceptions food doesn’t cause acne. [Do certain foods trigger acne breakouts? | HowStuffWorks](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/foods-trigger-acne-breakouts.htm) At age 40 I belatedly figured out that nuts, particularly almonds and peanuts, were causing my acne. It’s now 22 years later and if I mistakenly ingest nuts I still get zits. ---
**Author:** ![Pauly01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Pauly01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pauly01)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/9 "2014-09-23T15:20:48Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Except that’s not true. With a few general exceptions food doesn’t cause acne. [Do certain foods trigger acne breakouts? | HowStuffWorks](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/foods-trigger-acne-breakouts.htm) I assume you never have acne which is why you made this statement. Go on [acne.org](http://acne.org) and you see lot of ppl say how certain foods cause them acne. Besides the main ones, theres lot of other foods that cause acne. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/10 "2014-09-23T15:23:43Z")
The force is strong in this one. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/11 "2014-09-23T15:29:08Z")
When you say you don’t eat out and don’t eat processed foods, do you mean that you cook every bit of your food from truly base ingredients? No salad dressing, no pre-made bread or crackers, no marinades, no mustard or mayo or ketchup, no canned tomatoes or sauce, no premixed seasonings of any kind. No peanut butter, no olives, no tuna, trail mix or nuts? No deli meat or cheese? You have to work hard to avoid salt, maybe you do, but the overwhelming majority of folks, even those eating healthily, get plenty of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/12 "2014-09-23T15:30:25Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > Go on [acne.org](http://acne.org) and you see lot of ppl say how certain foods cause them acne. Besides the main ones, theres lot of other foods that cause acne. So present some data to back up those statements, not anecdotes. If you think there is a connection then there should be some studies that back up your hypothesis. Right now, all the data says that individual foods do not cause acne, especially not the commonly held beliefs like chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/13 "2014-09-23T15:37:13Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > I assume you never have acne which is why you made this statement. > > Go on [acne.org](http://acne.org) and you see lot of ppl say how certain foods cause them acne. Besides the main ones, theres lot of other foods that cause acne. Are you under the care of a dermatologist? If not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/14 "2014-09-23T15:41:08Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Except that’s not true. With a few general exceptions food doesn’t cause acne. [Do certain foods trigger acne breakouts? | HowStuffWorks](http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/foods-trigger-acne-breakouts.htm) Epidemiologic studies have found a link between consumption of certain foods and acne, but to my knowledge no RCTs exist: [http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S2212-2672(13)01681-X/abstract](http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S2212-2672(13)01681-X/abstract) > [@](#): > > Results > **Compared with participants with no or mild acne, participants with moderate to severe acne reported greater dietary GI (P\<0.001), added sugar (P\<0.001), total sugar (P\<0.001), number of milk servings per day (P\<0.001), saturated fat (P\<0.001), and trans-fatty acids (P\<0.001), and fewer servings of fish per day (P=0.002)**. Among all participants, 58.1% perceived diet to aggravate or influence acne. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/15 "2014-09-23T15:48:17Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > Go on [acne.org](http://acne.org) and you see lot of ppl say how certain foods cause them acne. Besides the main ones, theres lot of other foods that cause acne. Go on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) and you can see people saying God caused global warming to punish us for sin. Things people say are not a substitute for actual science. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/16 "2014-09-23T15:51:20Z")
[http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/1/107.full](http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/1/107.full) > [@](#): > > Results: **At 12 wk, mean (±SEM) total lesion counts had decreased more (P = 0.03) in the low-glycemic-load group (−23.5 ± 3.9) than in the control group (−12.0 ± 3.5).** The experimental diet also resulted in a greater reduction in weight (−2.9 ± 0.8 compared with 0.5 ± 0.3 kg; P \< 0.001) and body mass index (in kg/m2; −0.92 ± 0.25 compared with 0.01 ± 0.11; P = 0.001) and a greater improvement in insulin sensitivity (−0.22 ± 0.12 compared with 0.47 ± 0.31; P = 0.026) than did the control diet. > > Conclusion: **The improvement in acne and insulin sensitivity after a low-glycemic-load diet suggests that nutrition-related lifestyle factors may play a role in the pathogenesis of acne.** However, further studies are needed to isolate the independent effects of weight loss and dietary intervention and to further elucidate the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/17 "2014-09-23T16:09:01Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > But if you dont ever put olive oil or add salt on your food, is that dangerous for the body? I believe olive oil isn’t necessary but if you dont have any salt… is that bad? I checked and the foods i eat such as salmon and chicken breast which i steam… they do have sodium but very little which is what i want. I read low sodium diet is good such as 200-300mg but what if you have no sodium at all whatsoever? Or is that basically impossible since im eating chicken breast steam or salmon steam and broccoli? I checked online and they have very little mg of sodium so that means thats fine? You obviously have the tools you need to calculate whether you’re getting enough resources from your food. If you add up everything you eat, you’ll see where the amount of salt is. Olive oil, of course, is not a nutrient in an and of itself. It’s just part of your overall unsaturated fat intake. I am confident that anyone eating a healthy and varied diet is getting the major nutrients they need - especially nutrients as common as fat and salt. But if you’re not accepting our assurances, then the only alternative is to add it up for yourself and compare to the RDAs. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/18 "2014-09-23T16:21:19Z")
Interestingly, some populations apparently don’t have _any_ acne: > **[Acne vulgaris: a disease of Western civilization - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12472346/)** > > The astonishing difference in acne incidence rates between nonwesternized and fully modernized societies cannot be solely attributed to genetic differences among populations but likely results from differing environmental factors. Identification of... > [@](#): > > BACKGROUND: > In westernized societies, acne vulgaris is a nearly universal skin disease afflicting 79% to 95% of the adolescent population. In men and women older than 25 years, 40% to 54% have some degree of facial acne, and clinical facial acne persists into middle age in 12% of women and 3% of men. Epidemiological evidence suggests that acne incidence rates are considerably lower in nonwesternized societies. Herein we report the prevalence of acne in 2 nonwesternized populations: the Kitavan Islanders of Papua New Guinea and the Aché hunter-gatherers of Paraguay. Additionally, we analyze how elements in nonwesternized environments may influence the development of acne. > > OBSERVATIONS: > **Of 1200 Kitavan subjects examined (including 300 aged 15-25 years), no case of acne (grade 1 with multiple comedones or grades 2-4) was observed. Of 115 Aché subjects examined (including 15 aged 15-25 years) over 843 days, no case of active acne (grades 1-4) was observed.** > > CONCLUSIONS: > The astonishing difference in acne incidence rates between nonwesternized and fully modernized societies cannot be solely attributed to genetic differences among populations but likely results from differing environmental factors. Identification of these factors may be useful in the treatment of acne in Western populations. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/19 "2014-09-23T17:00:13Z")
I’ve found that the most effective acne treatment is 4% Benzoyl Peroxide cleanser. Cheap, easy. CVS makes a brand that’s lasted me three months. Use an additional BPZ lotion if you need to (Proactiv is, I think, 2.5% BZP, so you get the medication without the irritation. It bleaches the crap out of fabrics, though.) For anything that doesn’t respond to BZP, see a dermatologist. Something else may be needed, and it can be tough sometimes to figure out exactly what is out of whack. Turned out that my mid-40s acne responded to an anti-androgen (I’m female) – ladies’ hormone levels get wonky during perimenopause, hence a lot of us get acne. (I didn’t have acne as a teenager; I’m displeased with this turn of events.) Olive oil and salt do not cause or inflame acne. Many people confuse correlation and causation WRT food and acne. If I crave and eat chocolate at a point in my cycle, then get a pimple, it’s not due to the chocolate, it’s due to the point in my cycle when I crave chocolate. That’s when things go haywire. But anyway, it’s best to eat real food, as the more nutrients you get, the better. Still, the occasional chocolate bar or whatever won’t hurt you. See a dermatologist; it’ll save money on a lot of pointless OTC and hearsay treatments. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296/20 "2014-09-23T17:04:31Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Interestingly, some populations apparently don’t have _any_ acne: > > [Acne vulgaris: a disease of Western civilization - PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12472346) > **[Less is more when restraining calories boosts immunity](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100429111015.htm)** > > Scientists have found that volunteers who followed a low-calorie diet or a very low-calorie diet not only lost weight, but also significantly enhanced their immune response. The study may be the first to demonstrate the interaction between calorie... I’ve heard that being slightly calorie restricted boosts your immune system, I wonder if that could be what is going on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-olive-oil-and-salt-necessary-for-the-body-but-bad-for-acne/699296.md?page=2)