Managing clear skin can feel like an uphill battle. Between the stress of meeting deadlines, long work hours, and perhaps not-so-ideal food choices on hectic days, it’s no surprise that many women in their 20s and 30s struggle with acne. But what if I told you that clear skin doesn’t start with the latest skincare trend? Clear skin actually starts from within.

Your body has powerful detoxification systems in place that can help eliminate toxins and waste products. Often times those systems can get overwhelmed and may not be functioning properly, contributing towards inflammation and acne. By nourishing your body with the right detoxifying foods, you can support these systems and reveal glowing, clear skin.

As a naturopathic doctor who specializes in acne, I’ve seen firsthand how making small changes to the diet can result in big improvements in skin clarity. Let’s dive into the 7 best detox foods you can easily incorporate into your routine to help clear your skin naturally, no complicated diets or detoxes required!

Disclaimer: the information provided in this blog post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat. Make sure you contact your doctor if you think you have a medical problem.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links.

How Detoxification Impacts Skin Health

Before we talk about specific foods, it’s important to understand the link between detoxification and skin health.

The Body’s Detox Pathways

Your body detoxifies naturally every day through various organs, including the liver, kidneys, gut, lungs, lymphatic system, and skin. The liver plays a crucial role in filtering toxins, the lymphatic system helps to move waste around, and the kidneys, gut, lungs, and skin act as elimination organs to help push out toxins. Your poop, urine, breath, and sweat all contain toxins processed by your liver.

When these detox pathways become overloaded or inefficient, toxins can build up and contribute to inflammation, which then manifests as acne.

The Role of Diet in Detoxification

The foods you eat have a direct impact on your body’s detox systems. Certain nutrient-rich foods support liver detoxification, reduce inflammation, and help eliminate acne-causing toxins. Other foods can clog up the detoxification system by lacking essential nutrients needed to properly detox. Let’s explore the best foods that will help cleanse your body from within for clear and healthier skin.

Detox Food #1: Leafy Greens

Leafy greens like kale, spinach, and arugula are packed with nutrients that support your body’s detoxification pathways.

Why Leafy Greens are Essential

Leafy greens are high in chlorophyll, a powerful plant pigment that helps cleanse your liver by binding to toxins and supporting their elimination. They’re also rich in antioxidants, vitamins A and C, which help repair skin cells and reduce inflammation.

Easy Ways to Incorporate Leafy Greens

If you’re struggling to get a ton of leafy greens in your diet, one of my favorite ways to incorporate more is through smoothies. Smoothies are a great way to get more variety in your diet, while masking some of the taste of those leafy greens in a smoothie.

You can also incorporate more leafy greens through salads or in scrambled eggs to help get your daily dose of leafy greens.

Detox Food #2: Cruciferous Vegetables

Cruciferous Vegetables:

Broccoli
Kale
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Bok choy
Arugula
Turnip
Radish
Collard greens
Mustard
Watercress

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are some of the best foods for detoxing and balancing hormones.

Hormonal Balance Support

Cruciferous vegetables contain compounds like indole-3-carbinol (I3C), which support estrogen metabolism. This is especially important because imbalanced estrogen levels can trigger hormonal acne, especially around your jawline and chin.

Sulforaphane’s Benefits

Sulforaphane, another powerful compound found in cruciferous veggies, fights oxidative stress and reduces inflammation—both of which are key contributors to acne.

Meal Prep Tips

Roasting cruciferous vegetables in bulk is a great way to make sure you always have a detox-friendly side dish on hand. You can add them to salads, grain bowls, or enjoy them as a snack.

I3C is inactive until mechanically broken down when raw (crushing, chewing, or cutting). Sulforaphane is the same way, but with a caveat. In order to make sure sulforaphane is active when you want to cook your cruciferous vegetables, cut them ahead of time (at least 30 minutes before). And if you don’t have the time to wait, I know I don’t always have that time, you can sprinkle mustard seed on your cruciferous vegetable of choice to help activate sulforaphane.

Detox Food #3: Turmeric

Turmeric or Curcuma longa is a golden spice that has been used for centuries in both culinary and medicinal applications. It’s an herb I recommend a lot to patients for it’s anti-inflammatory benefits, antioxidant abilities, and liver supporting benefits.

Anti-Inflammatory Powerhouse

Turmeric’s active compound, curcumin, is one of the most potent anti-inflammatory agents found in nature. Inflammation is a major driver of acne, so reducing that inflammation can help prevent breakouts.

Curcumin and Detoxification

Curcumin also enhances liver function, allowing your body to process and eliminate toxins more efficiently. Turmeric is also a hepatoprotector, meaning it protects the liver from damage, and helps to restore proper functioning to the liver.

Along with protecting the liver, turmeric enhances the production and flow of bile, which is a vital part of detoxification. Bile helps to eliminate toxins like heavy metals and estrogen your body no longer has use for. Healthy bile flow is vital to healthy hormones and skin.

With less toxin build-up, your skin is less likely to experience inflammatory acne.

Quick and Easy Uses

Adding a bit of turmeric to your morning smoothie or enjoying a soothing cup of golden milk in the evening are simple ways to incorporate this powerful spice into your routine. If you’re strapped for time, turmeric supplements can offer similar benefits or try out Further Foods Golden Milk Powder.

Detox Food #4: Berries

Berries like blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are not only delicious, they’re packed with antioxidants that help to support your skin.

Antioxidant Boost

Berries are rich in antioxidants like anthocyanins and flavonoids, which protect your skin cells from free radical damage. Free radicals can be produced normally by your cells during metabolism, but these can also come from air pollutants, cigarette smoke, pesticides, medications, drugs. If not dealt with, these free radicals can damage the body’s DNA. Antioxidants help to prevent that damage. Berries can help to maintain healthy skin structure and prevents breakouts caused by these free radicals.

Vitamin C Boost

Berries are also an excellent source of vitamin C, which plays a crucial role in collagen production. Healthy collagen levels keep your skin firm, resilient, and better equipped to heal from acne scars.

On-the-Go Snack Ideas

Berries are perfect for busy days, I love to just snack on them, or toss them in some greek yogurt or overnight oats. They’re also great to blend them into a smoothie for a quick antioxidant boost. You can easily get a big bag of organic berries at stores like Costco for your daily smoothies.

Detox Food #5: Garlic

Where are all my garlic grilies at?! Garlic not only tastes delicious, but it’s incredibly powerful when it comes to supporting detoxification.

Natural Antimicrobial

Garlic has natural antimicrobial properties that can help to kill off harmful bacteria found in the digestive tract that can contribute towards inflammation and breakouts.

Garlic as a Detoxifier

The sulfur compounds found in garlic are great to support liver detoxification to help process and eliminate toxins more effectively. Garlic may be beneficial at helping prevent depletion of glutathione. Glutathione is the body’s major antioxidant that helps with detoxification. If the body is exposed to too many toxins, glutathione can often get depleted and this slows detoxification, causing a back up in the liver. Toxins end up trying to get out of the body in other places like the skin.

Cooking with Garlic

If you’re a garlic lover like me, I know you’re already putting garlic in everything. Adding garlic to stir-fries, soups, or even homemade salad dressings is an easy way to incorporate it into your diet without much effort. To make your life a little easier, you can grab a jar of pre-chopped garlic or use a garlic press to cut down cooking prep time.

Detox Food #6: Lemon Water

I’m a big believer that everyone should be starting their mornings off with lemon water. There are so many benefits to drinking lemon water that your skin will be so happy for.

A Tool for Slow Digestion

Lemon water is a staple for all my patients who are dealing with constipation. Your body has a process called the gastrocolic reflex. This reflex helps get the muscles of the digestive tract moving so a bowel movement is produced. Often times I see that this reflex isn’t working the way it’s meant to from patients who put off their poop (not going when you have to) or from slower digestion. Lemon water first thing in the mornings helps to stimulate this reflex to help you have a healthy morning bowel movement.

Detoxification Benefits

Lemon water helps to keep detoxification going in the morning. Your liver detoxes all day, but gets most of the heavy work done at night, starting around 3am and going until the morning. Starting your morning off with lemon water will enhance this detoxification and keep it going until you have something to eat.

Morning Routine Integration

Starting your day with a warm glass of lemon water is a simple, quick habit that can have a big impact on your skin. Get this ready at night and keep it on your nightstand so it’s ready for you to drink in the morning.

All you need to do is get a room temp glass of water, squirt a half a lemon in, and then drink relatively quickly first thing in the morning. Pretty easy!

Detox Food #7: Avocados

Clear skin starts with the food you’re eating, at this point, I hope that’s been relayed to you! Avocados are rich in healthy fats and fiber that help nourish and protect your skin.

Healthy Fats for Clear Skin

The monounsaturated fats in avocados support your skin’s lipid barrier, which helps retain moisture and protect against inflammation. Keeping your skin well-hydrated is essential for preventing clogged pores and breakouts.

Fiber for Clear Skin

A whole avocado contains 13g of fiber, which is great for supporting digestion to keep your bowel movements regular. If you’re not going #2 every day, this is the first stop to clearing your skin. Fiber helps to get the digestive tract moving and helps to hold onto water to make the poop a little less hard (and easier to come out). Fiber also feeds the bacteria in the digestive tract to help create a healthy microbiome.

I recommend getting at least 25g of fiber each day, but most American’s are only getting around 10-15g. Avocados are a great way to increase your daily fiber intake, even if you just consume half an avocado!

Meal Suggestions

Who doesn’t love a good avocado toast? Avocados are pretty versatile, you can also add them into salads, blend them into smoothies, or add as a topping to chili or tacos.

While these detox foods can work wonders for your skin, consistency is crucial. Make a habit of incorporating these foods into your daily meals, and over time, you’ll start to see your skin become clearer and more radiant.

Supporting your body’s natural detox processes is one of the most effective ways to clear your skin from within. Leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, turmeric, berries, garlic, lemon water, and avocados all have unique properties that promote detoxification and reduce acne. By consistently including these foods in your diet, you can give your skin the support it needs to heal and glow, even during your busiest days.

The 7 Best Detox Foods That Will Clear Your Skin Naturally