Does Drinking Water Help Clear Up Acne?

How many times has someone looked at your acne and told you “Drink a lot of water”? It is as if somehow water is the one thing you have completely overlooked in your quest for clear skin.

I’ve had my fair share, well make that a big share, of people, tell me this, including the last dermatologist I saw. Besides being annoying, I knew it was not true as I have always been a big water drinker. I drink up to 9-10 glasses of water a day and always have. In spite of that I still developed and had acne through my teens, twenties and my thirties.

Water makes up 55 – 65% of our bodies. This means that more than half of our bodies are water. So water is a very important component of our daily lives. However water alone will not help clear up your acne. You need to make a few diet changes along with it to see results.

So, is drinking a lot of water the answer to clear skin? The answer is no. Telling someone who has acne to drink a lot of water, is like telling someone to finish a 200 piece puzzle but only giving them 100 of the pieces as the other hundred have been misplaced. Or like giving them only a portion of the recipe for chocolate cake.

Let’s get something straight. You still need water to keep your skin hydrated, healthy and help it heal. But that being said drinking a lot of water alone will not help clear your skin. Here are benefits you will get from drinking a lot of water though

• Your skin will be less oily
• Your skin tone will get less blotchy
• The redness will be reduced a lot
• Your skin will look hydrated
• Your skin will be less irritated

Water is only a piece of the puzzle. If you are battling adult acne for 2 years or more, it’s unlikely that your skin will clear by drinking water alone. You need to look at your diet, your stress levels and your overall health.

However there are a few things you could add to your water which would help to clear it faster.

Clear Skin Water Recipe

• One litre water
• One cucumber
• Handful of mint leaves (washed and picked from stem)
• Grated ginger
• Juice of one or two lemons / limes

Take a glass jug or a bottle with a wide mouth and pour the water into it. Slice the cucumber and add to the water. Tear up the mint leaves and add to the water along with the grated ginger and lemon juice. Let this stand in the fridge overnight. The next morning you can strain and drink this water throughout the day. You can carry this water with you in a bottle to work or anywhere out. You can reuse the cucumber, mint and ginger for another bottle of water, but you will have to add the lemon juice.

• Cucumber helps soothe your body from the inside. They also have pantothenic acid or Vitamin B-5 which has been used to treat acne.
• Mint helps balance your hormones which in turn helps your acne heal
• Ginger is a power anti-inflammatory which helps your acne heal. That redness you see on your face when you have acne and you don’t dig, ginger helps bring down that redness.
• Lemon juice gives you Vitamin C which is great for fighting acne.

Yes, we all know that one annoying person who hardly drinks water, eats junk food and has clear skin. They have their genes to thank for it. If you have acne prone skin and do the same your body will react very differently. In fact, all our bodies react differently. So, in addition to drinking more than 2 liters of water a day look at improving your diet and lifestyle.

For actually getting rid of your acne check out these blog posts.

1. Getting Rid of Acne Quickly
2. Home Remedies for Acne