There are countless marketable acne medications that promise to restore your blotchy and pimple-filled face and body to a clear, fresh appearance. Maybe you’ve suffered since your pre-teen days and heard the unflattering nicknames like “pepperoni face.” Or perhaps the advent of your bad skin started well into adulthood and you feel silly having to attempt to cover up and hide your flaws behind makeup or other virtual masks. No matter what age the acne sufferer is, the self-inflicted as well as socially-induced stigma and torment that come with pimples can be devastating.

While there have been no proven ways to dominate acne’s effects or even to pinpoint the exact cause of acne in some people over others, there is science that recommends certain behaviors to both engage in and avoid that will increase the chances of combatting the effects of acne. As with most healthful living techniques, integrating balanced diet and exercise behaviors are important. In addition, they have a direct correlation with the consequences of your habitual choices.

In conjunction with supplemental vitamins, eating healthy foods and avoiding fatty foods that produce oil build-up will ensure that your skin reacts more effectively against bacteria on your face and body. Outbreaks are the result of nutrient deficiencies in our bodies’ largest organ in combination with our own unique skin type. This is why even those who eat abundant amounts of chocolate and other foods that we were told to stave off since childhood to avoid acne are sometimes pimple-free.

As with most conditions, each of our bodies are equipped and programmed differently and often, we can only take precautions and engage in preventative measures and hope for the best. By eating right and taking the appropriate vitamins and other supplements, we can take the steps necessary to avoid acne.