Acne is an age-old problem that generally affects teenagers but also a large number of adults. Whether we're in our teens or past puberty, acne poses the same problems: it eats up our confidence, makes us feel unattractive and ugly, and at its worse, makes us ashamed to face the world and constantly self-conscious about what other people are thinking about us.

What really irks us is that we may be doing all the right things in terms of skin care and living a healthy lifestyle and yet acne haunts us anyway. However, some studies show that there is one thing that we may have overlooked in terms of acne maintenance -- proper nutrition.

Acne comes about when androgens increase and overproduce keratin and sebum, resulting in clogged pores and skin infections. A deficiency in Vitamin A also causes too much keratin while a diet rich in fried foods and saturated fat can lead to blocked pores. Nutritionists recommend vitamin A, zinc and vitamin C to fight infection, vitamin E to heal the wounds and prevent scarring. and vitamin B3 (niacin) to flush unwanted toxins from the skin.

In order to keep skin soft, nutritionists recommend the so-called Essential Fatty Acids, which also dissolves fatty deposits that block pores and repairs damaged skin. You may want to try blue-green algae, which provides chlorophyll that aids in cleansing the blood and delivers oxygen, which is critical because some bacteria cannot survive in the presence of oxygen. Other important nutrients include vitamin B Complex, chromium, acidophilus and selenium.

Here are other nutrition tips to fight acne:

A diet that is high in fiber can keep the colon clean and can reduce toxicity.

Vegetables and fruits are essential to any healthy diet.

Zinc-rich foods like soybeans, pumpkin seeds and certain nuts are beneficial to the skin.

Drinking lots of water (1.5 liters daily, at least) leads to healthy skin. Drinking lots of alcohol, coffee, soft drinks and sugar-rich drinks leads to unhealthy skin.

Too much iodine (fish and table salt) can make acne worse. The same can be said for eating too many dairy products such as eggs, cheese, milk and the like.