Final Up to date on April 27, 2026 by Giorgia Guazzarotti
Does cashew trigger pimples? I noticed this query in a Fb group final week and actually, it stopped me mid-scroll. As a result of my first thought was, “wait, cashews? Actually? We’re including cashews to the listing of issues which are apparently destroying our pores and skin now?” As a result of right here’s the factor. Cashews have at all times been a type of meals that will get a corridor move. Zinc, magnesium, wholesome fat, vitamin E – they’re actually in each “eat this for glowing pores and skin” article ever written. They’re the flowery nut.
The one you select of the blended bag first. So the concept they may be inflicting pimples breakouts feels a bit backwards, like being informed your multivitamin is the issue. However lots of people with acne-prone pores and skin swear there’s a connection. And I get it. When your pores and skin is doing one thing you hate, you need solutions. So let’s truly get into it, as a result of the reality is extra fascinating than a easy sure or no, and by the tip of this you’ll know precisely the place cashews sit in the entire diet-and-acne dialog.
What Causes Pimples?
Earlier than we put cashews on trial, it helps to know what pimples truly is, as a result of a lot of the eating regimen recommendation floating round on-line skips this half totally and simply tells you to chop issues out with out explaining why. Pimples occurs when your hair follicles get blocked. Your sebaceous glands (principally your pores and skin’s built-in oil glands) produce sebum, which is simply your pores and skin’s pure oil. Nothing fallacious with that, your pores and skin wants it. The issue begins when sebum mixes with lifeless pores and skin cells, will get caught inside a follicle, and creates the proper heat little surroundings for dangerous micro organism to go completely feral in there. That micro organism is known as Cutibacterium acnes, and when your immune system clocks what’s taking place, it sends within the irritation troops. Therefore the purple, indignant spot in your chin the day earlier than one thing vital.
Now the explanation eating regimen issues is that sebum manufacturing isn’t random. It’s pushed largely by your hormone ranges – particularly androgens, that are the hormones that inform your oil glands to supply extra. And sure meals mess with these hormones in methods which are truly fairly properly documented at this level. The 2 greatest culprits the analysis retains coming again to? Dairy merchandise and excessive glycaemic meals.
Cow’s milk (together with skimmed milk, which someway manages to be worse than full fats in some research) accommodates hormones that set off one thing referred to as IGF-1, which stands for insulin-like progress issue. IGF-1 principally tells your sebaceous glands to enter overdrive. Excessive glycaemic meals (like white bread, white rice, fruit juice, sweet bars, something with excessive sugar content material) trigger a fast blood sugar spike, which shoots your insulin ranges up, which additionally raises IGF-1. Similar vacation spot, totally different route. That is why somebody who drinks loads of cow’s milk or lives on quick meals and white rice would possibly discover their pores and skin getting considerably worse, and why switching to one thing like almond milk or complete grains and candy potatoes can typically make a real distinction. Preserve that in thoughts as we speak about cashews.
Associated: How To Treat Adult Acne
Is There A Connection Between Cashew And Pimples?
Right here’s the sincere reply: there are zero scientific trials particularly taking a look at cashew nuts and pimples. None. So anybody who tells you with whole certainty that cashews trigger pimples is making it up a bit bit, and so is anybody who says they’re fully within the clear. What we are able to do (and what makes extra sense anyway) is have a look at what’s truly inside a cashew and see how that strains up with what we all know in regards to the causes of pimples.
Excellent news first. Cashews have a extremely low glycaemic index, someplace round 22 to 25. That’s low. Which means consuming them doesn’t trigger the blood sugar spike that sends your insulin ranges by means of the roof and kicks off that complete hormonal chain response. So the principle dietary pathway to pimples? Cashews aren’t utilizing it. They’re additionally a stable supply of zinc, which is genuinely helpful for acne-prone pores and skin (zinc helps regulate oil manufacturing, has anti-inflammatory properties, and helps the pores and skin’s capability to heal). There’s actual research linking low zinc levels to more severe acne. Cashews additionally comprise vitamin E, selenium, magnesium – all issues that assist wholesome pores and skin relatively than work in opposition to it. To date, so good. However right here’s the place it will get a bit extra difficult.
Do The Omega-6 In Cashews Trigger Pimples?
Cashews comprise omega-6 fatty acids. And there’s a rising physique of analysis suggesting that the steadiness between omega-6 and omega-3 in your eating regimen performs a major function in pimples. A giant examine printed within the British Journal of Dermatology in 2025 (and this one used genetic knowledge from practically half one million folks, so it’s not a small pattern) found that a higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 was associated with a meaningfully increased risk of acne, whereas greater omega-3 ranges had been protecting.
Now, cashews aren’t the worst omega-6 offender by an extended stretch. Vegetable oils, fried quick meals, protein bars, most processed snacks – these are much more important sources. However cashews do have extra omega-6 than omega-3, and in case your total eating regimen is already skewed closely in that route – which most individuals’s diets are, as a result of fashionable consuming has gone fully off steadiness on this – then including loads of cashews on prime of all the pieces else may theoretically push issues within the fallacious route. Just a bit. The problem is the entire image, not the cashews particularly.
And actually, if you happen to’re snacking on cashews which are coated in salt, roasted in vegetable oil, or (God forbid!) coated in sugar or chocolate, you’re including variables that don’t have anything to do with the cashew itself. Plain, dry-roasted cashews in wise parts are a totally totally different factor to the salted, oily, caramelised sort you get at Christmas.
Do Nuts Trigger Pimples?
Folks throw nuts into one class and that’s probably not honest as a result of they’re fairly totally different from one another:
- Peanuts (which aren’t even truly nuts, they’re legumes, however no matter) comprise compounds that may behave like androgens within the physique, which is a extra direct pimples connection.
- Brazil nuts are extraordinarily excessive in selenium, which is nice in small quantities however lots of people eat too many considering extra is best and it’s not.
- Walnuts are genuinely excessive in omega-3 and have stable anti-inflammatory properties, in order that they’re most likely essentially the most skin-friendly choice if you happen to’re actively coping with pimples flare-ups.
Cashews sit comfortably in the course of all this. Not the only option if you happen to’re actually making an attempt to optimise all the pieces, but in addition nowhere close to the extent of, say, a whey protein shake or a glass of cow’s milk relating to triggering pimples.
The Backside Line
Cashews aren’t inflicting your pimples. In case your pores and skin is breaking out and also you’ve been consuming cashews, the cashews are virtually actually not the principle occasion. Have a look at the remainder of your eating regimen first – are you consuming loads of dairy merchandise, excessive sugar meals, quick meals, white bread, consuming fruit juice or alcoholic drinks commonly? These are the issues the analysis truly factors to. That mentioned, if you happen to’ve genuinely eradicated all the pieces else and you continue to suspect cashews are a private set off (which is feasible, as a result of pores and skin is annoyingly particular person), then reduce them out for six weeks and see what occurs. Reintroduce them slowly. Preserve notes. That’s the one solution to know for certain. However please don’t quit your cashews based mostly on a vibe. They’re one of many higher snacks on the market to your pores and skin, and the science, similar to it’s, largely backs that up.
