Your food. Your skin. Finally connected.
Root Cause scans your meals and your face, then finds the foods that line up with your breakouts.
0%
of people get acne between ages 12 and 24.
Most get the same advice: cut dairy, cut sugar, cut gluten.
For many people, it doesn't help. Triggers aren't one size fits all.
Let's fix that.
Source: American Academy of Dermatology
Root Cause finds the foods that matter for your skin. Keep eating everything else.
Scan
A daily face scan that sees what the mirror misses.
Scan your face
Take a quick selfie each day and Root Cause checks your skin, zone by zone.
Get your Skin Score
One score a day makes it easy to track how your skin changes with what you eat.
See every zone
See which foods line up with breakouts on your chin, forehead, cheeks or jawline.
Your skin changes every day. Now you can see what’s behind it.
Track
Snap a pic of your plate or type what you ate. Every meal gets a Food Score.
See it in action
- Snap a pic of your platePoint your camera and tap.
- Root Cause reads itEvery ingredient, in seconds.
- Get your Food ScoreWith the triggers and healers inside.
- Or just type what you ateNo photo needed.
- Same score, seconds laterLogged and ready to compare with your skin.
See the triggers and healers in every meal. No calorie counting. No food guilt.
Improve
Your triggers aren't everyone's triggers.
Your triggers, named
See which foods show up before your breakouts, and how many points each one costs your skin.
Your healers, too
See which foods your skin does better after, so you know what to eat more of.
Your history, day by day
Every day gets one Food Score for everything you ate. Spot your best weeks and see how your skin did.
No blanket rules. Keep the foods you love. Cut only what you need to.
Guides
What the research says about food and acne.
Does Chocolate Cause Acne? What the Trials Show About Dark, Milk and Pure Cocoa
There is no proof that chocolate causes acne, but three small trials found more spots after daily chocolate or cocoa, and all three used dark chocolate or pure cocoa. Here is what the research shows, why dark chocolate isn't a free pass, and how to test it.
Does Sugar Cause Acne? What the Trials Show About Sugar, Soda and Blood Sugar
There is no proof that sugar causes acne, but sugary drinks and fast-digesting carbs are linked with more breakouts, and low-glycemic diets helped in some small trials. Here is what the research shows and how to test it.
Does Dairy Cause Acne? What the Studies Show About Milk, Cheese and Yogurt
Milk is linked with slightly higher odds of acne in observational studies, but there is no proof that dairy causes acne, and cheese and yogurt show weaker or no links. Here is what the research shows.
Common questions
What is Root Cause?
Root Cause is an iPhone app that helps you compare what you eat with how your skin changes over time. You log meals by photo or text, complete a daily skin check-in, and review the patterns that emerge in your own history.
Do I have to cut dairy, gluten or sugar?
No. Blanket food rules help some people and do nothing for others. Root Cause is built around finding the specific foods that repeatedly show up before your own breakouts, so you can cut what matters to you and keep enjoying the rest.
How does the face scan work?
You take a daily multi-angle skin check-in with your camera. Root Cause counts spots across zones like your chin, forehead and cheeks, and turns them into a Skin Score you can follow day by day and compare with your own baseline.
What is a Food Score?
Every meal you log gets a Food Score out of 100 that reflects the possible triggers and skin-supporting foods, called healers, found in it. Over time you can see your food scores on a calendar next to your skin.
How do Patterns and triggers work?
Root Cause looks at your meals and your later skin scores across different time delays, such as two days later. Foods that repeatedly come before a lower score are shown as possible triggers, and foods that come before better days are shown as healers.
These are associations in your own data. They do not establish causation.
How long until I see patterns?
Patterns get clearer the more days you log. Because a trigger can show up in your skin a day or two after a meal, consistent check-ins and meal logs matter more than perfect ones.
Is Root Cause medical advice?
No. Root Cause provides educational and pattern-finding information. It does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent acne or any medical condition. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Is my data private?
Your photos and health-related entries are kept private to your account, and you can delete individual entries, photos, or your entire account in the app. Read the full Privacy Policy.
What does it cost, and where is it available?
Root Cause is a free download with an optional subscription. Current pricing is always shown on the App Store listing. The app is available on iPhone in the United States and Canada.
