We aren’t always what we eat. Despite occasional personal anec-
dotes and persistent cultural myths, acne is probably not signifi-
cantly influenced by diet.
In fact, there have been studies in which people were actually paid
to eat chocolate. Yum! The conclusion: The chocolate-eating sub-
jects’ acne didn’t get worse. Furthermore, several substances
found in chocolate have been identified as being mood-lifters that
apparently increase your brain’s endorphins (chemicals that
decrease pain and elevate your mood). So chocolate isn’t bad for
your blemishes; your stress level may diminish and so may your
pimples! However, your waistline may get wider.
Currently, there is some disagreement about the link between diet
and acne; several researchers are suggesting that there may be a
degree of truth behind some dietary factors having an influence on
acne. For example, certain dairy products and refined sugars that
are found in our Western diet are now being evaluated as possible
acne triggers. The jury is still out on this issue.
In the meantime, if you’re absolutely convinced that a certain food
type is making your acne worse — avoid it! But if your acne is
being treated properly, you probably don’t need to worry about
food affecting it.
Take a skeptical approach with any acne “cure” books that hype a
special diet, such as salmon, as one of the fundamental treatment
components.
Frying up an acne fable
To prevent pimples, you may have been told to avoid junk food
because it contains so much fat and grease that it’ll make your skin
greasy too and you’ll get whopper-sized McPimples!
According to studies to date, it’s the oil in your sebaceous glands
that causes you problems and not the oil in your French fries or in
your stomach. Sure, it makes sense to follow a healthy diet, which
involves avoiding greasy foods, but avoiding such foods doesn’t
guarantee a clear complexion.
Here’s the beef — and the milk
Many cattle are fed androgens to help them build muscle. And as
you may have read in Chapter 3, your body’s androgens are often
what kick-starts the overproduction of oil. Some researchers are
looking into whether we also get androgenic stimulation and acne
when we eat beef. On the other hand, the androgens may be
degraded by cooking before they get to our acne-prone, androgen-
sensitive hair follicles.
And there are some investigators (a small minority, mind you) who
believe that milk, particularly skim milk, and some other dairy
products may worsen — or even cause — acne. They claim that
the androgenic hormones that are injected into our cows to make
them produce more milk get into our bodies and give us pimples.
But it’s questionable whether the hormones in milk could survive
the high levels of gastric acidity (our stomach acid) and be
absorbed into our bodies.
My take on this debate is simple: I’ve seen many vegetarians who
choose not to eat any flesh foods (fish, chicken, beef), and a few
vegans (pronounced vee-guns), people that totally avoid eating any
animal products including dairy and eggs. Guess what — both
vegans and vegetarians still get acne like the rest of us! (And by the
way, when was the last time you saw a cow with pimples?)
So right now, nobody knows for sure, but for the time being, I think
you should listen to the age old parental advice and drink your
milk! (Unless you have a milk allergy.) Same with eating that steak.
The jury is out on the whole cow-androgen-acne thing.
No, it’s the sweets: A disease
of Western civilization?
A recent study regarding two societies, the Kitavan Islanders of
Papua New Guinea and the Aché hunter gatherers of Paraguay,
found absolutely no evidence of acne until these groups were
exposed to a Western diet. The investigators of this article (found
in the December 2002 volume of the Archives of Dermatology) sug-
gested that the refined sugar in our Western diets is a possible
cause of acne.
Bottom line: Besides diet, there are so many other factors that
might be responsible for their lack of acne, such as climate, sun
exposure, and less stress in their tropical homeland.
And even when American diets were much lower in sweets 30
years ago, teens probably had as much acne as today.
No, it’s the iodides
It has been traditionally believed that overeating foods that are
rich in iodides, such as sushi, seaweed, and shellfish, can cause or
aggravate acne. Bottom line: As far as I know, there have been no
reports of acne epidemics reported so far in Japan or Korea.
Salmon saves the day, or does it?
There are those who advocate eating more fish, most notably,
salmon, which is loaded with the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty
acid. Its fans would have you believe that eating salmon can help
you prevent and treat acne.
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