Acne Myths - Diet

In fact, there have been studies in which people were actually paid to eat chocolate. Yum! The conclusion: The chocolate-eating subjects' 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.

 

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.

 

Many cattle are fed androgens to help them build muscle. And 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.

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.

 

A recent study regarding two societies, the Kitavan Islanders of Papua New Guinea and the Ache hunter gatherers of Paraguay, found absolutely no evidence of acne until these groups were exposed to a Western diet. The investigators of this article suggested 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.

 

 

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.