When you were a teen, you may have been subjected to the nasty rumor that your very favorite foods, such as chocolate, pizza and french fries, were the cause of your acne. But according to the American Academy of Dermatology and U.S. Food & Drug Administration, there's still no evidence indicate that certain foods cause acne.
What Does Cause Acne?
The FDA indicates that there's no way to prevent acne from developing on your face if it was going to happen anyway. Once excess sebum (oil), dead skin cells and bacteria act in concert to form plugs in your hair follicles, acne may be imminent. The AAD indicates that acne can be triggered or made worse by hormones, menstruation and stress. Acne may also simply be hereditary.
Acne & Milk
Correlations have been drawn between acne and the consumption of cow's milk. According to the AAD, between 75 and 90 percent of milk and other dairy products come from pregnant cows, leading the AAD to question if the hormones produced by the cows could trigger outbreaks of acne in humans. Two studies were conducted, both of which involved simply asking participants what they ate. One study involved querying some 47,000 women to determine the nuance of their diets nine years past. Although milk consumption was indicated, the AAD points out that the studies were limited insofar that the data collected wasn't considered reliable, as it relied on the participants' memories of long-ago events.
The Western Diet
The AAD also addresses the hypothesis that the Western diet, rich in refined carbohydrates, causes acne. The AAD cites studies of natives residing in the remote ares of Papua New Guinea and Paraguay who did not have acne. This was attributed to their low-glycemic diets, which includes an abundance of fresh produce and lean proteins. The AAD indicates that a low-glycemic diet causes the body to ultimately produce and rely on lower levels of insulin. The carbohydrate-laden Western diet can cause insulin resistance and purportedly may cause increased oil production, in turn leading to acne.
Diet Studies: The Caveats
The AAD notes that problematic to the theory that insulin resistance causes acne is that if this were true, most obese people and diabetics would suffer from long-term acne. But this is not the case, asserts the AAD. The AAD also points out that the study attempting to tie milk consumption to acne did not make a distinct link between high-glycemic foods (such as chocolate and soda) and acne.
Greasy Food Dangers
The AAD points out that more research is required to show the connection between a low-glycemic diet and acne-free skin.However, there is one particular instance when greasy pizza can summon up a pimple, warns the AAD, and that's when you get the grease on your face. Leaving this oily residue around your mouth and on your chin rather than washing if off can indeed make your acne worse.
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