Drs. Jonette Keri and Rajiv Nijhawan from the University of Miami in Florida have reviewed the evidence.

Here are the highlights.

Does diet affect acne?

• The landmark studies of chocolate and Coca Cola reported no effect on acne.
• And studies in ethnic groups who do not get acne are problematic because of the inability to distinguish between diet and genetics.
• Researchers have tried to establish a connection between diet and androgens, insulin, and IGF-1 (aka insulin-like growth factor, which plays a role in growth and has anabolic effects in adults).
  • But there are no studies on their effects in people with acne.

Milk and acne

• There are several characteristic of milk that might predispose to acne.
  • An association with increased IGF-1
  • Hormones that might stimulate pimples
  • Other compounds that might affect skin pores and lead to acne
  • Iodine in milk, which might exacerbate acne
• 2 studies made a correlation between acne and the effects of milk and skim milk.
  • But the studies had design flaws: one retrospective, the other relied on a questionnaire.

The bottom line?
The authors concluded that although increasing evidence suggests that diet might contribute to the development of acne, more study is needed to confirm its role.

9/28/08 15:50 JR