Is there a diet-acne connection?
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