Can Diet Help Hormonal Acne?

Acne is the most common skin condition in men and women. Acne can be caused by many different things: Increases in testosterone during puberty or due to PCOS, bacterial infection, genetics, high levels of stress, etc.

Nutrition is often blamed for acne, but is that really true? Unfortunately, we're still not 100% sure. More research is needed on this topic.

Over the years, a lot of guesswork and studies have been done about the effect of dairy products on acne development. However, the results are based on the participants' recall of their diet years ago. While most people find it difficult to accurately tell years ago, yesterday, or last week, based on these results, it is unreliable to recommend completely eliminating dairy products from your diet. If you get results when you remove the milk, it can be tried. Keep in mind that dairy-free diets are often not sufficient in calcium, so please contact a dietitian to discuss alternative calcium sources or supplementation in such a case.

Whey protein is one of the proteins found in milk. In 2013, a study of 30 participants found that using whey protein as a protein supplement led to the development of acne. However, this sample is too small and the results of the study are not reliable for controlling acne. My advice to you is try to eat quality protein like lean meat, fish and eggs and don't always rely on protein supplements!

There has been a lot of talk lately about high glycemic index (GI) diets and their relationship to acne. High GI carbohydrate foods are those that release glucose fast and cause a rapid rise and even faster drop in blood sugar levels. These foods include refined sugar, soft drinks, candies, chocolate, rice pilaf, white bread, and more.

Cerman et al. (2016) found that if participants ate higher GI foods, this led to a reduction in circulating adiponectin levels. Adiponectin is a hormone with anti-inflammatory properties, meaning it works to reduce the effects of certain factors that cause inflammation. They found that acne patients had lower levels of adiponectin in their blood and concluded that a low GI diet was preferred to a high GI diet in acne patients.

Huang et al. (2019) also found that the risk of acne increases if people drink soft drinks every day. They attribute this to the excessive amounts of refined sugar in these drinks—it's a high GI option.

In short, if you want to control your acne, you should avoid refined sugar, highly processed foods and high GI foods.

The best advice I can give to those looking to control acne is to eat a varied, nutritious, and balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean meat, fish, egg, and meat alternatives. As a result of such a diet, these foods help fight inflammation as they contain antioxidants.

I will also include 5 foods that will help fight inflammation in my next blog. Stay tuned.