Milk, sugary foods increase risk of acne - Research

IT’S been a subject of debate for decades that some foods cause some individuals to have pimples, but the overview of research carried out over the past 50 years has found that eating foods with a high glycaemic index (GI) and drinking milk not only aggravated acne but, in some cases, triggered it.

Authors of the latest overview, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, indicated that eating foods with high glycaemic, including bread, white rice, sugary fizzy drinks, cakes and pastries, had a direct effect on the severity of acne, because of the hormonal fluctuations that were triggered.

High GI foods are absorbed into the bloodstream quickly, causing a spike in hormone levels, including insulin, thought to instigate sebum production.

Dr Jennifer Burris from the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, said ‘this change (in attitude) occurred largely because of the two important studies that are repeatedly cited in the literature and popular culture as evidence to refute the association between diet and acne.

“More recently, dermatologists and registered dieticians have revisited the diet-acne relationship and become increasingly interested in the role of medical nutritional therapy in acne treatment.”

Millions of adolescent and increasingly adults are affected by pimples, causing spots on the face, neck, chest and back.

While there is no danger from the spots, severe acne could scar as well as lead to anxiety, low self-esteem and depression.

Pimples is caused by a combination of the skin producing too much sebum and a build-up of dead skin cells which clogs the pores and leads to a localised infection or spot.

Since the late 19th century, research has linked diet to acne, with chocolate, sugar and fat singled out as the main culprits, but studies carried out from the 1960s onwards disassociated diet from the development of the condition.

Milk is thought to affect acne because of the hormones it contains, as a 2007 study carried out by Harvard School of Public Health found that there was a link between milk and pimples.