Acne and Diet

   When we talk about skin care problems, acne is probably one of the most popular topics which people worry about. In this article, the debate between diet and acne is introduced, and I hope this can help you to improve and know more about your skin. : )

    The major controversy which I want to discuss is whether diet causes acne or not. By giving data which are based on experiences, some people argue that there are certain food can induce acne. One of these researches is done by the Harvard School of Public Health which believes that when we consume milk, we are actually consuming additional exogenous hormones in our body that causes acne (Danby, 2005, p. 360). The Nurses Health Study II also evaluates 47,355 women by using questionnaires and finds out that there is a positive correlation between milk and acne (Adebamowo et.al., 2005, p. 207-214). Another study which is done in Australia also shows a similar result by dividing 50 young men between the ages of 15 to 25 into two groups: one group with food such as lean meat, fruits and vegetables and the other with typical western diet (Shrieves, 2007, para.4). Some people also argue their opinions by saying people who have not yet been exposed to a western diet are less likely to have acne (Shrieves, 2007, para.1). All of these experiences and data show us the potential link between diet and acne. However, there are also some researches and experiences which go against the correlation between acne and diet.

    Without doing any research, most people may probably against the previous statement by saying they know people who have healthy diet and drink lots of water but still have the problem of acne. There is a research which shows that junk food such as chocolate does not cause acne, and instead, the antioxidant inside of the chocolate can help to protect our skin from getting older (Acne Resource Center, n.d., para. 5). More importantly, chocolate also helps us to reduce stress which is one of the big causes of acne (Acne Resource Center, n.d., para. 5). People who argue against the milk experience which I mention previously state their argument by explaining that the collection data is not reliable since it is hard for people to recall what they eat years ago or even days ago (American Academy of Dermatology, 2009, para. 6).

    So which side of the arguments we should believe? From my perspective, diet can actually affect skin. The reason why I believe that is because most of the researches which also believe in the link between diet and acne (like the milk research and the Australian experiment I mention) are quite reliable and reasonable. They are reliable because they are all came from creditable researchers who have high education degree on the health perspective area and are all obtained after 2004. They are also reasonable because it gives biological explanation. For instance, the milk experiment explains that the endogenous hormones and IGF-1 in the milk can cause acne (Damby, 2005, p.360-361). They are also reasonable because some of those opinions fit my personal experience, which every time when I eat lots of junk food or western food, my face grow acne. For the counter side which argues that they have seen people who grow acne with healthy diet and lots of water, I explain that diet is not the only factor which causes acne. Other factors such as stress can also cause acne, and I learn this information from my health science class.

    Even though there is a potential link between diet and skin, I don’t think we should go too extreme. By saying too extreme, I mean it is not a good idea to stop drinking milk or eating potato chips forever. Nevertheless, we can eat less junk food and drink less milk according to how our body and skin response to those food.

References

Adebamowo CA, Spiegelman D, Danby FW, Frazier AL, Willett WC, Holmes MD. (2005, February). High school dietary dairy intake and teenage acne. AcneHelp, 207-214. Retrieved from: http://www.acnehelp.org.uk/papers/Article1.pdf

Acne Resource Center. (n.d.). The Chocolate and Acne Myth. The Acne Resource Center Online. Retrieved from: http://www.acne-resource.org/acne-articles/chocolate-myth.html

American Academy of Dermatology. (2009, January). Food Does Not Cause Acne. AcneNet. Retrieved from: http://www.skincarephysicians.com/acnenet/acne_and_diet.html

Danby, F, William. (2005, February). Acne and milk, the diet myth, and beyond. Acne Help, 361-360. Retrieved from: http://www.acnehelp.org.uk/papers/Commentary.pdf

Shrieves, Linda. (2007, November). Study Suggests diet affects acne. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004009923_webdietacne13.html