Are you really what you eat?

Starting as early as 1930, acne patients have been told to avoid chocolate, fat and sweets. Studies done decades later showed no association between any individual food and acne. More recently milk and dairy products have been blamed, but again, studies show only a very slight increase in acne and only with skim milk. So should we dismiss diet as one of the causes all together?

The facts
From a global perspective, acne is most prevalent in North America, Western Europe, Australia and some parts of the Far East. Basically, the developed world has acne, the rest do not. A study of an indigenous tribe, the Kitavan, in Papua New Guinea found that acne was not present in any subject. The Kitavan live on a diet that does not consist of processed foods, such as cereals, chips, cookies and bread.

Our understanding of the effects of sugars and carbohydrates on our bodies has been growing. It may not be one particular item in our diet like sweets, soda or pizza, but rather our entire diet. Two important related concepts are Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load.

Glycemic Index (GI) is a measure of how rapidly a carbohydrate (sugar) in a particular food is broken down by the body. A banana has a high GI because its carbohydrates are broken down quickly and absorbed as glucose (sugar) in our blood. An apple has a low GI as it takes hours for the complex sugars in the apple to be broken down and absorbed.

Glycemic Load (GL) is a ranking system for the carbohydrate or sugar content of a certain food, based on its GI. A can of regular soda has a high GL because it is high in sugars that are almost instantly absorbed into the blood stream.

GL and acne
People that eat foods with a high GL tend to have more acne. Eating a meal with a high GL will cause the blood sugar to temporarily elevate. This does two things:

• Promotes bacterial growth
• Stimulates oil production in your pores

The best study to date occurred in 2007 in Australia. It followed 23 males between the ages of 15 and 25, who adhered to a strict low GL diet (meats, nuts and vegetables) for several months. Not only did the acne clear up, but the males also lost weight and had improved insulin sensitivity, which reduces the risk of getting diabetes.

Diet is a factor
Acne has many contributing factors including hormones, stress, product usage, environment and diet. I recommend a low GL diet to all my acne patients, but realize this is only one part of the problem. I had acne as a teenager and know the social impact it can have on adolescents and young adults. Don’t let your acne keep you down; it is treatable with the help of a dermatologist.