Acne is a skin condition that occurs when your pores become clogged with oil and dead skin cells. The most common form of the condition is known as acne vulgaris. This type of acne is made up of lesions such as blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, nodules or cysts. Acne occurs when your body produces too much sebum or oil, as well as keratin, which binds skin cells together so they clump and ultimately block your pores (âAcneâ). Nearly every one has suffered from acne at one point in their life. In fact, more than 80% of all people in the US have had acne (Purdy). Contrary to popular belief, acne is not caused by poor hygiene. It is caused by the overproduction of sebum, the clogging of pores, and inflammation (Mooers 22). Without inflammation, acne would be flat and unnoticeable. It would be made up of blackheads and whiteheads. But with inflammation, these lesions swell and protrude out of the skin causing painful, red pimples that are noticeable. Acne results from toxins inside your body pushing themselves out through your pores. It usually means something is wrong inside of you and it is getting your attention. Instead of treating the symptoms of acne, try to figure out what the cause of it is. You may ask yourself why do our pores clog? Why does our skin or our clogged pores inflame, making the problem worse? There is not a lot of data or understanding on the actual science behind the cause of acne. However, there are some guesses as to what is responsible. Insulin-like growth factor-1 or IGF-1 is the hormone responsible for human growth (Mooers 24). It is most active during puberty. IGF-1 is in charge of our oil glands and can make acne worse by making them secrete more sebum. It also causes dead skin cells to stick together which blocks pores and causes acne. Devin Mooers in his book Clear Skin Forever explains how it works, âSkin cells die naturally all the time, as your skin renews and replaces itself. These dead skin cells are supposed to exit the skin through the pores, but essentially, IGF-1 prevents these dead cells from leaving, by clumping them together and binding them to the inside of your poresâ (Mooers 24). The problem is that certain foods cause an increase in the production of this hormone, causing acne. Spikes in blood sugar do the exact same thing. This is because of the hormone Insulin. Insulin removes excess sugar from the blood and uses it for energy (Mooers 26). When a person eats large amounts of sugar, their blood sugar rises very quickly. When this happens, blood sugar levels can stay elevated. When a personâs blood sugar spikes, their skin is told to produce more sebum than normal, which is ultimately what clogs pores.
Genes have a role in acne, as well. That might explain why some people can eat all the sugar they want, dairy, gluten– all foods that normally cause acne– and not have any. However, epigenetics gives you the power to change your genes. Every person has about 20,000 genes. What is not commonly known is that these genes can be changed depending on your diet and lifestyle (Mooers 37). As Devin Mooers puts it, âyour body can change the way your genes behave, and you can pass those changes on to your offspring, without altering your underlying DNAâ (Mooers 38). This relates to acne because if you live an acne free lifestyle, treating your body well, you can build up âa reserve of epigenetic wealthâ (Mooers). So even if you were not lucky with your genes and inherited acne prone skin, you can still make changes to have clear skin. Studies show that twins with acne are more likely to have a family history of at least one non-twin sibling with acne, one or both parents with acne, and at least one child with acne compared with twins without acne (Purdy). This reinforces the idea that it is partially a genetic condition. However, if you eat well and follow an anti-acne diet then you can start to build a reserve of epigenetic wealth from which your children will benefit.
Other acne causes include stress and the amount of sleep you get. Getting enough sleep is necessary for ridding yourself of acne. Sleep is the way our bodies recharge. It allows our immune systems to repair themselves and for both body and mind to rest. Stress causes acne by releasing cortisol: A hormone designed to block insulin from turning glucose into energy (Mooers 86). It makes your cells insulin resistant. Cortisol causes inflammation and also the overproduction of sebum. Finding ways to reduce stress efficiently can be tricky, but there are hundreds of ways to do it. Talking to a therapist, doing yoga, or exercising are but a few ways to reduce stress. Exercise releases endorphins in the brain that are shown to reduce stress. It also causes you to sweat, which pushes toxins out of your pores.
Acne is a billion dollar industry and pharmaceutical companies are profiting off of this skin condition that can be controlled without any drugs. There is a great debate on the effect of diet on acne. And even though acne is one of the most widespread medical conditions, there is still little known about certain cures. There is no doubt that there is a relationship between acne and certain foods. However, pharmaceutical companies are keen to keep public knowledge thereof to a minimum. You may be wondering, if diet has an affect on acne, why hasnât my dermatologist told me this? This is because they tend not to know anything about it. Most medical schools have a minimum of 25 hours of required nutrition classes. However, most medical schools fall short of this (Mooers 13). So unless your doctor is holistic or naturopathic, they probably believe that diet and acne have no correlation. The medical industry is like a large pyramid with corporate companies sitting at the top. These companies, such as pharmaceutical ones, grain-grower companies, and the dairy industry are all interested in profits. Their main goal is to make money, not the health of the people (“The Truth About Acne and How Big Pharma Is Making Billions.”). Pharmaceutical companies largely fund many medical schools, so your doctor is getting their years of schooling without the proper education on anything that would hinder the profits of these corporations. Doctors learn for years about the treatment of acne symptoms with different drugs but not about the actual cause. And how what we put into our bodies can affect what comes out of it through our skin.
The problem with almost every acne treatment on the market is that it does not treat the root cause, but instead tackles only the symptoms. And most of those treatments are hazardous drugs that attack the acne from the outside. If you go to a dermatologist, they will treat acne in the ways that they learned in medical school, starting with first-line treatments such as topical remedies and then moving on to more intense second line treatments, or oral drugs. Acne can be treated medically in a number of ways. One of those ways is with topical treatments, such as benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. Topical treatments are used for mild or moderate acne and reduce bacteria on the surface of the skin (Hamilton 238). Topical antibiotics are used against inflamed lesions and topical retinoids are used in treating both inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions (Purdy 950). If topical treatments are not effective, then oral treatments are prescribed. These treatments include oral antibiotics and contraceptive pills. And last, but not least, if those do not work, oral retinoids are prescribed. Known as Accutane, oral isotretinoin is a synthetic form of vitamin A (Purdy 951). It dries up the pores and severely changes the amount of sebum produced. Almost all of these treatments are not permanent, so when one fails, you move on to the next. It is a never-ending cycle of acne and treatment and then when that treatment fails, moving on to another. All the while, the pharmaceutical companies are profiting.
I know I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. I do know, however, that I have dealt with acne in the past. And the only thing that has worked for me is changing my diet. I went and got an allergy test and found out that I am allergic to corn and dairy. Not deathly allergic, just that my body doesnât do well with them. And I know to stay away from those foods and my skin is clear when I do. I also try to keep my sugar to a minimum and whenever I donât eat a lot of sugar, my skin is great.
There are four main foods that cause acne. They are dairy, sugar, vegetable oils and gluten. Dairy is one of the worst foods for acne, specifically cowâs milk. Just as was mentioned earlier, IGF-1 is one of the main culprits for acne. And cowâs milk is loaded with it. As Mooers puts it, âCowâs milk is meant for rapidly growing calves and it is full of bovine IGF-1, which is identical to human IGF-1â (Mooers 25). So by drinking cowâs milk, your IGF-1 levels will increase causing clogged pores. Mother cows are injected with hormones so that they produce milk even if they have not just given birth. So when drinking milk, your insulin levels and your IGF-1 levels spike. Dr. William F. Danby of Dartmouth Medical School says, âThese two polypeptide hormones work together to open the male hormone receptors that turn on acne (both in males and females)â (Rognlin). Dairy makes your skin produce excess sebum and clogs pores by binding dead skin cells inside your hair follicles. The raised levels of IGF-1 also promote inflammation. Now if dairy causes acne, how come some people can consume it without showing signs of acne? This is because they are simply the lucky ones who are missing a hormone/gene combination that is present in about 90% of the population (Rognlin). Similar to what was discussed when talking about acne and genes earlier.
Sugar is unhealthy, simple as that, yet it is in the majority of western foods. Just take a walk down any aisle at the grocery store and it is packed into almost everything on the shelf. It is in cereals, fruit juices, candy, ice cream, etc. It has embedded itself into the Western Diet. Sugar is proven more addictive than crack cocaine (Lenoir). So it can be hard to cut it out even if itâs effects are negative. Due to the fact that we are not supposed to consume large amounts of sugar, when we do, it sets off reward signals in our brains that makes self-control extremely difficult. Sugar causes acne by causing your blood sugar levels to rise, and your pancreas to produce insulin in order to process the sugar. Eventually your pancreas will not be able to keep up with the sugar needing to be processed. And then, when you are not producing enough insulin, your blood sugar levels rise and stay that way. If you are consuming moderate or high levels of sugar, then your immune system will not be able to keep up (Mooers 48). And what will show from the outside is acne and inflammation.
Vegetable oils such as canola, rapeseed, sunflower, safflower, soybean, corn, and cottonseed oils, shortenings, and margarine are all detrimental for your body and your skin (Mooers 48). Most vegetable oils are full of trans fats. Trans fats increase your LDL cholesterol and reduce your beneficial HDL cholesterol (“The Truth about Fats: Bad and Good.”). They are extremely hazardous to your health and can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. As Devin Mooers put it, âTrans fats completely destroy your cholesterol levels and physically clog up your arteriesâ (Mooers 48). Many vegetable oils contain them due to the âextreme pressure, solvents, deodorizers, bleaches, and heat processing required to extract and refine the oilsâ (Mooers). Vegetable oils and seed oils also contain omega-6 fats and almost no omega-3s. Omega-6 fats are known to cause inflammation, so these oils cause acne by doing just that (“Omega-6 Fatty Acids.”). And with almost no omega-3âs, which are known to reduce inflammation, consuming of vegetable oil causes acne. Vegetable oils are also known to reduce your skinâs germ-fighting ability. Your body needs medium-chain fatty acids to fight off germs in the skin, which vegetable oils do not contain. So when you consume them, you are depriving your skin of the fatty acids needed to fight bacteria and ward off acne (Mooers 50).
Gluten affects skin by spiking blood sugar and causing a rush of insulin. When gluten is consumed, the body tries to break it down into amino acids, which is what it does with all proteins. But most people lack the enzymes necessary to break them down. So when your body cannot break down the gluten, it passes through your small intestine, damaging it (Mooers 52). If your small intestine is damaged then your ability to absorb nutrients compromised, which leads to acne. Many people are gluten sensitive without knowing it and their specific allergic reaction can come in the form of breaking out.
Acne is an epidemic that affects people in the Western world more frequently than it affects others. This fact, once again, backs up the idea that acne is caused by diet. In one study, researchers spent seven weeks comparing the skin of people from Kitava Island, Papua New Guinea, Ache people in Paraguay and typical American teenagers (Lange). There was no acne found in the 1,200 persons that they studied in Papua New Guinea. The people studied ranged from age 15 to 25. Of the 115 people studied in Paraguay, no acne was also found (Lange). Those in Paraguay eat a similar diet to those in Papua New Guinea however, they also eat animal protein. What is missing from their diets that is prevalent in Western diets are high-glycemic foods such as white flour (gluten) and sugar. And also, anything processed. Acne affects almost 90% off all adolescents in Western societies (Cordain). And in non-western societies it is almost non-existent. Some may say it has to do with genetics and environmental factors, but if you compare diets of Western and non-Western populations, you can identify the culprits of acne.
Acne affects nearly 50 million people in the US and it is believed to be caused by our Western Diet (Cordain). However, non-Westernized populations whose diets rely on local vegetables, fruits, meats without hormones, and fish show little to no signs of acne. Western diets are composed of heavy amounts of processed foods containing high amounts of sugar, gluten, and oils. Just take a walk down any lane at the grocery store and you will see cereals, chips, canned food, boxed food all loaded with chemicals to make sure the food doesnât spoil. Itâs all unnatural. I know that it can be time-consuming and sometimes more expensive to eat clean and unprocessed but I personally think itâs worth it whenever you can! And this is important information that has helped me with my skin!
The truth is that cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries are profiting off of our insecurities. They have created a customer base that is hooked on buying products for occurrences like dry skin/hair, oily skin/hair, acne, aging, redness and more. Skin care products make up the largest part of the global cosmetic industry (35.3% in 2014). In the United States alone, the cosmetic industry is estimated to make $62.46 billion in revenue this year and will only continue to rapidly grow. Companies who sell beauty, skincare and haircare products are looking to target the insecurities of their customers in order to rein in large profits. As a result, we end up spending hundreds of dollars on chemical filled products in order to mitigate our âflaws.â How many times do you read the ingredients on the label of your products and canât pronounce most, if not all, of them? Or go to your dermatologist to get a topical acne cream the dries out, irritates, inflames and covers your skin in harsh chemicals? By buying these products you are not only avoiding the cause of your skin problems, you are also causing additional damage to your skin, health and budget. The industry is more concerned with getting you hooked on spending money on their products than they are on actually fixing your condition(s) or targeting the root issues.