Skin Diet Acne Studies

Is there a relationship between your skin, diet, and acne? Will diet studies show a reduction in acne? Many seem to think so, based on non-scientific evidence. One writer reports that immigrant friends of hers said that acne was unheard of in her home country. Back home, they had a diet of fish, fresh vegetables, and whole grains. As soon as her friends adopted a typical American diet, their skin started to have acne breakouts. This “immigration acne” has been discussed anecdotally, but only recently has scientific studies supported this view.

High and Low Glycemic Index Study

Dr. Mann and Dr. Robyn Smith of the Royal Melbourne Hospital studied the effect of diet on the acne of forty-three young men between the ages of 15 and 25. Half were put on a high glycemic diet and half were on a low glycemic diet. They found that after 12 weeks on the high protein and low glycemic diet, the boys had 50% less acne. The results are very preliminary, but were accepted for presentation at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology, and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (July 2007), and the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (August 2007).
“A diet high in processed foods pushes glucose and insulin levels higher, exacerbating the problem, but low-glycemic foods do the opposite,” Mann said. “The mechanism and the results are clear as day.”

Diet Study 2: The Kitavan Islanders

In 2002, a study was conducted on 300 natives of the Kitavan Islands, near Papua, New Guinea. Dr. Cordain and others found none of the 300 had ever had acne. Similarly, a group of South American Indians known as Ache, living in remote Paraguay, have never had a problem with acne. Both these skin diet acne studies implicate our low-glycemic diets as a factor for producing acne.

Acne Diet Studies and Sugar, the Bottom Line

What you eat can give you acne. Dr. Mann’s study is basically saying that foods that are high in sugars can make acne worse. The body reacts to these high-glycemic foods by making more insulin. Raised insulin leads to more male hormones, which in turn leads to more making of sebum, the oil that clogs pores. Therefore acne is related to diet, and you should be careful not to eat high-glycemic foods such as french pies, potatoes, processed foods, bread, carbonated drinks, dairy products, and certain nuts (brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, and filberts).

The alternative clear skin diet for naturally reducing acne would be low-glycemic. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals that contain bran, barley and oats, and drinking water, vegetables juices (low-sugar) and herbal teas are all part of the low-glycemic natural diet. Another part to consider is the protein, as the Royal Melbourne hospital study also assigned high protein for the group with less acne.