Diet and Acne?

metamorphosis

OK - so first off, i know that there is no definitive correlation found between diet causing acne but i would be interested in what some of the regular nutrition forummers and others, of course, think.

I am suffering a break out at the mo, most of which im putting down to stress between two college course workloads at the mo ... but the thought crossed my mind today - can diet exacerbate acne? The last time i had a breakout this bad was not too far off a year ago. Id normally go through porridge, and a bit of fruit on most days. Back last year i was going off grains and drastically reduced all grains and upped eggs and tuna and chicken everyday on a trial run as to see how my stomach responded as i had a lot of inflammation there. I wanted to see how my body responded without them. I remember that within days my skin really cleared up. Now it could be just a coincidence that ti happened but it had me thinking today if people thought there could be a link between foods you eat and acne.

Bodhan

I always thought there was a link between eating greasy or oily foods and the amount of oil on your skin, which cause blocked pores and leads to spots.

As for a proper connection, I think some people are prone to acne.

Pembily

I defo find if I eat greasy (chips, crisps etc) food I get breakouts, as a girl I find during my period I get breakouts too as I tend to eat chocolate and crisps then!!! I personally think there is defo a link...

metamorphosis

Funny re the greasy foods - never encountered that. I find that if i have too much sugar/ white flour etc im prone too a spot or too. Never suffer too much apart from now that is. Prob stress though. Damn college work.

Pembily

ULstudent wrote: »

Funny re the greasy foods - never encountered that. I find that if i have too much sugar/ white flour etc im prone too a spot or too. Never suffer too much apart from now that is. Prob stress though. Damn college work.

I find stress just affects my IBS When I eat too much sugar my skin would break out a little bit... Can't comment on flour as I have been off wheat for over 3 years!!!

moonage

It might be a problem of the modern western diet.

A study was done of two "primitive" peoples and out of a couple of thousand individuals(including several hundred teenagers) not a single case of acne was found.

These people didn't eat refined sugar and very little starch-rich food.

>>>

metamorphosis

moonage wrote: »

It might be a problem of the modern western diet.

A study was done of two "primitive" peoples and out of a couple of thousand individuals(including several hundred teenagers) not a single case of acne was found.

These people didn't eat refined sugar and very little starch-rich food.

>>>

Yeah id agree there. I think i read somewhere that too much sugar, which obviously results in insulin rise results in your sebaceous glands producing more oil. Ergo pimples. Similarly to stress in which the hormone cortisol causes the sebaceous glands to go into overdrive again.

eclectichoney

I think it can depend on the individual case - in some instances it is definitely hormonal as BCP can completely eradicate the problem with no change in diet. However, I definitely find dairy is a problem for me for some reason (probably the hormones found in milk). Most LT medication for the problem is based on reducing the oil produced by the sebaceous glands - so I guess any food that increases oil production won't help the problem - again it probably depends on the individual circumstances (insulin sensitivty / resistance etc.) and some people are just prone to it whereas somebody else could eat the exact same diet and not be affected (From my own exp. I believe there is perhaps a genetic component). I do think there is big difference between 'breakouts' (more likely to be food-related) and full, on, constant acne.

El_Dangeroso

I agree with eclectichoney. You can classify 'acne' into a number of causes, or at least proposed causes.

1. Auto-immune reactions. Gluten, dairy and veg oil have all been implicated. So sensitivity to one of these three tend to help severe chronic acne as opposed to the occasional breakout.

2. Liver function. Too much alcohol and sugar would be the culprits here.

3. Bacterial infection. A quick course of antibiotic cream usually sorts out this type and it's the easiest to fix.

4. Hormonal. This one is a complete bitch to get rid of and I should know as I suffer the occasional breakout due to this. I know a night out in the pub and wearing makeup definitely doesn't help either.

The best thing I have found is this technique called 'Oil cleansing'. You can pick up a cheap facial streamer in Argos for 15 quid, castor oil and sunflower oil in a healthshop. The total kit should cost less that 30 euro which is cheap considering what I have spent on expensive creams and it's basically a lifetime supply of what you need. It clears your face in a week and stops even the most severe outbreak in its tracks.

metamorphosis

Thanks temple. It's on the mend already and its down to me feeling a whole lot better and happier now that iv gotten some exams over with. For me it's deffo stress that gives me a nasty outbreaks. I also find using tea tree oil undiluted on the skin a little dreis and kills the ****ers right up.

Anyway, yeah the sugar makes a lot of sense. I dont tend to consume sugar from processed foods but when i go through a phase of drastically increasing things like figs and dates and lots of other fruit otr if i consume too much milk i also get smaller breakouts.

El_Dangeroso

ULstudent wrote: »

Thanks temple. It's on the mend already and its down to me feeling a whole lot better and happier now that iv gotten some exams over with. For me it's deffo stress that gives me a nasty outbreaks. I also find using tea tree oil undiluted on the skin a little dreis and kills the ****ers right up.

Anyway, yeah the sugar makes a lot of sense. I dont tend to consume sugar from processed foods but when i go through a phase of drastically increasing things like figs and dates and lots of other fruit otr if i consume too much milk i also get smaller breakouts.

Ah, should have mentioned that stress comes under hormonal issues. Cortisol being known to increase oilyness. More info here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0411-science_of_stress.htm

Be careful with the tea tree oil, I've heard that it can be quite abrasive on skin and can damage it in the long run.

My skin seems to be a good overall predicate of my general health. If I'm run-down I break out too.

Definitely consider the oil-cleansing next time, it really is a revelation considering it's so unknown.

corkcomp

I dont suffer from breakouts too often, but anytime I do its down to cheese and eggs, or if both together its even worse .. its strange because no other fats cause any problems for me, and ive never found a link with eating starchy foods

Red Cortina

Just going on personnal experience I always used to have a few spots on the go but when I switched to following a paleo type diet they cleared up. Now all I get is the usual spot/pimple around that time of the month. So for me there is definitely a link between what I eat and the state of my skin...

Sapsorrow

Wierd I've been having a very bad breakout lately too and I've been eating better than ever the last few weeks! No grains or sugar (only a bit of dark chocolate every now and again) and the one thing I have been eating is loads of fat so I wonder is that it? I've been eating 2-3 oz of nuts and seeds a day, peanut butter, loads of flax meal and coconut milk. In the past cheese and milk chocolate have allways been the worst thing for causing a breakout but thats not possible in this case. Anyone have any idea why it's happening now? I had an idea it might be a detox thing, I'm under a lot fo rpessure under college but normally stress wouldn't trigger such a bad one and I'm not as stressed as I usually am! Sorry for hijeckin yer tthread UL! :pac:

Sapsorrow

corkcomp wrote: »

I dont suffer from breakouts too often, but anytime I do its down to cheese and eggs, or if both together its even worse .. its strange because no other fats cause any problems for me, and ive never found a link with eating starchy foods

Crap I just started eating eggs again and have been having them every day for the last week or so! I wonder could that be the problem!

metamorphosis

khrystyna100 wrote: »

Wierd I've been having a very bad breakout lately too and I've been eating better than ever the last few weeks! No grains or sugar (only a bit of dark chocolate every now and again) and the one thing I have been eating is loads of fat so I wonder is that it? I've been eating 2-3 oz of nuts and seeds a day, peanut butter, loads of flax meal and coconut milk. In the past cheese and milk chocolate have allways been the worst thing for causing a breakout but thats not possible in this case. Anyone have any idea why it's happening now? I had an idea it might be a detox thing, I'm under a lot fo rpessure under college but normally stress wouldn't trigger such a bad one and I'm not as stressed as I usually am! Sorry for hijeckin yer tthread UL! :pac:

Interesting.I actually find that a high fat diet with lots of nuts, coconut milk etc excellent for my skin.

LivingDeadGirl

I suffer from whiteheads quite badly. I don't know if they count as acne or not but they do get me down as the texture of my skin is pretty bad. Anyone know if this could be diet related?

BraziliaNZ

well, I had bad acne when I was 18/19, and a well known dermatologist told me that diet has nothing to do with it. He put me on some pills called roaccutane and they were gone in 2 months never to return. With me it wasn't about diet anyway, I can rub chip grease all over my face now every day and I still don't get spots.
I love rubbing chip grease on my face.