Does dairy cause acne? Science says so.
To say that food has absolutely no effect on our body or skin is doing us a disservice. Skin is the largest organ of the human body. Whenever we get a rash, break out in hives or get acne, our body is sending out a smoke signal for help. It’s a clue into a deeper issue of internal imbalance.
After years of suffering with hormonal cystic acne, I realized that there was more to the story than the information I was getting from the 10-minute visits with my doctor. If your acne experience has been anything like mine, then you’ve had limited success with conventional drugs and topical treatments and are looking for more answers - you’re looking for the root cause. This is what led me to look into dairy and its relationship to cystic acne.
Throughout my research, I found a lot of scientific evidence to support the idea that dairy causes acne. Particularly in relation to Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1), Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), and Forkhead Box Protein 0-1 (Fox01).
What are these fancy terms and what do they have to do with acne? I’ll break it down for you. Let’s dive right in.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND DAIRY CONSUMPTION AND ACNE
Let’s start with the definition of acne: A skin condition where your hair follicles become clogged from an excess production of sebum (oil) and dead skin cells. These are known as blackheads, whiteheads, pimples… you get the idea.
We regularly shed our skin cells and under balanced conditions, this doesn’t cause breakouts. However, if you have acne prone skin, your skin cells are turning over more rapidly. Basically, it’s cell turnover on steroids.
What causes this to happen? One reason could be mTORC1.
Dairy consumption over-stimulates mTORC1, a protein responsible for cell growth and proliferation. mTORC1 is activated by insulin and Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), glucose and ATP, amino acids (particularly BCAAs, like leucine), glutamine, and saturated fatty acids, especially palmitic acid (Clatici et al, 2018). Milk contains all of these in abundance. So, when milk and dairy products are overconsumed or regularly consumed, mTORC1 is over-activated, which can lead to increased cell growth and proliferation, hence acne formation.
What impact does dairy have on IGF-1? How does this affect acne?
Dairy enhances insulin and IGF-1 signalling. This stimulates the synthesis of androgens and therefore triggers our sebaceous (oil) glands to produce more oil than normal, which is correlated to acne pathogenesis.
In 1998, an article was published about a study conducted on 6 female patients with Laron syndrome (LS). They were given a dose of 150 mcg of IGF-1 every day. During the course of the treatment, 4 of those patients developed acne. Lab tests showed a significant increase in testosterone levels and they concluded that hyperandrogenism was correlated to the patients’ acne. They found that by decreasing the dose or pausing the treatments, the patients’ androgens were restored back to normal levels and the acne resolved itself (Klinger et al, 1998).
What does this mean?
Put simply, dairy consumption may lead to hyperandrogenism which increases oil production. This may then result in acne. According to another study that examined the effect of IGF-1 on the occurrence of acne, 8 people with Laron syndrome were treated with an over-dosage of IGF-1. It was observed “for the first time that serum IGF-1 deficiency prevents the occurrence of acne” (Ben-Amitai et al, 2011). It’s important to note that the relationship between IGF-1 and androgens must exist for acne to form. This may explain why some people eat dairy and don’t experience any acne. As we also know, mTORC1 is activated by IGF-1, so this further adds to the likelihood of acne.
Last, but not least, what are the implications of dairy on Fox01?
Dairy can inactivate Fox01. Fox01 is responsible for regulating mTORC1, suppressing IGF-1 synthesis, and repressing androgen receptors (Napolitano et al, 2015). When Fox01 is inactivated, it is not able to carry out these tasks, including monitoring cell growth and proliferation - things that help prevent acne.
One interesting fact I came across in my research is that isotretinoin (aka Accutane), a drug commonly used to treat acne, is able to influence mTORC1 by its effects on Fox01 signalling (Napolitano et al, 2015). This explains why it can be very effective for some people.
While these scientific studies provide solid evidence to support that dairy can cause acne, this isn’t necessarily the case for everyone who is consuming dairy. In fact, there are a lot of people who eat dairy regularly and never get a blemish!
So, now what? Should you continue to eat dairy?
Try Limiting Your Dairy Intake
In our modern society, we are heavily reliant on processed and packaged foods, many of which contain dairy ingredients (hello Cool Ranch Doritos!). There is a tendency to over consume dairy and for some people, this can lead to acne. Try limiting your dairy intake each week. Your skin might be able to tolerate a bit of dairy here and there.
Try Eliminating Dairy for 30 Days
If you are questioning whether or not dairy is causing your acne, try removing it from your diet for 30 consecutive days. In this time, you should be able to see some improvement in your skin if dairy is contributing to your acne. In my experience with clients, the type of acne that can be caused by dairy is cystic acne, characterized by large, deep, red, and painful bumps. They are typically hard to squeeze and take a while to form into a whitehead, if they ever do at all.
Dairy is a major food group to eliminate and I know how tough this can be, especially at the beginning. That said, I’ve put together a few tips and tricks to help make this 30 day dairy elimination easier for you:
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Try replacing dairy products with dairy-free alternatives. It’s easier to do this at first because you don’t have to necessarily change your meals entirely, only the dairy component. For example, say you typically start your mornings with cereal. Try replacing the dairy milk with nut milk. Store bought dairy-free products are usually loaded with preservatives and thickeners, although there are a few out there that don’t have all of those extra ingredients. Look for simple ingredients that you can pronounce.
Do the research. I can’t emphasize this one enough. If you are consuming a lot of dairy in your everyday life and are going to cut it out, be prepared. Do some research to figure out what defines a dairy product and what common foods contain dairy. If you are new to this idea, you might be surprised at what you uncover. Did you know dairy can be in chips? Yeah, I was shocked when I found that out too. Make sure you’re always reading the ingredients on packaged foods.
Consistency is key. Plan out your meals and make a grocery list. This will help you be prepared and when you’re prepared, you’re less likely to falter.
Keep going. If you fall off track, don’t beat yourself up. Just get back on that horse again the next day and remind yourself why you’re doing this, but go easy on yourself. We’re all human and cheese is delicious!
References:
D Ben-Amitai and Z. Laron, “Effect of insulin-like growth factor-1 deficiency or administration on the occurrence of acne”, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) [Internet], vol. 25, no. 8, pp. 950-4. PMID: 21054577. (Published online November 4 2010). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21054577/. (Accessed on October 9, 2020).
Victor Gabriel Clatici, Cristiana Voicu, Catalina Voaides, Anca Roseanu, Madalina Icriverzi, and Stefana Jurcoane, “Diseases of Civilization: Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity and Acne - the Implication of Milk, IGF-1 and mTORC1”, Maedica - A Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 13 no. 4, pp. 273-281. PMID: 30774725. (Published online December 2018). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6362881/#:~:text=Large%20amounts%20of%20scientific%20evidence,disscussed%20further%20in%20this%20paper. (Accessed on October 8, 2020).
B. Klinger, S. Anin, A. Silbergeld, R. Eshet, and Z. Laron, “Development of Hyperandrogenism during treatment with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in female patients with Laron syndrome”, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) [Internet], vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 81-7. PMID: 9509072. (Published online January 1998). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9509072/. (Accessed on October 9, 2020).
Maddalena Napolitano, Matteo Megna, and Giuseppe Monfrecola, “Insulin Resistance and Skin Diseases”, Hindawi: The Scientific World Journal (Published online 2015). https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2015/479354/. (Accessed on October 9, 2020).