The Risks and
Side Effects of Prescription Acne Medications
According to a report published in the December, 2002 issues of Archives of Dermatology the root cause of acne could lie in the consumption of foods that are staples of the American diet. These foods, which tend to be high-glycemic, have already been indicated as contributing to the risk of diseases such as obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol.
According to the lead researcher of a study conducted regarding the link between diet and acne, these foods result in acne breakouts due to an increase in insulin levels and insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1. As a result of these rising hormones, referred to as a “hormonal cascade,” larger amounts of the male hormone testosterone are produced within the body. Like a domino effect, the overproduction of testosterone then leads to an overproduction of sebum within the body. Sebum has associated with the cause of acne for a number of years, as it blocks pores and then triggers acne.
Foods such as grains, milk and any processed foods are on the culprit list as potential triggers for acne. According to results of this study, more than 75% of the grains within the American diet are refined and are therefore; high-glycemic.
The glycemic index, sometimes abbreviated as simply GI, measures how foods affect blood sugar levels. It was introduced in 1981 at the University of Toronto to assist with a diabetic diet. Generally, the faster a food breaks down during digestion, the higher the GI count will be. Likewise, the slower a food breaks down, the lower the GI count will be.
Unfortunately, the typical Western diet is comprised primarily of high glycemic foods. These foods include breads, highly refined grains and cereals, French fries and potato chips. The more high-glycemic foods a person ingests, the higher their insulin levels rise. As the insulin levels rise, so do the sebum levels; leading to clogged pores and the perfect environment for bacteria to grow and thrive. Within a very little amount of time, a pimple emerges.
This theory, to date, has been largely rejected by many of the more prominent health establishments and even by the United States government itself. Not many health professionals have been willing to admit that acne may result from a wide variety of high refined starchy and sugar foods that do not simply include those foods commonly classified as junk foods but the very heart of the USDA Food Pyramid, such as breads, cereals and carbohydrates.
The study was prompted when researchers noted that acne problems less frequently and with less severity in cultures outside the Western Hemisphere. It was noted that some primitive populations whose diet consists of all natural foods experience very little problems with acne at all.
To determine the reason behind the mysterious absence of acne and acne related issues, a team of researchers studied 1,200 people, including 300 teenagers, in New Guinea and 115 people, including 15 teenagers, in a remote section of Paraguay. The study was conducted over a two year period of time and during that time span, the researchers failed to detect even so much as on minor pimple among the total 1,315 people studied.
The study noted that the participants in the study ate only natural foods-what they were able to hunt, gather or grow themselves. No refined foods, which are a common staple in the Western diet, were found in the diet of the research participants. Only foods such as fruits, vegetables, seafood and lean meats.
Obviously, the implications of the results of this two year study could be far reaching and quite important to both the American diet and health. The question still remained, however; could the results of the study be trusted or was it simply coincidence that the research participants, eating only natural foods, experienced almost no acne related problems?
To answer that question, researchers elected to review other studies that had been conducted in similar populations. These studies focused on the incidents of acne in both South Americans and New Guineans that had immigrated to westernized locations. The results of those studies were amazing and would seem to point conclusively to the link between diet and acne.
Individuals who had previously subsisted on an all natural diet and had not experienced acne problems, developed acne when they moved to westernized locations and became ingrained in a Western culture-including the transfer of highly refined Western foods to their diet. Researchers concluded that the results of these studies confirmed once and for all that incidences of acne simply could not be attributed to genetics alone.
Critics, unable to let go of the notion that there was no association between acne and diet, responded quickly with the study that was published by JAMA in 1969, indicating that there was no connection between food and acne. In the study, two groups were studied. One group was given chocolate while the other group was given a placebo. The incidents of acne were virtually the same when both groups were compared; resulting in what would become a much referenced and quoted assertation that diet could not be linked to acne.
Researchers studying the link between the Western diet and acne pointed out; however, that the glycemic index of the placebo given to participants in the original 1969 study was practically the same as chocolate. If the glycemic index of highly refined food really is the culprit behind most acne outbreaks, this would serve to explain why there was no difference in the incidences of acne in the 1969 study.
It is interesting to note that there are now several studies pointing to the fact that populations around the world subsisting on a completely natural diet simply not suffer from acne at the rate which individuals do who partake of a highly refined, typical Western diet. Multiple studies have also discerned that when many of these same individuals, who previously suffered no acne at all, become immersed in Western culture and begin eating Western foods, not only did they begin to experience what has been termed as an ‘epidemic’ of acne, but the rates of other diseases common to the Western world also begin to rise.
These diseases include diabetes, heart disease, obesity and various kinds of cancer such as breast and prostate. Each of these diseases has been linked with the same factors that are now believed to provide the stimulus for acne outbreaks.
As previously mentioned, studies were undertaken in both Papua New Guinea and Eastern Paraguay with results indicating that the participants, who partake of a diet consisting of unprocessed, low-fat foods, have a complete lack of acne.
Other studies seem to conclusively prove the same facts. In South Africa, a study was conducted to determine the incidence of acne among the adolescents within the region. The results of the study indicated that the incidence of acne among the participants of the study was only 16%. This percentage is much lower than the incidence of acne among American teenagers, which ranges from 79% to 95%. Surprisingly, the incidence of acne among Bantu teens is also lower than the incidence of acne among white teens in Africa, who suffer from acne at a rate of 45%.
Another study indicates that Zulu people only begin to suffer from acne after they move away from their native villages to cities and become immersed in the Western culture and diet. Furthermore, it has been noted that individuals in both Kenya and Zambia have few incidences of acne than do blacks in the United States.
With the facts established that African populations suffer with less acne related problems than their counterparts existing on Western diets, researchers turned their attentions toward discovering whether the same would hold true in other parts of the world.
A study was performed in Malaysia, with results indicating that persons who consume a rice-based diet experience no acne compared to Western cultures. Studies in Japan, another country which bases the majority of their diet on rice rather than high-glycemic foods, yielded the same results. Studies were also conducted on European populations. In these cultures, diets tend to consist of foods that are lower in fat than populations in Western countries.
The results were once again the same. Populations that ate a lower fat diet had less acne than those who ate high fat foods. Further studies conducted on Yemenite Jews who faithfully consumer lower fat diets than even European Jews revealed that there are fewer incidences of acne.
To date, despite obvious evidence to the contrary, most medical professionals continue to dispute the fact that there is a link between the foods we eat and acne incidences. They continue to cite the 1969 study conducted by Dr. James Fulton, concluding that there was no link between food and acne. For the most part, the public continues to accept this study as the gospel on the root cause of acne, failing to understand that the study was flawed from the very beginning.
In the study 30 adolescents consisting of 14 girls and 16 boys as well as 35 young adult males were studied to determine whether there was a link between eating chocolate and acne breakouts. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association of America supplied the participants of the study with two different kinds of candy bars.
The main difference between the two candy bars was that one contained chocolate and one did not. Other than the absence of chocolate in one of the candies, there was virtually no difference. The main ingredients in both candy bars was sugar and fat. The calorie count on both candies was roughly the same; 557 and 592 calories per bar.
Over a period of four weeks, the participants were studied as they introduced the candy bars into their usual diet. It should be noted that nothing else about their diets was changed. The results of the study were undertaken by counting the number of pimples on the participants’ faces for the duration of the study. Of the total 65 participants, 46 remained the same. 10 of the participants showed improvement while 9 of the participants actually fared worse.
The truly interesting part of the study, which shouldn’t have come as any surprise, is that the levels of sebum excretion increased by as much as 60% in all participants when either kind of candy bar was added. Whether the candy bar contained chocolate or not did not seem to change the increase of sebum production.
Despite the fact that this study contained numerous flaws, including the fact that it failed to study the effects of food on acne in older adults as well as the fact that it only tested the effects of candy bars and not other foods that very well may lead to acne problems; this study continues to be the ‘medical proof’ that thousands of health professionals quote as indisputable evidence that there is no link between food and acne.
So, what is it exactly about the Western diet that obviously leads to such a prevalent problem with acne? Researchers have concluded from the numerous studies conducted around the world that the amount of high fat within the Western diet is one of the leading culprits related to the high incidence of acne in the United States and other countries that consume high fat diets. It is believed that the large amounts of high fat actually increases the amount of fats within the body, leading to an overproduction of sebum; which is primarily composes of fatty material to begin with.
Additionally, it has been noted that the rich content of the Western diet is believed to bring on puberty at younger and younger ages in children. This phenomenon then leads to children maturing earlier, with increased sex hormones. The sudden rush of these hormones causes a higher incidence of more severe acne. 5.
It is also now believed that the high fat content of the Western diet results in poor circulation, which could very well lead the body to become more susceptible to acne.
Clinical studies further suggest that the presence of excessive amounts of caffeine in beverage products such as coffee, tea and soda could also be adding to the high incident rates of acne in the United States. It is believed that large amounts of caffeine are responsible for actually increasing the levels of stress hormones within the body; which can trigger acne development or in some cases, make existing acne situations worse.
Other studies indicate that the presence of red meats and dairy products in the typical Western diet could be linked to serious acne problems as well. As you will recall, in the studies conducted in various populations around the world where it was concluded that there are little to no acne problems, the diet consumed by the native populations consist primarily of plant and vegetable based foods, with very little meat products. The average Western diet; however; consists of almost the exact opposite: significant amounts of meat, grain and dairy products with very little plant and vegetable based foods.
Finally, research has now proven that the high content of dietary protein such as dairy products, meat and poultry increases levels of insulin-like growth hormone-1, or IGF-1. Such growth hormones cause the sebaceous glands to become clogged, resulting in further problems with acne. A Harvard research study was undertaken to determine whether there was any link between milk consumption and acne. Survey responses were taken from 47, 335 women. In the survey, the women were asked about what they ate in high school, with a special emphasis on their dairy consumption. The women surveyed were further asked to classify whether the milk they drank was whole milk, powdered milk, low-fat milk or skim/nonfat milk. Finally, the study participants were asked whether they had ever suffered from severe acne as teens.
According to the results of the study 61% of the women responded that they drank whole milk as teens. 20% of the remaining women stated that they drank low-fat milk, with only 7% consuming skim milk and 2 percent drinking powdered milk. Women who reported that they drank more than 3 servings of any kind of milk were found to be 22% more likely to have severe acne than those who drank one serving or less milk per week.
Study participants who reported drinking two or more daily servings of skin milk were found to be 44% more likely to suffer from severe teenage acne than women who drank or less servings per milk per week. Results indicated that whole milk and low fat milk were not as likely to be related to the development of acne. Interestingly enough, however; other dairy products, such as sherbet, cream cheese, instant breakfast drinks and cottage cheese were found to be associated with the development of acne. At the conclusion of the study, it was found that women who consumed these types of products were likely to be up to 53% more likely to have severe acne as teenagers.
In another study, 1088 teens were observed during a 10 year time span. At the conclusion of the study, it was noted that not only did the incidence of acne go up along with the daily milk servings, but it was also reported that when milk consumption was reduced, the acne problems began to clear up.
Besides the fact that it was obvious from the results of the study that milk could be conclusively linked to acne and acne aggravation, several other important conclusions were drawn as well. The lead researcher, Dr. Jerome K. Fisher, noted that other products which contain significant amounts of butterfat and milk sugar would also lead to acne and acne aggravation.
Dr. Fisher concluded that it was also possible that the hormones contained within the milk of pregnant cows may break down into androgens. When consumed by humans, androgen stimulates the production of sebum, which then overproduces and clogs pores, leading to the development of acne.
Next: How Allergies to Foods can Lead to Acne
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