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By Leah Prinzivalli
Many years ago, an unnamed beautician looked at my reddish skin and my scented chin and said, “Let me guess. Do you eat yogurt for breakfast?”
The link between nutrition and acne is the old wife’s trick: don’t eat chocolate. In fact, don’t eat chocolate or touch your face. Don’t drink alcohol. Stay away from chips and fatty foods. Fortunately, a new exam published in JAMA Dermatology aims to put clinical data behind all the old parables on how your nutritional behavior is your skin or not.
Titled “Association between adult acne and eating behaviors”, the exam tested the nutritional intake of 24,452 participants who were classified as one of the 3 prestiges of acne, never acne, beyond acne or existing acne. Researchers evaluated participants’ behavior and the prestige of acne over an 8-month era. Dietary behavior was explained as “food intake, nutrient intake and nutrition derived from a core component analysis,” and researchers adjusted possible con confusing variables such as age, schooling, and physical activity.
They discovered a “significant agreement between existing acne and fatty and sugary product intake.” Sugary drinks, milk and an “energy-rich diet” (i.e. higher grades of fatty and sugary products) were related to the acne reported by the participants.
“We know that our nutrition has a significant effect on our overall health,” said Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical studies in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. As you post, nutrition has an effect on the function of our center, blood pressure, endocrine system, etc., so it may not be so unexpected that what we eat may also appear on our skin.
“I advise my patients at all times that nutrition is an imaginable cause for acne, adding foods high in sugar and dairy products,” says Y. Claire Chang, a qualified dermatologist at The Union Square Laser Dermatology in New York. “It is vital not to forget that everyone’s skin is not the same. Some patients may have food causes and others may not. If my patients find that an express food is the cause of their acne, I propose to avoid them.”
Diet may be an acne factor, but according to Chang, “most of the time, nutrition isn’t the only explanation for why someone has acne.” Stress, life points and the genetic lottery of light skin can also play a role in acne. Zeichner breaks it down as a mixture of genetic and environmental points. “Poor nutrition can cause acne in genetically predisposed people,” he says. “Changing your nutrition can minimize the threat of acne breakouts, but it may not replace your genetics.”
Although dermatologists have long worked with understanding a link between nutrition and acne, Patricia Wexler, a dermatologist qualified through the board of Wexler Dermatology in New York, issues some “defects in the methodology” of this express exam. “There is a lack of data on medications, stress conditions, travel, topical products, alcohol and tobacco use and other points that contribute [to acne],” she says. In addition, the test is based on the self-report of a medical examination.
Acne can be as undeniable as a nutritional change… or possibly not. “Some other people would likely feel a complete cleansing of the skin when getting rid of surgical foods and cow’s milk,” zeichner explains. “However, it’s not a miracle cure for everyone, and most people still want to treat their skin with acne medications to make it as transparent as they would like.”
Learn about acne:
The fastest tactics for a button.
How to identify and locate the most productive remedy for each type of acne
Editor says Selsun Blue’s anti-dandruff shampoo helped him fight fungal acne
Now see how acne remedies have evolved over over a hundred years:
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