One of the biggest questions all acne sufferers ask is whether certain types of foods makes us break out or in other words if our diets gives us acne.
For years it has been stated that certain foods increase your chances of getting more break outs, out of all the foods discussed dairy products seems to be the biggest culprit.
The main question: do dairy products cause acne? With conflicting data where many claims it does affect you while others say it does not I decided to run my own research.
Background
I’m a huge milk drinker, throughout my teen years I used to finish one gallon a week, also mozzarella sticks are my favorite snack.
I’ve had acne since I was twelve, now in my late twenties it is more controlled, but during my teenager years it was a good day if I only had ten pimples on my face.
As the years passed my acne became milder (still got a few pimples, but thanks to acne products it was more under control) then I heard about the claim that dairy products gave you break outs, intrigued reading this information while holding a glass of milk I decided to make it my last for the time being.
The Experiment
I started the challenge of cutting dairy completely out of my life for a few months without changing anything else I set out to do one of the most difficult thing I’ve ever done since I learned to dance La Macarena.
First week I noticed no new pimples, remember I’m still using my acne products and washing my face every night and morning, but I usually still get a pimple here and there.
Second week rolls around (milk withdrawals kick in, I didn’t budge), got a pimple, not bad, usually would get one or two. When the fourth week ended, I was amazed, I had gone an entire month without any huge ugly pimples, just the little ones that you get from letting my face get sweaty.
I was amazed, confused and worst of all milk less. I stopped the experiment and had a big few glasses of milk only to noticed some pimples later that week. I was upset, betrayed and sad. Decided to do some more looking to see if my results were unique or is there something else here.
As I mentioned before I found many conflicting studies regarding the effects of diary.
Found one journal that talked about the Significance of diet in treated and untreated acne vulgaris, in this study while there was no conclusive evidence that dairy products increased the possibility of acne they did mentioned how the hormones in pregnant cows could create an increase in hormones on people similar to the amount when that person was in their teen years.
Of course, it was just a theory and concluded that more research needs to be made and diets could affect people differently.
Another journal on The relationship of diet and acne also mentioned the hormonal effects of pregnant cows and our skin, but also concluded that the actual studies were poorly designed and are not reliable, there is not much information on diet and acne leaving us back on the same spot.
While it seems, there isn’t much data against dairy, there is also little data supporting it. Just like how different acne products affect different people it seems acne and dairy might affect people differently.
While cutting dairy from my diet helped me, it might not work for you. With this thought in mind I decided to announce this little challenge.
No Dairy Challenge
I wanted to bring awareness about this, the studies are conflicting, but I do want to challenge you to try it and see for yourself. Cut dairy completely out of your life for a month and tell us about your results, if it worked or not or if you gave up dairy altogether already and noticed the results or not.
Post your results or any questions you may have, it is worth the try if you still struggle with acne and enjoy your dairy a bit much.
Would love to hear your feedback, thoughts and results on the comment section.
Final Thoughts
This little experiment worked for me, but I could not completely give up dairy, I still drink some milk and enjoy my mozzarella sticks, but at a much lower quantity.
I still get the occasional pimples, but it was not as bad as when I was consuming, so much milk. For that reason, I want you to try this for yourself, it might just give you the results you’re looking for.
As always if you are looking for information, reviews, tips and tricks don’t hesitate to visit the Acne page. Need some help dealing with scars? The Scars page has great tips, tricks and products that help.
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All information on anything skin care is here and I’m sure all the information on this site and this article will help you on your path to Beautiful Clear Skin.