In doing research for the new website, I ended up at the American Academy of Dermatology’s Acne website. Right on their home page, this article caught my eye:

“Food Does NOT Cause Acne”

(They did the “NOT” just like that.)

So I read it.

It baffles my mind that a group of dermatologists can take a negative stance on positive research.
If they must say that more research needs to be done to prove anything, they could at least highlight the positive aspects of the research, (because there were no negative aspects of the research) and encourage a healthy diet, since it was found to reduce acne by 50%. If there is a chance of reducing your or your child’s acne by 50% without drugs of any kind, shouldn’t they be happy to say so?
Shouldn’t they?

In doing more research on acne and diet, I came across another article last night on WebMD. It’s title: “Is Acne Fed by the Western Diet?”

The article focused on the research done by Dr. Loren Cordain, PhD, at Colorado State University. Her study, “Acne Vulgaris -A Disease of Western Civilization”, publsied in the December 2002 Archives of Dermatology, nailed the diet > insulin > androgen > oil production > acne link that I was talking about in previous posts. (Yes, Acne IS related to Diet and Acne Cause, Acne Cure.)

Here’s what blew me away: The date on the article was 2002. To me, these people have isolated the cause of acne, and the cure. They published it for the world to know. Seven years ago. And doctors and dermatologists today are still telling their clients the cause is really unclear and there is no cure for acne? I was astonished. I kept asking myself things like, “Why were more studies not done immediately?” “Why does not every dermatologist know this and tell their patients?” “Why is this not common knowledge and common practice 7 years later??”

Then it dawned on me, and I hate to sound cynical, but I quit asking myself questions when I realized this:

There is no profit in selling someone a healthy diet and daylight. You can’t sell it and make a killing. You can’t sell a monthly subscription to it. You can’t charge an insurance company for it. You can’t keep them coming back. There is no money in it.

Certainly no one who profits from selling an acne treatment of any kind is going to tell you the cure. I will. Here it is: change what you eat and drink and spend more time outside.   If its your child who is suffering from the condition, change what the whole family eats and drinks. You can start right now.

How?  Here are some links to get you started:

The Teenage Anti-Acne Diet Booklet. The doctors who did the most recent study created this booklet to help parents implement a high protein, low GL diet for their teenagers.   It is an excellent publication, and it’s free.

The Schwarzbein Principle: The Truth About Losing Weight, Being Healthy, and Feeling Younger

by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D and Nancy Deville.  This book explains food in relation to your hormone balance and provides practical ways to make the simple changes in diet and lifestyle.

The Easy GL Diet Handbook: Lose Weight with the Revolutionary Glycemic Load Program – A great little ‘quick-start’ guide to eating well.

There has been no formal research into the link between Vitamin D3 deficiency and acne vulgaris, but when they find it, I doubt it will be widely publicized, because Vitamin D3 is dirt cheap, too.  Please get your family’s Vitamin D3 levels tested, and start supplementing with 2000 IU Vitamin D3 daily unless you get regular sun exposure without sunscreen.

I am not a doctor or dermatologist or anything like that. I sell blue light therapy products to dermatologists, estheticians, and, more importantly, normal people like you. I’ve heard story after story of people who have had acne for years, “tried everything,” and blue light was their last hope. The most painful of these stories to me were those of parents trying anything to help their teenager or preteen. Gratefully, blue light was successful for most of them. But there were those with severe cases for whom it did not work. I wondered why blue light did not work in every case, and I wondered what else could be done to help these people.

Here’s the questions I asked myself, and the answers I found. (These are generally accepted answers. Again, I am not a doctor.)

What causes acne vulgaris?

Clogged pores lead to infection and inflammation (inflammatory acne, or acne vulgaris.).

What causes clogged pores?

Too frequent and/or over production of oil in the oil glands of the skin.

What causes over production of oil?

Increased activity of the androgen hormone, a male sex hormone present in both women and men.

When I learned that the androgen hormone was responsible for oil production in the skin, I was struck by the idea that the cause of acne was hormonal.

I personally have had problems relating to my hormone balance. I’ve heard doctors tell me “there is nothing you can do to balance your hormones.” But as I turned to natural health alternatives, I learned there certainly are things you can do to balance your hormones, but they are just not as easy as popping a pill. (Too bad for all of us.) I learned that a key to hormone balance in the body is to get the insulin hormone under control. Insulin is directly related to what you eat, specifically sugar, and anything that turns right to sugar in your system, like processed grains. So I wondered,

Is there a connection between androgen, the hormone directly related to the cause of acne, and insulin, the hormone directly related to what you eat?

I found that there was. Here it is explained by Dr. Diana Schwarzbein:

“Acne results from the clogging and subsequent inflammation of oil glands. When androgen activity increases, the number and secretion of the oil glands of the body also increase. The higher the secretion of oil, the more likely it is that oil glands will become clogged, resulting in acne. Puberty and perimenopause are the two time periods when androgen activity increases. It used to be these times when women would complain of acne. Men generally experience acne only during puberty. But both women and men of all ages now complain of acne. The reason is that women and men are eating low-fat diets that are high in carbohydrates while also consuming stimulants. High carbohydrate consumption stimulates insulin production, and when insulin rises, androgens are increased beyond “normal” ranges. Stimulants exacerbate this while increasing insulin and adrenaline.”

The Schwarzbein Principle: The Truth About Losing Weight, Being Healthy, and Feeling Younger
pp. 168, by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D and Nancy Deville.

A recent 2007 Australian study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, has made the connection between acne vulgaris, androgen production, insulin levels, and diet. In the study, Professor Mann, along with Robyn Smith, PhD and Royal Melbourne Hospital, divided forty-three males, between the ages of 15 and 25, into two groups. One group was given foods with a low glycemic load, and the other group was fed a more “typical” teenage American diet, high in sugar and processed foods.

After 12 weeks, the boys in the high protein-low glycemic load group showed significantly reduced free androgen levels, and a 50% reduction of acne.

In non-westernized societies, acne does not exist. Although heredity and some other factors may play a part, acne is in most cases a result of the severe hormone imbalance brought about by our diet and lifestyle. After a year of research into the cause of acne, I am convinced that acne can in fact be ‘cured,’ and that a healthy diet and correcting any Vitamin D Deficiency are the two major keys to the “cure.”

I will still sell blue light as a 100% natural, effective acne treatment, but our new website (look for launch around April 2009), will highlight all the above information, and every order will include it. I hope it helps you eliminate the need for any acne ‘treatment’ at all.

Links for more info, book recommendations, etc.

Yes, Acne IS related to Diet

Is Acne a Symptom of Vitamin D Deficiency?

Three Easy Ways to Test for Vitamin D Deficiency

Blue light is one of the best natural acne treatments available. It works by destroying acne bacteria on and just under the skin. But how can you prevent acne from ever developing in the first place? A recent Australian study shows your diet may have a lot to do with it.

In the study, as reported in the 2007 Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1/2 the young men were given a high protein, low GL diet. The others were instructed to eat a typical Western teenage diet, heavy on sugar and processed foods. After 12 weeks, those following the high protein, low GL diet had over a 50% reduction of acne lesions.

So a low GL diet gets right to a major cause of acne, hormone imbalance.  Meals and snacks with a low Glycemic Load keep insulin under control, which helps with general hormone balance, which naturally reduces oil production in the skin, which leads to less breakouts.  You will also likely lose weight and save money following a high protein, low GL diet.

“The research clearly shows that your daily diet can improve acne symptoms. This is highly significant and contrary to current recommendations that say that what you eat plays no role in acne. A healthy diet with low GI carbohydrates and higher levels of protein is now the first line of treatment for anyone suffering from acne, in addition to any cream or ointment your dermatologist recommends. When used for acne in its early stages or for mild to moderate cases, this may mean up to 100 per cent improvement in symptoms.”

Catherine Saxelby
Accredited Practising Dietitian

Click here for the full study, as published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Recommended Reading:

The Teenage Anti-Acne Diet Booklet. The doctors who did this study created this booklet to help parents implement a high protein, low GL diet for their teenagers.   It is an excellent publication, and it’s free.

The Schwarzbein Principle: The Truth About Losing Weight, Being Healthy, and Feeling Younger
by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D and Nancy Deville.  This book explains food in relation to your hormone balance and provides practical ways to make the necessary changes in diet and lifestyle.

The Easy GL Diet Handbook: Lose Weight with the Revolutionary Glycemic Load Program – A great little ‘quick-start’ guide to eating well.