Posted by kathryn in Health News and A Balanced Diet

An article in last week’s Herald and UK Independent reported on research by the Harvard School of Public Health, showing a link between milk intake and acne. This study, undertaken by Walter Willet and his team, used information from the large-scale Nurses Health Study II, which examined the diet and lifestyle of about 47,000 women. A link was found between women who had acne and those who drank a lot of milk.

The Harvard team has theorised that hormones and other bioactive substances in milk, promote the formation of spots and acne.

Milk is produced by cows for their calves to drink. In dairy farming, to ensure maximum milk yields, cows are kept pregnant almost constantly. They are artificially inseminated and when they give birth the calves are taken away and the cows re-inseminated. This ensures the cow is able to produce milk all the time.

It also means the cow is both pregnant and being milked at the same time. So the cow is simultaneously producing the hormones that help her calf grow, while also producing the hormones required to keep her pregnancy going.

These hormones include a type of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT), as well as other growth promoting hormones. Both men and women make DHT, although men produce a lot more than women. It’s this DHT which has been suggested as the acne promoting culprit in many individuals. In your skin DHT causes the sebaceous glands to produce too many cells, which stick together and block up the pore, causing a spot to develop.

Milk has been linked to acne for quite some time now. It’s common in Western countries and uncommon in countries where dairy is not a normal part of the diet. Acne prevalence increases in populations that move to Western countries and take up Western diets. To date however, there’s been little scientific evidence to support the link.

From my clinical experience I have found it true that removing or reducing milk in the diet works for many people, but not everyone . For some, acne is caused by a number of different factors, which may include foods other than dairy, skin care products, female menstrual hormone changes, stress, or even digestive health.

Acne can be painful, and also quite socially devastating, especially if it lingers into adulthood. If you do suffer from acne and are a big milk and cheese eater, it may be worthwhile trying a period without these foods, to see if your spots improve.

I would recommend doing this under the care of a health professional. Dairy for most of us is our primary source of calcium. If you’re not eating dairy, then you’re at risk of being deficient in this important mineral and this needs to be addressed in your diet.

Photo by Mayu P under the terms of a creative commons license.

21 May, 2007