Food and Acne Connection: How Cow Sugar Can Contribute to Acne
Welcome back to my newsletter series about different foods that can influence acne. I want to preface this that if you are not acne prone, it is unlikely there is a food that would trigger acne, but these foods could trigger other immune or irritable responses within the body.
Acne is multifaceted and has many root causes, and our skin is a complex ecosystem. Not all of the foods I will review each week may be contributing to your acne, but it could be. There are many layers to acne. Even if you don’t have acne or are not acne prone, this may be helpful general knowledge that might help your kids, or somebody you know. I also want to say that I am not a doctor nor a dietician, and I am just sharing things I have learned and first handedly experienced. :)
What contributes to acne?
Thus, anything that clogs pores, and/or creates or worsens infection and inflammation, contributes. The major players in acne production are:
Excessive sebum (oil) production by the skin
Rapid division of skin cells
Delayed skin cell separation and death
Bacteria on the skin surface
Inflammatory response
The food we eat and our body fat cells play a role in sebum production, hormones, and inflammation. Hormonal changes likely have the greatest influence on acne (think birth control medications, anabolic steroids and puberty).
Food that cause acne: Sugar (This is a HUGE trigger for my acne personally)
Since the 1950s, scientists have referred to Acne as ‘diabetes of the skin’. Insulin is needed for your body to convert glucose into energy, but too much insulin in your bloodstream can cause an increase in insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1, 6) and this promotes skin cell growth.
Sugar’s oxidative properties can provoke acne and breakouts. Sugar and foods high on the glycemic index (meaning foods that, once ingested, convert quickly into glucose and cause your body's insulin levels to elevate), lead to a burst of inflammation that goes throughout your entire body.
GLYCATION (LISTEN UP - THIS ALSO IS PART OF A PROCESS IN AGING THAT CANNOT BE REVERSED.) Simple Carbohydrates Your body breaks down "simple carbohydrates”, like refined sugars and white flour, rapidly converting them into glucose, which then floods the blood stream.
When this occurs, your body reacts by producing insulin to counter the glucose
insulin levels spike, leading to inflammation-producing enzymes which attach to
your body's collagen through an oxidative process known as glycation. This process breaks down collagen and elastin, contributing to aged, sagging and wrinkled looking skin. Glycation not only increases the appearance of aging, but also can aggravate particular skin conditions such as acne and rosacea.
Insulin resistance happens when cells in your muscles, fat and liver don’t respond well to insulin and can’t use glucose from your body for energy. To make up for it your pancreases creates more insulin, driving your blood sugar levels up. I highly recommend reading, Glucose Revolution btw.
Research foods you eat, and where they sit on the glycemic index! What is the Glycemic Index? The glycemic index is a scale from 1-100 that ranks carbohydrate-rich foods by how much they raise blood glucose levels. Some carbohydrate foods are digested quickly, and others more slowly. The ranking is based on how the carbohydrate food when digested compares to the standard food, which is either white bread or pure glucose. White bread and glucose have been given the highest possible rating of 100 on the glycemic index because they raise blood glucose levels higher and quicker than most other foods.
As I described about what can cause glycation, this is actually what it looks like! You will see deeper lines that cross horizontally and vertically. It kind of looks like little “squares” in the skin. TBH there is no treatment out there that can reverse this once it happens. Actually some treatments can make it worse because of how the collagen fibers are bound in the skin.
So even if you are not acne prone, this applies to you!
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