At present, more and more therapists are emphasizing dietary changes for acne. Unfortunately, scientific studies are not yet thorough enough to substantiate the effect of diet on acne, but in practice, adjusting one's diet seems to work well. Removing cow's milk from the diet appears to yield good results regarding the amount of inflammation in acne. Even on the topic of cow's milk and acne, few articles can be found about the effect of cow's milk on acne, but small studies are slowly beginning to indicate that cow's milk consumption certainly plays a role in acne. For example, Ismail, Manaf, and Azizan (2012) conducted a study in which they concluded that the acne group had a significantly higher diet of milk and ice cream than the control group, which had no acne. The intake of simple sugars was also significantly higher. No significant difference was observed in other nutrients, BMI, and body fat percentage.
According to Melnik, John, and Plewig (2013), androgen production is enhanced with high dairy intake, partly due to the milk sugars it contains. Androgens are hormones we all have in our bodies. When these are elevated, it affects the regulatory proteins for fat production for the sebaceous glands, thereby increasing sebum production, and the skin also becomes thicker, making sebum release more difficult.
But what do you use as a dairy substitute? My question is rather, why would you look for a substitute? Besides dairy contributing to an increase in androgen levels, dairy also contains other hormones, purely to make a calf grow very quickly to the size of a cow. Of course, milk contains important vitamins, minerals, and proteins. But these can also be obtained from vegetables (especially dark leafy greens for calcium!) and legumes.
Almond or soy milk is often used as a milk substitute. Soy is a healthy food rich in antioxidants, proteins, and minerals, provided it is fermented soy. Supermarket almond milk often also contains unfermented soy milk. This type of soy contains phytoestrogens that can mimic the effects of estrogen (female hormone in the body). This also leads to a disturbed hormonal balance.
So, I enjoy my coffee without milk and sugar, but I prefer to drink tea!
Britta Meijers - Skin therapist and orthomolecular nutritionist at Huidkliniek Amsterdam Zuid
Sources:
Melnik, B.C. & Zouboulis, C. (2013). Potential role of FoxO1 and mTORC1 in the pathogenesis of Western diet-induced acne. Experimental Dermatology 22(5):311-315 Ismail, N.H., Manaf, Z.A. & Azizan, N.Z. (2012). High glycemic load diet, milk and ice cream consumption are related to acne vulgaris in Malaysian young adults: a case control study. BMC Dematology 16:12-13
