Food and Acne- Diet and SKIN

Bad acne?  Have you given up chocolate and potato chips because your mother told you they would make your acne worse?  Well, the food myth has finally been debunked! Some recent studies have looked in depth at the relationship between food and acne.  Diet had little or NO effect on the severity or improvement of acne.  The only study that showed any correlation with food was a single study that showed some worsening of acne in patients with large amount of  milk consumption.  Even then, it was felt that the worsening was due to the hormones that made it through with the milk rather than with dairy products themselves.  We currently don't recommend withholding dairy products in hopes of less acne (unless you are drinking a gallon of milk a day and finishing the night with a tub of Ben and Jerry's)!  So while we still recommend a healthy and well-balanced diet, if you sneak the occasional Hershey's bar and bag of Ruffles for a snack, rest assured that the skin on your face will not be any worse for it.

Dr. Lucas Bingham