Does milk/ dairy cause acne?

pinggolfer96

Not looking for an answer, but more so a general consensus of what people think? I personally cut or dairy years ago to help with acne. Hard to tell whether it helps or not as I am sometimes clear and sometimes flare up. What’s your opinion?

rheddmobile

According to some studies, yes, for some people. I seem to recall the study was done on teenagers. And for unknown reasons low fat dairy seems to be worse. There are theories about the hormones used in cattle, or maybe sensitivities in some people, but no one really knows.

For me personally dairy does not cause breakouts, and getting at least 15 minutes of hard cardio every day makes a huge difference to how clear my skin is. You could try adding dairy back and see what you think. This is different to different individuals.

heybales

"Survey says ....."

Or rather, science review says:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2836431/

Your comment is exactly why it's not going to be really useful getting comments from others.
You have at least mentioned the testing aspect of it - you still get flare ups - unknown if it's helping or not.

Other people may not be so ...... bright, and will associate any changes (sadly many at once even) for the reason for the positive effect, though it could have nothing to do with it, or they forget the random nature of it, ect.

At least the above discusses from a biological perspective what may or may not be useful to help or harm.

And then back to YMMV - another reason why personal experiences may or may not have any useful info to them.

ETA - from the Vit A & D benefits - that sounds like dairy could be more of a useful thing - unless it bothers you personally - in which case not so useful. Their commented study sounds like full of problems and indeterminate results.

nooshi713

Maybe.

JaydedMiss

honestly no clue i want to find this out for myself but i really cant, The only people i can find spewing the admittedly logical sounding stuff about the hormones in dairy and eggs and stuff are all vegans with an agenda. I cant find another angle to look at it from. Skewed data is skewed. Iv recently begun eating more dairy in the form of greek yogurt in my nicecream, i was never much of a dairy eater, But then i also hit up all i can eat chinese buffet so i cant go off what my skins doing lol. Following thread.

sardelsa

For me I find it is more hormonal (PCOS related, pregnancy, post-pregnancy etc). I eat a lot of dairy everyday, my skin has never looked better. I am also over 2 years postpartum so for me that is probably why.

TavistockToad

pinggolfer96 wrote: »

Not looking for an answer, but more so a general consensus of what people think? I personally cut or dairy years ago to help with acne. Hard to tell whether it helps or not as I am sometimes clear and sometimes flare up. What’s your opinion?

It doesn't for me

JeromeBarry1

My experience with it is that youth causes it and ageth ends it.

Noreenmarie1234

I don't know if its the dairy or whey or what, but I think there is something in dairy products that seems to make certain people break out. I don't think it is known for sure. I know personally my skin is completely clear without any dairy products but the minute I have some, I start to break out. My skin gets really bad when I am eating dairy. It really sucks because I love dairy products lol. Could be hormones, certain compounds, slight intolerances, a whole combination of things that cause it for certain people.

lemurcat12

For some people it might. Doesn't for me.

sijomial

Ate a load of dairy as a teenager - had acne.
Ate a load of dairy as an adult - no acne.

Conclusive proof (joking...) that being a teenager causes acne.

nvmomketo

Depends on the person.

In my 10 year old- yes. In my 13 year old - no. Some of my friends - yes.

Lounmoun

I have never associated my acne with dairy or any food.

pinggolfer96

Apparently, dairy increases mtorc in the body due to various studies, which can increase sebum production. Maybe I’ll test it out. Start with maybe some goats milk/ cheese or a whey isolate or something. I’ve noticed when restaurants have made a mistake and used dairy though in my meals I get a really heavy/ sick feeling which would never happen before. Probably the lack of enzymes but idk

hesn92

I was under the impression that it was the hormones in the milk that cause acne and that switching to organic might help. I honestly don’t know. I have acne and what helped was to just stop messing with it.

nooshi713

Acne is very hormonal for me. The only things that have helped me are being on low dose birth control pills and Accutane. I tried eliminating dairy in the past at the recommendation of my dermatologist. It didnt help. I am a big dairy lover. With age, my acne has gotten better. I still eat dairy and my skin is better now than when I eliminated it.

mbaker566

dairy has had no relation to my acne
ymmv

CharlieBeansmomTracey

never had an issue with acne. I have eaten dairy products all my life . the only pimples I seem to get is one right around my TOM. and its just one. my daughter on the other hand had moderate acne and she is not one that eats dairy(once in a blue moon). and she has acne issues. sometimes its worse than others. she does have a thyroid issue so maybe that has something to do with it. my sisters and I never had acne issues except for TOM. my one sister as she has gotten older gets cystic acne from time to time.but even my mom and dad has no issues with acne and my dad ate a lot of dairy products.

MikePfirrman

Tons of people swear by DIM for Acne (3,3′-Diindolylmethane). It's a supplement that's supposed to block things in the environment that your body mistakes as hormones, especially estrogen (xenoestrogens). A lot of people with hormonal acne swear by DIM. My son's girlfriend went dairy free (she has really bad hormonal acne). Just going dairy free didn't help her a lot.

It's also supposed to be good for guys as well (because guys don't want estrogen like substances from the environment either as it undercuts their lifting progress).

Because someone will inevitably put a "woo" under this, here's the scientific articles on Xenoestrogens, they are a real thing.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/xenoestrogen

ahoy_m8

Whey concentrate , if I have it a couple days in a row, triggers acne for me. But I eat nonfat Greek yogurt everyday with no problem. Also my whey is allegedly from no hormone cows (Whole Foods 365 brand). I don’t know if my skin reacts to isolate the same.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

ahoy_m8 wrote: »

Whey concentrate , if I have it a couple days in a row, triggers acne for me. But I eat nonfat Greek yogurt everyday with no problem. Also my whey is allegedly from no hormone cows (Whole Foods 365 brand). I don’t know if my skin reacts to isolate the same.

I would say if the whey protein has something else in it which most do(some have artificial sweeteners and others have additives) its probably that causing it. if yogurt doesnt cause it at all

pinggolfer96

so the past week I have been having dairy here and there mainly from whey(protein bars) and a little bit of greek yogurt. so far, so good. not really noticing any breakouts (yet) and my skin actually looks better. I'm also so excited to try everything that has came out in the past couple years that I have missed out on! and man oh man have a missed greek yogurt lol, even the fat free, unsweetened tasted sooooo good to me without anything on it lol. I did have some stomach pain/ gurgles initially, but could be the lack of enzymes until my body adjusts.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

pinggolfer96 wrote: »

so the past week I have been having dairy here and there mainly from whey(protein bars) and a little bit of greek yogurt. so far, so good. not really noticing any breakouts (yet) and my skin actually looks better. I'm also so excited to try everything that has came out in the past couple years that I have missed out on! and man oh man have a missed greek yogurt lol, even the fat free, unsweetened tasted sooooo good to me without anything on it lol. I did have some stomach pain/ gurgles initially, but could be the lack of enzymes until my body adjusts.

you could also buy lactaid pills or digestive enymes as well.

JaydedMiss

bumping because im still curious in others experiences

pinggolfer96

JaydedMiss wrote: »

bumping because im still curious in others experiences

Been pounding dairy products the past week and a half (cottage cheese, whey protein bars, Greek yogurt, some cheese, things with dairy in the ingredients) and tbh my skin looks better than it has in months.....
I’m also cutting now which makes my skin look better, but still, no breakouts and I seriously have been eating sooo much dairy the past week+ after not eating it for over two years. First couple days I was a little gurgley/ upset stomach slightly, but I’m good now

JaydedMiss

pinggolfer96 wrote: »

JaydedMiss wrote: »

bumping because im still curious in others experiences

Been pounding dairy products the past week and a half (cottage cheese, whey protein bars, Greek yogurt, some cheese, things with dairy in the ingredients) and tbh my skin looks better than it has in months.....
I’m also cutting now which makes my skin look better, but still, no breakouts and I seriously have been eating sooo much dairy the past week+ after not eating it for over two years. First couple days I was a little gurgley/ upset stomach slightly, but I’m good now

id be curious to see in a month be sure to check back for me please

Hamsibian

Anecdotal experience: dairy was the last food group I gave up when I transitioned to an autoimmune diet. I gave up everything else weeks ago. Within a week, my skin cleared up. So yes, for me, dairy triggers acne.

kshama2001

JaydedMiss wrote: »

honestly no clue i want to find this out for myself but i really cant, The only people i can find spewing the admittedly logical sounding stuff about the hormones in dairy and eggs and stuff are all vegans with an agenda. I cant find another angle to look at it from. Skewed data is skewed. Iv recently begun eating more dairy in the form of greek yogurt in my nicecream, i was never much of a dairy eater, But then i also hit up all i can eat chinese buffet so i cant go off what my skins doing lol. Following thread.

Not a vegan

My n=1 is that when I ate a lot of conventionally raised dairy back in the 90s I had female issues that went away when I switched to organic.