It's probably due not to hormone *levels* but the fact they changed because you changed your bcp.
Some people get acne related to their wheat consumption. It's thought to be sensitivity to a byproduct of bacterial metabolism in people's gut. Easiest approach is to cut out wheat and see if it makes you feel better or not. Some people will try to change their biome using yogurt, probiotics, etc but this probably doesn't work. This is a separate thing from celiac disease which is an autoimmune attack of the gut triggered by eating gliadin, a co-component in wheat gluten (its the gliadin that actually causes the problem).
The left and right vagus nerves, main conduits for our parasympathetic nervous system to our body, affect our hormones (e.g. cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, seratonin) and in turn, our nervous system is affected by our hormones, and connects our brain, the sides of our stomachs, and extremities etc.
Female or male puberty, and hormone fluctuations in life can cause acne or lack thereof, and hormone fluctuations can cause stress, and stress can cause digestive issues, and food intolerances can affect all of these.
I find it helpful to look for interacting systems, not use cause-and-effect "final solution" tunnel-vision.
On the iodine theory (which is not particularly supported), I recall learning in school about iodized salt as a societal way to prevent iodine deficiency/goiter, and was surprised to find when I checked our salt that it was non iodized. My mom said she'd always understood iodized salt to cause acne (my impression was since she was a teen, and I did find a study focusing on that theory from '61, although why my mom would have heard of it, who knows, maybe it was in teen mags of the day). I said I thought we should get iodized, and she bought it, and I actually did break out after (I did not have much acne as a teen) and so I decided her theory was right (although it was likely a coincidence). Most of my adulthood I have used non iodized kosher salt at home (not really because of the breakout thing, but because I only use salt when cooking and prefer kosher because it's coarser), but to the extent I have had (back in my 20s) breakouts related to food it seemed to follow eating greasy fast food, which is usually also salty. The article cited above has an alternative theory for fast food, of course, but I'm not sure I buy it in my personal case in that there are other things I used to eat during the same period that would have caused a blood sugar spike that didn't seem to have an effect.
I drank milk daily from childhood into my 20s, and for me at least it had no effect, but certainly it might for some. The article I linked indicates that it does in some cases.
And to be clear, I don't really think there is necessarily a connection between excess iodine and acne, despite my own n=1. Absent real controls, it is really easy to see confirmation of personal beliefs or suspicions from what is basically a coincidence (or to note the confirming instances and disregard or forget about those that do not support the theory).
This is new!! I always linked acne to the adolescent stage growing up.
I'm not an adolescent, and I have acne.
I consume dairy, but not an abundance of dairy. I don't drink milk, I do eat cheese and yogurt. I have never been able to shake this adult acne, it sucks. I'm currently using Differin on my face, in the hope of for once in my adult life not have acne. It got worse when I first started exercising and losing weight but got better. I was hoping maintaining healthy weight would help my hormones be in balance and make it finally go away, but no.
I don't think I consume enough dairy to say that dairy causes acne. I am lactose intolerant, but that is in the small intestine, and yogurt and hard cheese don't have lactose.
Replies
Dairy doesn't make me breakout.
Not exactly relevant to acne but overall benefits of dairy
Some people get acne related to their wheat consumption. It's thought to be sensitivity to a byproduct of bacterial metabolism in people's gut. Easiest approach is to cut out wheat and see if it makes you feel better or not. Some people will try to change their biome using yogurt, probiotics, etc but this probably doesn't work. This is a separate thing from celiac disease which is an autoimmune attack of the gut triggered by eating gliadin, a co-component in wheat gluten (its the gliadin that actually causes the problem).
Having a lactose intolerance causes stomach and bowel issues, pain, and stress.
(65% of humans have a lactose intolerance. (It varies from region to region.)
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/lactose-intolerance
The left and right vagus nerves, main conduits for our parasympathetic nervous system to our body, affect our hormones (e.g. cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, seratonin) and in turn, our nervous system is affected by our hormones, and connects our brain, the sides of our stomachs, and extremities etc.
Female or male puberty, and hormone fluctuations in life can cause acne or lack thereof, and hormone fluctuations can cause stress, and stress can cause digestive issues, and food intolerances can affect all of these.
I find it helpful to look for interacting systems, not use cause-and-effect "final solution" tunnel-vision.
Cats do get acne. Not saying it is because of dairy, and cats shouldn’t drink milk anyway. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_acne
The American Academy of Dermatology disagrees with you -- some studies have shown there is a potential connection between dairy and acne.
https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/acne/causes/diet
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4884775/
On the iodine theory (which is not particularly supported), I recall learning in school about iodized salt as a societal way to prevent iodine deficiency/goiter, and was surprised to find when I checked our salt that it was non iodized. My mom said she'd always understood iodized salt to cause acne (my impression was since she was a teen, and I did find a study focusing on that theory from '61, although why my mom would have heard of it, who knows, maybe it was in teen mags of the day). I said I thought we should get iodized, and she bought it, and I actually did break out after (I did not have much acne as a teen) and so I decided her theory was right (although it was likely a coincidence). Most of my adulthood I have used non iodized kosher salt at home (not really because of the breakout thing, but because I only use salt when cooking and prefer kosher because it's coarser), but to the extent I have had (back in my 20s) breakouts related to food it seemed to follow eating greasy fast food, which is usually also salty. The article cited above has an alternative theory for fast food, of course, but I'm not sure I buy it in my personal case in that there are other things I used to eat during the same period that would have caused a blood sugar spike that didn't seem to have an effect.
I drank milk daily from childhood into my 20s, and for me at least it had no effect, but certainly it might for some. The article I linked indicates that it does in some cases.
And to be clear, I don't really think there is necessarily a connection between excess iodine and acne, despite my own n=1. Absent real controls, it is really easy to see confirmation of personal beliefs or suspicions from what is basically a coincidence (or to note the confirming instances and disregard or forget about those that do not support the theory).
I'm not an adolescent, and I have acne.
I consume dairy, but not an abundance of dairy. I don't drink milk, I do eat cheese and yogurt. I have never been able to shake this adult acne, it sucks. I'm currently using Differin on my face, in the hope of for once in my adult life not have acne. It got worse when I first started exercising and losing weight but got better. I was hoping maintaining healthy weight would help my hormones be in balance and make it finally go away, but no.
I don't think I consume enough dairy to say that dairy causes acne. I am lactose intolerant, but that is in the small intestine, and yogurt and hard cheese don't have lactose.
Sadly we don't know...