Been seeing a lot of “instagram influencers” lately talking about how dairy in your diet contributes to increased body acne. I was wondering if their was any truth to these statements. They of course had no evidence to back it up, but I figured I would ask the expert!
It’s no surprise that people think this : Diet and acne: an exploratory survey study of patient beliefs - PMC
Though the data doesn’t support that really ( Dairy Intake and Acne Vulgaris: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 78,529 Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults - PMC )
Note that this data suggests a slightly increased odds ratio with dairy intake, but there are severe methodology issues, like self-reported acne incidence, phone-based food recall, etc. with the included studies that the authors address in the discussions section.
I think that body fat plays a much more important role in acne generation than dairy and I wouldn’t focus too much of my energy on reducing dairy products unless given better data.
I used to think my skin was disgusting too, and with good reason, because I had had acne since I was a teenager. I used different remedies to fight them. Most dermatologists recommended pills to me to fight acne, but these pills proved ineffective. Users on the forum advised me to try a led face mask, and I listened to them. I went through several sessions, and my skin began to look noticeably better. After completing the course, I got rid of all my acne.