Today we are discussing the topic of diet and your skin. Without a doubt, 100% the way that you eat has an impact on the way your skin looks and behaves because, because what do I always say? The skin, it is a window to what is going on internally. Certain patterns of eating can favor too much inflammation, hormonal alterations that lead to skin problems, and skin dullness. Some of the visible signs of skin aging might even be impacted by the foods that you choose to eat on a regular basis. And, of course, oil production and inflammatory skin conditions like acne.

Impact of Dietary Patterns on Acne and Oil Production

Certain dietary patterns of eating have a huge impact in particular on acne and sebum production, oil production. Specifically, diets high in hypoglycemic carbohydrates. This is a hormone that directly influences our oil gland to produce more oil. It also has an impact on the cells lining our pore such that we become more inclined as a result of an increase in this to have blackheads and whiteheads, comedy ones, pore clogging.

Hormonal Effects of High Glycemic Diets

It’s not necessarily the hormone though. It is the elevation in the hormone on a consistent basis as a result of your overall pattern of eating on the regular and your lifestyle choices. Eating a diet rich in high glycemic carbohydrates also lowers insulin growth factor binding protein 3. This protein is a gamechanger for your skin because guess what? Normally it binds to the same receptors that our topical retinoids do to help modulate proper skin cell turnover.

Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Affects Your Skin

When insulin-like growth factor 1 is persistently elevated, not only does it signal to the oil gland to make more oil, making your skin greasy and shiny, but it also causes the oil gland cells to proliferate.

Milk Consumption and Acne Associations

So, specifically looking at milk consumption, in several studies, there is an association between consumption of cow’s milk and acne. Some of the thought process behind looking at this is that cow’s milk is high in casein and whey protein, which are known to increase insulin-like growth factor One.

Skim Milk and Acne: Possible Connections

This association seems particularly tight not just with dairy across the board, but with skim milk in particular.. Just because we see this association sometimes, again, the research is a bit all over the place.

Milk’s Role in Inflammation and Acne

Or what I suspect is milk guilty by association of other dietary patterns that have a negative impact on inflammation, acne, and oil production, such as pouring that skim milk over a huge bowl of frosted flakes, high glycemic load.

Observations from Dairy-Free Communities

We really should keep looking at this association because there is also the observation that in certain communities where there is no dairy consumption, they have no acne. Specifically, no dairy consumption and no consumption of high glycemic processed sugary carbohydrates. But of course, that could also be related to their genetics. Who knows?

Effects of Low Adiponectin on Skin

And this can definitely have an impact on inflammation, on skin problems, on how your skin looks, and also on oil production and acne breakouts. As a matter of fact, acne patients are found to have lower levels of adiponectin.

Focus on Oiliness and Acne Breakouts

A lot of what we know about how diet impacts our skin does seem to focus on oiliness and acne breakouts. But I also want to highlight another adverse effect of high glycemic load diets on our skin specifically and that is in the glycation process.

Further Discussion on Sallowness

And recently I did a video all about skin sallowness and I touched on how diet is a big influence on sallowness. So definitely check that video out.

How IGF-1 Affects Keratinocytes

And we see the skin manifestations of these persistently elevated levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 in that this hormone actually binds to receptors on keratinocytes. Like I said, it stimulates the keratinocytes, the cells that line your pore to divide and get stuck together.

Skin Tags and Hypoglycemic Diets

That is actually a warning sign of insulin resistance. Check out my video on warning signs of insulin resistance. I talk about acanthosis nigricans. Also, those pesky little skin tags may also be to a certain extent related to insulin-like growth factor being persistently elevated as a result of a hypoglycemic diet.

Areas Prone to Skin Tags

These tend to occur often in areas of friction like under the arms, under the breasts, or the sides of the neck where maybe a necklace is constantly rubbing or your collar.

Dietary Choices and the Gut Microbiome

The other thing we need to talk about with regards to how our dietary choices impact our skin that cannot be ignored is how our dietary choices impact our gut microbiome, the bacteria and all the little critters in our gut.

Acne and Inflammation in Different Communities

And again, if you look in communities that don’t eat this way, they tend to have no or significantly less acne as well as other inflammatory health problems, metabolic diseases.

Skin Signs of Internal Issues

This shows up on your face in the formation of not just acne breakouts, but oiliness, dull skin, uneven skin tone, blotchiness, redness, but it’s a signal of something deeper going on internally, especially once you get to the point where you are showing those skin manifestations of insulin resistance.

Benefits of Dietary Modification for Skin and Gut

The good news is that by modifying the diet and adopting a diet that is low in ultraprocessed refined sugary carbohydrates that incorporates abundant fruits, vegetables, as well as including omega-3 fatty acids in the diet can definitely have a positive impact on the gut microbiome and on reducing total body inflammation and skin problems.

Potential for Skin Improvement with Diet

And as a result, the skin potentially can improve as well.

Importance of Dietary Fiber Intake

Dietary fiber intake is a big thing that should be taken into account when attempting to improve your diet to improve the balance of microbes in your gut to favor a healthy gut microbiome and reduce inflammation.

Polyphenols and Antioxidants Help Skin

Polyphenols and antioxidants from fruits and vegetables taken together, they help your skin in so many ways. Not only with reducing inflammation that can lead to breakouts, but also they help in slowing the skin aging process to a more reasonable rate.

Realistic Expectations on Skin Aging

Because I’m not about pretending like we can halt skin aging or that we should desire that. I’m talking about let’s bring, let’s dial it at a reasonable rate.

What Is a Healthy Aging Rate?

What we want, what is a good rate for our health, like what is consistent with our time here on this planet.

Caution on Antioxidant Supplements

I caution you when it comes to antioxidant supplements. They definitely can backfire because like I said, you can have too much of a good thing and taking in high amounts of antioxidants. It’s actually been associated with several negative health effects.

Risks of High-Dose Antioxidant Supplements

So, with high amounts of antioxidants, I’m not talking about eating a ton of vegetables and plants and things of that sort. I’m talking about supplements where it’s concentrated, very high, abnormal, not normal.

That really can backfire like vitamin E, for example, in supplement form, not from foods but vitamin E from supplements, is associated with an increased risk of cancers and so I don’t suggest going the supplement route when it comes to antioxidants.

Supplement Use: A Potentially Dangerous Game

I think that that is playing a potentially dangerous game especially when we have so many excellent food sources.

PCOS and Related Skin Conditions

Now, a lot of you guys struggle with a metabolic condition known as polycystic ovary syndrome and you find my videos here about acne, about hirsutism, about pattern hair loss. These are conditions that affect women with PCOS because they often struggle with insulin resistance.

Diet Support for PCOS

Come here seeking ways to perhaps change up their diet to support their overall health. And so some of the things we have highlighted today, they’re not going to cure PCOS. They’re not going to cure fertility issues that you might have. They’re not going to cure any underlying insulin resistance, but they definitely can impact these things positively or something that you really really need to consider.

Myoinositol Supplement for PCOS

You guys know I’m not a big promoter of dietary supplements, but a dietary supplement specifically for PCOS and this insulin resistance and the acne breakout specifically that I have actually dedicated it’s called myoinositol.

Research on Myoinositol and Acne Reduction

And there’s actually some good, promising research on supplementing with this for PCOS and showing a reduction in acne specifically in women who have PCOS who have the signs of hyperandrogenism, the androgen hormones causing more oiliness.

Hormonal Effects on Hair and Skin in PCOS

The insulin-like growth factor causing more oiliness, causing more acne breakouts, causing the hair follicles on your scalp to miniaturize and to lead to pattern hair loss, causing the hair follicles on your face, you know, flip side to respond by forming coarse terminal hairs.

Thoughts on Dairy and Genetics

I don’t believe that eliminating dairy is necessary because there are many communities out there who do consume dairy and have no acne and it’s not always consistent. I also think it may be related to our genetics. You know, some groups of people do not process dairy well. They don’t digest milk, for example, well at all.