Consuming foods with a high glycemic load, such as white bread and pasta, can cause acne in some people.
Note: fructose has a different pathway (needs to be processed by the liver first), but you should still watch out for fruits because excessive fructose is associated with higher risk of NAFLD.
Other acne pathways which are effected by carbs include: forms of gut dysbiosis (Candida overgrowth, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), Insulin resistance, IGF-1
If you're going to cut out carbs, make sure you're getting enough fats otherwise you'll feel depleted
A low-glycemic-load diet improves symptoms in acne vulgaris patients: a randomized controlled trial. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/86.1.107 - although there are claims that the results of this come from higher fiber, higher omega-3, and lower saturated–fat.
Smith, R. N., Braue, A., Varigos, G. A., & Mann, N. J. (2008). The effect of a low glycemic load diet on acne vulgaris and the fatty acid composition of skin surface triglycerides. Journal of dermatological science, 50(1), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdermsci.2007.11.005
Sadowska-Przytocka, A., Gruszczyńska, M., Ostałowska, A., Antosik, P., Czarnecka-Operacz, M., Adamski, Z., & Łącka, K. (2022). Insulin resistance in the course of acne - literature review. Postepy dermatologii i alergologii, 39(2), 231–238. https://doi.org/10.5114/ada.2021.107101
(edited)
Chipchanged the channel name: Consumption - High Carb Diet1/12/2023 12:10 PM
Interestingly, another trial on glycemic index found no difference in acne between groups. In my opinion, this could potentially be because macronutrient distribution or fiber content was the same between both groups:
Reynolds, R. C., Lee, S., Choi, J. Y., Atkinson, F. S., Stockmann, K. S., Petocz, P., & Brand-Miller, J. C. (2010). Effect of the glycemic index of carbohydrates on Acne vulgaris. Nutrients, 2(10), 1060–1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu2101060
A study comparing low glycemic load diet plus benzoyl peroxide versus benzoyl peroxide alone for acne found no significant difference in acne improvement, despite metabolic benefits in the diet group:
Pavithra, G., Upadya, G., & Rukmini, M. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of topical benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel with a low glycemic load diet versus topical benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel with a normal diet in acne (grades 1-3). Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, 85, 486 - 490. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijdvl.IJDVL_109_17.(edited)
Excessive carb intake also depletes key nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin D, chromium, and B vitamins, which is implicated in acne. See #deleted-channel
In total, 82 (25.2%) participants were in the clinical acne group and 240 (74.5%) were in the reference group. There were 155 (48.1%) participants in the yin-PG and 167 (51.9%) in the yang-PG group. No association of diet and acne was found when the participants were considered as a homogenous group.
In yin-PG, intake of foods from street stalls (P = 0.04) was significantly associated with a lower incidence of acne.
In yang-PG, the intake of desserts (P = 0.04) and fresh fruit juices (P = 0.02) was significantly associated with a higher incidence of acne, whereas the intake of dairy and soy products (P = 0.04) was significantly associated with a lower incidence of acne.
Law, M. P., Chuh, A. A., Molinari, N., & Lee, A. (2010). An investigation of the association between diet and occurrence of acne: a rational approach from a traditional Chinese medicine perspective. Clinical and experimental dermatology, 35(1), 31–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2230.2009.03360.x
Acne severity, IGF-1 levels affected by various acne treatments and diet (Mediterannean diet vs Western Diet):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8969872/
A low glycemic index and glycemic load diet decreased IGF-1 concentrations in adults with moderate to severe acne after 2 weeks, but did not significantly affect glucose, insulin, or IGFBP-3 concentrations or insulin resistance.
Burris, J., Shikany, J., Rietkerk, W., & Woolf, K. (2018). A Low Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Diet Decreases Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 among Adults with Moderate and Severe Acne: A Short-Duration, 2-Week Randomized Controlled Trial.. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 118 10, 1874-1885 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2018.02.009.
"The 45-day active phase of VLCKD demonstrated notable improvements in acne severity, and these improvements seemed to be attributable to the known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of VLCKD. "
Note: they were also taking supplements on this regimen
Verde, L., Frias-Toral, E., Cacciapuoti, S., Simancas-Racines, D., Megna, M., Caiazzo, G., Potestio, L., Maisto, M., Tenore, G. C., Colao, A., Savastano, S., Muscogiuri, G., & Barrea, L. (2024). Very low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD): a therapeutic nutritional tool for acne?. Journal of translational medicine, 22(1), 322. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-024-05119-5(edited)
Albalat, W., Darwish, H., Abd-Elaal, W. H., AbouHadeed, M. H., & Essam, R. (2022). The potential role of insulin-like growth factor 1 in acne vulgaris and its correlation with the clinical response before and after treatment with metformin. Journal of cosmetic dermatology, 21(11), 6209–6214. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.15210
Sharma, S., Mathur, D., Paliwal, V., & Bhargava, P. (2019). Efficacy of Metformin in the Treatment of Acne in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A Newer Approach to Acne Therapy.. The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology, 12 5, 34-38 .
Robinson, S., Kwan, Z., & Tang, M. (2019). Metformin as an adjunct therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe acne vulgaris: A randomized open‐labeled study. Dermatologic Therapy, 32. https://doi.org/10.1111/dth.12953.
Kamboj, P., Kaushik, A., Handa, S., Dutta, P., Saikia, U., Pal, A., & De, D. (2023). Effects of metformin on clinical, hormonal and relevant gene expression parameters in patients of acne - an observational study.. Clinical and experimental dermatology. https://doi.org/10.1093/ced/llad020.
Deng, Y., Jiang, S., Huang, Y., Tan, X., Huang, Y., Chen, L., Xu, J., Xiong, X., Zhou, J., & Xu, Y. (2023). Metformin Contributes to the Therapeutic Effects of Acne Vulgaris by Modifying the Gut Microbiome. Dermatologic Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/9336867.
Sadati, M. S., Yazdanpanah, N., Shahriarirad, R., Javaheri, R., & Parvizi, M. M. (2023). Efficacy of metformin vs. doxycycline in treating acne vulgaris: An assessor-blinded, add-on, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Journal of cosmetic dermatology, 22(10), 2816–2823. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.15785
"In patients with altered metabolic profiles such as PCOS, metformin seems to be superior to isotretinoin"
Elham, Behrangi, et al. "The effect of metformin in the treatment of intractable and late onset acne: a comparison with oral isotretinoin." Iranian Journal of Dermatology 22.2 (2019): 47-52.(edited)
A significantly higher number of respondents with severe/moderate anxiety were convinced that acne breakouts were affected by diet (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.23−1.87, p < 0.001) and foods with a high glycemic index (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.23−1.94, p < 0.001).
Kostecka, M., Kostecka, J., Szwed-Gułaga, O., Jackowska, I., & Kostecka-Jarecka, J. (2022). The Impact of Common Acne on the Well-Being of Young People Aged 15-35 Years and the Influence of Nutrition Knowledge and Diet on Acne Development. Nutrients, 14(24), 5293. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14245293
