Skimmed milk 'can trigger acne'

[Demi]

Though not about low carbing per se, I thought I would post this interesting article here anyway.


The Daily Mail, UK
25 February, 2005

Women who drink more than two servings of skimmed milk every day risk developing acne, researchers have found.

The study discovered that women who have two or more servings of skimmed milk are 44 per cent more likely to develop severe acne.

The research, involving more than 47,000 women, blamed the presence of hormones and bioactive molecules in milk for triggering the condition.

The US study was based on analysis of survey responses from 47,335 women involved in an ongoing health study.

Researchers also found women who drank more than three daily servings of any type of milk are 22 per cent more likely to suffer from acne.

The report said: "We found a positive association with acne for intake of total milk and skim milk.

"We hypothesise that the association with milk may be because of the presence of hormones and bioactive molecules in milk."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=339254&in_page_id=1774



"We hypothesise that the association with milk may be because of the presence of hormones and bioactive molecules in milk."
... perhaps they should read Don't Drink Your Milk (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0945383347/qid=1109422192/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0898488-9761432?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Frank Oski, which gives an excellent explanation of the milk/acne connection.

As a teenager, I never had spots or acne, and my daughter is the same - neither of us drink milk (I've always hated the taste). However, you can always tell when my son has been drinking too much - he ends up with a face full of spots.

[seyont]

Milk does have a spot in low-carb discussions, but it's a little shaky. 2% milk is 40-30-30, which may sound familiar. Full milk takes you further into low-carbing, but a quart of raw whole milk a day (or, as my appalled girlfriend likes to think of it, untreated sewage) does start you off with 45g of carbs. That's probably not going to make the Atkins' Greatest Hits list.

[LukeA]

Wonder if they did the same thing with milk that was from cows that werent treated with growth hormones it would be different? ;) Canada doesnt allow the use of growth hormone in dairy cows, unlike the united states.

[qwert123]

DAIRY CAUSED ACNE IN ME BIG TIME...stopped ALL dairy and cut back sugars and bad fatty meats..and skin is clearn

[TBoneMitch]

I had a lot of acne (esp. in the back) before going LC.

I saw a dermatologist in 1998 who gave me antibiotics. It helped for the time I took them, but the pimples came back with a vengeance when I stopped. I went to her again in 1999 and she wanted to give me accutane. I refused.

Now, eating a lot of fatty meat and dairy (since around 2002), my skin is clear and I tan much better.

[ItsTheWooo]

Wonder if they did the same thing with milk that was from cows that werent treated with growth hormones it would be different? ;) Canada doesnt allow the use of growth hormone in dairy cows, unlike the united states.

I agree. I'm more inclined to think it's the hormones we give dairy cows. This may just be placebo effect but when I drink milk that is from untreated cows (it's available where I live) I have no problems with acne, but if I get other brands I start breaking out. Also, I am prone to PCOS so when my carbs get out of control I break out, milk or no milk.

[ceberezin]

Since the subject is acne, I thought I would relate the following story. I recently took my teenage son to the doctor for treatment of some moderate acne. The doctor could see that I understood medical information, so he gave me a paper on the treatment of acne. In return, I offered him a copy of the Eades’ paper on hyperinsulinemia which discusses how insulin impairs the metabolic pathways that can trigger acne.

The paper he gave me detailed various interventions for acne and contained the information that acne cannot be controlled by diet. I sent a letter to the doctor along with the Eades’ paper explaining why I thought this information was wrong because the paper did not consider low carbohydrate diets.

In a follow-up call, I asked him whether he had read the paper I sent him, and he got very flustered. He said that he didn’t know what to make of that kind of information and that he only knew what he was told. In trying to understand his reaction, it occurred to me that the paper he had given me was all about treatment, but that the Eades’ paper was scientific and made no suggestions about treatment. He seemed uninterested in the scientific information and was only interested in treatment information since that was what his patients expected of him. I was wrong to have thought that I could have a scientific discussion with this doctor. Doctors are not scientists.

BTW, my son had been drinking skimmed milk and cut it out when I first saw this article back in February, but it didn’t have much effect on his acne. The tube of prescription ointment that we got cost $150.

[DebPenny]

Now, eating a lot of fatty meat and dairy (since around 2002), my skin is clear and I tan much better.Mitch, that's interesting what you say about tanning. I've always had trouble tanning. I turn pink, sunburn, but it just faded, no matter how much sun I got. This year (and I've been lowcarbing for 3 1/2 years now -- but little dairy) I'm tanning! So much so that people are noticing. It's kind of fun, ;) And at 48, a big surprise. And my avatar no longer does me justice. :lol:

[Dodger]

Mitch, that's interesting what you say about tanning. I've always had trouble tanning. I turn pink, sunburn, but it just faded, no matter how much sun I got. This year (and I've been lowcarbing for 3 1/2 years now -- but little dairy) I'm tanning! So much so that people are noticing. It's kind of fun, ;) And at 48, a big surprise. And my avatar no longer does me justice. :lol:

Deb,

Time for a new avatar for you. Lets see the tanned sun-loving lady!

[DebPenny]

Deb,

Time for a new avatar for you. Lets see the tanned sun-loving lady!Maybe after this weekend. I'm going boating on Lake Tahoe with friends. ;)

[seyont]

Anyone have some good links or theories for this tanning issue? I also switched to higher fat and lots of raw dairy quite a while ago and now I tan like crazy. No need for sunscreen anymore, either.

[TBoneMitch]

Unfortunately, I do not have any references, but here's my personal take on it...

I suppose it is simply due to the fact that our skin gets better and healthier on LC/high fat.
Thus, it is more able to whitstand stress (such as sunlight) and more capable of generating defense mechanisms (tanning) in response to that stress.

Just a sign of a better nourished organism adapting itself better to its environment's challenges!

[ProfGumby]

Funny you mention that, about the healthier skin I mena...

My shkin too looks healthier, I do not have the really nasty dry skin and sandpaper elbows or the (what I can assume) dead skin build up on my ankles etc.. My fingernails are harder now too! I am also sure my teeth are better now too...

No scientific reasons, or diagnosis to back that up, just an observation.

I also do believe all the hormones they pump milk cows with and the enriched crap they feed them has a lot to do with a lot of the problems we see these days...

Garbage in, garbage out and you are what you eat works for cows as it does for people!

[ItsTheWooo]

My skin is healthier in that it's not as greasy and I almost never get breakouts. I don't have those dark spots in the folds of skin, and I also don't get ashy elbows and knees anymore (I think that's an insulin thing).
I always tanned well since I'm so mixed :).

However I now get thin hair, dry skin & brittle nails which was never a problem before. I always had moist skin and fast growing, clear nails. Before PCOS my hair was very thick too. I think this is less of a low carb problem and more of a being too thin / rapid weight loss problem (being too thin makes your thyroid do weird things, hair nails and skin is affected).

[K Walt]

. . . He seemed uninterested in the scientific information and was only interested in treatment information since that was what his patients expected of him. I was wrong to have thought that I could have a scientific discussion with this doctor. Doctors are not scientists.

I think we forget that sometimes. Their job isn't science, it's 'what pill/treatment do I give for this ailment?' And I don't meant to be disparaging. It's what patients go to the doctor FOR.

A while back, when I was writing training programs for pharmaceutical sales reps, the overall mission was to get the 'Doc' (the pharma term for them). . . to get the Doc to remember. . . 'bellyache, purple pill, backache, green pill.' The pharmaceutical companies I worked with had a barely disguised disdain for doctors. They were 'dopes' they could con into prescribing their meds. Or 'greedy dopes' they could pay to give a paper at a conference.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

[ItsTheWooo]

I think we forget that sometimes. Their job isn't science, it's 'what pill/treatment do I give for this ailment?' And I don't meant to be disparaging. It's what patients go to the doctor FOR.

A while back, when I was writing training programs for pharmaceutical sales reps, the overall mission was to get the 'Doc' (the pharma term for them). . . to get the Doc to remember. . . 'bellyache, purple pill, backache, green pill.' The pharmaceutical companies I worked with had a barely disguised disdain for doctors. They were 'dopes' they could con into prescribing their meds. Or 'greedy dopes' they could pay to give a paper at a conference.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

I have long lost my unquestioning faith in the infallibility & knowledgeability of doctors, but I had no idea things were that grim. Just going to a doctor and actually paying attention is enough for you to "get" they are only interested in pharmaceutical-aided symptom management and completely unconcerned with the overall health of the patient. But I had no idea that pharma ran the show like that.

[Dodger]

My skin is healthier in that it's not as greasy and I almost never get breakouts. I don't have those dark spots in the folds of skin, and I also don't get ashy elbows and knees anymore (I think that's an insulin thing).
I always tanned well since I'm so mixed :).

However I now get thin hair, dry skin & brittle nails which was never a problem before. I always had moist skin and fast growing, clear nails. Before PCOS my hair was very thick too. I think this is less of a low carb problem and more of a being too thin / rapid weight loss problem (being too thin makes your thyroid do weird things, hair nails and skin is affected).

While my fingernails seem to be no more brittle than before, my leukonychia has gone away. And I have just noticed that my elbows are no longer 'rough' feeling. I have had 'rough' elbows my hole life and for the first time ever, they are smooth.

I have not burned since I began low carbing three years ago, and I have quit using sunscreen the last two summers. I now tan instead of burning.

Leukonychia are those white spots that fingernails get.

[K Walt]

I seem too, to be less effected by the sun. I always tanned easily, but now, I can tan in the glow of my computer screen.

And for some reason, I don't feel as compelled to wear sunglasses in the sun. Before, I could barely open my eyes on the beach. Now, not such a problem. Maybe my eyes are simply growing dim. Or maybe my eyelashes got furrier.

[tom sawyer]

My complexion is much better on LC. I personally don't believe its the hormones in milk that are the problem, its just the carbs. I have correlated my breakouts of acne (minor compared to the pre-LC) to come a couple of days after a significant carb cheat, whether it is from dairy or not.

And if its hormones or bio-active molecules, whose to say its the ones the farmers are giving the cows? There are natural hormones in milk are there not?

[tom sawyer]

As for LC making your skin healthier, that sounds quite reasonable since the same sort of thing happens with dogs and cats. Give a pet cheap food with low protein, and its coat and skin are going to look like crap. Its the same with us.

[dasanipure]

i wonder which macronutrient is reponsible for improved skin: protein or fat? obviously, a bit of both, but i really wonder: which one is more important?

[TBoneMitch]

I may not answer your question, but protein will supply amino acids to repair the myriad proteins that compose the skin organ.

Fat will help hydrate the skin, partly because its oxidation (burning) gives rise to more H2O than an equal amount of glucose.

[kwikdriver]

i wonder which macronutrient is reponsible for improved skin: protein or fat? obviously, a bit of both, but i really wonder: which one is more important?

My skin has gotten better -- no dry elbows, and a small wart I had on my finger that didn't respond to any other treatment (I even cut it off and it grew back in a month) has shrunk to where it's almost gone; I think in another month or two it will be gone. Yet, I eat less fat and protein now than I did before low carbing, by a lot. I don't think it's an issue of what you eat that's responsible, but what you don't. Perhaps carbs inhibit immune system response. I know warts are a sort of infection, so if my immune system is working better it makes sense that a wart would shrink.

[TBoneMitch]

Good point KwikDriver, carbs do affect the immune system in a negative way.

Plus, the fact is also that they put the endocrine system out of balance, so these imbalances are improved by a low carb diet.

This is the gist of the Life Without Bread book.

[tom sawyer]

That is true, I believe that carbs put you in a state of constant inflammation that makes your body much more easily irritated by a variety of external factors. This includes things like asthma and acne, as well as vascular problems. I hope this is true, I am betting my life on it. I've seen the results with acne and asthma, and my blood lipid propfile is fine so I am hoping to outlive my father and not experience the heart disease he did in his early 50's.

As for whether it is fat or protein, the better pet foods tend to be high protein, but I don't know that they aren't also higher in fat. I'd think it is safe to say that it is a combination of both. Protein for building healthy skin proteins, and fat for providing proper skin oils that soften and protect the skin. You don't have to use lotion if you are making your own right?

[qwert123]

I already have enough oils for my skin...esp hair..its so oily i have to wash it every day otherwise its disgusting....