Diseases of Civilization: Acne
Acne is one of the most common diseases of civilization, occurring in most populations around the world. It may not be as deadly as others like cancer and heart disease but it can signal an unhealthy diet or illness. How it occurs: Acne forms when a hair follicle is clogged by dead skin cells and sebum. Bacteria may be trapped in the follicle too, producing puss and causing inflammation. You usually see the worst acne in teenagers, when they are going through puberty.
This article presents interesting data concerning the absence of acne in the Kitavan islanders, and Ache hunter gatherers in Paraguay, as well as anecdotal evidence from medical professionals that acne was absent in Inuit and islander populations. These populations eat mostly natural foods like meats, fruits, vegetables; which are also all low glycemic index foods. There's not a lot of dairy, grains, sugar, or oils in their diets according to this source. Interestingly though, the article mentions that 3/4 Kitavans are smokers. The Ache people were similar, a population of hunter gatherers that were contacted and introduced to western good like bread, sugar, and tea in the 1970s. Following the introduction of western diet, diseases associated with it did not become more common.
This resource is good if you want to read about how the western diet influences the hormones and metabolic processes in the body. More specifically, the high glycemic index foods that are in the western diet can increase levels of insulin and IGF-1. The increase of these hormones leads to more sebum being produced. A really interesting fact from this article states that teens are more susceptible to acne because when you're still growing insulin resistance is a natural part of tissue growth. The article talks about the Academy of Dermatology not being able to say that "food causes acne", mostly because of papers written in the late 1900s, like one paper that specifically tested whether or not chocolate was a cause (the experiment showed that it didn't cause acne)
This source has links to quite a few different studies that support the claim that milk itself may not be to blame for acne. Yogurt and cheese don't have any conclusive studies yet. Skim milk is shown to cause more acne, probably due to added sugars and whey protein. Milk also has naturally occurring hormones which can affect IGF-1. Fermented dairy, according to this source, was also shown to be correlated with decreasing acne.
There's quite a bit of evidence that shows that the western diet mainly causes/exacerbates acne due to sugar and hormones.
Sources
Is Acne Fed by the Western Diet? (webmd.com)
Acne Vulgaris: A Disease of Western Civilization | Acne | JAMA Dermatology | JAMA Network
Dairy and Acne: How They’re Connected, The Myth and the Science (dermcollective.com)
The age-old problem of acne - ScienceDirect This article is pretty interesting, it just kind of goes through how acne was described in history
Megan,
ReplyDeleteI love your choice of topic! Acne is something that most people will struggle with at some points in their lives, to varying degrees, but nevertheless is very prevalent and something we can all understand or relate to. I find your discussion on acnes relationship to what we eat to be super interesting. I always knew that diet impacted acne but never knew how much/if you eliminated certain foods you and the people around you could have little to no acne at all! Very cool!