by Seppo Puusa.
We all know the advertisements where celebrities sport the milk mustache and ask `Got Milk?`. However studies suggest that a more accurate question would be: `Got milk? Got acne?` This article explores how hormones and allergenic proteins in milk could contribute to acne.
At least three large-scale studies reported in the American Journal of Dermatology found a link between drinking milk and acne. NaturalNews reported about a study that found those who drank two or three glasses of milk a day had 44% higher chance of developing severe acne.
Most studies on acne and milk were conducted on teenagers. But anecdotal evidence from thousands of adults suggests that milk also affects adult acne. As many adult acne victims report their skin gets better after quitting milk and dairy products.
But how can a glass of `nature`s perfect food` wreck such disaster on your skin?
In many ways - it seems.
Drinking milk leads to a similar hormonal reaction than blood sugar problems do. Further milk can increase inflammation throughout the body.
Though this article only talks about the link between milk and acne, this also applies to all dairy products.
Milk opens the sebum tap
Almost all commercial milk comes from pregnant cows. Milk from pregnant cows contains hormones that are close to hormones that signal the skin cells to produce more sebum.
Milk contains dihydrotestosterone (DHT) precursors, including 5a-pregnanedione and 5a-androstanedione. These hormones are only few steps away from DHT. For acne victims more DHT equals bad news. DHT signals the skin glands to produce more sebum. That`s one reason researchers agree DHT is a prime acnegen.
To make matters even worse skin glands already contain the enzymes required for converting these precursors to DHT. And that means the precursors in milk are immediately converted to DHT.
Milk and IGF-1
DHT is not the only way milk can cause acne. Milk contains an array of powerful growth hormones. That shouldn`t come as a surprise as milk is supposed to make things grow. By drinking milk a newborn calf turns into 1.5 ton steer.
Insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is one of the growth hormones found in milk. IGF-1 is problematic for acne victims for two reasons. It increases sebum production, and it stimulates the growth of skin cells. The faster the skin cells grow the faster they also die. That means more dead skin cells to block the pores. Consequently it also leads to faster aging of the skin.
Unfortunately the bovine version of IGF-1 is identical with humans.
Milk, insulin and acne
Insulin is another link between milk and acne.
Higher insulin levels usually mean higher rates of acne. Insulin alone stimulates sebum production, but more significant than that is the fact that insulin levels correlate with the levels of IGF-1 and several sex hormones. These hormones are closely linked to acne.
Drinking milk significantly increases insulin levels, as dairy industry`s own studies confirm.
Milk and inflammation
Inflammation is the other side of `acne coin`.
Inflammation turns blocked pores into big, red and painful pimples. Inflammation is the body`s response to injury and harmful substances (such as bacteria, virus, chemicals and toxins). Inflammation happens when the immune system attacks invaders and clears foreign substances from the bloodstream.
Unfortunately milk doesn`t have to be as pure white as fresh, fallen snow to end into your fridge. Most milk has measurable quantities of herbicides, pesticides, dioxins (up to 200 times the safe levels), up to 52 powerful antibiotics, blood, pus, feces, bacteria and viruses.
Most dairy cows live in miserable conditions and are riddled with infections. The cow’s immune system produces white blood cells to fight off bacteria and virus. Both white blood cells, commonly referred as pus cells, and bacteria end up into milk. The dairy industry calls pus cells somatic cells and refers to their presence as the somatic cell count (SCC).
What about raw milk
Many health conscious individuals make a sharp distinction between raw and processed milk. Raw milk is said to be health promoting substance.
Of the two raw milk is the healthier choice. Raw and organic milk usually comes from healthier cows (as they are kept in better condition). This means the milk contains less pus, bacteria, chemicals and other pollutants. Processing also makes milk more allergenic. Raw milk is unprocessed and in its natural state. Hence drinkers of raw milk suffer fewer allergic reactions.
