The link between cow’s milk and acne has long been controversial. Back in 1924, Albert Hoge, a doctor, wrote in the Journal of American Medicine about the experience of one of his young patients who developed acne after his mother forced him to drink cow’s milk. Many people seem to develop an allergy to milk products which can cause skin rashes as well as digestive upsets. 

More and more scientists, doctors and nutritionists are convinced that cow’s milk can cause acne. This seems to be confirmed by a 2005 Harvard School of Public Healthy study, where people who drank three or more cups of milk a day were 22% more likely to experience severe acne compared with those who drank less. In fact, skimmed milk was more likely to cause acne than full-fat milk.

Let’s look at why drinking milk can cause acne? It has been suggested that drinking milk and eating dairy products originating from pregnant cows exposes us to an unnatural level of hormones. These hormones contain estrogens, progesterones and androgens which are metabolized by our bodies, leading to an over-production of oil in the sebaceous glands, one of the causes of acne. Furthermore, milk contains pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers and added hormones.

What we know is that at least 85% of teenagers suffer with acne and what do teenagers love to eat – cheese pizzas and milk chocolate. It can be difficult or almost impossible to wean teenagers off dairy products, but if they are suffering with severe acne then it may be worth eliminating all dairy products to see whether this clears up their acne.

Milk is rich in calcium, so it’s important to eat other calcium rich foods to replace dairy.  Here are some suggestions:

• Use soy milk fortified with calcium. I would certainly recommend that you buy organic soy milk.

• If you think that it’s impossible to give up cheese then don’t despair, there are some great non-dairy alternatives made from soy. Sprinkle it on your home-made pizzas – you won’t know the difference!

• Do you love desserts? Try soy yogurt which comes in different flavors.

• For chocolate addicts try dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is much healthier for you than milk chocolate as it contains antioxidants. Before you get excited, dark chocolate contains a lot of fat and calories: so, limit your consumption.

• Eat plenty of dark green leafy vegetables which are rich in calcium such as spinach and kale. Also, foods such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, sesame seeds, almonds, tofu, salmon and sardines are all rich in calcium.

If you thank that milk and dairy products are the culprit, then eliminate them from your diet for a fews weeks to see if it makes any differences. Make sure you replace dairy with other calcium rich foods.

Cow’s milk is not the only trigger for acne, so if you want to know more about acne and treatment, please make sure you take a look at my Clear Skin Guide website.

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