Does Dairy Cause Acne?? :. Dairy Free Diet :. My Experience

Ever since I can remember, I always struggled with acne whether it was a few spots or a full on breakout. So I would always go online and try to find research that would link my diet, hormones, vitamin deficiency, etc. to acne. One of the things I came across was dairy; I found so many articles from doctors and scientists that claimed dairy was the cause of acne in some people, and that completely cutting out all dairy products from one's diet can give you clear skin. What can I say? I was intrigued! Read on to hear about my experience ...

This was a few years ago when my skin was at it's worst, so I was really excited to start this dairy free diet. I honestly felt like it would make a difference since there is so much research to suggest there is link between dairy and acne. Probably the main reason is hormones, which can be found in both organic produce and your regular dairy. The organic products will have slightly less hormones and they will be natural, whereas the regular dairy will come from cows that are pumped full of artificial hormones to make them produce more milk. Either way, these hormones are not intended for human consumption but are only useful to baby calves. There are also theories that dairy can cause excess sebum production and can also glue dead skin cells together, all of which can block pores and lead to acne breakouts. You might also be lactose intolerant, so your body will reject any type of dairy and cause all sorts of reactions including spots and other skin problems.

So after reading all of this I was obviously intrigued and decided to give the dairy free diet a go. At first I cut out milk and then I excluded all dairy products from my diet. I must admit it was difficult at first, especially all the yoghurt, cheese and ice cream which I eat on a daily basis! You would also be surprised how much hidden dairy there is in all the processed foods such as cakes, biscuits, sweets, etc. Milk didn't bother me that much as I found some great alternatives like soy, coconut and almond milk. There is a lot of controversy about soy products as well, and my experience definitely wasn't the best, so let me know if you would like to see a similar post on soy products!

Anyway, I went through with it for about a year; I can't remember exactly how long because it was a while ago. And it all boils down to this: I didn't see any improvement in my skin whatsoever and if anything it got worse. Now I don't know if that was due to soy, as that also contains hormones, or if my body just needs dairy to be healthy. Either way, my skin freaked out and decided to bless me with even more spots than I had before. How disappointed I was! I was not expecting my diet to fail so badly after a whole year of excluding all dairy produce. But then on the other hand, I realised that I could go back to eating all the foods I love without any damage to my skin! So it probably turned out for the best.

I don't wan't to deter you guys from trying this diet for yourself because it didn't work for me. I have a few friends who also went dairy free and they saw a massive improvement in their skin. So it is obviously very individual, and what works for one person will not necessarily work for another. Hence, I would highly recommend trying the dairy free diet as it might be the answer to your skin problems. Do continue with it for at least 2-3 months, as it takes a while to eliminate all traces of dairy from your system. Let me know how you get on and if you see any improvements in your skin! Or have you tried this diet already? Did it work for you?

xoxo

Anna