“Is dairy linked to acne?”

One of my lovely inquisitive Instagram followers asked me the question “do you think dairy is linked to acne?”.
I have heavily researched this topic and found that there is researched proof that dairy can in fact raise your testosterone levels and sugar can cause your insulin levels to spike.

It is widely believed that raised insulin and testosterone levels can both be a cause for acne in many people.

From personal experience, my blood tests, have indicated that my testosterone levels are higher than they should be and are most likely the predominant cause for my acne.
Having come to this conclusion I do not believe I am getting acne as a result of my dairy intake. I especially believe this as I don’t have very much dairy in my diet, even as a vegetarian.

Most of us consume dairy in many forms. Sometime we don’t even realise it.
Dairy, referring to the main source, milk. It is prevalent in our diet more often than we think. We use it to bake cakes and often munch on a milk chocolate bar. We also forget that we put the white stuff in our teas, coffees and hot chocolates! There is also cheese in infinite recipes.
I believe there is no such thing as hormone free milk. Milk is used to help things grow, including newborns in many species in their development stages.
Milk is full of anabolic hormones which contain androgens…including testosterone! Therefore if you drink a lot of milk, I’m guessing your testosterone level could be likely to increase and in turn may cause acne 😦
The other well known cause of acne is insulin which is also prevalent in our milk.

I am a vegetarian and unlike most I actually have a fairly low dairy intake which leads me to believe that dairy is definitely not the cause for raising my testosterone levels and in turn not the reason why I, personally, get acne.
Everyone’s body systems, skin and lifestyle are so different that it could be the cause of yours even though I do not think that it is the cause for mine?

If you believe your dairy and sugar intake could be causing your acne, then maybe cut out dairy from your diet for a few weeks and see if it helps?
Having said this, I actually believe a healthier way to do this is would be to have a well balanced an healthy diet whilst increase your estrogen rich food and in turn lessening your dairy intake rather than cutting it out all together.

(I have only looked into the testosterone and insulin being caused by milk as a dairy example. Insulin can also be spiked by a high sugar intake…maybe I will follow up with this another day 🙂 )