Why I Recommend Avoiding Dairy For Teen Acne

Dairy has been identified in a number of studies as contributing to acne, and eliminating it is generally top of my hit list for supporting teen acne. Here’s why!

Cow’s dairy contains a protein that can contribute to hormone imbalances and inflammation. Dairy with the protein A1 can cause increased levels of insulin, a hormone called IGF-1, and an enzyme called mTOR. These stimulate keratin, inflammation, and sebum production—all of which contribute to acne. 

Insulin, in particular, drives androgens, and androgens regulate the sebum or oil in our hair follicle

Androgens are a group of sex hormones. They help kick off puberty and they play a role in reproductive health and the body development that we undergo in adolescence.

High androgens can contribute to acne via their affect on the oil on our skin. Living in our hair follicle, we have a bacteria called Cutibacterium acnes or c.acnes for short. It is a pretty cute name for something that causes a situation that most of us don't think is cute! C.acnes feed on the oil on our skin. (This is why some products with particular types of oil in them can cause acne.) So in a balanced non-acne state, a regulated amount of oil is being produced, which keeps the bacteria level down. When our androgens are high, this can increase the oil in the hair follicle and the bacteria that feeds on our oil multiply, causing inflammation and pimples. The more androgens, the more oil the more bacteria, the more pimples.

Don’t want to eliminate dairy altogether? Just try leaving out cow’s milk (or at the very least switch to A2) & keep a little butter, yoghurt & hard cheese

It doesn’t necessarily have to be forever, but doing it solidly for 6 weeks is a great start. After 6 weeks, you can start to reintroduce a little dairy to your teen’s diet. Some people find dairy isn’t a big trigger for them at all, or that yoghurt is tolerated, and others find that dairy with the A2 protein works for them. Others can’t tolerate dairy at all. The response is very individual, and sometimes it takes a little experimenting to work out if dairy is a trigger for your teen. But best to start with a proper 6 week elimination of cow’s milk products. (If they want to, they can keep eating small amounts of butter.)  And the great news is, there are now LOADS of delicious dairy alternatives on the market, from soy or nut mylks, coconut yoghurt to cashew cheese!

The goal through your teen’s diet, is to regulate their insulin and their cortisol production so they can make appropriate sex hormones and stabilise their production of androgens. Removing dairy can help us to achieve this.

PS Looking for more support? Check out my Inside-Out Teen Acne Approach eBook HERE