For years the answer was no. I can recall scene after scene wherein the mother would ask me this question. When I would say, no the teen would vigorously nod and tell him/her mom, I told you so or something to that effect.
However, now more and more evidence is surfacing that indeed acne is worsened by the typical high carb, high glycemic diet favored by teenaged Americans.
Even back when I as a resident, it was felt that seafood, especially shellfish with its high idodine content, was detrimental for acne. Add milk and milk products since often progesterone, an acnegenic hormone, was added to cow feed to enhance milk production.
Studies, later to be determined as poorly done, had shown that chocolate had no influence on acne ( E Mail if you are curious about those studies).
However, a few years ago an enterprising, or maybe vacation hungry, dermatololgist journeyed to an island i the South Pacific where the natives had perfect, blemish-free skin. He somehow coaxed them into consuming typical American fare.
Before he could say Pro-activ, the natives began to break out with typical acne lesions.
More recently Robyn Smith of Austrialia ( Journal of Clinical Nutrition) showed that a low glycemic glycemic diet made acne significantly better. Her subjects were males but subsequently but this was later proven to be stue for both subjects.
Even more recently, in fact two weeks ago, at the American Acadmey of Dermatology meeting in San Francisco, dermatologists from the University of Miami showed that 90% of the people who followed the South Beach diet had marked improvement in their acne.
So, I now tell my patients that diet can be very important in controlling the outbreaks of acne. Follwing the South Beach diet plan certainly is worth trying if your acne is stubborn an unresposive. It actually might not be a bad idea even if you are not afflicted with the teenage scourge.
