If you struggle with acne and it seems like absolutely nothing is working, try turning your focus away from your skincare regime and take a closer look at the foods you’re putting into your body. You’ve heard it a million times before–what you eat directly affects your skin. But have you considered what you drink, too?
When our face breaks out, our first instinct is not to think back to what we consumed the day before, but that’s not a bad idea. Sometimes acne flare-ups and breakouts are a direct result of our diet, drinks and all.
To get a better understanding on what drinks are toxic for our skin, we spoke with Dr. Purvisha Patel, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare.
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The worst drink for your skin in you have acne: milk.
“Believe it or not, it is milk. There is a correlation between acne and increased milk consumption,” said Dr. Purvisha.
While most adults don’t go around chugging a gallon of milk every day, you might consume it more than you realize--especially if you put it in your coffee every morning.
“Cows in today’s western world are stimulated to lactate and produce milk by giving them hormones or prolactin. They are also stimulated to grow by feeding them hormones. This is true with most of the meat consumed in the US, but cows have the biggest carbon imprint and effect on the consumers of their milk/meat as the hormones are consumed as well,” explained Dr. Purvisha. “This slurry of hormones affects humans too. Babies are able to grow from cows milk as the growth factors are similar to ours. This in turn can stimulate hormonal increases in sebum production, which can increase acne.”
While drinking a sip or two of milk here and there won’t cause your entire face to breakout, there are good reasons to avoid it as much as possible if you have acne-prone skin.
“The hormone receptors in follicles can get clogged and increase oil production in the follicles when stimulated,” said Dr. Purvisha.
When the oil production in your skin increases, it causes clogged pores and in turn, will spark more pimples on your face.
