Lifestyle Choices

Anything that increases the sticking of cells to the skin or the secretion of sebum can cause acne. The three main influences are hormones, diet (and medications), and the products you use on your skin.

Hormones

These are those magical chemicals that are secreted by your endocrine glands to regulate your metabolism, your sexuality, your growth, your cycles, your mood and your reaction to stress. The hormones that affect your skin come primarily from your sexual organs and from your adrenal glands, the latter of which become more active when you feel either excitement or anxiety. When the adrenals are stimulated they produce more hormones.

An excess of male hormones (the level varies from individual to individual and from day to day) can lead to acne. The adrenal glands are not able to distinguish between physical fear, stress, ordinary anxiety or even great happiness, so any type of excitement, good or bad, can lead to the formation of blemishes.

Both men and women produce male androgen hormones and female estrogen hormones; however, obviously, the sexes differ in the ratio of these hormones to each other. When the relative amount of male hormones increases, as it does in certain growth spurts (particularly in teenagers), one of the results can be acne. Furthermore, just before the menstrual period in a woman, the estrogen levels are reduced and progesterone, which is chemically similar to male androgens, becomes dominant, often causing pre-menstrual acne.

A woman’s body has a higher androgen to estrogen ratio during ovulation and menstruation as well as at childbirth, so again acne can flare particularly at those times. Furthermore, certain birth control pills have relatively more progesterone which can cause acne flare-ups in some individuals..

Steroids may be necessary for treating certain diseases but are often misused by athletes to build muscles. High doses can cause a very particular kind of acne with flocks of pustules which form particularly on the upper chest and back. Also, steroid creams can cause similar pustules on the treated skin.

Diet

It is not a myth that what you eat can affect your face! The susceptibility is quite particular for each person. Some foods are well-known culprits, such as chocolate and nuts, though not everyone who eats these gets acne. You might get acne after eating just a particular kind of nut such as peanuts or pistachios or cashews, or after eating high-fat foods such as potato chips or even stir- fried Chinese food. Very frequently dairy products can cause acne in certain people, particularly rich cheeses, ice cream, and even yogurt. If you have acne and consume a lot of dairy products, consider stopping these for a while to see if your complexion improves.

Other foods which sound healthy, such as artichokes, spinach and kale as well as seaweed and shellfish, all have a high iodide content, which can cause acne even in individuals who ordinarily would not develop this condition. Also, some soft drinks contain brominated vegetable oils that can aggravate acne.

Similarly, some medications can cause acne, particularly those that contain bromides and iodides (as many medications for asthma and colds). Lithium, used in the treatment of manic- depression, almost always causes acne when a high dose is given. Other medications that have been reported to cause acne are the sedative phenobarbital, the tuberculosis medication isoniazid, phenyltoin (used for the treatment of epilepsy), and danazole (a synthetic androgen used for the treatment of endometriosis). Even certain vitamins, particularly multi-vitamins with iodides, may provoke acne. In all of these cases, the acne will clear up if the medication or vitamin is stopped.

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