The myths about diet in acne conditions abound everywhere. Acne is a medical condition that has a number of different causes and the role your diet plays can be crucial to reducing the symptoms of acne as well as being part of a permanent cure.
However, to say that balancing a diet around nutrition, our busy lives, and the latest fad is a little confusing is an understatement. The key to understanding the role diet plays in acne is to understand what happens in our bodies after we eat food.
The processes that the body goes through are pretty complicated, and it’s outside the scope of this article to cover it all. Lets get a birds eye view so you can understand a little better how our diets affect our health and skin, to include acne conditions.
Once food is digested it is broken down into simple building blocks, that make up who we were. The simple building blocks I’m talking about are sugars, fats and proteins.
While they all play a different role in the body, the one we are going to take a closer look at are sugars or glucose.
Glucose is used by the body for energy. Every cell in the human body requires glucose in order for the cell to produce the energy it needs to function.
As glucose enters into the blood, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is the hormone that helps glucose get into the cells throughout the body. When blood glucose levels rise, so does the amount of insulin that is released.
The presence of insulin in the blood has effects on a number of other hormones including Cortisol.
As glucose is taken into the cells with the help of insulin, blood glucose levels drop and create a condition where there isn’t enough glucose in the blood, called hypoglycemia.
When this happens, cortisol is released from adrenal gland for a few reasons. 1st of all, cortisol counter-acts insulin. Secondly, cortisol reduces the body’s ability to use glucose throughout the body, leading to what’s called insulin-resistance. Also, cortisol creates glucose in the liver from glycogen, a process called gluconeogenesis.
When we eat certain foods, foods high on the glycemic index, blood sugar/blood glucose levels spike. Insulin levels rise quickly and rapidly drop blood glucose levels. As a result the blood glucose levels drop too much, creating a sugar crash, and cortisol is released to counter act the insulin in the blood to try and prevent any further drop in blood sugar. Gluconeogenesis also begins as the body tries to restore normal blood sugar levels. This series of events leads to high blood cortisol levels which begin to suppress the immune system. When this happens the body’s ability to fight the small infections within the pores diminishes.
Prolonged periods of high cortisol levels, as a result of a frequent, high glucose diet, also contribute to chronic low-level inflammation, which plays a role in the severity of acne conditions.
Insulin and IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor-1) also cause an increase in sebum production. Sebum is the substance that is secreted by sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands lie within the skin and secrete sebum into the pores of the skin. Sebum is directly related to typical acne formation, to include basic white heads and cystic acne.
This is by no means an encyclopedic explanation of the metabolic processes that occur when we eat. There are many sites available on the internet that provide excellent detailed information regarding the entire metabolic process. Those sites are great for school reports but no so much for information you can apply in your everyday life.
However, it should be clear to see how simple diet/food choices can have immediate effects on our bodies and long term effects on our skin and acne conditions.
However, to say that balancing a diet around nutrition, our busy lives, and the latest fad is a little confusing is an understatement. The key to understanding the role diet plays in acne is to understand what happens in our bodies after we eat food.
The processes that the body goes through are pretty complicated, and it’s outside the scope of this article to cover it all. Lets get a birds eye view so you can understand a little better how our diets affect our health and skin, to include acne conditions.
Once food is digested it is broken down into simple building blocks, that make up who we were. The simple building blocks I’m talking about are sugars, fats and proteins.
While they all play a different role in the body, the one we are going to take a closer look at are sugars or glucose.
Glucose is used by the body for energy. Every cell in the human body requires glucose in order for the cell to produce the energy it needs to function.
As glucose enters into the blood, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is the hormone that helps glucose get into the cells throughout the body. When blood glucose levels rise, so does the amount of insulin that is released.
The presence of insulin in the blood has effects on a number of other hormones including Cortisol.
As glucose is taken into the cells with the help of insulin, blood glucose levels drop and create a condition where there isn’t enough glucose in the blood, called hypoglycemia.
When this happens, cortisol is released from adrenal gland for a few reasons. 1st of all, cortisol counter-acts insulin. Secondly, cortisol reduces the body’s ability to use glucose throughout the body, leading to what’s called insulin-resistance. Also, cortisol creates glucose in the liver from glycogen, a process called gluconeogenesis.
When we eat certain foods, foods high on the glycemic index, blood sugar/blood glucose levels spike. Insulin levels rise quickly and rapidly drop blood glucose levels. As a result the blood glucose levels drop too much, creating a sugar crash, and cortisol is released to counter act the insulin in the blood to try and prevent any further drop in blood sugar. Gluconeogenesis also begins as the body tries to restore normal blood sugar levels. This series of events leads to high blood cortisol levels which begin to suppress the immune system. When this happens the body’s ability to fight the small infections within the pores diminishes.
Prolonged periods of high cortisol levels, as a result of a frequent, high glucose diet, also contribute to chronic low-level inflammation, which plays a role in the severity of acne conditions.
Insulin and IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor-1) also cause an increase in sebum production. Sebum is the substance that is secreted by sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands lie within the skin and secrete sebum into the pores of the skin. Sebum is directly related to typical acne formation, to include basic white heads and cystic acne.
This is by no means an encyclopedic explanation of the metabolic processes that occur when we eat. There are many sites available on the internet that provide excellent detailed information regarding the entire metabolic process. Those sites are great for school reports but no so much for information you can apply in your everyday life.
However, it should be clear to see how simple diet/food choices can have immediate effects on our bodies and long term effects on our skin and acne conditions.
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