Glycemic Index and Acne
Run a quick online search of “glycemic index”, and you’ll end up with articles talking about diabetes management, weight loss, and healthy lifestyles. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anything about acne--so you might be wondering why you’re reading about it on this site.
The relationship between acne and food is not yet fully understood. Studies attempting to confirm the long-held belief that chocolate or dairy products cause breakouts have come up with nothing concrete. But in the last 15 years, scientists have picked up on a lead that could expose the true connection between what we eat and how our skin looks. And the key appears to lie in the glycemic index.
What is the glycemic index?
The glycemic index is a way of measuring how quickly a certain type of food will raise your blood sugar level. When we eat carbohydrate-rich food, the end goal of our body is to break it down into the simple sugar glucose. Glucose is essential for energy production at the cellular level.
When carbohydrates are broken down in our gastrointestinal tract and absorbed, it goes to our blood stream. Our blood sugar levels then rise. In response to this, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin that helps bring down our blood sugar levels. It initiates complex processes that allow glucose to leave the bloodstream to either enter the cells and get used up for energy production, or to go to the liver to be stored up for a rainy day as glycogen.
If this sounds like a physiology lecture, bear with us. This information is important in understanding the relationship between high glycemic food and breakouts.
How do foods with high GI cause acne?
In order to bring your skyrocketing blood sugar down after a high glycemic index meal, your body will produce insulin. If your entire diet consists of this type of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your insulin levels will keep up.
One of the many actions of insulin is to produce insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is known to increase oil production and stimulate inflammation--two major factors in the pathogenesis of acne.
In addition, insulin ramps up androgen production. Testosterone and its associated hormones are also known to cause sebum production and keratinocyte proliferation. In layman’s terms, this means your face gets oilier and you have a lot more dead skin cells. Both of these increase the odds of getting blocked pores.
Several studies have attempted to confirm the relationship between glycemic index and acne. The results show that shifting to a low glycemic index is associated with a decreased number of spots and smaller oil glands. Though it is difficult to completely isolate the effect of high glycemic food on acne and establish causality, the results show that there is at least a strong association between the two.
How can I incorporate a low GI diet into my acne regimen?
First and foremost, note that shifting to a low GI diet is unlikely to have a dramatic effect if this is the only way you’re fighting acne. While it does address some factors that contribute to zits, it does so in a rather roundabout fashion. In addition, it may take weeks to months of consistent dieting to be able to see improvement.
It’s best to think of a low GI diet as the supporting actor to the stars of the show: the topical or oral medications prescribed by dermatologists. If you want to cover all your bases with preventing acne, as well as enjoy the other health benefits of a low GI diet, then here are some easy tips to follow:
Understand the factors that influence the glycemic index of food
At first glance, the GI may be pretty straightforward. It’s easy to find lists of high and low glycemic index food, so you may think it’s just a matter of picking. However, there are other factors that play into it.
Here are some that you might find surprising:
- Ripe fruits have slightly higher GI than their unripe counterparts.
- Eating high GI food with food that contains fat, protein, soluble fibre, fructose, lactose helps temper its effect on your blood sugar.
- Food that slows down digestion (including sour, acidic food, and fat) and absorption (as in wholegrain bread and cereals) allow a slower release of glucose.
- On the other hand, cooking and other food processing that make food easier to break down can result in increased GI.
Differentiate between GI and GL
If glycemic index is how quickly food ups your blood sugar, glycemic load (GL) is how quickly a certain amount of food ups your blood sugar. It takes into consideration not only the quality of the food, but its quantity.
GL is easily computed if you know the carbohydrate content of a certain portion of the food. Just multiply the food’s GI with the number of carbs in the amount of food you’re eating, and you’ll get your answer.
The concept of GL basically means that a low glycemic index diet doesn’t mean you can’t watch your portions. You might limit your rice to half a cup, but eating three platefuls of whole grain pasta more than makes up for it.
Use GI as a guide, not as a rule
GI is a measure of only one macronutrient, carbohydrates. There are other things your body needs that may be available in moderate or high GI foods. This means that you shouldn’t limit yourself exclusively to low GI foods. As long as you watch your portions and mix it in with low GI food, you enjoy a couple bites of high GI.
It’s helpful to use GI when you’re thinking of getting “healthier” carbs. Going for rye bread instead of white bread, having yogurt instead of ice cream for dessert, pairing your steak with sweet potato instead of baked potatoes are just some easy ways you can use the concept of GI.
Conclusion
Eating a diet that consists of mostly low GI food is a good way to support a dermatologically-sound skincare regimen. This will decrease your body’s need to produce copious amounts of insulin, which subsequently lowers the levels of IGF-1 and androgens that contribute to the formation of acne.
If you are contemplating shifting to a low GI diet, make sure that your diet remains balanced. There are many factors that affect GI, and being fully informed about them will help make your journey easier. Understanding the limitations of GI and the importance of giving your body all the nutrients it needs will help keep your dietary changes healthy.
This content is for general information only and is not a substitute for medical advice.
Resources:
Kim, H., Moon, S. Y., Sohn, M. Y., & Lee, W. J. (2017). Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Increases the Expression of Inflammatory Biomarkers and Sebum Production in Cultured Sebocytes. Annals of dermatology, 29(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2017.29.1.20
Setavand, Z., Ekramzadeh, M. (2019). Glycemic Control and Acne: A Review. International Journal of Nutrition Sciences, 4(2), 59-64. doi: 10.30476/ijns.2019.81827.1016
