As part of every consult I will go through a patient’s lifestyle and diet to establish any triggers or mistakes they may be making. Dietary eliminations will be done if necessary. I don’t believe every patient needs to be on a “gluten free, dairy free diet” – they need to be on a healthy diet.

However, today I will explain why Dairy is the one food group I advise patients to eliminate if they want to heal their skin and gut. (So if you suffer from bloating, IBS, Crohns, UC, reflux, ulcers or allergies, chronic sinusitis, eczema or acne this is one’s for you). What Dairy products am I referring to? Milk, cheese, yoghurt, chocolate, ice cream, butter, ghee.. basically anything that contains milk solids and reads Dairy as an allergen.

Dairy products contain synthetic hormones that can contribute or exacerbate hormone imbalances and it is an inflammation causing food. If we look at acne in particular, there were three large population studies linking dairy consumption (most notably milk) and acne. It has been postulated that milk is associated with acne because it contains growth hormones (both synthetically added and naturally occurring) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Acne is certainly driven by insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1 is a hormone found naturally in your blood. Its main job is to regulate the effects of growth hormone (GH) in your body). If a patient has increased intestinal permeability (aka Leaky Gut Syndrome), IGF-I can be absorbed across intestinal tissue from dairy products which is in addition to what your body is naturally producing therefore increasing its effects which can be negative.

If, as we suspect, there is increased intestinal permeability in acne sufferers, the intestinal absorption of IGF-I would likely be enhanced in general, and more specifically, when milk is consumed. When treating acne, part of my program is gut healing, which is why I put patients onto a 3 month program to heal the gut and treat intestinal permeability.

Article written by Dr Tharushka Naidoo