The Acne-Promoting Effects of Milk

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Dairy is considered a major cause of the acne epidemic, and other more serious chronic diseases in the Western world, due to the “abuse” of the mammalian postnatal signaling system by widespread cow milk consumption.

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Here’s the latest update, published in 2011. “Evidence for [the] acne-promoting effects of milk.” Though acne is an epidemic skin disease in Western countries, afflicting more than 85% of adolescents, acne is absent in non-Western populations, which do not consume milk and dairy products. They go on to review all the studies, which I’ve already talked about.

“By million years of evolution,” they conclude, “[the growth] signaling system of mammalian milk is exclusively and physiologically provided to the newborn only during the nursing period. The chronic ‘abuse’ of this mammalian postnatal signaling system by widespread cow milk and dairy consumption in humans of industrialized societies has been proposed to be the major cause of the acne epidemic and the more serious chronic western diseases.” There’s lots of diseases associated with unrestricted growth. So, what should we do?

“There are two solutions to this problem: the restriction of milk protein consumption”—or we somehow engineer milk that doesn’t have these effects. Either way, both “restriction of milk consumption or the generation of less [insulin-affecting] milk will have an enormous impact on the prevention of epidemic western diseases like obesity, diabetes mellitus, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and acne.”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Image thanks to UGA College of Ag / Flickr

Here’s the latest update, published in 2011. “Evidence for [the] acne-promoting effects of milk.” Though acne is an epidemic skin disease in Western countries, afflicting more than 85% of adolescents, acne is absent in non-Western populations, which do not consume milk and dairy products. They go on to review all the studies, which I’ve already talked about.

“By million years of evolution,” they conclude, “[the growth] signaling system of mammalian milk is exclusively and physiologically provided to the newborn only during the nursing period. The chronic ‘abuse’ of this mammalian postnatal signaling system by widespread cow milk and dairy consumption in humans of industrialized societies has been proposed to be the major cause of the acne epidemic and the more serious chronic western diseases.” There’s lots of diseases associated with unrestricted growth. So, what should we do?

“There are two solutions to this problem: the restriction of milk protein consumption”—or we somehow engineer milk that doesn’t have these effects. Either way, both “restriction of milk consumption or the generation of less [insulin-affecting] milk will have an enormous impact on the prevention of epidemic western diseases like obesity, diabetes mellitus, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and acne.”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Image thanks to UGA College of Ag / Flickr

Doctor's Note

This video concludes my three-part series on the latest on this topic. Be sure to check out Skim Milk and Acne and also National Dairy Council on Acne and MilkAcne & Cancer Connection is another video along these lines. 

For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Skim Milk and Acne; Stool Size and Breast Cancer RiskAvoiding Dairy to Prevent Parkinson’s; and Diet and Cellulite

2018 Update: I recently released two new videos on acne. Check out Does Chocolate Cause Acne? and Does Cocoa Powder Cause Acne?. And in case you missed it, there’s also Natural Treatment for Acne & Fungal Infections.  

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