Switching to Organic Milk/Soy Milk as an Acne Trea

From Louisiana, USA, 2 posts

As you may know or may have already been posted, Harvard is studying the link between milk and acne. Previously a myth, the milk-acne link has resurfaced and Harvard is finding a positive correlation between milk consumption and acne in teens.


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve

In this article, Harvard surmises that the hormones and other bioactive molecules present in milk may contribute to acne, or at least the severity.

I decided to give this approach a shot. A little background about my condition: I am male, 19 years old, and I have had acne for 6 years. In the past year, I have experienced acne on my face, neck, shoulders, upper arms, and upper back. My acne is characterized by periodic inflammations - several acne blemishes develop very quickly, but after using medicines, the acnes die and slowly heal, leaving marks everywhere. On a scale of 1-10 for severity of outbreaks, I rank my acne in the past as a 6.5. For stubbornness, my acne definitely ranked as a solid 9.

I have tried several potent medicines, including Tazorac and Duac creams. These two in particular were effective in the first month or two of treatment; then, they dried my face too much, and my acne returned more resilient than before. I have also tried various Neutrogena OTC lotion products with salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide ingredients. They did help improve my skin condition moisture-wise, but did little against the acne itself.

In the summer of 2004 I became rather frustrated as the acne spread to my shoulders, back, and arms. My dermatologist could only recommend Accutane, but I just didn't want to go through the hassle of that drug. Instead, I tried a combined levulanic acid - blue light phototherapy procedure (very expensive ... 250 dollars a session, recommended 3 sessions minimum to clear acne). I decided to do 3 sessions of this treatment. The first two sessions did wonders! I still had some lingering acne, but I figured my 3rd session would be the home stretch. Instead, my face inflamed abnormally and my acne returned. Also, my skin condition was a little strange (my skin was kind of hard instead of soft, even when dry) after the third treatment, and remained in that state for a couple of months.

THAT was frustrating. I spent nearly 800 bucks for a backwards step, almost, in my treatment. I would have rather given that money to charities now. So, I felt guilty, and of course that doesn't help acne.

Early in 2005 I got back on track with my Tazorac/Duac treatment, with the usual initially promising results. But, after awhile, it was no dice, and I was back at the break-even point of treatment. So, recently I decided the no-more-regular-milk approach because I had heard from my father that Harvard was looking into it and the results seemed to be positive. So, not just a myth anymore, it seemed.

I have been trying this approach for 5 weeks. While I have not cut all dairy products made with hormone-containing milks from my diet, I now only drink soy milk or organic milk (no hormones in the milk; the cows are not treated with hormones to stimulate milk production). In addition, I use soy-cheese slices for sandwiches. I do still eat regular yogurt though (soy yogurt is tasty, to me, but very expensive), and I enjoy regular cheese on pizza. In addition, I stopped using Duac and Tazorac. I only use a salicylic acid facial lotion which previously did nothing on my acne, but does keep my skin in a moist/non-oily condition.

The results from this action have been very positive. I haven't had an inflammation outbreak yet - normally I'll have 1-2 over a month. Overall my acnes (old and new) have subsided by around 60% (3/5). I do not treat the acne on my shoulders/back/neck/arms at all, yet there are few active acnes present there. Slowly and all over my body, my old acnes are healing, though some will leave permanent scars. However, I can live with these scars - my skin color is brown/olive, and the scars are 'masked' in a way by my skin color. Also, there are probably medicines available to treat scarring and can possibly remediate my acne scarring to some degree.

Personally, I'm all for this no-regular-milk approach. Sometimes, my daily acne regimen consists of washing my face once a day with Cetaphil gentle cleanser (which I did in the past on Duac/Tazorac). That's all. I can't believe it sometimes. And these results come from me not even totally eliminating regular milk products from my diet. The crucial point, I think, was switching from regular 2% milk to soymilk and organic 2% milk (from cows, but no hormones!).

The only concerns you may have that I can think of... Price & availability of regular milk alternatives, calcium levels, and protein levels. Organic milk and soy milk are readily available at all supermarket chains, but they are more expensive than regular milk for sure. I pay about $3 for a half gallon (about $6 per gallon) of soymilk or organic milk, while regular milk costs around $3 per gallon (depends on region, can vary from $2.20 to $4.00 based on my experiences). Organic milk naturally matches the calcium and protein content of regular milk, so no worries there. Soymilk usually contains about the same level of calcium as milks, but protein contents are usually 10-25% less. Also, the soymilk taste and texture may not be to many people's liking, though I enjoy Vanilla Silk regularly. Finally, soy milk does not always make a great base for mixing in other powders.

Bottom line - 5 weeks of this approach, and it's been smooth sailing. I no longer have to use my prescription topical medicines. I only wash my face once a day. Very little skin peeling now. My skin is in good condition - soft and moist. I only need to use a salicylic acid lotion on condition to keep my face from becoming oily. This approach is low maintenance, just remember to keep the organic/soy milk stocked!

If you try this approach, I wish you the best. I can't guarantee it will work, however. I'm not proclaiming a definite miracle cure. But, this approach is bringing results for at least one person! Best of luck with your acne treatments.

From Louisiana, USA, 2 posts

Here is the link to the webpage once again. Basic results of Harvard study

Sorry for the error, the link was most uncooperative in being posted.

1 post

You should really do a search on soy if you are drinking the milk all the time.Soy is a plant that actually mocks the female hormone oestrogen. Some experts say that males can have a "feminizing" effect when consuming soy.
However,when I began drinking soy (and I'm female) I had effects from it that were similar to being on birth control pills.
The most wonderful effect being that my acne cleared up! Since most acne is caused by testosterone, this makes sense. It also regulated my periods,made my breasts slightly larger,and caused me to gain a small amount of weight.
I have read that soy is also linked to helping with hairloss (also caused by too much testosterone) It is thought that soy blocks the testosterone or DHA from connecting with the hair follicle.
Some of this is actually proven and some of it isnt yet,but I find it odd my own skin was perfectly clear fro the first time in three years while drinking soy...and I'm about to go back to it!