Does food aggravate acne?

The role of food ingestion in the causation of acne is a controversial one. Most dermatology text books swear that there is no role and most dermatologists toe the line. But personally I would say that food habits definitely do affect the pathophysiology of acne and acneiform eruptions. I would cite the following reasons on which I base this observation:

Many of my patients who have been on remission without clinical acne after treatment) and on a "no chocolate, no ice cream, no cola, no fried fast food' regimen have come back experiencing severe outbreaks after they restart their junk food habits! More than two decades of such solid observations cannot be discounted or discarded! Chocolates and fatty food are best avoided if you are a person with acne prone skin!

Iodides have been proven to cause acne, and hence it follows that iodide containing drugs, and foods will cause the same!

Just look at the list of iodide containing food items with the amount of iodide in each, then you will understand why I stand solidly by the food aggravation theory of acne:

Food/Beverage Iodides (ppm*)

Seafood

Clams 20
Crab 33
Kelp 1,020
Lobster 9
Oysters 8
Shrimp 17
Sole 24
Squid 39

Meat and Poultry

Beef liver 325
Chicken 67
Hamburger 44
Turkey 132

Vegetables

Asparagus 169
Broccoli 90
Brussels sprouts 23
Corn 45
Green beans 7
Onions (white) 82
Potato 9

Dairy Products

Butter 26
Cheddar cheese 27
Cottage cheese 5
Homogenized Milk 11
Sour cream 7
Yogurt 3

Drinking water 8

Miscellaneous

Coca-Cola 3
Iodized Salt 54
Potato chips 40
Seasoned 40
Sugar 2
Tortilla chips 80
Wheat germ 46
White bread 8

* ppm: parts per million

Now, with a list like that, who would dare say food is not an aggravating factor for acne?!
Now, here is an additional proof from my household itself, my second daughter, Anju, had been recurrent acne eruptions which were kept in control by my medications. Despite my advice, on the sly, she had been consuming her favorite Ferrorocher chocolates. Children, they never listen to their parents, even when they are dermatologists!). She went back to India for three months' vacation last May. Ferrorocher was not available there, and she did not like any other chocolates. She never had a single acne on her face during the last 10 weeks of her stay back home! As soon as she came back, she started on her favorite chocolate again, and again the tell tale small bumps re-appeared! My wife vouches that the chocolate was her only change in dietary intake here. Though this is only a circumstantial evidence, added along with what my other young patients have also experienced, yes, I would definitely say certain food does affect acne!

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