Study Reconnects Diet to Acne
December 10
By Scripps Howard
A researcher might rewrite the books on acne with his findings that candy, carbohydrates and cola play an important role in the skin disease after all.
Professor Loren Cordain of Colorado State University studied thousands of hunters, gatherers and farmers in Paraguay and Papua New Guinea whose diets contained no bread, cake, sugar, soft drinks, potato chips or pizza, and he didn't find a single case of acne.
His research, which will appear in this month's Archives of Dermatology, has caused a sensation in the medical community. For years, Americans have been told overactive glands and genes - not diet - caused acne.
Mr. Cordain led a study that looked at the Kitvian Islanders of Papua New Guinea and the Ache hunter-gatherers of Paraguay.
The perfect skin of the two unrelated groups on opposite sides of the globe couldn't be explained by genetics, he said. People who lived nearby and who looked very much like them had their share of acne. They also ate very different foods. So the researchers zeroed in on the diet.
The Kitvian Islanders eat mostly fruit, fish, yams and sweet potatoes.
"They only have what you can grow in the garden or catch in the ocean," Mr. Cordain said.
The Ache people eat wild game, peanuts and a native root, sweet manioc, plus a tiny amount of Western foods. Mr. Cordain concluded that high-glycemic foods such as bread, cakes, sugars and soft drinks "may contribute to the acne suffered by 95 percent of Westernized teenagers."
Mr. Cordain and researchers from Australia, Sweden and New Mexico believe Western diets permanently boost insulin. Insulin elevates growth and hormones, stimulating an overproduction of oil and skin cells in pores. Those clogged pores feed bacteria that form blemishes.
The researchers say switching to a more natural diet might help reduce acne by better regulating the metabolism of insulin.
The theory flies in the face of 30 years of medical advice.
Copyright: © 2002 The Augusta Chronicle. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
http://www.netrition.com/cgi/newsprint.cgi?file=20021210034557_0
December 10
By Scripps Howard
A researcher might rewrite the books on acne with his findings that candy, carbohydrates and cola play an important role in the skin disease after all.
Professor Loren Cordain of Colorado State University studied thousands of hunters, gatherers and farmers in Paraguay and Papua New Guinea whose diets contained no bread, cake, sugar, soft drinks, potato chips or pizza, and he didn't find a single case of acne.
His research, which will appear in this month's Archives of Dermatology, has caused a sensation in the medical community. For years, Americans have been told overactive glands and genes - not diet - caused acne.
Mr. Cordain led a study that looked at the Kitvian Islanders of Papua New Guinea and the Ache hunter-gatherers of Paraguay.
The perfect skin of the two unrelated groups on opposite sides of the globe couldn't be explained by genetics, he said. People who lived nearby and who looked very much like them had their share of acne. They also ate very different foods. So the researchers zeroed in on the diet.
The Kitvian Islanders eat mostly fruit, fish, yams and sweet potatoes.
"They only have what you can grow in the garden or catch in the ocean," Mr. Cordain said.
The Ache people eat wild game, peanuts and a native root, sweet manioc, plus a tiny amount of Western foods. Mr. Cordain concluded that high-glycemic foods such as bread, cakes, sugars and soft drinks "may contribute to the acne suffered by 95 percent of Westernized teenagers."
Mr. Cordain and researchers from Australia, Sweden and New Mexico believe Western diets permanently boost insulin. Insulin elevates growth and hormones, stimulating an overproduction of oil and skin cells in pores. Those clogged pores feed bacteria that form blemishes.
The researchers say switching to a more natural diet might help reduce acne by better regulating the metabolism of insulin.
The theory flies in the face of 30 years of medical advice.
Copyright: © 2002 The Augusta Chronicle. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
http://www.netrition.com/cgi/newsprint.cgi?file=20021210034557_0
