24 replies to this topic

[Pakaback]

I was just wondering if anyone else thought alcohol consumption was tied to acne. Every single time I've had an alcoholic drink in the past year or more, I get acne a day or two after. Other than that I rarely get new pimples, and the ones after drinking are much more severe than the standard one. I think for me at least, there's a definite link.

Anybody else?

[Monkeypie]

No link for me. But, as long as you've found your trigger, it seems easy enough to avoid, right?

[jimmyh]

Yeah I get that.
I'm not giving up my drunken weekends though. :smile:

[mandy97]

From what I've read and in this order, wine, liquor and then beer could aggravate acne. I saw this based on the acid/alkaline diet and also from The acne presrciption by Perricone

[barkbat]

If acne is related to having a weak liver, then it makes sense that anything that puts your liver under stress would aggravate the acne. Alcohol consumed in large amounts definately pushes the liver, so it being a trigger factor is very plausible, and maybe you should check out the liver flushes, try a few, and see if this stops the break outs in the future.

[Filipino]

a little something I learned from jc... umm.... i'm guessing the skin cannot heal properly with a weak liver, so I'm also guessing that alcohol weakens it even more, so i'd avoid alcohol......

[blackbirdbeatle]

Alcohol in moderation(1-2 drinks a day) doesn't weaken the liver, it actually makes it stronger by making it work. Now if you overdo it then it will hurt your liver.

[BenKweller]

Ha! Yeah, and smoking once a day is good for my lungs since it makes them work. Alcohol is never good for the liver; that's BS.

What you want to say, though, is that 1 or 2 LIGHT drinks every once in a while won't hurt you enough to make a difference.

[Monkeypie]

http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/diet.fitnes...adox/index.html

But for most people, "consumption of one or two drinks per day is associated with a reduction in risk of approximately 30 percent to 50 percent" in coronary heart disease, Pearson said.

"The lowest mortality occurs in those who consume one or two drinks per day," he said. "In teetotalers or occasional drinkers, the (mortality) rates are higher than in those consuming one or two drinks per day. In persons who consume three or more drinks per day, total mortality climbs rapidly with increasing numbers of drinks per day."

[Monkeypie]

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9911/08/alcohol....fits/index.html

And here's some information about booze being good for the liver.

In the study, scientists divided 86 rats, who had a portion of their livers surgically removed, into four groups. The group receiving high concentrations of alcohol showed inhibition of liver repair, as expected. The moderate consumption group, and the control group, which got water, showed neither bad nor good effects on the liver.

But interestingly, the light consumption group had a more rapid recovery and an increase in liver repair. Researchers speculate that small amounts of alcohol may activate some protective genes.

[BenKweller]

I read that report-- I also read one that has since come out (it's from 1999) that said the results were flawed by how the rats were tested and which had preexisting liver problems; I'll look for it tomorrow.

Furthermore -- the results basically said that if you cut out part of a rat's liver and give it a little ethanol, it'll regenerate faster than if you give it only water. However, to this day, if you have part of your liver removed, doctors don't recommend it...

Some scientists love to mess around with rats-- but it doesn't carry over to people nearly as often.

[Monkeypie]

I guess I'd better stop trying to find scientific evidence for anything, huh?

[flipside]

my hypothesis:

alcohol will kill off a substantial amount of beneficial intestinal flora, which intern will upset the balance of intestinal microbes. This will decrease the amount of nutrient absorption that is aided by the intestinal flora. Poor absorption of nutrients will weaken the immune system and make it easier for pathogens to take advantage of the food in your face.


I think the most obvious problem with alcohol consumption is that you are more likely to go to sleep without following your skincare routine.

[Rossignol]

I think the most obvious problem with alcohol consumption is that you are more likely to go to sleep without following your skincare routine.

DEFINITELY! I finished university exams about 2 weeks ago and have been drinking heavily for the past fortnight to celebrate. It has completely thrown my skincare regime, though. Despite this, my skin hasn't suffered AT ALL. Infact, it seems to have gotten better, which I am a little confused about. I'm thinking that either it will take a couple weeks longer for the effects of the alcohol to show on my skin, or that the lack of active acne is due to the reduction in stress following exams. :think:
I do realise the damage that I'm doing to my body with the alcohol, by the way, but it's only for 3 weeks before I go home for the summer so I'm making the most of it regardless of my skin! Then it's back to liver flushes and warm water with lemon. Sigh ! :wall:

[Pakaback]

I'd just like to bump this thread, to report some findings about my acne.

For six weeks now, I've had alcohol once a week. Thursdays. Maybe 2-3 drinks.

Friday, my acne is noticably worse, Saturday it is terrible, Sunday gets better and it's tolerable by Monday. By Thursday it's almost completely gone. It's like clockwork, and I guarantee that alcohol is the cause. Apart from 1-2 days after I drink, I only ever get "surface" acne, like tiny whiteheads no big deal. Alcohol gives me medium-sized bumps under the skin.

I'd just like to point this out as an example that, for me, diet is a big factor and may in fact be the only real factor associated with my acne. I'd also like to point out that this is a recent thing for me, as I used to drink like mad and have no problems. I just came off anti-biotics. I think they might have screwed up my liver or something. Bleh.

PS: Despite how annoying this is, I doubt I'll give up alcohol, it's too tied to my social circles.

[Makaveli]

I'd just like to bump this thread, to report some findings about my acne.

For six weeks now, I've had alcohol once a week. Thursdays. Maybe 2-3 drinks.

Friday, my acne is noticably worse, Saturday it is terrible, Sunday gets better and it's tolerable by Monday. By Thursday it's almost completely gone. It's like clockwork, and I guarantee that alcohol is the cause. Apart from 1-2 days after I drink, I only ever get "surface" acne, like tiny whiteheads no big deal. Alcohol gives me medium-sized bumps under the skin.

I'd just like to point this out as an example that, for me, diet is a big factor and may in fact be the only real factor associated with my acne. I'd also like to point out that this is a recent thing for me, as I used to drink like mad and have no problems. I just came off anti-biotics. I think they might have screwed up my liver or something. Bleh.

PS: Despite how annoying this is, I doubt I'll give up alcohol, it's too tied to my social circles.

Diet can't be the only thing related to your acne because of one simple reason: Common Sense.

If you could eat whatever you want when you were younger and not have acne, then diet could not be the sole determinant when you hit a certain age and have acne. I do agree that some foods can aggrevate acne, but none are the sole cause of it, or the sole solution, it's much more complex than that (unfortunately)

As per the alcohol, I'm guessing that most of us here are in our teens/early 20's.. I would like to give up alcohol if it made my acne worse, but you still need to live life.

[Sam The Man]

I don't drink alcohol, but when I did it didn't seem to make anything to my skin.

[Pakaback]

Makaveli, I think alcohol can be a huge factor.

I understand what you're saying, but the thing is, people change over time. I think that whatever triggers my acne now is different than when I was in my teens. I noticed myself that alcohol didn't cause a problem before, when I was trying to isolate causes.

Clearly many people drink and have no such problems (bastards!) but for me, there's no doubt. I think my liver is in pretty poor shape.

[ritzvin]

Supposedly, the endocrine system also reacts to alcohol as it does to being flooded with sugar (obviously alcohol has other separate effects as well). Some researchers (I don't remember which - I didn't copy the articles) have found a link between alcoholism and hypoglycemia interestingly enough - some people crave the alcohol in the way 'carb addicts' crave sugar and starches. My knees throb A LOT more on nights after I've had alcohol (much more so than when I've overdone the sugar/starches), so I'm inclined to believe that (and avoid alcohol). Since some people have found sugar/starch to adversely affect their acne, it's likely that alcohol would have a similar effect in these people.

[hobo2alpha]

The study about how rats that combine light beer and their liver repaired makes sense, mainly because it is light beer, not as bad.

however to make a claim that it improves your liver is like saying smoking one cigarrete a day is healthier than smoking a pack.

There is nothing healthy about beer or wine or liquor. however wine is less harmful than the others due to less processing and heating.

Yes, alcohol can effect your acne. when your drunk do you like to eat a lot junk food or just binge on food more so than normal?

Alcohol does put a burden on your liver when trying to break down acne causing "dirty protein".

But everybody is different and things due change with age!