Hello, I am a 19 year old guy and I'm in a uncomfortable situation with my acne. So I'm a bodybuilder, men's physique competitor, and I just went through 12 weeks of dieting to cut down for my show. During those 12 weeks I cut down my calories in fats and carbs. I've always had acne but once the dieting hit about 4 weeks in, my acne really cleared up and it was great! I had the most clear skin ever! Its been about 3 weeks past my compitition and my acne is so bad. Worst then it was before I dieted. After the show I did eat a lot but for the past week I've been eating pretty healthy. Is the acne caused by a sudden change in diet? Also does testosterone play a role in acne? Because while dieting my testosterone levels got pretty low.
My question is, how can I diet again to obtain my clear skin? Would I have to cut my fats or carbs? Or both?
I found these snippets of information on the help sections of this website
QWill lifting weights make me break out? What about my protein shake?
AThere is no research on this topic, but let's explore using what we do know. First, exercise keeps the body in shape and helps the mind deal with stress. Since stress hormones can contribute to acne, this is a good thing. Anecdotally, people on the forums have mostly reported that lifting weights does not negatively affect acne. However, if someone goes on a weight gaining diet along with their weight training and he/she suddenly adds excess calories to his/her diet, the excess caloric intake can increase testosterone levels in the body. Increased testosterone levels can aggravate acne. So if you find yourself breaking out during or after a "bulking" cycle, this may be the cause. Source
Hormones and acne - testosterone and estrogen
''Doctors and researchers find that increased androgen (male hormones) levels in both males and females can result in acne.1,3-4Either the oil surplus created by androgens or some yet unknown reason seems to be instrumental in clogging hair follicles where bacteria grows and causes acne pimples and blemishes to form.''
Bulking is really just getting a surplus calorie intake. Therefore it is unnecessary to cut out fats or carbs from your diet. Cutting out a major food group is not healthy. You could try to limit your calorie intake to 3000 calories a day while slowly bulking and see if your acne improves?