# Whey protein/acne correlation?



## BruiseKnee (Jan 26, 2006)

is there any evidence to support the idea that consuming whey protein has something to do with triggering acne?


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## Jodi (Jan 26, 2006)

Nope - never heard of it.


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## BruiseKnee (Jan 26, 2006)

the reason i ask is, ever since i started working out really hard, i started to get acne. my diet has changed a lot for the better over the last 4 years of working out and the only consistent thing was whey protein. ive changed pretty much everything in my diet i cant seem to figure out what is causing it. im 21, been lifting for about 4 years. 5.8" at 155 pounds lean, prior to the 4yrs i had a flawless complexion and i was skinny, 115 pounds.

my diet is extremely clean. absolutely no junk food ever in the last year, no fast food, no candy, alcohol, smoking, drugs, etc. family has no history of acne. 

my doctor prescribed antibiotics for this problem that ive taken for 3 months already, along with topical antibiotics. it seemed to have helped a lot, other than screwing up my whole digestive system. i supplemented with probiotics for a month and a half now, which has helped with side effects.  

i just finished the antibiotics (tetracycline) about a week ago, and im starting to get more acne again...

the doc said its because of a hormonal imbalance, causing bacterial infection... but what do docs really know, other than prescribing pharmaceuticals that they get benefits from and performing surgery...

 if that cause IS true, is it possible that working out so hard every week causes that imbalance? (testosterone increase etc.) the only thing i can think of that caused this was taking a couple bottles of tribulus a year and a half ago.

any help/opinions greatly appreciated, thanks.

E


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## Jodi (Jan 26, 2006)

I have a 2 word answer for you 

Increased Testosterone


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## Steele20 (Jan 26, 2006)

I don't think it has anything to do with your diet or training. Doesn't make sense. Maybe you have adult onset acne, or whatever it's called and it was just time. If I were you I would never take a single thing the dermologist gives you. Unless you want to have happen to you what happend to me, and have your face a different pigment than the rest of  your body, and have your face always dry due to the shit I plasterd all over my face for years. Whatever you do though, never ever let a dermotologist tell you clear light is any good. I did that shit, and believe it or not ended  up with a little more acne at the end of the treatment. It was a huge waste of $$


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## Gordo (Jan 26, 2006)

Diets higher in fat can cause acne flair ups....but training and increased test can as well. Think of it as an indicator that you're doing something right  Increased diary intake....especially supermarket stuff can contribute to acne.


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## BruiseKnee (Jan 26, 2006)

thanks for the replies and PM's (steele)

gordo - my diet is limited in fat, basically very low except fish oil caps and from the usual meat (steak)  and i dont drink milk

jodi - thats the only reasonable explanation, however, i guess theres no way to help it now?    if thats the reason, how ironic that its the cost of vanity (bodybuilding)...  maybe i just have to ride it out?


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## Jodi (Jan 26, 2006)

Fat isn't going to cause acne - it's a myth.  

You need a good face cleaner and moisturizer.  If your acne is more than a pimple or 2 I'd suggest getting Proactive.  Try that for a month or 2 to help clear it up then see if you can go with your average cleaner and moisturizer.

Dont' forget to moisturize.  Most people make that mistake because they thinkk it's gonna cause more pimple when in fact its the opposite.  Dry skin is a bigger culpruit for causing zits and a clean and moisturized face is going to help avoid zits.


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## BruiseKnee (Jan 26, 2006)

Jodi said:
			
		

> Fat isn't going to cause acne - it's a myth.
> 
> You need a good face cleaner and moisturizer. If your acne is more than a pimple or 2 I'd suggest getting Proactive. Try that for a month or 2 to help clear it up then see if you can go with your average cleaner and moisturizer.
> 
> Dont' forget to moisturize. Most people make that mistake because they thinkk it's gonna cause more pimple when in fact its the opposite. Dry skin is a bigger culpruit for causing zits and a clean and moisturized face is going to help avoid zits.



thanks jodi.  i was just replying to gordo about the fat thing.  i never thought it had an effect on it, but i was just stating that part of my diet.  i used proactive when i was about 15, it worked fine but expensive as hell.  the type of acne i have isnt like "pizza face" all over, its more like huge ones here and there that are more cyst like.  and yes i agree with you on the moisturizing.


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## Flakko (Jan 26, 2006)

Fat doesn't cause acne. I've been on a medical treatment with Accutane (the best medication agaisnt acne) and the doctors told me there's no evidence to support those claims that fat causes acne. One of the doctors said that fat can cause acne same way can cause it, sugar, water, etc... Lol!


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## GreenMan (Jan 27, 2006)

Three reasons I can think of :
1) increased testosterone.  
2) your training is increasing the level of _something_ in your blood that is causing your skin to break out (ideas anyone)
3) general sweatyness

I had appaling acne as a teenager, and I still have a little now (I'm 38).  Every so often it flares up for a few months, then it goes away for a few months.  Never seen a particular pattern.

I find that regular cleansing with a very mild antibacterial, followed by moisturising keeps it clear.  If I use soap or anything harsh, my skin gets greasier and the acne gets worse.


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## BruiseKnee (Jan 27, 2006)

greenman, what kind of cleanser do you use?      

generally i dont sweat THAT much during training surprisingly, just from my head. the spots that i get the break outs are weird, tip of my nose, eyebrows, on the side of my jaws. there seems to be a definite pattern to where they appear, always on the exact same spot on both sides of my face. 

im leaning towards the increased testosterone theory because nothing else makes sense.  so i guess the only thing i could do is to stop training?   i dont touch my face a lot or anything and it doesnt get dirty.  i drink  a lot of water during the day (usually 3 litres or more plus other drinks) so i dont know if that will help if its something in my blood.


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## GreenMan (Jan 27, 2006)

I use a home made cleanser with rosemary.  Take a large sprig of fresh rosemary & place in a blender with about half a pint of water, and whizz up until the rosemary is reduced to tiny pieces.  Transfer to a small saucepan, bring to the boil, then keep it hot for about half an hour.  It doesn't need to boil - just stay hot to infuse.  Strain & decant to a plastic bottle.  Rosemary is a natural astringent & antibacterial.  

Testosterone is a highly likely reason, but training may not be the main cause.  How old are you ?

If you stop training, you might just end up fat & spotty instead of muscular & spotty.


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## BruiseKnee (Jan 27, 2006)

interesting concoction.    im 21 yrs old.  my brief life story is in my second post in this thread.   if i stop training i wont get fat, i'll just lose all my muscle and be really skinny     but yea, its a tough decision to make or even try.  ive worked too hard, spent too much time, effort and money.  im never taking tribulus again...


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## squanto (Jan 27, 2006)

as jodi said, you could try proactive. that works really well for me, havent seen as good results from anythign else. the theory is basically that it keeps your skin moisturized and applies medicine. that way, your skin doesnt get irritated more by drying it out excessively. worth a try if you ask me.


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## shiznit2169 (Jan 28, 2006)

after reading through these posts, i have a question of my own

I very rarely get acne on my face, in fact it's clear for the most part. However, i get extremely bad acne on my shoulders and my back. It seems to be getting worse over time. It started on my shoulders and it slowly started to appear on my upper back and now its down to my lower back. Im also getting a few on my upper chest area. After all of this happening after 5-6 months, my face is still fine. I use triaz 9% cleanser for them and it only works for my face.

I just dont understand why all of a sudden i am getting them. I hate the fact that i am afraid to take my shirt off now and have people look at me in disgust when i go swimming or go in the shower after a workout. It sucks.


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## GreenMan (Jan 28, 2006)

BruiseKnee said:
			
		

> im never taking tribulus again...



*
STOP !*

Rewind...  I hadn't spotted that in your original post..

Acne is wierd shit - I'm sure it has a malevolent sense of humour.  Why else would it descend like a plague on teenagers who are already mentally fucked up by all the changes that they are going through.  Just what a self-concious young adult desperate for acceptance needs - a face full of zits !

Something else wierd about acne - although hormones can trigger it, it can linger for years after the original trigger went away.  I did a few courses of steroids in my 20's - nothing major, just some dball & anavar (I'm needle-phobic so didn't use anything injectible).  It sparked an acne flare-up that took a couple of years to subside.

If you did tribulus - a known test booster, it could have triggered an acne flare that is still going.

You say your acne is deep - almost cyst-like.  This figures with hormonal acne.  Acne caused by problems with the surface of the skin (poor hygeine, excessive grease, the wrong profile of bacteria on the skin etc) tends to manifest itself as black-heads, blocked pores & scaly skin.  Yours sounds much deeper, and much less 'epidermal'.

I don't think your training has anything to do with it.  Don't stop - you'll just be skinny & spotty (like me at sixteen)


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## leg_press (Jan 29, 2006)

I have acne of my chest, shoulders and back as well, I dunno why but its gonna be hard as well putting acne cream of my back


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## fufu (Jan 29, 2006)

shiznit2169 said:
			
		

> after reading through these posts, i have a question of my own
> 
> I very rarely get acne on my face, in fact it's clear for the most part. However, i get extremely bad acne on my shoulders and my back. It seems to be getting worse over time. It started on my shoulders and it slowly started to appear on my upper back and now its down to my lower back. Im also getting a few on my upper chest area. After all of this happening after 5-6 months, my face is still fine. I use triaz 9% cleanser for them and it only works for my face.
> 
> I just dont understand why all of a sudden i am getting them. I hate the fact that i am afraid to take my shirt off now and have people look at me in disgust when i go swimming or go in the shower after a workout. It sucks.




Tetracycline. Ask your doctor about it; it worked really great for me. It is an antibiotic that you should be able to get a precscription for very easiely. I had no acne at all until I was late 17-18, and then all of the sudden it got pretty bad and my face hurt all the time. Took tetracycline and (when taken properly) in a week it was so much better. My face has been fine since then. cut down all pimples by 90 %


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## BruiseKnee (Jan 29, 2006)

I FOUND THE SOLUTION!   

hey guys  i could not be happier right now! this may be fairly hard to believe, but i have actually found my "answer". not the real cause but i pretty much found a "cure".  im not bullshitting but i know how fucking frustrating acne (or worse) is and what effects it has on self esteem. i dont want to make it sound like im plugging it so i will keep the name quiet until someone wants to PM me.  

in all seriousness, on friday night i got it in the mail, put ONE drop on each cyst/pimple and in 2 hours it didnt hurt to the touch anymore. (they were about the size of a shirt button each)  my face went a little red and blotchy on the spots that i put it on and it stings a bit but later that night it went away. i notice it only stings on parts of skin that has the problem so you can feel it working. it continues to sting for about an hour. its antiseptic, antibiotic, antiviral, and antibacterial. it has an odour but its not annoying. best of all its *completely* all natural, theres tons of other uses (that you can take it internally for) and really friggin cheap and they send it quick (im in canada, it took 4 days with free shipping in canada). im actualy going to cancel my dermatologist appointment next week which i have been waiting about 4 months for, especially after greenman PMd me about his dermatologist experiences. its been 2 days now, and its completely gone, except for a light darker spot where they used to be...this is fucking amazing.  best 30 bucks ive ever spent.


by the way, i mentioned in my earlier posts that i took tetracycline. over the last 3 years i have taken it about 4 times, in 2 week periods, and eventually it built up a resistance and was the worst about 3 months ago, and i took a 3 month cycle up until 2 weeks ago. my digestive system is so fucked from it that i MUST take probiotics with food so i dont get any problems.  i will never take any antibiotics again for acne. pharmaceuticals got nothing on the shit that i just mentioned.


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## Gordo (Jan 30, 2006)

> Fat isn't going to cause acne - it's a myth.


Could be more of a whom came first the chicken/egg type thing. I was thinking more from the perspective where your sat fats are likely higher if you've added a little more red meat (or yolks etc...) to your diet, which in turn will increase test levels naturally (not to injectable levels of course). That would  affect you hormonally speaking, so it would be hard to say which one is really the cause.

I agree though that increased test levels will be a contributor as will excessively drying your skin thinking that this will clear things up when really applied moisture and good hygeine will go a lot further.


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## Stu (Jan 30, 2006)

shiznit2169 said:
			
		

> after reading through these posts, i have a question of my own
> 
> I very rarely get acne on my face, in fact it's clear for the most part. However, i get extremely bad acne on my shoulders and my back. It seems to be getting worse over time. It started on my shoulders and it slowly started to appear on my upper back and now its down to my lower back. Im also getting a few on my upper chest area. After all of this happening after 5-6 months, my face is still fine. I use triaz 9% cleanser for them and it only works for my face.
> 
> I just dont understand why all of a sudden i am getting them. I hate the fact that i am afraid to take my shirt off now and have people look at me in disgust when i go swimming or go in the shower after a workout. It sucks.



Same here mate get it alot on my shoulders, only time it goes away is when i stop training or during the summer when i get plenty of sun. I expect regular tanning would help but to be honest i'd rather have a few spots than expose myself to skin cancer.


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## shiznit2169 (Jan 30, 2006)

Stu said:
			
		

> Same here mate get it alot on my shoulders, only time it goes away is when i stop training or during the summer when i get plenty of sun. I expect regular tanning would help but to be honest i'd rather have a few spots than expose myself to skin cancer.



Ya, im the exact same way. When i am home for the summer, it goes away and its not really that bad when i am exposed to the sun and it also goes away when i take a week off from training. I'm guessing is just the increase in testosterone and the sweat from working out that is causing it.


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## Majka (Jan 2, 2010)

*whey and acne*

Hi, sorry this comes 5 years after you asked, but I haved read earlier. I get acne in my face after eating dairy. 6 Years ago I look so bad that doctor put me on antibiotics for 6 weeks (I moved after that so I didn't continue with it), he also said I should avoid whey. I've tried to avoid dairy and it was better. Today I searched for possible allergic reactions in my baby's diet and found article that said that milk can cause acne because it contains iodine which causes acne.
This website doesn't allow me to post link to that article .... so try to google it. acne teen org


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## SunAndSteel (Jan 3, 2010)

calalily1972 said:


> I have a 2 word answer for you
> 
> Increased Testosterone



We have a winner! Yep.


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## SunAndSteel (Jan 3, 2010)

BruiseKnee said:


> I FOUND THE SOLUTION!
> 
> hey guys  i could not be happier right now! this may be fairly hard to believe, but i have actually found my "answer". not the real cause but i pretty much found a "cure".  im not bullshitting but i know how fucking frustrating acne (or worse) is and what effects it has on self esteem. i dont want to make it sound like im plugging it so i will keep the name quiet until someone wants to PM me.
> 
> ...



Wow, this is like an Amway pitch. Into Multi-Level-Marketing much?


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## DaMayor (Feb 4, 2010)

There are varying degrees of whey sensitivity/allergy. An allergic reation to whey products, regardless of intensity, is not the same thing as lactose intolerance. Ignore the reference to infants in some of the articles.

From ....Can Whey Cause Acne? at He's Fit

"Many guys who ingest whey protein tend to complain of a common problem: acne.  Is the whey protein the reason why?  A recent comment from Stronglifts.com forum tried to delve into topic.  Basically, they explain that whey is a dairy product, and like any dairy product, it???s a byproduct of cheese. Allergic reactions (such as skin breakouts, lactose intolerance and acne) are very common with a diet containing dairy. 

Your skin is the largest organ of your body. Skin problems say a lot about your health, which is influenced by your diet. Besides dairy, eggs, seafood, wheat and many more can cause allergies. The only way to get to know your body is through by removing what triggers reactions. 

Start by monitoring exactly how much whey you???re ingesting. The author of the article explains that you only need more than 3 scoops daily if you want 3g/kg daily protein. He suggests to alternate your protein sources: ground round, chicken breast, tuna cans, eggs, etc. Trial & error works best to know what causes the food allegies. Start with 1-2 scoops whey daily for a week. Keep the rest of your diet the same. If you???re ok: the author says to try 3 scoops daily. 

Track Food Intake. Keep a journal of what you eat for two weeks. If you???re looking for a product to help you do this, check out Fitday. 
Track Allergies. Mark the days on a calender where you get & don???t get skin reactions like acne. "


Auckland Allergy Clinic – Lactose Intolerance and Milk Allergy
IgE and IgG binding epitopes on alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin in cow's milk allergy.
Immunostimulatory potential of beta-lactoglobulin ... [J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003] - PubMed result
WHEY PROTEIN: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and Warnings - WebMD


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## rubika (Apr 12, 2010)

Most people don't know about the relationship between Whey protein is usually recognized as the supplement that helps body builders bulk up. The truth of the matter is that why protein powder has loads of benefits for all different types of people, whether it be young, old, gym rats or couch potato.


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## jmorrison (Apr 13, 2010)

I hate you spamming fucks.  And I hope you die.  That is all.


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## 22antkay (Aug 12, 2010)

BruiseKnee said:


> I FOUND THE SOLUTION!
> 
> hey guys  i could not be happier right now! this may be fairly hard to believe, but i have actually found my "answer". not the real cause but i pretty much found a "cure".  im not bullshitting but i know how fucking frustrating acne (or worse) is and what effects it has on self esteem. i dont want to make it sound like im plugging it so i will keep the name quiet until someone wants to PM me.
> 
> ...



I have read all your posts and I seem to have exactly the same problem as you. I have been training hard and eating well for about 8 months now and have made progress but I have also got cyst type spots on my chest and mid back which are quite large in size (shirt button). I have not really been a "spotty" person before and to me they are not the normal yellow head black head spots but more of a deeper below the surface of the skin type of spot....Yuk . They are causing me a problem particularly with confidence so if you could help with the solution you ve found, I will definitely put you on my friends list.  Thaaaaank you so much  Ant


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## BillHicksFan (Aug 12, 2010)

It's not from whey protein, it's from a high protein diet. I break out on my chest if I don't drink shitloads of green tea. 6 green tea bags a night and get no acne as it is high in anti oxidents and works as a detox. Protein is acidic to the body.


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## zhaozer (Aug 13, 2010)

BruiseKnee said:


> I FOUND THE SOLUTION!
> 
> hey guys  i could not be happier right now! this may be fairly hard to believe, but i have actually found my "answer". not the real cause but i pretty much found a "cure".  im not bullshitting but i know how fucking frustrating acne (or worse) is and what effects it has on self esteem. i dont want to make it sound like im plugging it so i will keep the name quiet until someone wants to PM me.
> 
> ...



Hi BruiseKnee,

I've had the EXACT same problem as you.  I noticed I've developed serious cystic acne along the sides of my neck ever since I started taking whey protein.  Could you share with all of us the secret compound you used that seemed to cure your acne?  Thanks so much!

-Zhaozer


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## pulu1988 (Aug 14, 2010)

*Hi BruiseKnee*

I've had the EXACT same problem as you. Can you please share the secret wid me..i really need it man...


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