Bodybuilders know that big muscles are built with whey protein. But there’s a catch. For some people, whey protein also causes acne.<\/p>\n
All the hours and hard work you put in at the gym to make yourself look good – and you are left with a face full of pimples.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, there are protein supplements that are safer for those prone to getting acne. In this post, we’ll go over the science of why whey protein causes acne, and what you can do to mitigate the damage.<\/p>\n
In a hurry? Replace your whey protein supplement with the one below.<\/p>\n\n
Let\u2019s start with a brief look at how whey causes acne. It comes down to a hormone known as insulin like growth factor 1<\/em> (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a growth hormone and thought to accelerate muscle growth, unfortunately it also accelerates acne<\/a>.<\/p>\n To put it shortly, IGF-1 puts hormonal acne<\/a> into overdrive.<\/p>\n Nestle has a keen interest on this topic. Smart people as they are, they figured that if their products give people acne sales are likely to drop. So in a paper published in Nestle Nutrition Workshop Series they concluded with this.<\/p>\n The elimination of the whey protein-based insulinotropic mechanisms of milk will be the most important future challenge for nutrition research.<\/p>\n Melnik BC. In the paper they reviewed the ways milk aggravates acne and placed a special emphasis on insulin (and IGF-1) spiking effects of whey. The paper recommended that Nestle research ways to eliminate the insulin spiking effect of milk, because: \u201cWhen the insulinemic index of milk has been adjusted to a level corresponding only to its carbohydrate moiety, we will look again into acne-free faces of less obese young people<\/em>.\u201d So cute.<\/p>\n There you have it, straight from the horse\u2019s mouth, whey aggravates acne. This is already pretty damning evidence, but doesn’t directly address the use of whey protein powders.<\/p>\n Research on protein powders has focused more on the effect on muscle growth and strength, understandably. Unfortunately, that leaves us with only a handful of relevant studies to look at.<\/p>\n Those are the only studies that compare protein supplements to other supplements. Protein powders, in general, increase IGF-1 levels more than carbohydrate supplements. This is good for muscle growth but bad for acne.<\/p>\n There was also one study on postmenopausal women<\/a>. Not exactly the best match when we talk about bodybuilders, but I\u2019ll mention it because it eliminates the effect of resistance training as confounding variable. Those who took 30g of whey protein per day had 8% higher IGF-1 levels<\/strong> than those taking a placebo with identical caloric content.<\/p>\n Quite a few studies looked at protein powders and mass building supplements in general. Usually they are a combination protein and carbohydrates and vitamins, free amino acids are sometimes added. These shakes are usually pretty heavy, and the caloric load alone is enough to spike insulin and IGF-1 levels. That\u2019s why they are not relevant if we want to focus on whey protein.<\/p>\n But they are relevant if you want to know whether protein powders and mass building shakes in general can cause acne. Taking supplements increases IGF-1 and insulin levels after exercise more than exercise alone. Long-term, these supplements also increase baseline IGF-1 levels. Both of these effects are bad for acne, but good for muscle growth.<\/p>\n Several studies have compared whey, casein and soy protein on muscle growth and strength, but none that I saw mentioned IGF-1 levels. Whey protein might stimulate muscle growth a bit better, but in the big picture the differences are quite small.<\/p>\n Soy protein has been studied in non-bodybuilding population, and it\u2019s been shown to increase IGF-1 levels in both young and old men and in postmenopausal women.<\/p>\n So given all that we\u2019ve covered so far I think it\u2019s safe to say soy protein has similar effect on IGF-1 levels (and acne) than the other types of protein powders. However, protein powders that don’t have dairy or soy are likely to be the safest options for people with acne<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Also, due to phytoestrogen content, women with acne shouldn’t take anything with soy<\/a>.<\/p>\n We can say that whey protein increases the risk of getting acne, but it\u2019s obviously not going to give acne to everybody.<\/p>\n IGF-1\/insulin pathway is just one way to get acne. For some people acne is more inflammatory and more tied to gut issues<\/a> and food sensitivities. For these people whey protein may not cause any problems.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a (not comprehensive) checklist of things that put you into high-risk group as far as whey and other protein powders are concerned:<\/p>\n And keep in mind that you are not powerless in this struggle, see the oily skin remedies<\/a> post for more.<\/p>\n Many people have asked me for protein powder recommendations. Here are a few that should be as safe as possible for acne-prone skin, but bear in mind what I wrote about protein powders in general above. All protein powders are somewhat bad for the skin, but the ones listed here should be less bad than the usual whey, casein, and soy-based powders.<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n Studies consistently show that protein powders work. They stimulate muscle growth and strength more than weight training alone. But this boost comes with a cost. Protein powders (especially whey) increase IGF-1 and insulin levels, both of which are linked to hormonal acne. Protein-rich supplements lead to higher increase than pure carbohydrate powders.<\/p>\n While there are no formal studies on whey protein on acne, it\u2019s highly likely they cause acne at least to some people. Things that put you into high-risk group are: oily skin, insulin resistance, and acne that is aggravated by sugar and simple carbohydrates.<\/p>\n Unfortunately skin\u2019s sensitivity to androgens and IGF-1 is determined by genetics<\/a>, so there\u2019s no simple way to fix this. Topical remedies can, to some degree, reduce sensitivity and mitigate the problem<\/a>. But increasing muscle growth with protein powders and clear skin are inherently opposing goals, both depend on the same hormones.<\/p>\n So what do you think? Are protein powders worth the increased risk of acne? Or do you have your own story to tell?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bodybuilders know that big muscles are built with whey protein. But there’s a catch. For some people, whey protein also causes acne. All the hours and hard work you put in at the gym to make yourself look good – and you are left with a face full of pimples. Fortunately, there are protein supplements … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,38,104],"tags":[43,102,34,35,37,103,54,105,106],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8663"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11099,"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8663\/revisions\/11099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acneeinstein.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
You know it\u2019s bad when\u2026<\/h2>\n
\nEvidence for acne-promoting effects of milk and other insulinotropic dairy products<\/a>.
\nNestle Nutr Workshop Ser Pediatr Program. 2011;67:131-45. Epub 2011 Feb 16.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nStudies on the effect of whey protein on IGF-1 levels<\/h2>\n
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Protein powders and mass building supplements in general<\/h2>\n
What about soy protein<\/h2>\n
Not a problem for everybody<\/h2>\n
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Recommended protein powders for people with acne<\/h2>\n
Conclusions<\/h2>\n