Teenagers are encouraged to drink milk to grow strong bones, but can milk cause adverse effects on the body? Many Dermatologists to some degree believe milk and other dairy products could possibly be linked to acne.

The Journal of American Academy of Dermatology reported skim milk and acne had a connection. They tested 47,335 women in a health study to see if acne and milk were related. They asked these women about what milk they drank as well as if they had severe acne as a teenager or not.

The results from the research showed women who drank two or more servings of skim milk each day were 44% more likely to suffer from cystic and nodule acne. Women who drank over two glasses of skim milk each day were 22% more likely to have suffered from severe acne than those who drank one glass serving a day. From this data, the researchers were able to make a positive connection between acne and milk. The Journal of American Academy of Dermatology reported that the root cause of acne from milk were hormones and "bioactive molecules."

Other dairy foods have been tested along with this study, but it turned out the different dairy products such as cheese didn't have as much as a correlation with acne as skim milk did. Whole and low-fat milk didn't show definite results either.

Iodine in milk may also be a culprit in causing acne. Since there is a significant level of iodine in milk - farmers give their cows "iodine-fortified feed" in order to prevent infection - which results in more iodine inside of dairy products. Iodine could be a factor that contributes to acne, but hormones and bioactive molecules could also be involved along with iodine in causing acne.

The common reason people give for milk causing acne is because of increased hormone levels. Teenagers, the most common sufferers of acne, are reported to have changes in hormone levels, which results in acne. Since milk, most often from pregnant cows, contains a load of hormones, this results in the increase of acne among teenagers.

If milk does actually cause acne, it does so very indirectly. Increased hormone production causes oil glands to become more active. Acne is formed from clogged pores, which is caused by increased oil production. The ovaries, testicles, and adrenal glands already produce many hormones in the body - increased hormones from milk generally won't help an acne situation.

Solutions to this problem often include avoiding all milk products during teenager years. Acne sufferers should generally limit milk intake, but still drink it along with a healthy diet, including fruits and vegetables. Calcium can come from other sources besides milk - people who are lactose intolerant grow up healthy without milk, so this shouldn't be much of an issue. Even with removing milk from the diet, this action usually doesn't cure acne. There are many other factors that result in clogged pores besides hormones.

Although further research is needed on this topic, it can be concluded that to prevent acne one should stay away from skim milk. Other dairy products should be taken in moderation to prevent excessive acne.