High glycaemic load foods refer to foods that cause a sharp increase in blood glucose, or sugar, such as low-fibre carbohydrates. Low glycaemic load foods cause a more gradual and sustained increase in glucose, and include foods such as high-fibre, complex carbohydrates.

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After 12 weeks on a low glycaemic load diet, men with acne had a significant reduction in pimples, whiteheads and other lesions compared with their peers who stuck to a conventional diet, Dr Robyn N. Smith of RMIT University in Melbourne and colleagues found.

Lifestyle factors affect acne
"The results of this study open up the prospect that nutrition-related lifestyle factors may affect the development of acne," Smith and her team write in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, while cautioning that additional research is needed.

Low glycaemic load diets have been promoted for weight loss and diabetes control. Given that high levels of insulin may contribute to acne, Smith and her team note, it's possible that reducing dietary glycaemic load could reduce acne severity.

To investigate, Smith and her team randomly assigned 43 men with acne to a low glycaemic load diet or a standard diet. Men in the low glycaemic load group were instructed to replace high glycaemic load foods with more protein and lower glycaemic load choices, while those on the standard diet were simply encouraged to include carbohydrates in their diet.

Acne reduced substantially
By 12 weeks, the number of acne lesions had dropped by about 22 in the low glycaemic load group, compared with about 14 in the control group. The men eating the low glycaemic load diet also lost weight, and showed greater reductions in levels of the male sex hormone androgen and increased insulin sensitivity.

It's not possible to determine if the improvement in acne was due to weight loss or better insulin sensitivity or both, the researchers write. "Therefore, these results should be considered preliminary and larger scale studies are needed to confirm the effect of dietary intervention on acne," they conclude. - (Reuters Health)

SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, August 2007.

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