The debate about whether junk food causes bad skin remains unresolved. Some argue that this is a myth, while others insist there is a link between a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates and acne.
Dermatologists have been working hard to debunk the myth that a poor diet leads to bad skin. In 1970, a landmark study by author and researcher Gerd Plewig found no causal link between chocolate and the incidence of acne.
However, other researchers continue to warn of the link between sugar consumption and skin problems. According to best-selling author and anti-ageing guru Nicholas Perricone, the rapid rise in blood-sugar caused by eating refined carbohydrates causes inflammation in all of the body's major organs, including its largest - the skin.
Dr Perricone's ideas about sugar and ageing have gained much credence in the scientific community. But many of his most devout followers do not realise the findings' implications for acne sufferers.
While eating refined carbohydrates will not necessarily cause acne, what is becoming increasingly indisputable is that such foods can produce acne in susceptible individuals, such as adolescents, or aggravate acne in anyone already suffering from the condition.
A 2002 study by Loren Cordain, a professor at the University of Colorado, compared the eating habits of the Kitvian islanders of Papua New Guinea and the Ache hunter-gatherers of Paraguay. These groups were chosen because they were the least influenced by increasingly widespread westernised diets. The result: they had no incidence of acne.
