My top 4 lightbulb moments trying to ‘fix’ hormonal acne

"I break out either before, during or after my period......so it must be hormonal acne right?!....... actually sometimes I break out around ovulation time too, when is that again?"

CONFUSING RIGHT?!

Hormones are confusing AF.

Acne is confusing AF. 

The two together DEFINITELY do not make it any easier 🤪 

I've been studying hormones and nutritional therapy for well over 10 years now and every week I'm still learning something new that literally blows my mind about our amazing hormones. And believe me, they really are amazing if you take the time to get to know them and create a supportive environment for them to work in.

But where to start? Well there are a few principles of biochemistry that I learnt at university that I want to share with you real quick. Learning these allowed such a huge AHA moment for me, and I see the lightbulb moment happen every week for my clients too, I want to share them with you today because I know what it is like to feel a victim of your hormones and nobody needs to waste their time feeling like that. Believe me. 

Here are my 4 top 'aha' moments you need to have about your hormones

1. Our sex hormones do not cause acne on their own.

I repeat.

Sex hormones do not cause hormonal acne on their own.

As we learnt a few weeks back, we make over 50 hormones every day and our sex hormones are just one family of them. A pretty important family, but not the most or the only family.

Two of the most significant other hormones involved in hormonal acne, that aren't sex hormones, include:

- insulin (- I'm going to explain exactly how for you here)

- cortisol (- we will come on to next time!)

2. Elevated insulin levels are at the core of hormonal acne.

You know I can't resist a quick biology class so I'm going to explain for you why:

Insulin is produced by the pancreas in the presence of glucose in the blood stream. So when we eat, especially refined carbohydrates or high sugar foods, the body releases insulin to work like a key opening up cells to allow glucose in. Pretty straight forward right. 

But when the body starts to kick out more than an optimal amount of insulin repeatedly over time, say because we are constant grazers always snacking on a piece of fruit, handful or crisps, slice of cake. Or maybe we go long periods of time without eating and our body has to release cortisol in order to bring up our blood sugar levels, this can have a knock on effect on our sex hormones. 

3. Elevated insulin levels don't just mean type 2 diabetes.

You can be a healthy weight, or even underweight, and still have poorly managed blood sugar levels. The most common drivers in clinic I see are:

- high consumption of refined carbohydrates (think white rice, pasta, bread, crisps)

- regular consumption of sugar or sweet treats (can include drinks, kombucha is a killer for this!)

- meals without sufficient protein, fat or fibre

- disrupted sleep

- stimulants (caffeine, alcohol, drugs)

- shift work

- sedentary lifestyle

Your body having to unnecessarily do anything is never a good thing, least of all make a hormone because of poor diet and lifestyle choices. Over time habits like these can have an impact on your sex hormones by reducing your levels of Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG). Think of SHBG as a taxi. Its job is to transport hormones around the body. When too many taxi's are taken up by insulin, less are available to pick up hormones. Just think how annoying is it getting to the train station late at night only to find no taxis left?!

This then means you have more free hormones running around the body....picture the last train pulling in to the station filled with drunk commuters with no taxis to get into. Not what we want for our hormones at all!

4. High insulin levels upregulates an enzyme called aromatase

Aromatase is involved in the synthesis of oestrogen. Essentially causing higher levels of oestrogen to circulate. Elevated oestrogen levels can contribute to acne, heavy periods, anxiety, irritability...you know all that fun PMS type stuff. And for any men reading this high levels of aromatase can cause lower levels of testosterone resulting in disruptions to mood, depression, fatigue, disruptions to sleep and reduced libido. 

So as you can see one simple hormone, insulin, and its poor management by diet and lifestyle perhaps combined with genetic vulnerabilities, can lead the way for hormonal acne to thrive. Yet I bet insulin was probably never mentioned when you last saw your GP or dermatologist about your acne? Let alone advice on how to support it.....But hopefully you can see here how invaluable taking a holistic approach to hormonal acne is, and how just 'treating' your hormones with medications or even supplements just focusing on sex hormones, isn't going to fix the root cause. Book your free Skin Consult with Chloe and get started on your True Skin journey today.