Can Drinking Beer Cause Acne And Destroy Your Skin?

There’s a great myth cutting a path like wildfire through the acne-clearing community: the myth that if you want clear skin, you have to remove everything pleasurable from your life. You have to remove sugary cakes and chocolate, because sugar skyrockets inflammation.

You have to say no to pizza, because wheat is a hidden acne menace. You have to stop eating a greasy plate of fries from McDonald’s, because everyone knows that greasy food causes acne.

To many, it sounds like a life without acne is a life as joyless as a celibate monk sitting on a mountaintop.

Well, I’m happy to report that that’s not the case. There’s plenty of staple treats and delicious foods that you can enjoy while staying disciplined on an acne-friendly diet. The above three examples are true, but dark chocolate doesn’t cause acne; it’s the sugar in milk chocolate that’s the danger. Red wine is drenched with antioxidants. The list goes on and on…

…and one of the greatest examples is beer.

 

Does the alcohol in beer cause acne?

Firstly, we have to cover alcohol itself, and the basic problem of alcohol for acne is antioxidant depletion.

All alcohol you drink, with the exception of a small percentage which is absorbed directly through the stomach wall, is detoxified by the liver using the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This process produces a sinister by-product called acetaldehyde.

Acetaldehyde is 30 times more toxic than alcohol itself. It’s partly responsible for the classic symptoms of hangover such as a splitting headache, blurred vision, and nausea. Acetaldehyde has many less noticeable effects as well, such as chronically inflaming cells across the whole body.

Acetaldehyde is essentially public enemy number one for the short time it spends in the body. Your body must detoxify every molecule of this toxic substance, and the agent it uses is glutathione.

Glutathione is the most important antioxidant humans manufacture themselves. Case in point: acne patients have 20% less in their skin than average. Glutathione even regenerates other nutrients, such as vitamin E and vitamin C.

Alcohol strongly depletes your glutathione reserves, and that’s the simplest reason why a full week of drinking beer leads to a grubby, glowless face with a fresh outbreak of tiny pimples.

So are your days of drinking beer over? The answer is no. Any whole food is more than the sum of its parts, and beer is a surprisingly strong source of natural antioxidants.

In fact, white wine is slightly richer in polyphenols (a broad subset of antioxidants), but beer has a higher total antioxidant capacity. Beer also contains higher levels of the antioxidants procyanidins, epicatechin, and ferulic acid.

This means that the acne-causing glutathione depletion from the alcohol will be counteracted somewhat. It won’t be a linear case of “drink beer, lose antioxidants”. The average ORAC score of a Guinness stout is 210, which isn’t colossal, but compares well to a honeydew melon (253) or pineapple (385).

Ale, lager, and bock are particularly rich in antioxidants. Dealcoholized beer actually contains the weakest antioxidant supplies, as it’s the fermentation of barley which produces many of these beneficial compounds.

In a 2000 study, 12 volunteers drank four glasses of beer each day for 3 weeks. Blood vitamin C and beta-carotene were reduced, but glutathione, superoxide dismutase, vitamin E, lutein and lycopene levels were unchanged. The scientists concluded that moderate consumption of beer had “no significant effect on overall antioxidant status”.

If you’re drinking bargain basement swill that tastes like washing up liquid, then you’ll get nothing, but beer is better for antioxidants than it seems. A couple per day probably won’t overwhelm your antioxidant reserves. Like with any alcoholic beverage, you should strengthen your glutathione stocks in the first place, to prevent their depletion. There’s various building blocks in its production, but the simplest and most effective are the minerals zinc, magnesium and selenium.

Verdict – the alcohol in beer can cause acne, but can be neutralised with minimal effort.

 

Is all beer spiked with gluten?

Secondly, we have another common beer fear – its gluten content. Beer is produced through the fermentation of malt barley, one of three common grains which are sources of gluten alongside wheat and rye.

Many people who experience digestive problems from gluten, like nausea and abdominal pain, also experience savage acne outbreaks simultaneously. Gluten can be a more subtle, stealthy problem in almost everyone, but the question is whether beer has high enough levels…

…and the happy answer is no, for all but the most hyper-sensitive. 

For example, one team of Czech scientists analysed the gluten content of various beers. Non-alcoholic beer had less than 3 milligrams per litre. Regular lagers had a range of 3 to 8.7 milligrams per litre, while stouts contained 9.0 to 15.2 milligrams per litre.

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Those quantities are tiny. The average slice of bread contains 3515mg of gluten.

Another comparison came in a study on fifty beers. 35 contained 1 to 200 parts per million of gluten, while 15 contained less than 1ppm. The average wheat bread, meanwhile, contains 75,000ppm. For context, food companies can legally brand their products as gluten free if the quantity is below 20ppm.

Gluten in beer is slowly reduced in each brewing stage, through boiling, mashing and fermenting. During the mashing for example, the starch in the barley gets broken down into a liquid (the wort) containing the sugars which are later used for fermentation into ethanol.

The proteins, meanwhile, get left behind in the pulp of used barley. Why? Gluten itself is an individual protein in a wider protein complex. In wheat, this complex is called gliadin, in rye it’s known as secalin, and in barley, it is called horedein.

The interesting thing about horedein is that unlike gliadin, it is not water-soluble. This massively reduces the quantity of gluten that migrates to the beer.

Which brings us to our next point – watch out for wheat beer. The gluten levels are generally significantly higher (although still very low); the Czech study above observed a range between 10.6mg and 41.2mg. Another interesting twist is that many supposedly gluten sensitive people have no problem with barley. Wheat and wheat beer makes them feel awful for days, but with barley there’s no problem.

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If you’re lucky, the same could be true for you. This phenomenon could be attributed to differences in the protein complex. Wheat also has other nasty compounds like wheat-germ agglutinin; “gluten sensitive” people may well be reacting to other compounds.

 

Is beer a carb-loaded acne bombshell?

Next, we have the culprit behind the dreaded beer belly – the carb content of beers.

The average beer contains significantly more carbohydrates than a glass of wine. A beer can contain anything from 6 to 25 carbohydrates per 12 ounce glass. A glass of red or white wine contains an average of just 4 carbs.

Why the difference? It’s all down to the fermentation method. The carbohydrates in the grains used to manufacture beer are more complex than the grapes used for wine. Barley is full of complex fibres and starches, while grapes are full of simple sugars.

This complexity gives the bacteria and yeast a much harder job in fermenting the carbohydrates into ethanol. Consequently, far more remains as residual sugar chains in beer. This inefficiency is also why beer is lower in alcohol by weight.

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The result is 13 grams of carbohydrates in the average beer. Regular stouts and lagers contain about 10 to 11 grams per pint. Budweiser contains 11 carbs per 12 ounces, Heineken also contains 11. Light beers contain 6 carbs, while dark, rich beers can contain up to 25 carbohydrates.

10 to 20 carbs is not huge itself, but when you drink five or six beers the numbers stack up fast. Then you’re in acne territory, as too many carbohydrates is the prime factor in oily skin, via cranking up insulin levels.

Have you ever noticed that your face becomes an oil slick during the middle of a night out? Carbohydrates are the reason why. The liquid carbs in beer absorb into the bloodstream extra rapidly. Short term insulin spikes are problematic, but it’s long term elevated levels that really clog your pores.

Therefore, your solution is pretty obvious: factor your beer intake into your overall carbohydrate intake.

Exactly how many carbs you require depends on what acne-clearing phase you’re in. I recommend an initial low carb phase to bring your insulin (and oily skin) down rapidly, followed by a more moderate carbohydrate intake long term. For the average citizen who walks around each day and plays a sport like football casually, that will likely be approximately 150 carbs.

Also, don’t fall into the old trap of grabbing and eating random junk food while you’re drinking. When you’re severely inebriated and the urge kicks in, it’s rarely healthy food. It’s usually takeaway junk food like pizza or McDonalds, foods that are loaded with extra carbohydrates.

Overall, it’s easy to organise an effective strategy for preventing a carb overload. Getting rid of boring carbohydrate sources like white bread will allow you to keep the fun ones like beer. Just remember not to remove acne-friendly carb sources to make way for beer, like sweet potatoes, which are packed with vitamin A and carotenoid antioxidants.

The occasional night of binge drinking won’t completely destroy you either. If you spend your night crawling from pub to pub then even better, you’ll be expending many of the carbohydrates through exercise. Ever got the urge to run around uncontrollably while drinking? The extra carbohydrates could be why.

 

The hidden mycotoxins in beer

Finally, we have a threat which you may never have heard of – mycotoxins.

Unlike pesticides, mycotoxins are a completely natural threat: biological weapons manufactured by moulds growing on a variety of crops. There are designed to ward off bacteria, the sworn enemy of moulds everywhere, but when humans consume them, they cause damage like dizziness, fatigue, neurological issues, death, and more.

They can also cause acne, by spiking inflammation levels and depleting antioxidants. The two most common forms are aflatoxins and ochratoxins, while commonly contaminated crops include coffee beans, cocoa beans, peanuts, grapes and other nuts…

…and beer is also touted as a contaminated food, Specifically, the mould Fusarium graminearum is a known contaminant of the wheat, barley, oats, rye, and maize grains. Fusarium graminearum causes fatal diseases in the grain plants above, shrivelling the kernels and causing billions of dollars worth of lost agriculture every year.

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Importantly for us, fusarium also churns out a mycotoxin called deoxynivalenol, or vomitoxin. Deoxynivalenol is the most common mycotoxin on the barley plant; low levels even appear on crops which aren’t diseased. Furthermore, deoxynivalenol is a water-soluble substance, allowing it to easily transfer to beer in one quantity or another. Another common mycotoxin in beer is called HT-2…

…but ultimately, it’s the same story as with gluten: the levels of mycotoxins are far too tiny. A study from 2015 analysed the mycotoxin content of 154 different European beer brands. The results sound negative at first; 60% of those tested contained deoxynivalenol while 9% contained HT-2. But only in heavy drinkers drinking more than a litre per day did the concentrations get anywhere near the safety limit.

Another study examined levels of ochratoxin A, a deadly carcinogenic mycotoxin. Only 5 beers out of 30 contained even trace levels.

Finally, this study from 2016 analysed the levels of four different mycotoxins in beer, which were ergot alkaloids, alternariol (AOH), deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone (ZEA). 75% of beers contained deoxynivalenol, all samples contained ZEA, and 93% were positive for ergot alkaloids.

Once again however, the levels were insignificant when it came to human health. Judging by the European Union’s daily safe limits, “beer does not represent a major source of intake of these toxins”. The biggest risk will likely be from a rogue batch brewed from some contaminated barley which made it through the safety filter somehow.

 

Supplements for building your beer defences

Now we come to the fun part of this guide: strengthening your beer firewall, so that your defences against acne are higher before a drop ever touches your lips.

We covered much of this in the main alcohol article, but here’s a recap:

Take magnesium – this widely absent mineral is a co-factor for glutathione itself, and creates another glutathione co-factor called adenosine triphosphate. Up to 80% of Americans are deficient in this mineral, the highest figure for any nutrient, so it’s a tactic you can really exploit. Best supplement: Pure Encapsulations Magnesium Glycinate (amazon link).

Take zinc and selenium – these join magnesium to complete the holy trinity of minerals which all glutathione production requires. Of the two, zinc has higher deficiency rates, so I’d recommend this MegaFood Zinc (amazon link), unless you have a well organised diet.

Get glycine – an amino acid which is also involved with glutathione formation. It’s found in weird parts of animals like the skin, the joints, and organs, making deficiency rampant. The best supplement is this Great Lakes Pasture Raised Gelatin (amazon link).

Eat ginger – ground ginger spice is especially dense in antioxidants, which will protect against acetaldehyde toxicity, while it also contains anti-inflammatory compounds called gingerols and shogaols, which will counteract any mycotoxins. This Blue Lily Organics Ground Ginger (amazon link) is a great 1 pound bulk brand. Sweet potatoes, pomegranates, and 85%+ dark chocolate can play a similar role.

Take NAC – this supplement mostly consists of cysteine, the second most important amino acid for glutathione formation. Many doctors keep a bottle of NAC pills in their cabinet for hardcore party-goers on a Friday and Saturday night, to relieve them of their alcohol poisoning. Why? Because its ability to rapidly increase glutathione levels is unrivalled. Popping an NAC pill the night before some heavy drinking is a great idea. Best supplement (amazon link): Thorne Research N-Acetylcysteine.

Eat broccoli – simply feasting on broccoli every lunchtime will supply sulphur, the final key building block for glutathione. Brussel sprouts, garlic and onions do the same. If you have intolerances to those foods, then a supplement which combines sulphur and some amazing anti-inflammatory properties is Kala Health MSMPure (amazon link).

 

Conclusion

Four dangers, and four simple strategies for dodging those dangers and ensuring a lifetime in a world where beer flows in rivers, and all taps produce a stream of brown ale.

That’s an exaggeration, but most of beer’s problems take a few quick switches, rather than a full-scale dietary revolution. I advise increasing glutathione for acne anyway, so you may automatically become beer-proof (in the right way).

Don’t forget to factor in your observations. If you drink two glasses of beer per day, and every guy and his mum is begging you for acne advice, you’re clearly safe. It could be genetics, or it could be unintentional lifestyle factors which you’re unaware of. It could be as simple as walking a route to work each day which doesn’t pass through glutathione-depleting car fumes.

Your own observations come first, but this article is your rough blueprint.

NEXT: the ultimate diet for clearing acne permanently

 

 

Thanks for reading!