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 where you have to act like 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 best examples is beer. The list of problems beer can have is enormous; there’s so much variety in the production.
But if you adopt the right strategies, and purchase the right forms, beer can be one acne-friendly indulgence which you never have to give up.
Does the alcohol in beer cause acne?
Firstly, understand that alcohol can cause acne, no matter what source it’s from. The basic problem with alcohol 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.
For the short time it spends in the body, acetaldehyde is essentially public enemy number one. The relevance for acne? Your body is forced to hunt down and detoxify every molecule, and the agent it uses is glutathione.
Glutathione is the most important antioxidant made inside the body. 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.
The above process explains why a full week of drinking beer can 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, of course. Alcohol is only one substance found in beer, and any whole food is more than the sum of its parts.
Firstly, the average can of beer contains much less alcohol than wine anyway. Lagers averages at 4.5%, brown ale scrapes to 5%, Budweiser contains 5% by volume. Meanwhile, a glass of red or white wine averages at 13%.
If you drink beer for the taste, then this is excellent news – you just have to limit your intake. If your goal is to get drunk, then you’ll be drinking the same quantity of alcohol regardless of the source…
…but there’s another saving grace, as many beers are loaded with natural antioxidants as well.
Obviously, red wine bulldozers everything, but the likes of ale and bock contains as many antioxidants as white wine. In fact, white wine is slightly richer in polyphenols (a broad sub family of antioxidants), but beer has a higher total antioxidant capacity.
Beer contains higher levels of procyanidins, epicatechin, and ferulic acid, and this will counteract the glutathione depletion slightly. It won’t be a linear case of “drink beer, lose antioxidants”. The average ORAC score of a Guinness stout is 250, not enormous for acne, but enough to compare to nutritious staples such as honeydew melon (253) or pineapple (385).
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If you’re drinking bargain basement swill that tastes like washing up liquid, then you’ll get nothing. Nevertheless, this study analysed a variety of antioxidants in 12 beer-drinking volunteers. Vitamin C and beta-carotene levels decreased after drinking four glasses daily for 3 weeks, but glutathione, superoxide dismutase, vitamin E, lutein, and lycopene levels were unchanged.
The conclusion: “moderate consumption of red wine, beer and spirits has counteracting effects on plasma antioxidant components, resulting in no significant effect on overall antioxidant status”.
Therefore, your strategy is as follows. If you drink beer for the taste, then drink one or two per day and your skin will look as great as ever. If you love to get drunk, then you need to strengthen your homemade glutathione stocks in the first place. This article will teach you about the building blocks, but scroll down to the end of this article for a mini guide.
To get slaughtered up to two nights per week without harm, you should also choose a decent quality beer.
Ale, lager, and bock are the kings of antioxidants, and there’s some more great news while we’re here – dealcoholized beer contains the weakest antioxidant supplies. It’s the fermentation of barley which produces a lot of these beneficial compounds. Light beers also contain less antioxidants; Bud light has an ORAC score of 80 compared to Budweiser standard with an ORAC score of 150.
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 fear of beer – its undeniable content of gluten. Beer is produced through the fermentation of malt barley, one of the three common grains which are sources of gluten alongside wheat and rye.
The controversy with gluten is that its more famous dangers of digestive disruption tend to correlative closely with pimples and acne. Sensitive people suffer the most, but gluten can be an insidious, stealthy problem in almost everyone. Gluten is one of several reasons why bread and pasta can gradually cause acne. But the question is whether beer has high enough levels…
…and the happy answer is no, for all but the most hyper-sensitive. The amount of gluten in the average pint is tiny.
One team of Czech scientists analysed the gluten content of various beers during the brewing process. 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.
Food companies can legally brand their products as gluten free if the quantity is below 20ppm. Heineken and Budweiser both state that their standard beers contains below the limit. Are they telling the truth? Who knows, but they align with the tests above.
Gluten in beer is slowly reduced in each brewing stage, through boiling, mashing and fermenting. There’s many opportunities for gluten to be destroyed or left behind.
The mashing is one good 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. 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 and therefore most beer brands, 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 (which even increases your appetite); “gluten sensitive” people may well be reacting to other compounds.
Verdict – the gluten levels in beer are tiny. Keep your intake sensible and avoid wheat beers if your skin is mega sensitive.
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.
The bacteria fermenting them have a harder time, and consequently, more is left behind as residual sugar in beer rather than becoming ethanol. 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 over the long term massively increases the energy-shuttling hormone insulin. This hormone stimulates your skin’s sebaceous glands like no other, and the final consequence is oily skin and blocked pores.
Have you ever noticed that your face becomes an oil slick during the middle of a night out? Carbohydrates are the reason why. They’re also liquid carbs that absorb into the bloodstream rapidly. The insulin threat exists both in the short term and the long term.
Fortunately, your solutions are simple:
ONE: factor your beer consumption into your overall carbohydrate intake.
TWO: avoid the beer types with the most carbs. Rich microbrews can contain 25 carbs apiece.
Controlling your carbs is all about the balance between your intake and exercise. I advise reading this full insulin article, but for the average Joe who walks between places each day and maybe plays football with his mates, 150-170 carbs per day will be correct. That’s after you’ve done a hard 2 month low-carb correction course to underdo years of overly high intakes.
If you’re a hardcore athlete, then you can cope with far more. Even a night of binge drinking won’t completely destroy you. If you spend the night crawling from pub to pub, then you’ll be expending many of the carbohydrates through exercise.
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Inspect the carb content of your dietary stables thoroughly, whether it’s rice, potatoes or yogurt you’re eating. That said, never start removing those foods solely to fit in beer. Sweet potatoes and company have all-important acne nutrients which beer lacks like magnesium or vitamin A. Try to resist the classic mad urge to eat random junk food when drinking, such as pizza or McDonald’s – these are usually carbohydrate extravaganzas.
Low carb enthusiasts usually recommend sticking to light beers, but with a little organisational know-how, you can drink whichever beer you want.
The verdict – too much beer will cause oily skin and acne through a carbohydrate overdose. Drink sensibly (most of the time) and control your carb intake elsewhere.
The hidden mycotoxins in beer
Pesticides get a lot of justified hate in natural circles, but plenty of natural toxins exist as well, and not least mycotoxins. These are offensive weapons produced by species of moulds on crops, with one example being aspergillus moulds on coffee, which pump out inflammatory ochratoxins.
In the world of wheat, barely, oats, rye and maize, the main mould is fusarium graminearum. This species causes fatal diseases in the grain plants above, altering the nutrient profile and leading to shrivelled kernels. It leads to billions of dollars 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; it even appears in low levels on barley crops which aren’t diseased. What’s more, moulds like fusarium are killed during intense heat but mycotoxins are invulnerable. Deoxynivalenol is also a water-soluble substance.
Consequently, this mycotoxin ends up in many varieties of beer, in one quantity or another. There’s also another common mycotoxin called HT-2. The beer that millions of people love is contaminated with a chemical known to cause the conditions behind acne…
…but it’s the same story as with gluten: the quantities are far too tiny. A study from 2015 analysed 154 different European beer brands. At first, the results sounded negative; 60% contained deoxynivalenol while 9% contained HT-2. But the concentrations of mycotoxins only got close to the safety limits in heavy drinkers consuming more than a litre per day.
Another study examined levels of ochratoxin A, a mycotoxin found in chocolate. Only 5 beers out of 30 contained even trace levels.
Finally, a 2016 study measured four different mycotoxins in beer, which were ergot alkaloids, alternariol (AOH), deoxynivalenol (DON), and zearalenone (ZEA). 75% of beers contained deoxynivalenol, 93% were positive for ergot alkaloids, and every single sample contained ZEA.
Once again however, the levels were insignificant when it came to human health. They said: “beer does not represent a major source of intake of these toxins”, as judged against the European Union’s safety limits.
The biggest risk with beer is probably a rogue batch brewed from some contaminated barley which made it through the safety similar somehow.
Verdict – mycotoxins in beer may cause acne through increased inflammation. However the levels are miniscule and completely safe.
Supplements for building your beer defences
…and now, you have one last task. To strengthen your body’s glutathione production, with the correct amino acids, minerals, and hidden compounds.
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. For a well-absorbed bottle of convenient capsules, take this Pure Encapsulations Magnesium Glycinate (amazon link).
Eat Brazil nuts – Brazil nuts are the world’s greatest source of selenium, the reason why vegans never need to worry about selenium. Selenium itself is the most important mineral for glutathione production, and therefore a solid armour against beer. Best supplement: this 8 ounce bag of Terrasoul Superfoods Raw Brazil Nuts (amazon link). Alternatively, you can take Pure Encapsulations Selenium (amazon link), a well-absorbed selenium pill with no harmful chemicals and additives.
Take zinc – the final mineral for glutathione, and another one which acne patients commonly lack. MegaFood Zinc (amazon link) is the ultimate supplement brand, since it contains a bonus fruit and vegetable blend.
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 particularly special for preserving your beer obsession. It’s dense in antioxidants , which will protect against acetaldehyde toxicity to some degree, and it 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 also 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 or three glasses per day and every guy and his mum is begging you for acne advice, you’re clearly safe. Maybe your genetics are stronger, or maybe it’s unintentional factors like 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.
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Thanks for reading!
Would you say that non-alcoholic beer is unhealthier than standard brew? Because some athletes like to drink it after exercise (for recovery, apparently).
I assume you mean healthier and for acne, the removal of the alcohol is an obvious benefit. If the beer is made by removing the alcohol after fermentation, rather than changing the fermentation method itself, then the antioxidants will stay in place. However, there’s still the gluten and the carbohydrates, so the alcohol content is the only real difference. That’s right, marathon runners are fans of non-alcoholic beer and it was actually shown in one study to improve their performance compared to alcoholic beer, but I don’t believe that it’s anything special: any organic and fresh blended fruit juice like pomegranate juice could achieve the same benefits. Beet juice is known to aid muscle recovery as well. In fact, the benefits of beer could have been purely the carbohydrates. You never know though.
So which beer brand do you recommend Richard? Johnny
Greetings Johnny, the differences in beer brands aren’t massively important unless you aim for really prestigious, high quality ones. Remembering the basic acne strategies outlined here is more important. Beer will always do a small amount of damage, the goal here is keeping the indulgence in an acne-friendly diet, using other nutritional secrets to make its dangers bounce off you. Of course, you should avoid the really cheap stuff, like the cans so cheap they’re simply labelled “beer” and nothing else.
Any dangers lurking in BPA from metal beer cans and pesticide residue on wheat?
Unfortunately yes, but beer is in the category of a fun treat to keep in reserve anyway, so that’s no problem. As for wheat, it’s impossible to eliminate every danger, but get rid of the easy ones and you’ll be well ahead of where you were.
So overall would you say beer is a positive to our health? So many conflicting studies out there about alcohol and (brain) health, mostly tested on mice for some strange reason…
Not positive, but it won’t destroy your health in moderation, even with nights where you go completely overboard. Keep your minerals up and you’ll have much stronger defences than the average person.
Well some studies say beer has health benefits and then the next day they say the exact opposite…Obviously pretty confusing!
I agree, it’s annoying. Same with “one glass of wine per day” being healthy and then days later they’re saying that no quantity is safe. It’s probably to keep people reading newspapers. I doubt that any quantity is genuinely healthy, but there’s easily room for drinking beer as long as you’ve got a well-armoured foundation of nutrition elsewhere (particularly the minerals).
I still don’t understand 100% why beer and wine would be considered unhealthy drinks compared to a pepsi or sprite for example. Aren’t they just fermented beverages that should really make the nutrients more easily digestible/bioavailable?…
It’s the alcohol content, but red wine has nutrients (the antioxidant resveratrol) that counteract the harm slightly.