Dr Heather MD

Two great women’s health meetings in three days✨It was a busy and fun weekend 😊

Today is my birthday! 🎉 🎉🎉 I have had such a wonderful day with friends and family. I’m feeling so grateful for everything in my life on this special day🥰

Honored to be speaking at CRN's inaugural SciComms Connect, part of its 2026 dietary supplement industry signature events.
https://www.crnusa.org/2026events/SciComms-Agenda

I'm looking forward to contributing to the conversations connecting science and communications to build trust and help advance women's health through responsible, evidence-based innovation.

See you there!

✨For decades, the link between diet and acne breakouts was dismissed as a myth🤔

Swipe through to see how more recent research has completely flipped that perspective by tracking real patients➡️

The Study➡️A randomized controlled trial tracked 32 young adults (24 men and 8 women) aged 20-27 with mild-to-moderate facial acne.

Half the group was assigned to a strict low-glycemic-load diet🥗, while the other half maintained their high-carb eating habits🍞

What they found➡️After 10 weeks, the group that cut out refined sugars🍭experienced a significant drop in their total acne lesion counts✅

Biopsies even showed that, in the low-glycemic group, sebaceous glands were smaller and inflammation was decreased📉

The Study📚A large-scale study surveyed 47,355 women about their dietary habits in high school, specifically examining the frequency and types of dairy consumed daily and their association with physician-diagnosed acne👩🏽‍⚕️

What they found➡️Researchers found a clear, positive association between acne severity and the frequency of milk consumption. The strongest association was with skim milk🥛

Skim milk contains a high ratio of whey and casein proteins, which spike insulin and the hormone IGF-1, prompting your skin to produce excess sebum🚀

The Details➡️Why do these two specific food groups cause trouble? Both refined carbohydrates and dairy cause a rapid surge in insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) 📈

This surge activates a master cellular switch in your body known as the mTORC1 pathway, telling your body to hyper-produce skin oil, increase androgens (homrones associated with acne), and increase inflammation in the skin⬆️

✅The Takeaway: Diet won’t completely replace prescription acne treatments🔁

If you have acne prone skin, in addition to topical treatments, try cutting out dairy, refined sugar, and processed foods🚫

JOIN ME IN NYC! 🗽🏙️

I'm excited to be part of the faculty! Join me October 9 – 11 to discuss the latest research, practical pearls, and clinical updates on dermatologic care in patients with skin of color. You can’t miss this! Register today: https://skinofcolorupdate.com