Everyone wants to find better ways to fight acne. It is one of the most common skin conditions known to humanity. Even the people with the most fortunate genetics generally have to fight in when they’re teenagers as well. Consequently, people tend to get excited when it sounds like there is a newer and better way to fight acne. Brewer’s yeast may be useful for more than cooking and brewing if you trust a relatively recent study. This is a bit uncharitable as supplements are used in some cases to try to treat other medical issues, but skin care is a new use for the yeast. OROGOLD looked into the matter to give you a clearer idea on what we currently know about brewer’s yeast and treating acne.

What is Brewer’s Yeast?
It really is what your first impulse likely told you. The yeast you buy in a store for when you need to bake certain kinds of bread or that you use in home-brewing. A simple, single-celled fungus in a packet that activates and helps processes sugar. Humans have been using it for centuries. It has plenty to recommend it into a diet thanks to the suite of vitamins and nutrients it technically possesses. This helps it fortify our foods with further beneficial nutrients and even gives brewing a somewhat healthy side despite the alcohol. As mentioned, it even sees some use in medicine. It does get more commonly used as a kind of herbal supplement though for a variety of things for which there is not proof it helps.

How Does it Work?
Most proponents of brewer’s yeast as an acne cure latch on to the fact the yeast helps break down sugar. This isn’t going to happen when you take it in supplements as the yeast isn’t active, and we’d be stopping right here if that was the case. Their assertion is that the yeast gives you chromium, though. This being relevant is already problematic, but we’re going to continue slightly farther forward for the sake of argument. As the yeast breaks down, your body begins to distribute the chromium throughout the body. Chromium then ostensibly helps the body process the sugar better to help purge it from your body to reduce acne. Unfortunately, OROGOLD must highlight that this in turn is likewise based on a false understanding of what can cause acne.

Mistaken Ideas
Most proponents tend to highlight that “a study” found a possible link to treating acne with brewer’s yeasts and this is quite true. They found a study. Brewer’s yeast has been shown to maybe have a benefit for a number of things at least once, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much until it is studied further. Additionally, the proposed method of action is itself controversial as the human body may not even use chromium. If it does, scientists believe that the body using a highly specialized version of chromium that isn’t necessarily the same one you find in brewer’s yeast. On top of all this, proponents for it are banking on discredited ideas that a sugary diet necessarily causes acne. You can have plenty of sugar in your diet, though it isn’t highly recommended, and still eat in a healthy fashion that supports your skin. Removing sugar from the body will not help clear the skin from acne.

There are many things wrong with the idea that brewer’s yeast can help fight acne. The most common mechanism of action requires you to take unproven supplements that only the barest of evidence suggests may be useful. OROGOLD cannot recommend trying this approach until there is further evidence. There doesn’t seem like it will necessarily hurt you in any fashion, but it does not seem likely to help. Consider trying a foaming cleanser if you need a way to fight acne and your skin feels over-sensitive. If your acne is bad enough you wish to try an unproven method, then you should talk to your dermatologist instead for a method that is known to work rather than chancing acne scars.