When you’re suffering from a frustrating skin condition, like adult acne, it’s common to want to find a cause behind your breakouts and blemishes. Skin-care habits, medications, hormones, and dietary habits are all often considered by dermatologists as possible causes or factors. Among these possibilities, perhaps surprisingly, is the consumption of whey protein. Allow us to explain.

Milk is made of two proteins, casein and whey, explains Vanessa Rissetto, a registered dietitian/nutritionist in Hoboken, New Jersey. She says that benefits of the protein can include weight loss and lowering cholesterol, but that “consistent high doses of whey protein may also cause acne,” but studies are both new and pending.