A teenage boy scarfs down an entire bucket of fried chicken. The
next morning he wakes up with red bumps roiling over his skin.
Is there a connection? Did eating all that greasy food give him
a bad case of the zits? The simple answer for the past 30 years
has been a resolute no. But today, new research suggests the
answer is more complicated: maybe. The fat you put in your mouth
does not reappear on your skin. When you eat, the food goes
through the digestive system, which breaks down that fried
chicken into nutrients that can be easily absorbed and utilized.
Bile acids dissolve fat in water in the intestinal cavity.
Enzymes break the larger fat molecules into smaller ones. Cell
walls absorb these molecules, which are then transported to the
veins in the chest and fat storage areas around the body.
Pimples have no connection to these fat deposits. Acne forms
because the ducts that connect the sebaceous glands in the skin,
which dispense oil to keep skin soft and healthy, are overactive
and produce an excess o