9 replies to this topic

[HaloTeK]

Hi- i'm new to this forum, but i feel i have some helpful facts to share. Personally, I've never had really bad acne, but i'd always seem to get pesky pimples and boils from time to time. You might ask, what sets me off? Vitamin e, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, zinc, most whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat), berries, soy, most nuts, most oils(including fish oils), stimulants of any kind (because they cause the body to release fats), consuming more then a couple of meals in a day (for those diets that tell you to eat 5 times a day), even exercise.

Now- you may be asking youself - how the hell can you be healthy if you can't start to incorporate the above foods?

Here's what i've learned about myself and how it may apply to you:

I'm positive there is usually some kind of hormonal,lipid dysfunction, poor liver metabolism, or allergies that are going on to cause my outbreaks - and the stressors could be the above items, lack of sleep, or lack of something my body needs to function its best - or that my body isn't getting the current nutrients in the ratios it wants <------- is part of the the reason i never use multivitamins because we really don't know what are the perfect ratios for vitamins and minerals (only real foods from nature have ratios that are really beneficial).

SO - where did i start from here? I stopped eating food for longer periods of time in the day- and started to compress my eating to a 4-6 hour period in a day.
This started to produce clearer skin within almost 3-5 days. I assumed that something in my diet was causing my skin to produce extra sebum- by lessening the number of hours of eating - my body spends more time in repair mode then digesting food - this is important when allergies or other factors from food itself could be causing my acne. Still, is there something else i could be do to help my body???

The most nagging question i wanted to answer was why all the insulin balancing foods and protocols - ie, berries, ALA, fish oils- gymnema sylvestre, lower glycemic grains like brown rice and such <----- still made me breakout. Also, why was it that i was always breaking out a couple of days after starting a routine workout regime lasting more then a week? I also wanted to know why all the anti-inflammation protocols that many doctors use to help treat acne and pimples did nothing but make me breakout more - the anti-inflammation products most mentioned on different sites are vitamin e (even though i know people have had problems with it), zinc, ALA, berries, etc.

What did i think of next???? Did my body have a problem with processing fats? The only conclusion I would come to that made sense was that my body was really good with releasing fats from tissue - but not really good and burning fats once they are released- what does this mean for acne and pimples??? Well, plain and simple, the acne bacteria feed off of excess lipids. You see, by working out and eating the above foods - i made my body super efficient at releasing fats- but not actually burning them - giving the bacteria more then a feast!!!!!!

In laymans terms - this is the model of fat burning in my body
1: Exercise and good diet - releases tons of fat from cells
2: Fat flows around body- at this point an efficient body burns the fat - but in my body - only a little gets burned and most of the fat finds a way back to the fat cells -
3: Fat cells reclaim some of the excess lipids floating around.

BETWEEN 2 and 3 - ACNE BACTERIA ARE HAVING A FEAST.

SO i figure - what if i can do something to help my body burn the fat that gets released? would that help acne and pimples? YOU BET!!!!!!!!!

I was on my way to discovering the major technique i could use to keep my pimples at bay.

WHAT DID I WANT TO DO: 1: MAKE MY BODY SUPER EFFICIENT AT BURNING FATS
2: MAKE MY BODY SUPER EFFICIENT AT STORING FATS

ALL LEADING TO MINIMAL AMOUNTS OF LIPIDS FOR BACTERIA TO EAT.

you see people - this is why b5 works to some degree - why panthenine works even better - AND WHY DIFFERENT FORMS OF CARNITINE WORK EVEN BETTER.


HERE is where i tell you why certain protocols work:
B5, panthenine, work by increasing Co-enzyme A - - <------------ major factor in making your body process fats

propionyl ester of carnitine <--------- this supplement dirrectly takes fats out of your blood and forces then into your mitochondria. I would ponder that this variation of carnitine - which forces more fats into your body muscles then other versions of carnitine would work the best.

Supplements like sesamin - while it doesn't seem to work as well as carnitine - it still forces your body to process fats in your mitochondria and perxisomes.

Fasting parts of the day: because you are eating less( and processing less fats from oils or conversion into fats from carbs, or releasing of fats because of protein consumption) - is going to cause minimal release of fats from body - and you are not adding more fats from food so the acne bacteria have less to eat.

Now exercise can lead to a major releasing of blood fats - but once you get to equilibrum with your weight and insulin levels - exercise will help you to burn excess fats-- (SIDENOTE- i almost always seemed to breakout more then i was losing weight then when i was maintaining or gaining weight --- once again this probably has to do with the fact that when i was losing weight - i was releasing tons of fat for the bacteria to eat -, but when i was gaining or maintaining weight - my body was more efficient at storing fats at that point- which adhears to second point in my protocol above)

LETS WRAP UP WHAT I AM SAYING:



YES, EATING A HIGH GLYCEMIC FRUIT LIKE PINAPPLE or mango, etc usually causes me less acne then when eating a low glycemic carb like brown rice because the pinapple sugars are so efficiently stored that i don't have to worry about fats lingering in the body from slow digestion <------ this is why brown rice probably causes me acne. so i am satisfying one of my above goals at making my body super efficient at storing fats. You don't have to eat as much and you spend more then in body repair when you eat whole fruits that digest fast. ------ i will go more into this in a future article.

YES, EATING MORE VEGETABLES ties and binds excess fats that are floating around in your system - this is why fiber then help in the same way- but be careful with some vegetables - brassica family, soy, and beans can and do effect hormones that can lead to extra fat release in the body - and that is why they are the bane of some peoples existance (acne causing) but are also miracle foods for slimming in those people who process fats well. In some ways - peapods seemed to be miracle foods for clearing acne and pimples for me - it might work for others too - and it might have someting to do with the fact that peapods seem to do a good job at lowering lipids.

YES, TAKING good forms of carnitine- like propionyl-carnitine or acetyl-L-carntine - might not only help you clear your acne - but might allow you to enjoy foods that cause your blood lipid levels to rise the most - because they are so efficient are burning extra fat ----- remember - you can always start at a low dose and increase to high levels. SIDENOTE- remember that vitamin e causes problems with lots of people - well that because it is an inhibitor of fat oxidation - causing individuals who have problems storing fat or burning it to have it float around more , ie, feeding the acne bacteria.


SOME PEOPLE MIGHT HELP THERE ACNE BY natural herbs that are antibiotic OR ANTI-INFLAMATORY treatments - BUT I ATTACK IT AT ITS BASE - THE FOOD SOURCE!!!!

OK - too much for the night - i'll try to post responses to anyone who has questions.

[ReiseReise]

Maybe I'm a little slow but I dont quite understand what your trying to suggest ..... more exercise + less eating time?

[HaloTeK]

Here's the simple regimen.

1: Compress all your food eating to 4-6 hours in a day
2: Take Propionyl-L-Carnitine. 500mg to 2000mg dose. <----------------- (YOU WON"T BELIEVE HOW WELL IT WORKS), sesamin may also work well for you.
3. Eat lots of fully ripe fruit - mangos, pinapple, watermelon, apricots, etc.
4. Eat leafy vegetables (lots), minimize brassisa family (broccoli) - also remember peapods seem to work well for most people (eat lots)
5. You can consume pea proteins (like pea protein powder) - but i'd minimize most whole beans because of << possible lectin problems, i'm not sure of this >>
but i definitely had problems with beans and not pea protein for some reason. - rice protein seemed to mess me up too.
6. grass fed beef, organic chicken, (egg yolk raw, <---- remember to see how it affects you), lamb
7. exercise, mostly walking <----- 30min to 60min a day - only twice a week do High intensity interval training 20 mins 2 times per week
8. You can consume some butter - it seems to help normalize digestive track- 2 tbsp daily.

After you start to breakout less - you may be able to add more foods that i will add in future posts. Protein consumption is usually higher at first on this regimen, but it gets tapered off for longevity benefits after you improve your skin. Remember - you need to see how individual foods affect you.

GOOD LUCK!

[McMg]

Good info! I have not tried propionyl-L-carnitine, but I can attest to acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) being a more amazing acne cure than I ever thought anything could be. The foods that trigger my acne are fairly similar to yours, and I would mostly agree with your assessment of fats causing acne--at least in people like us. Though it seems likely to me that bad fats (oxidized, polymerized, trans-) are the culprits. I only have to take 5-25 mg of ALCAR and I can eat whatever crap I want without worrying about terrible bodywide cystic acne that I had for a decade before I discovered the dietary changes required to control my acne--and then almost an entire decade further of strictly avoiding acnegenic foods. Now I can eat whatever, and the freedom feels great!

The only thing I feel is important to note is that long term ALCAR use definitely depleted me of magnesium. It made me twitchy, anxious and depressed (despite the great complexion). I recommend anyone taking ALCAR also take magnesium. Magnesium malate is a very good form for being absorbable. (Many other forms of magnesium are so poorly absorbable they're laxatives.) Magnesium is so relaxing and mood-elevating, I absolutely love it!

[Stavs16]

Here's the simple regimen.

1: Compress all your food eating to 4-6 hours in a day
2: Take Propionyl-L-Carnitine. 500mg to 2000mg dose. <----------------- (YOU WON"T BELIEVE HOW WELL IT WORKS), sesamin may also work well for you.
3. Eat lots of fully ripe fruit - mangos, pinapple, watermelon, apricots, etc.
4. Eat leafy vegetables (lots), minimize brassisa family (broccoli) - also remember peapods seem to work well for most people (eat lots)
5. You can consume pea proteins (like pea protein powder) - but i'd minimize most whole beans because of << possible lectin problems, i'm not sure of this >>
but i definitely had problems with beans and not pea protein for some reason. - rice protein seemed to mess me up too.
6. grass fed beef, organic chicken, (egg yolk raw, <---- remember to see how it affects you), lamb
7. exercise, mostly walking <----- 30min to 60min a day - only twice a week do High intensity interval training 20 mins 2 times per week
8. You can consume some butter - it seems to help normalize digestive track- 2 tbsp daily.

After you start to breakout less - you may be able to add more foods that i will add in future posts. Protein consumption is usually higher at first on this regimen, but it gets tapered off for longevity benefits after you improve your skin. Remember - you need to see how individual foods affect you.

GOOD LUCK!

can u post a link where to buy Propionyl-L-Carnitine or a manufacturer that sells it thx

[agileox]

Carnitine is widely available in most foods like red meats, chicken, dairy products, peanuts etc. L-Carnitine supplements such as propyionylcarnitine or acetylecarnitine are available from most nutrition suppliers like GNC and Vitamine Shoppe. Please remember you can easily google these things and find them.

A question for HaloTek.

Are you suggesting reducing low glycemic cereals such as brown rice, quiona etc. to reduce fat lipid releases? What about exercse? I exercise every day for at least 90 minutes and very high intensity.

I have seen dramatic positive responses from using acetylcarnitine 500mg tabs right before working out on an empty stomach.

Lastly, how do you time the intake of your l-carnitine supplements?

[TexMurphy01]

Very, very interesting.

I'm not sure though, should I use Vit B5 or pantethine in addition to this l-carnitine? And should it be acetyl-l-carnitine, or does that not matter?

I congratulate you on your post, sir, it is most informative.

Oh, and a further point. This hunger thing... or fasting. Let's say I get up at 0800, would you say to try eating everything before 1400? That is to say, should the four to six hours be after I wake up, or should I wait and have, say, 1000-1600? I ask because the stomach acid tends to go a bit crazy in the morning with food.

Edited by TexMurphy01, 02 May 2011 - 12:39 AM.

[Crystal841]

I second that!

This def seems to be a great idea.
Would l-carnitine and B5 be safe w/ accutane? From what I've read they should be fine...
This seems like something to try.

[03GT]

Good info! I have not tried propionyl-L-carnitine, but I can attest to acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) being a more amazing acne cure than I ever thought anything could be. The foods that trigger my acne are fairly similar to yours, and I would mostly agree with your assessment of fats causing acne--at least in people like us. Though it seems likely to me that bad fats (oxidized, polymerized, trans-) are the culprits. I only have to take 5-25 mg of ALCAR and I can eat whatever crap I want without worrying about terrible bodywide cystic acne that I had for a decade before I discovered the dietary changes required to control my acne--and then almost an entire decade further of strictly avoiding acnegenic foods. Now I can eat whatever, and the freedom feels great!

The only thing I feel is important to note is that long term ALCAR use definitely depleted me of magnesium. It made me twitchy, anxious and depressed (despite the great complexion). I recommend anyone taking ALCAR also take magnesium. Magnesium malate is a very good form for being absorbable. (Many other forms of magnesium are so poorly absorbable they're laxatives.) Magnesium is so relaxing and mood-elevating, I absolutely love it!

How do you figure this stuff out? I'm mean trial and error is one thing, but that just seems like fortunate luck.

[wingedserpent]

I agree with what has been said about L-Carnitine. Combined with low dosage B5 (500mg) it is very effective.