20 replies to this topic

[foodafoo]

I was wondering. How can you check if your hormones are balanced? or what can you do to fix it? Because I'm pretty sure im getting acne from my hormones.

[whatamess]

I've been looking into this lately because I suspect that my acne is hormonal as well. To check your hormones, you can get a blood test. It may show an imbalance, or it may not. Hormonal acne tends to be on the jaw, chin and lower cheeks.

Are you a boy or a girl? (if I may ask)

If a girl: Some women who show no hormonal imbalance in tests nevertheless can have a sensitivity to testosterone which in turn causes acne.

[acne_battle]

You go to a gynocologist and she will run some test to determine if you do have a hormone imbalance. The solution for that would to go on birthcontrol pills. For me they didnt work but they may for you

[bob07]

i think the same thing has happened to me too. i have acne on my chin and jawline and it has to be hormonal because i have tried just about everything else. im a guy too by the way.

[NdnRomeo]

zinc and fish oil. also vitamin a works well (from food sources). Try it out. Most male acne is generally from hormone imbalance =(.

Most sites I go to, they always keep recommending those three things. Zinc, Fish oil, Vitamin A... carrots are great for that, just a bit covers your daily necessary amount. Broccoli works amazing too.

[whatamess]

I've noticed some guys on this board try to balance hormones with fish oil omega-3 pills and green tea supplements. Not sure how successful it has been, but it can't hurt.

[foodafoo]

I'm a guy.
I have tried everything and for some reason when my hormones start acting up or going crazy withing hours i get a pimple.....:/ Does anybody know where i can find these fish oil stuff? link?

[j o y]

I'm a guy.
I have tried everything and for some reason when my hormones start acting up or going crazy withing hours i get a pimple.....:/ Does anybody know where i can find these fish oil stuff? link?

You can find Fish Oil supplements at Walmart. They should be in the pharmacy/vitamin section. If you can't find them just ask the pharmacist.

[DckSteel]

bro do fish oil, saw palmetto extract and/or zinc glucomate. it will regulate yer hormones and oil production and inflammation

[Gazbo]

Maybe it's just me, but FishOil and Zinc seemed to make my skin worse.

[j-boy]

Step away from the soy! It contains high amounts of plant estrogens that can interfere with the hormone balance of both women and men (often more pronounced in women). Unfermented soy in particular (soy protein isolate...found in soy milk, ice cream, yogurt, tofu) is of the most concern. Soy sauce, tempeh and miso are OK in moderation since they are fermented.

I had cystic acne on my lower cheeks, jawline and throat, along with PMS and an overall "I just don't feel right" kind of experience when I consumed soy. Since eliminating all soy from my diet 3 months ago, I am feeling great and haven't had much irritability or PMS. Also, I did not have any breakouts this month when I ovulated or when I menstruated (sorry to the guys for the girlie info), which were the typical times when the cystic acne would flair up. I am pleased to say that I am acne-free at the moment! First time in about 1.5 years. No more soy for me!

..i know ive asked this b4.. but what about organic soymilk.. like silk? pls reply.. thats what i drink in replace of milk..

[NdnRomeo]

Maybe it's just me, but FishOil and Zinc seemed to make my skin worse.

How long, and to what amount were you taking them? And to what degree? They are essential nutrients your body needs

[Mandy Ann]

I take Yaz birth control to regulate my hormones If you are a girl, that is.

[j-boy]

Step away from the soy! It contains high amounts of plant estrogens that can interfere with the hormone balance of both women and men (often more pronounced in women). Unfermented soy in particular (soy protein isolate...found in soy milk, ice cream, yogurt, tofu) is of the most concern. Soy sauce, tempeh and miso are OK in moderation since they are fermented.

I had cystic acne on my lower cheeks, jawline and throat, along with PMS and an overall "I just don't feel right" kind of experience when I consumed soy. Since eliminating all soy from my diet 3 months ago, I am feeling great and haven't had much irritability or PMS. Also, I did not have any breakouts this month when I ovulated or when I menstruated (sorry to the guys for the girlie info), which were the typical times when the cystic acne would flair up. I am pleased to say that I am acne-free at the moment! First time in about 1.5 years. No more soy for me!

..i know ive asked this b4.. but what about organic soymilk.. like silk? pls reply.. thats what i drink in replace of milk..

I am SO sorry...I do recall you asking about this! Truthfully, it doesn't matter whether it is organic or not. The problem is the fact that is is not fermented. Unfermented soy contains high levels of plant estrogens which can interfere with the hormone balance in our systems.

I have never seen non-organic soymilk. I always bought either Edensoy Extra or Westsoy Plus...I LOVED the taste and creaminess of Westsoy Plus, and my homemade pancakes always came out perfect!!! Now I am using Rice Dream Original for my homemade pancakes, and they come out runny if I don't add extra flour. My son's fruit and rice milk smoothies are coming out OK, and the rice milk is also good with cereal. The only way my son will drink it, though, is if I put a splash of vanilla in it. I tried to drink it the other night and didn't like it...I thought it tasted like a paper cup. Rice Dream does make rice milk with vanilla, but they also add a bunch of sugar, so I just buy the Original.

I do still allow my son to eat tempeh/tofu 1-2x per month when we go to our favorite Chinese restaurant. His favorite dish is Hunan tofu with mixed vegetables. I order Hunan vegetables. Even though I did enjoy sharing the Hunan tofu with my son, the fabulous way I feel and how my skin looks now is so worth ditching all the soy! Truly, I don't miss it ever, except for the fact that now I have to work on perfecting my homemade pancake recipe AGAIN.

Sorry to pop your soymilk bubble! I feel your pain...my son and I really liked it. Truthfully, though, right before I eliminated it from his and my diets, he was complaining of tummy aches after he drank it. From what I have read, soy is not easily digestible. So for us, it's just as well that we aren't consuming it anymore.

Have you read my other threads about soy? Click on my name, then "options", then "find members posts". I have been researching this since November of 2006, and have shared what I have learned along the way. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

..dont worry about it, but that sucks.. i always thought that its harmless.. maybe ill do more reading as well.. but much thanks for the reply..

[Zephyred]

Step away from the soy! It contains high amounts of plant estrogens that can interfere with the hormone balance of both women and men (often more pronounced in women). Unfermented soy in particular (soy protein isolate...found in soy milk, ice cream, yogurt, tofu) is of the most concern. Soy sauce, tempeh and miso are OK in moderation since they are fermented.

I had cystic acne on my lower cheeks, jawline and throat, along with PMS and an overall "I just don't feel right" kind of experience when I consumed soy. Since eliminating all soy from my diet 3 months ago, I am feeling great and haven't had much irritability or PMS. Also, I did not have any breakouts this month when I ovulated or when I menstruated (sorry to the guys for the girlie info), which were the typical times when the cystic acne would flair up. I am pleased to say that I am acne-free at the moment! First time in about 1.5 years. No more soy for me!

Being an asian, I lose big time. lol.. I broke out pretty bad this week, I tried to be real gentle with washing my face and everything.

My regimen
Morning
Neutrogena Pore Cleansing Face Wash
Clean and Clear Dual control lotion(I believe it had 5% Sali Acid)

Night
Same Face Wash
Same Lotion
Clean and Clear spot treatment 10% BP

The only thing that I did different was adopt the super gentle washing technique that DKR calls for, but did the same thing I always did. I had some trouble spots on my jaw that I recently used the spot treatment for. It was fine for 3-4 days. Next thing I know, I had literally 7-8 pustules on the right side of my jaw and, around the underneath of my jaw on both sides of my face, 2-3 pimples. I am not sure what was the problem, it may be stacking 5% sali acid with bp that may be the problem, though. Since, I just read about unfermented soy, which has stuck around my diet for awhile, I am lead to believe that perhaps I was dealing with hormonial imbalances. I should get that checked out by a physician and see what I can do about it. I been pretty desperate about hitting up accutane just to finish acne off.

[whatamess]

Step away from the soy! It contains high amounts of plant estrogens that can interfere with the hormone balance of both women and men (often more pronounced in women).

This soy information is interesting.

Wouldn't estrogen help with testosterone gone haywire? Or is it specifically the plant estrogen from soy that can cause hormonal imbalances and acne?

[lakewall]

I was wondering. How can you check if your hormones are balanced? or what can you do to fix it? Because I'm pretty sure im getting acne from my hormones.

I suspected this too. I went to a endocrinologist. They specialize in hormones. He ran ALOT of blood test and the results showed that my body was producing too much of a hormone (I don't remember which, it's been a couple years)

He first prescribed Yasmin birth contro: My face cleared up 25%
6 months later he added 50 mg of spiro: my face cleared up 60%
I'm now taking the Yas and 100mg of Spiro: MY FACE IS FLAWLESS.

I never thought in my life that people would compliment me on my skin and ask what i was using. But they do ALL THE TIME.

If topical treatments aren't working i highly recommend getting you hormones tested. It took me 13 years to figure this out.

[foodafoo]

Im going to have to go check my hormones out then. Does anybody know if the fish oil pills will break you out? I'm a little bit scared because i don't want to be taking any pills that later on i become prone to them then i end up breaking out once i stop taking them. thats the last thing i want. heheh....THANK YOU guys for all the info. I really appreciate it.

Does anybody know what foods actually make your hormones crazy? i heard carrots help you with controlling them a little bit.

[maddy001]

Step away from the soy! It contains high amounts of plant estrogens that can interfere with the hormone balance of both women and men (often more pronounced in women).

This soy information is interesting.

Wouldn't estrogen help with testosterone gone haywire? Or is it specifically the plant estrogen from soy that can cause hormonal imbalances and acne?

To answer your first question...yes, the estrogen in the soy CAN affect males. From what I have read (I apologize that I don't have the links to the various websites for reference), giving soy to very young boys, particularly soy formula when they are babies, can have negative affects on their developing hormone systems. There is a suggestion that "feminizing" can occur. I also read that the typical Asian diet does NOT contain all the soy that many people think; in actuality, unfermented soy in Asia is used as fertilizer, and only fermented soy (soy sauce, miso, and tempeh) are part of the diet. If a woman wants to tone down her man's sex drive, she feeds him tofu (unfermented, soy protein isolate). I don't know if it is coincidence with my son's age (he is 4.5), but I have noticed him behaving rowdier since eliminating soy from his diet. He was always "all boy", but he's definately even more so now.

Now to answer your second question...both from my research and my own experience, I feel it is not a good idea to add extra hormones to our systems, because there is already a delicate balance going on between the hypothalmus (controls everything), thyroid, and estrogen/progesterone/testosterone. Long before I discovered the source of my problem, I tried hormone therapy in the forms of both synthetic and natural progesterones to try to counteract what was obviously an over abundance of estrogen. Turns out that the high amounts of plant estrogens in the soy I was consuming (mind you, I was only consuming about 8 oz on a daily basis, but according to what I have read, that is enough to throw of thyroid function and menstrual cycles) was the main source of my hormonal imbalance. I had already eliminated the use of any shampoos, conditioners, soaps and lotions containing parbens, which are thought to be xenoestrogens, ones that mimic estrogen in a negative way. Apparently I tend to run a bit estrogen dominant, so I am sensitive to anything extra in the way of estrogen being added to my system. The fact that I had a manageable menstruation this month (normally it would be extremely heavy with fatigue and nausea) and NO acne after eliminating soy from my diet is proof to me that yes, plant estrogen from soy can cause hormonal imbalance which can lead to acne and other nonpleasant symptoms.

As I said in another post, I feel that consuming unfermented soy should be regarded the same as taking hormone replacement therapy...it truly can have that much of an effect on our systems. When you Google soy on the internet, you will find that soy is recommended for women going through menopause. Why? Because their estrogen levels are dropping (which SHOULD be happening), and it is thought that supplementing with the "natural" estrogen in soy will make menopause easier/more tolerable. In reality, supplementing with soy could actually confuse the body and cause the whole menopause phase to last longer.

Bottom line...I am staying away from soy. I feel it has way too much plant estrogen and can have some serious and negative effects in our bodies.

Wow this is the first time I hear something like that. Sounds interesting. I know many people with acne eliminate dairy products from their diet. Soy seems to be the next in getting the nutrition they need.

Also does this mean the Japanese have it much worse, their daily meals seem to have a lot of tofu in them? Just wondering because their skin seem good and they have the longest lifespan in the world partly because of tofu as many studies has shown.

Estrogen is good in women as oppose to what you say. It slows various diseases for women. Also estrogen does counteract testosterone to prevent acne. Notice that people break out during their periods because testosterone levels are high and estrogen levels are low and when you don't have pimples are the times when your estrogen levels are high.

I'm sorry but I really cannot agree to what you say. I personally feel that soy itself has lots of benefits for the body in terms of nutrition and has some benefits against diseases like cancer and its much better then dairy and I don't think it contributes to my hormonal acne.

[dmpa2565]

I took fish oil for 1 month, did nothing except make my oily nose even oiler.