221 replies to this topic

[semolina pilchard]

personally found am acne-allergic to dairy and soy.
also, sodas and nuts.

[Benji]

I do beleive Acne can be directly related to diet. Last summer I did an Outward bound two week backpacking trip in colorado. I didn't shower for two weeks sweated all the time wore the same clothes, put gobs of bug spray on my face, and only freshend up in the rivers. I didn't have one breakout the entire time. I have had moderate to bad acne since i was 15. The only other thing that worked for me was accutane. i personally think it was a combination of a stress free enviroment, fresh air with no pollution and my diet. Everything eaten was pretty basic bpaking food. Alot of nuts, granola, past, rice and bean soup, pb and j, tuna, crackers. If anyone is really interested contact Outward Bound on the internet ive done a few trips All the food is mostly the same.

[simplykim]

Where do you get these food allergy tests done? At your regular doctor's office or a specialist?

[Pimplebumbum]

big balls yum yum

[combineddouble]

I've been struggling with my acne for 1,5 year now and found out, IN MY CASE, food was the big factor that caused it.
I 'm now 19 and begun suffering since my 17th year, but I seem to have the acne under control now due to my changed diet and Minocycline (more about that later)

I found out that most of my acne was caused because of allergies and/of intolerance for different kinds of food:
IN MY CASE these foods gave my acne a push in the back, for them, to ruin my

Vegetables: Legumes, Carrots, Potato, Tomatoes, Cumcumber, Onions, Garlic, Pepper(s) and other spicy herbs
Fruits: Apples, Strawberrys(!), Banana, Orange, Pears

I found out about these allergies and intolerance for food via an elimination diet > eating a fruit or vegetable and....wait for a couple of days. This was a long period of a year or more.
In this period I also did research about foods with a high Glycemic Index and am on that diet also.
I also found out that you can lower the GI of foods by combining it with a low GI food
> proteins (for example fish)
> fats (for example: olive oil and other unsaturated fats (with excaption of fatty fish due to the healty omega-3 fats in them)
> other low GI foods (for example: vegetables)

By combining these high and low GI foods, I still can eat anything I want, (with exception of the foods I'm allergic or intolerant for) At first I ate very carefully by eating only low GI foods such as quinoa as my rice replacer alot of vegetables and fruits, but now I eat parboiled rice.

My whole ''acne-experience'' gave me an priceless insight in food , I am now eating and living much better that my pré-acne period.

The other things I do to control my acne AND STAY HEALTHY:

I drink a lot of water every day, no coffee, sodas etc.
Do fitness 3 times a week
(Try to) sleep 8 hours a day or max 9 hours, otherwise I wake up to tired
I also did a detox programme, but I don't know for certain if that helped my acne alot
I also did a parasite programme, to get rid of parasites, I don't if that worked for my acne
I don't eat sugar or products containing sugar (damn there're may!!) but I use stevia as sweetner, pure natural, no GI, no calories, nothing bad
Cause of having my acne in control I smile alot more every day maybe that's also a factor in my controlled acne dunno
An important note is that I can eat many things also apples, which I am intolerant for, but in small amounts, I eat an apple once a week (cause it's so good and cheap !! ) So for the clarification: I don't get a major breakout 'cause of eating 1 apple, or 1 small piece of chocolate, but by eating 2 or more apples for a couple of days or 1 or 2 candybars for a couple of days, adding more foods wich I'm intolerant for , increases the breakouts and shortens the time the breakouts will occur IN MY CASE.

It might be I've forgotten some other aspects of food, so if you have a question let me hear it

Then there are THE ANTIBIOTICS.............

well I used some antibiotics and creams:

erytromycine for a period of 2 months I think
benzoylperoxide for long time
and my saviour (for now) > Minocycline. I'm using Mino for about 7 weeks and it does a great job in controlling my acne, in combination with my healty diet of course !!!!, my skin is now pretty good not completey clear, but since the initional breakout period 2 weeks after beginning Mino (probably caused by eating litchis wich I apparently am intolerant for). I haven't got ANY breakout since.
With the Mino my dermatologist gave me a topical cream with it calles Rozex which has very little effect on the existing blemishes and other impurities I have left. I bought a Tea Tree Lotion today, hoping that it wil do a little more than the Rozex.

With this diet, I have significantly reduced my acne.
Also the antibiotics helped me, but honestly, the diet does most of the work.
In my case the diet does 60% of the work, the Mino 39% and 1% > the big smile I have over my face every day, keeps my acne under control.

I'm not saying this diet of my will help you, you have to try it yourself.
Doing a allergie test will give alot more clarification for maybe your acne or other physical issues you may have struggling with, intolerance for foods can't be discovered through tests, but have to be found out for yourself via an elimination diet.
Also don't eat meat > there are alot of shitproducts they inject and feed the animals with to grow faster and stay healthy, also the hormones in cow's milk can give some people acne. It didn't give me acne, but other people have reported getting major breakouts when eating dairy products. I personally don't drink milk cause it's so unhealthy , but only fermented milk products such as yoghurt and kefir.

If you have any questions please let me now





......o yeah I forgot, I also use a moisterizer : Eucerin Hydro-Balance

[RSilva]

I hate this. I'm sick of all these posts like "Ooh.. I cleared up completely after 2 weeks blah blah blah" For me, it has been 8 weeks so far and the acne is exactly the same as I started, no inital breakout or anything, just the same horrible breakouts e ery single day. What worries me is that my skin is not very dry at all, my scalp is not dry, I've had no rashes, no nosebleeds, no cracked lips. IT'S NOT DRYING ME OUT ENOUGH, SO HOW CAN IT BE WORKING!!!! I'm gonna take a higher dose today and see what happens. What can it do, kill me? Ha! I'll bet on this crappy website crappy web page any day, before I'll believe my doctor again.

[smack]

I have quite a few skin disorders on top of breakouts; aolpecia areata, eczema, pale sun sensitive skin and general sensitive skin to chemicals, dyes, perfumes etc. Diet is also connected to my breakouts. And could possibly be for others with food allergies or intolerances. I have celiacs disease, which is an intolerance to gluten. At my sickest and unhealthiest point right before diagnosis, my skin became quite a mess. Before that I had occasional, mild breakouts but also only mild sympyoms of the disease. My skin remained messy the first six months into my new gluten free lifestyle and diet. But after my body had time to heal itself (approximately one full year) my skin got much, much better. I still have hormonal breakouts from time to time as many women do, but the acne I experienced, which was uncharacteristic for my skin, have pretty well vanished.

However, I have recently discovered that if I cheat on my gluten free diet, or eat something that contains gluten by accident I WILL BREAKOUT. And not normal pimples, I get hard, sore, red nodules that takes about 2 and half weeks to clear up completely! This is unusual for me, when my acne occurs it is primarely papules. I was able to completely confirm the gluten/acne correlation over this past Christmas holiday. I had nibbled on glutinous fare even though I shouldn't have off and on for a few weeks, then in early January I attended a dinner where I had ordered an entree I didn't think contained gluten (based on the description provided). Whenthe entree came the chicken was breaded Not wanting to cause a scene and hold up everyone elses dinner for my own error, I ate have the entree. IT gave me a stomach ache that night and then two days later - Powey! My face broke out baaaad. I then went back and was able to deduce that my previous breakouts had occured after eating something with gluten.

Well forget it! No more cheating and from now on when I'm eating out I'm asking the waiter to check with the chef! For fellow celiac's (there probably aren't that many on these boards) - don't cheat!

[therre]

hi everyone..im therre a new member, based on what i've read, diet has nothing to do with our acne. based on the information i've found on this site..http://www.acne-remedy.org
it also includes other holistic treatment, medical and natural treatment, etc..
hope this can help..

[blonde-x-with-x-brains]

il start a no crap diet today and write again in like a week to give a verdict

[Solros]

EDIT: Nevermind. P

[parkeravilio]

Diet and acne are definitely related for me.

I get two kinds of pimples - tiny minor ones that are red for a day or two and then go away without leaving marks. The other kind is the big, deep kind that take two or more weeks to heal and will leave red marks or scars. Certain foods cause the big deep kind, and if I dont' eat those foods, I don't get them. The small, minor spots seem to come no matter what I eat.

Basically, if I eat more than a tiny amount of simple carbs - sugar, flour, rice, potatoes, etc., I'll get at least one, but usually two, big deep pimples that take forever to heel and go away just from one time of eating this stuff. The correlation couldn't be more obvious. I'll also get more small pimples, but even when I'm watching my diet carefully I get some of these.

For avoid big pimples, I don't eat simple or processed carbs, drink milk, or eat anything with hydrogenated fats at all. I miss eating some foods, but I'll give them up as long as they make me break out. All of the carbs in my diet come from fruits and vegetables - I eat a little meat and eggs, but not too much - I'm not trying to do the Atkins thing. I just want clear skin. I eat a lot of almonds and walnuts for snacks, because they don't make me break out. It doesn't seem to make a difference how food is cooked - I can eat lots of stir fried vegetables fried in olive oil or steam them in the microwave and neither way makes me break out. I can eat fried, boiled, or poached eggs and they don't make me break out no matter how they're cooked.

For the small pimples, it's been trial and error, and this board has been a great source of information. Benzoyl Peroxide doesn't work for me though - it messes up my skin too bad (it gets dry, yet I still break out). Here's what works for me and keeps my skin almost entirely clear now:

Vitamin B (with pantothenic acid included) twice daily - one in the morning, one at night. It's not the 20 pills a day everyone talks about, though. I also take a multi-vitamin for good measure, though I don't think it makes any difference.

Fish oil, 4 pills a day (two in the morning, two at night). I don't think this makes a difference either, but it's supposed to be good for your skin and it's cheap.

Baking soda scrub - I put some baking soda in a bowl and take it in the shower with me in the morning. I got this off of the red marks thread, and it's working great for that, and it has the added effect of keeping the small pimples away. This has made a big difference in my skin.

Salicyclic acid astringent (2%) - once daily after I get out of the shower.

Night wash - I don't use anything but hot water and a clean wash cloth at night. If I use soap too often or too many products, my skin gets messed up, and when my skin gets irritated, it WILL break out. Sometimes during the day if my face is oily I wash it with hot water - though I don't carry around a wash cloth so it's just using my hands and hot water and patting dry with a paper towel.

When I do get a spot, I put tea tree oil on it with a Q-tip (I got this off this board, too). I hate this, because tea tree oil stinks, so I only put it on at night. But it seems to work well just using it on a pimple once at night and I don't have to wear it around all day stinking like tea tree oil.

I'm so glad this board exists, because there are some good ideas here.

[therre]

well parkeravilio that's good for you, sometimes the studies that made by other people don't seems to work for everyone, if your diet affects your acne, it's good that you are avoiding to eat much of that food..just keep it up..did you visit www.acne-remedy.org? i was able to read there that Vit B5 also helps in curing acne..

keep us posted..

[Bonobo Man]

Diet and acne are definitely related for me.

I get two kinds of pimples - tiny minor ones that are red for a day or two and then go away without leaving marks. The other kind is the big, deep kind that take two or more weeks to heal and will leave red marks or scars. Certain foods cause the big deep kind, and if I dont' eat those foods, I don't get them. The small, minor spots seem to come no matter what I eat.

Basically, if I eat more than a tiny amount of simple carbs - sugar, flour, rice, potatoes, etc., I'll get at least one, but usually two, big deep pimples that take forever to heel and go away just from one time of eating this stuff. The correlation couldn't be more obvious. I'll also get more small pimples, but even when I'm watching my diet carefully I get some of these.

For avoid big pimples, I don't eat simple or processed carbs, drink milk, or eat anything with hydrogenated fats at all. I miss eating some foods, but I'll give them up as long as they make me break out. All of the carbs in my diet come from fruits and vegetables - I eat a little meat and eggs, but not too much - I'm not trying to do the Atkins thing. I just want clear skin. I eat a lot of almonds and walnuts for snacks, because they don't make me break out. It doesn't seem to make a difference how food is cooked - I can eat lots of stir fried vegetables fried in olive oil or steam them in the microwave and neither way makes me break out. I can eat fried, boiled, or poached eggs and they don't make me break out no matter how they're cooked.

For the small pimples, it's been trial and error, and this board has been a great source of information. Benzoyl Peroxide doesn't work for me though - it messes up my skin too bad (it gets dry, yet I still break out).

Congratulations on your success!


My experience was nearly identical (in regard to diet/benzoyl peroxide). I'll have to give those other things you mention at the bottom a try.

[Slam]

Due to popular demand, I decided to make a diet and acne connection forum, but I wanted to also let everyone know that in my personal experience diet and are not related. I am not saying that diet and acne are never related. I am simply saying in my experience, it makes no difference what I eat.

I spent many years avoiding foods sometimes considered "bad" for acne including chocolate, sugar, and fried foods. Basically, whatever I would read someone say caused acne for them I would immediately cut out of my diet. This created a lot of stress and social embarassment at times. The worst part is that none of my diet restrictions ever helped my acne. Now I can stay completely clear with the regimen and eat whatever I want.

The field of diet and acne has not been broadly studied, and more studies need to be done. In the meantime, I would be hesitant to jump on someone's diet bandwagon since there is no conclusive evidence to date that diet and acne are related. Still, I look forward to reading what people discover and can share in this forum.

-Dan

[font=Arial Black][size=6]

I hate this. I'm sick of all these posts like "Ooh.. I cleared up completely after 2 weeks blah blah blah" For me, it has been 8 weeks so far and the acne is exactly the same as I started, no inital breakout or anything, just the same horrible breakouts e ery single day. What worries me is that my skin is not very dry at all, my scalp is not dry, I've had no rashes, no nosebleeds, no cracked lips. IT'S NOT DRYING ME OUT ENOUGH, SO HOW CAN IT BE WORKING!!!! I'm gonna take a higher dose today and see what happens. What can it do, kill me? Ha! I'll bet on this crappy website crappy web page any day, before I'll believe my doctor again.

Sorry Dan you are wrong. The skin is the bodie's largest organ and if you have ANY skin problem, acne, eczema, etc there is something wrong or clogged in your intestingal tract and/or liver. Take a good psyllium fiber drink every night before bed and upon rising in the morning.

Drink each morning and before you go to bed fresh squeezed 1/2 lemon in purified/distilled water in 4 oz glass of water with l tbs olive oil. This helps clean your intestines and liver. If you do this every day it is a great daily liver cleanse. The liver is what detoxifies your body and if acne or gunk it coming out your pores it means your liver is clogged!!

Check out web sites about colon and liver cleanses. Also check food allergies. My daughter is sensitive to cow's milk products. Maybe you have an allergy to wheat. Make sure you do BLOOD TESTING and not saliva testing.

Hope you all get over you acne pronto. Remember: If there is something wrong with your skin, there is something wrong INSIDE, but it can be fixed.

Anna

[sparkler]

I'm still all for the vegan diet and water. I became vegetarian for moral reasons, and about a year later fully vegan.
ALL animal products contain hormones, organic or not and hormones don't help your skin at all.
Vegan diets are not expensive unless you live on mock meats and packaged foods. One of my favourite combinations is rice and lentils with some veggies and spice thrown in... yummy, fast, easy, nutritious, and CHEAP.
After becoming vegan my skin went bad for about a week as my body adjusted then became so much better. Seeing a dramatic effect after only a month? That's proof enough for me, no matter what any study says.

[y not vinny]

Well, I belive there is a definite correlation to acne and your diet.. well at least for me. This past week, ive started to cut out literally all fatty foods and junk food. I work out every day now and eat very healthy, i drink shakes and just eat good in general including green tea, veggies, meats, etc. I think if you try to cut out as much junk food as possible, your skin will clear up and you will have less breakouts. And, give jessfoliation a shot, just using it a week twice a day and the results are incredible... Drink lots of water and eat good=key to clear skin.

[therre]

nice to hear that everything that you tried worked to cure your acne..although some may say that it wasn't work for them, give it a try, who knows it might work for you..

guys, keep us posted

therre(",)

[tali54321]

Speaking from personal experience, I can't say that I've found certain types of food to make my face better or worse. eg. I didn't used to drink milk that often but recently have started eating cereal with milk on a daily basis and my skin hasn't gotten worse. However, I do beleive that as a general rule you are what you eat. If you eat healthy, natural foods that's whats going into your cells which ultimately is what produces energy. If you eat junk - your cells don't have much to work with and you feel less energized. (I studied biology for 4 years....) It makes sense but to say that if you eat healthy youll have a glowing beautiful complexion....well, i haven't found that to be 100% true.

[therre]

Speaking from personal experience, I can't say that I've found certain types of food to make my face better or worse. eg. I didn't used to drink milk that often but recently have started eating cereal with milk on a daily basis and my skin hasn't gotten worse. However, I do beleive that as a general rule you are what you eat. If you eat healthy, natural foods that's whats going into your cells which ultimately is what produces energy. If you eat junk - your cells don't have much to work with and you feel less energized. (I studied biology for 4 years....) It makes sense but to say that if you eat healthy youll have a glowing beautiful complexion....well, i haven't found that to be 100% true.

but it is still essential that we eat healthy foods, although you cannot see any difference in you skin when eating healthy foods..

[Mrs Jenkins]

My acne used to be pretty bad and then I cut out cheese, whole milk, ice cream, and really thick sweet creamy foods. Also, I don't eat alot of heavy fats like you would find on meats. It has made a big difference in my acne, but I also use exfoliants like AHA's or salicylic acid and occasionally benzoyl peroxide or sulfur. My skin looks better as a result. I just wish I had've learned this when I was younger. Sometimes acne leaves permanent scars, even when it's just a tiny pimple.

Has anyone else had similar results cutting out these heavy kinds of fats?

Fats don't affect my acne at all if they are eaten with proteins. If I have fats/proteins with carbs, then problems develop on my face. This is known as food combining. I cheat alot, but the effects are some water retention, gas and bumpier skin. However, even if just half my meals are properly combined I don't have noticable acne.