221 replies to this topic

[mariangelis]

I have the greatest respect for anyone who can live without dairy. Give me Colby-Jack cheese or give me death!

[R.S.]

Man, you think dairy is hard to live without? Dairy is a piece of cake to give up, try living without gluten (all wheat, oats, barley). Now there's a challenge. Atleast the dairy alternatives like rice milk, rice cream ice cream, soy yogurt, coconut oil instead of butter, etc. actually taste decent, although cheese is impossible to replace and is delicious (though not that hard to avoid). But with gluten avoidance, suddenly you can't get out to have a sandwich, eat most pastas, have a beer, anything from a bakery, most processed foods... list goes on. Now you see why people do things like bowel cleansing, liver flushing, fasting, all kinds of crazy protocols that you'd never think about if you were perfectly healthy.

[mariangelis]

Give me pasta or give me death!

[5fiive5]

Dan, you're experience sucked.

[chen]

Hey guys, does anyone have an idea if eating canned tuna makes acne breaking out or not? and are every fruits "good" for acne?

[christyee78]

Diet certainly has a very big impact to my skin. For some unknown reason, I have been breaking out for almost a year now. Maybe is the accumulative of all the toxic that I have eaten all this years. After I really force myself to give up my favourite food which are FRIED FOOD, BARBEQUED FOOD and most of all spicy food, and curry, my face improved a lot.

And recently, I try to steam my face with salt inside it as suggested by someone in acne.org. So far, it works great for me.

So guys, diet certainly is something I should take care of to get rid of my acne.

[wex99]

When I started getting serious breakouts 2 years ago, I did some research as to what foods might cause acne-- thus I dumped milk and other dairy prodcuts from my diet. I also eliminated processed sugar and went to whole wheat bread. Nothing really changed with my acne and about 6 months ago I went back on dairy products-- there was no change at all. So as far as I can tell, dairy products aren't a problem for me.

[Fiber]

I have been reading a lot about diet lately. I found a site that has a lot of good articles regarding research in diet. Check it out if you want:

HealthAndScienceNews.com

[xtr3m]

"The top five foods healthy skin"

In addition to consuming therapeutic quantities of green tea, salmon, blueberries, carrots and water, consumers should avoid certain foods that trigger bad skin reactions. Such ingredients include sugar, white flour, saturated fats and fried foods, which are especially bad for the skin, since they can trap oil and bacteria beneath the skin, causing acne and other skin ailments.

http://www.newstarget.com/020409.html

[betti88]

Wow--there are so many great insights posted here. It's encouraging to see so many people really in tune to their health and this connection between diet and acne. I thought I'd add a recent experience of mine.

I bought a book called Dr. Joshi's Holisitic Detox (kinda popular--he has this whole health regimen that many celebrities have used) because I was wanting to get my body cleansed and at a healthy place so I could then reintroduce foods, observe and determine foods that my gut is intolerant to. A kind of self-food intolerance diagnosis. For three weeks, you eliminate a lot of things (I mean A LOT) from your diet with the intention of detoxifying and balancing the pH levels (apparently our diets are very acidic and out of balance in that way). I felt great while doing this. Really great. I would recommend it. Friends of mine tried it out too and they were receiving compliments about how their skin was glowing and such. I wasn't too focused on my skin throughout, but more on my digestive system.

But, it has been over a month since I finished the detox regimen and although I was able to maintain many of the eating habits, I have found myself craving and eating more sugary items lately and drinking more than just water...other things too, but these the most significant. I realized that my skin has been breaking out really badly (it hasn't been this bad since I got back from Cambodia--which, as discussed in a previous post, I think was solely caused by extreme dirt and air pollution) and I'm making this connection to the food thing.

So really, I am just agreeing about this diet-acne connection.

I also think it is important to try a change to our eating habits with many motives and to monitor the results. A holistic approach is very important. The disciplines will be extremely hard (surely you can sense that as you read people's various food plans--it might seem impossible, expensive, extreme), so I would recommend overall health and wellbeing as a motivation, in addition to the motivation of great skin. And cater it to your own self. I have loved orienting myself with the local health food stores, but I don't choose to shop all organic. For me, other things are more important....

Some important things for me that I have maintained from this experience are:
-buying fresh, locally produced food...making an event of taking time to shop at the local Farmer's market, or various ethnic shops, or fish markets....
-making time to prepare well-thought out meals--keeping my overall lifestyle at a slower pace to make time to buy the food, prepare the food and sit down to eat the food (the last couple weeks, I have not been good at this and I can feel the negative effects thereof. Lower energy, breakouts...).

Adding disciplines of exercise have also helped with my overall wellbeing and I believe that this is linked to my skin's health as well.

That's all I've got to say for now. I didn't detail this detox because I do not necessarily think it is the answer to acne problems, but rather is a way to find overall health--a way to see holisitic (including your skin) health. You can google it for more details, if you want. (Or ask me.)

[twred321]

=( wheat foods cannot be avoided!!! besides i think it has not much affect on acne since in middle ages till 1700s people ate bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and they had good skin. But still avoid eating too much anything.

[Danny©]

=( wheat foods cannot be avoided!!! besides i think it has not much affect on acne since in middle ages till 1700s people ate bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and they had good skin. But still avoid eating too much anything.

But their activity levels was 100 times higher than ours

[Nubia]

Hi there please see below the article published in Australian Media regarding a recently research by a University about diet and its impact in controlling Acne. link is http://www.seven.com.au/todaytonight/story/?id=29961

Eat your way to clear skin
REPORTER: Siobhan Gleeson
BROADCAST DATE: October 5, 2006


Do you suffer from acne? Pack up your pimple creams, there is now a simple solution at hand and you don’t need a prescription.
Professor Neil Mann from RMIT University is leading the Australian research team who have discovered a solid link between acne and diet.
They’ve shown that what we put in our mouths can either cause or cure pimples.
"We think we've come across a way to alter your diet in a very healthy way that will alleviate the symptoms of acne and at the same time will make you a lot healthier," he said.
It is good news for adolescents, as currently about 90 per cent of them suffer from acne.
For this ground-breaking study, Professor Mann recruited 50 boys and divided them into two groups.
One ate a typical teen diet full of sugary snacks and processed foods, the other followed a low-GI diet rich in protein.
"These can be things like whole grain products that make it more difficult to digest foods quickly.
"Protein foods such as meats, fish, non-starchy vegetables and lots of fruit," he explained.
Daniel, 20, used to live on a diet of donuts, pies and potatoes and suffered from acne.
As a result, he was often teased and taunted by his peers.
"I had a lot of pimples, it was very hard to see white skin on my face," he said.
After following the prescribed diet the improvement to his skin was quite remarkable and he was thrilled with the results.
"The count of how many pimples were actually on my face was halved in the first four weeks, and the redness was gone."
Working alongside Professor Mann is dermatologist Dr George Varigos who has been using the diet within his own practice.
"You have to have that lifestyle change and not expect the magic bullet," he said.
There are hundreds of acne products on the market, but Dr Varigos says this study proves the best medicine for your face and your hip-pocket is food.
"It is a condition that can be treated totally.
"Teenagers don't have to wait to grow out of it, that is a wrong conception."
In just 12 weeks the results were impressive.
"We saw terrific changes, such great improvements in their skin, and also in their personalities," said Professor Mann.
"50 per cent improvement, in fact, which is more than what you see with topical acne solutions."
Elise Graspas, 13, was battling breakouts before mum Andrea took charge.
"By grade six it was quite bad and that's when I realised I’ve got to get this fixed, because I had been through it too," she said.
Dr Varigos prescribed the skin-friendly diet.
"She was lacking so much in confidence she wanted to help herself as well", said Andrea.
"You can either choose if you want to have bad skin and eat junk food, or eat healthilly and have great looking skin", said Elise.
So what exactly do the experts recommend then?

The recommended skin-friendly foods are:
Wholegrain bread
Porridge
Muesli
Basmati rice
Sweet potatoes
Lean red meat at least 3-4 times a week
Fish
Green vegetables
Fruit
Nuts
Eggs
Avocadoes

Foods to avoid are:
White bread
Sweet biscuits
Sugary breakfast cereals
White rice
Potatoes
Cakes and sweet biscuits
Pies
Lollies
Chocolate
Hot chips
But if you're worried convincing your teen to swap chips for carrots will be an impossible task, then listen to those who have seen the results first-hand.
"If they want to help themselves and their skin, they will change their habits," Andrea said.
And Daniel’s advice?
"I would say try it and when you see the results you won't care.
"Instead of stopping at McDonald’s you'll have an apple, you won't care cause the results speak for themselves."

[User15978]

^ yer i saw that report,, im doing this diet.. been on it for about 4-5 days.... dairy is not on their list... since starting this diet, i have eaten alot of dairy, hope thats not a problem? cuz it seems to cause/aggravate acne in some people

[shapeup]

My skin started breaking out and has not stopped since I was about 12 years old. I wish I had known how sugar affects my skin much sooner as it would have prevented some serious self-confidence issues. After reading an article online several years ago about refined sugar and its relation to acne, I decided to try it. It worked like a charm. Basically if it has refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or anything like that, I avoid it and I dont break out. Not one bump on my face. I can eat anything else..bread, cheese, eggs, oil, fruits...anything but processed sugar and I dont have problems.

It just sucks because all of the good foods have refined sugar! Sometimes I eat it anyways. But I know if I eat those donuts, the next day or 2, I'm going to have new breakouts, usually a hard knot on my chin to go along with the smaller pimples. If I dont eat the sugar, my skin never breaks out...and I have pretty oily skin naturally. But give me some cake, and I'm going to break out. It will also cause increased oil on my skin and scalp. Ive also noticed that if I avoid diet cokes for a week, my skin is not even close to the oiliness it usually is. Diet coke has aspartame and I have read before that it does not just pass through the body and it is processed in some way. Whether or not that is true or not, I know that it makes me more oily. I can eat splenda all day long though and it does not cause any bad reactions to my skin.

So basically, I check labels of my food and if it has one of the bad ingredients, I pass on it. I know everyone's body is different but I am glad I know the source of my problems. Sugar + my hormones = skin problems!

[Intheory]

Dan,
I'm Gabriel and suffered from Acne beginning at the age of 15 to 35 years of age and even to this day. I did eveything I could to find the cure. I'm now 47 and stumbled on a significant clue to investigate. Yeast. Where is it most commonly found? In bread.
A short story:
I've been a student for the last few years at a local community college. Long days at work then school left me tired and HUNGRY. A quick appetite pleaser was a slice of chesse, bologna, rolled up in a thick fluffy slice of whole wheat bread. This was consistent. Almost daily. I noticed, however, that acne sores would begin to appear, at first small lumps, and if left untreated a whitehead lesion.
The Experiment:
What I stumbled onto was that since my diet excluded flour based products to a minimum I chose not to discontinue my evening appetite pleaser all together but only to remove the slice of bread. Instead, I rolled the same slice of cheese around a nice thick slice of bologna, similiar to an horsdoeuvre and realized no acne sores would appear. I decided an experiment was in order. I re-introduced the slice of whole wheat bread into my evening appetite pleaser. The result was positive. The acne reappeared.
My conclusion:
I cannot state fully why the reaction to whole wheat flour based foodstuffs produce acne sores. Initially, I considered that since I understood that wheat in and of itself is part of the grass family, I am having an alergic reaction. I have played and worked in and around grass and do suffer minimal alergic reactions such as, watery eyes, nasal congestion and itching. But if part of my hypothesis is true, the alergic reactions to wheat plus the introduction of yeast as a component in baking bread, does follow suit with the conclusion that the result will be the production of acne.
Suggestion:
Evaluate the amount of flour based products introduced daily to your diet.
Example: Does your diet consist of: 1) toast in the morning, 2) buns in the afternoon, or 3) dinner rolls.
If so, choose one or the other, not all three, nor two out of the three. One or the other!
Ask yourself, Which of the three choices do I want to have today, a BLT breakfast sandwich (toasted)? A 1/4 lb Burger (buns), or a dinner Steak and fixins with a dinner roll or two?
More to come.

[bocaj]

Hey guys, does anyone have an idea if eating canned tuna makes acne breaking out or not? and are every fruits "good" for acne?

[color=#339999]I cannot answer your other question but personally I dont think every fruit helps acne. I find when I eat bananas I start breaking out a lot. I think it has to do with amount of potassium[/font[font=Verdana]

No I think canned tuna is fine just make sure its the one in water. There are a lot of debates about whether to eat tuna and freshwater fish b/c of the mercury levels but I think a study came out recently saying that fish benefits far outweigh the excessive mercury levels. I usually try to eat maybe once or twice a week but I usually eat a lot more salmon b/c that has shown to be real healthy that you might be able to eat it everyday but check up on that.
In regards to fruit yes some fruits have a much higher sugar content then others. Low ones are like pears, apples, cantaloupe, grapes I think and a bunch of others, while high ones can be towards bananas, watermelon, pineapple, etc. Your best best just go online and look up the glycemic index and you can see what foods fall where in terms of how much they will spike your blood sugar. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables daily and you'll see a difference and if its too inconvenient just buy the frozen kind. Some say they are actually healthier b/c they are frozen right when they are picked instead of losing they're nutrients in transport to the supermarket. Hope this helps!

[dan da man]

i had pretty bad acne for like 1 year. nothing worked. then i decided, well, the only thing that i havent tried was to eat healthy. i usually ate fast food like twice a day! then i stopped for 2 weeks, and my face is the best its ever been. lots of strawberries, lemon juice, and green tea. also salads, grapes and apples. i also take tetracycline, clyndamicin, and retin a micro. im telling you: eating healthy is the way to go.

[Troyboy]

Hey Dan, how do i get rid of acne around my neck and chin,im 38/m and its been going on for a few years now,im off daairy and lowered my sugar,but its still about connecting the dotts and reddish purple ones with whiteheads,please help,thanks