221 replies to this topic

[Souper]

Well I have had acne since I was 13. Im now 36 (almost). I have never noticed any change due to diet in the past. HOWEVER, I recently gained some weight and thought I would do something about it. I basically whent on a low fat diet and promptly started to loose weight. After a few weeks I also noticed something much more interesting: my acne is MUCH better.

Essentially my skin has always been greasy. Panoxyl helps my acne and tends to reduce the grease. But having been on the diet for just over a month, my skin is dry; ive started to use simple moisturiser.

I always noticed my skin getting more greasy with fatty food, but never tried to reduce the fat in my diet for long enough to see the results on my acne; its only because ive changed diet for the weight problem that i stuck with it.

So, if you have greasy skin give it a go. At the very least it might be good for you.

[hobo2alpha]

I have been on the Wai Diet and I have been clear on it.
I had acne since about 8 years ago and now it has cleared up for the most part.
Only when I stray from the diet will I breakout.

I would suggest that people try it.
It does work for 90% of acne patients, only in those acne is hormonal will it not totally clear but it will help.

It also help get rid of those dairy and wheat addictions.

[beqone]

Is there a such thing as soy ice cream? If there is I want to know about it now!

[Lisaannlove]

OMG! Wow. Dairy. That is the problem! It all makes sense. Thanks guys.
So...I quit drinking milk as much as I used to when I was a child. NOW- Recently in the last 2 months- I started breaking out and right now my face looks like absolute crap! 2 months ago I started buying more cheese and buying a half gallon of 2% milk every week. I've been eating cereal every morning. Sometimes add the milk to my tea. It can't be a coincedence! I just found this site and read that dairy breaks the crap out of people. It is true for me. I am done with real milk. It's too bad but soy will be my new best friend!
IT IS THE DAIRY'S/MILK'S FAULT!!!
*2 months of heavy breakout
*Have been drinking milk everyday for about 2 months.
=total crap complexion

[Troyboy]

Hi guys, well,i think cutting back on sugars is helping,i also think my stessfull job has something to do with it, but i have about 20 purple/redish dots, does any body know what this is? and how can i get rid of these? sometimes the whiteheads reappear in those same areas,, whats the deal? thanks for your help.

[hobo2alpha]

Hi guys, well,i think cutting back on sugars is helping,i also think my stessfull job has something to do with it, but i have about 20 purple/redish dots, does any body know what this is? and how can i get rid of these? sometimes the whiteheads reappear in those same areas,, whats the deal? thanks for your help.

Read this free acne book.
It explains how sugar, stress and diet do influence your skin.
And no, I ain't some spammer.
I have been on the diet for over a year and it has cleared my skin.
Tell me what you think!

[Marten]

You guys are gonna laugh, but I notice if I have at least 2 beers a day, my acne is almost completely eliminated, combined with washing only once a day in the morning and moisturizing only once a day, both with cetaphil, if I see a spot forming I dab it with differin and that usually nukes it.

But ive discovered that beer is an essential part of my diet, also ive notived that if I dont eat enough fatty greasy foods, my acne flares up, because when thoose foods calm me down and relax me, fatty greasy foods make me feel good and relieve my stress. Nothing like a big juicy greasy dripping hamburger for lunch to just give you that ohhhhhhhhmpph it feels good feeling.

[alternativista]

hmmm...that's odd. My doctor told me just the opposite. Since you know of many tests, can you give us a reference, please? Perhaps you can provide us with a link to such a study? I'll be sure to show it to my ignorant doctor.

If diet is the sole contributor to acne, then that really is great news. Thanks for telling us! Now we can all change our diets and throw out our zit cream. No more doctor visits, either. May as well shut down this web site, too.

Thanks for the info, now we can all have clear skin!

Yes. Exactly! There are links to many studies and other great things below in my signature. Feel free to share them with your doctor. Ignorance needs to be stamped out!

Why he/she doesn't review studies so directly related to his or career is beyond me. Should be part of the job. Seems irresponsible.

Of course, I quit bothering going to dermatologists more than 15 years ago after nearly a decade of antibiotics, accutane and other completely ineffective treatments and advice. I only recently started ignoring everyone who said the diet connection was a myth, and guess what? After thirty years of acne, my skin is clear and no longer oily. And my diet isn't strict at all, either. I just eat fewer bad things and more good things. I.e. less sugar/simple carbs, more nutrient dense fruits and vegetables, protein, good fats, etc.

I notice many people describing their 'healthy' diets including juices and whole grains, both of which can be problems for many people. Juices are high GI and grains, wheat/gluten are an extremely common source of food intolerance, as is dairy. Grains and dairy can be high GI as well. And there other ways they contribute to acne.

Oh, and you are welcome. I am here to help.

Edited by alternativista, 14 July 2010 - 05:26 PM.

[nitemare]

Determined MILK is causing my acne. Everytime I decide to eat a bowl of cereal, days later I breakout. Once I stop eating cereal, acne gone.

Been on Dans regime for 2 years. All is well - except when I start drinking Milk. SoyMilk also causes acne. So, no more milk for me -period! I can eat everything else - coffee, fast foods, carbs, chips, etc. Just no milk..

[Ellie713]

I completely agree that diet may not be the answer for everyone's acne, but I really noticed something very interesting a number of years ago. I had always had problems with my skin - not good from about age 20, and despite what my GP told me, I knew that at that time, certain foods were a no go zone for me eg. cream was the devil incarnate and to be avoided at all costs, chocolate likewise.

Anyway I started a one year teacher training course and lived in halls of residence at the uni whilst studying. The food provided for us was really bad for you, far too many chips, fried foods, the sort of junk food most of us indulge in from time to time, only they were serving it up all day every day.

After a month or so I began to see that about 90% of the people I was living with were developing acne, some worse than others. I had noticed very few people with skin troubles at the beginning of the course. As you will all know, if you have a less than perfect skin you really notice everyone else's! As the year went on it became more noticeable and by the end of the course almost everyone had some acne.

Some people actually developed a real problem, one of my friends included. After the course ended I saw this friend quite often and noticed that her skin had returned to normal within about 1 month.

[Jeanettesey]

Sugar is what breaks me out. One big glass of soda for me practically guarantees a new throbbing, red pimple or 2. There definitely a link between diet and acne, no matter what anyone says. They even did a study on an Asian island where all the loclas only ate fruit, veggies and nuts. Acne waws nonexistant there. When they introduced some of the islanders to the Western diet, some of them started breaking out. All of this 'nonconclusive' nonsense is bs.

[Sensa]

I firmly believe acne cannot be cured by diet. My reason for this is that I developed acne at 23 despite having a fantastic diet. Even now, altering my diet and making it stricter has not done anything to improve my acne. Maybe others may find their acne improves slightly if they drastically change their eating habits, but I don't think diets provide a cure.

A good diet can make your skin clear and glowing if you don't actually have acne to start with. I find that when I cut out certain things the skin on my forehead, nose and chin (which is already clear and always has been) will look even better - smooth, glowing, even tone. But the acne on my cheeks persists. So if you have acne as opposed to the occasional blemish, I don't think diet it going to be the sole solution.

I find avoiding certain foods and eating others can help reduce inflammation.
I try to avoid dairy, caffeine, excess sugar and alcohol.
Ginger spice turmeric are anti-inflammatories that can be beneficial.

Also, since I started on roaccutane I found diet has even less of an effect on my skin. That's the prob with roaccutane, it forces you to be totally dependent on it, even if it's not working

[uncle buck]

People seem to have different definitions of what a "fantastic" diet is.

[alternativista]

I firmly believe acne cannot be cured by diet. My reason for this is that I developed acne at 23 despite having a fantastic diet. Even now, altering my diet and making it stricter has not done anything to improve my acne. Maybe others may find their acne improves slightly if they drastically change their eating habits, but I don't think diets provide a cure.

Of course acne isn't cured by diet, or by anything else for that matter. It's never cured. Acne is a series of events and conditions that result in a clogged pore then pimple or black head. Diet affects most of those conditions.

My acne improved drastically after making moderate changes to my eating habits. I had acne far longer than you and spent decades visiting dermatologists and taking prescription drugs from topicals to antibiotics and accutane, none of which had any noticeable affect.

However, my skin became much less oily and cleared for the first time since puberty within 2 months of the day I drank my last soda and began, just began, improving my diet. Although years earlier, I had figured out and avoided the one food that directly caused the worst of my severe cystic acne, most likely an allergy. Otherwise, I would still have had severe cystic acne and not realized that otherwise, my diet was was clearing my skin.

So tell us about this 'fantastic' diet you follow. Perhaps it isn't as fantastic as you think. Do you keep all meals/drinks/snacks low to moderate GL? Do you avoid hydrogenated/trans fats? Do you drink sugar? Do you consume more anti-inflammatory foods than inflammatory foods? Eat a very nutrient dense diet? Tried an elimination diet to determine any food sensitivities? What about other aspects of lifestyle that affect hormones such as sleep, light exposure, stress and physical activity?

Edited by alternativista, 14 July 2010 - 05:28 PM.

[EddieE]

Even though this thread was created in 2004, but I totally agreed with Dan.
We all different, so we all have our own experience. I eat 100% healthy because I want to be healthy. I am vegan temporarily. According to Dr.Furhman, It's recommended to eat 90% healthy. The other 10% can be anything you want. . I might eat 90% healthy soon.

Good luck!

Oh, and I use proactiv which is like Dan's regiment because it has BP.
I want to stop applying this, but I break out.

Edited by EddieE, 15 July 2010 - 11:26 PM.

[Linnie_r]

Hello everyone: I've been following these discussions for about 3 years, and a lot has helped me - so thank you all! I wanted to return the help by warning any of you thinking about following an extreme diet plan, in order to reduce your acne.

Several months ago I bought the ebook 'Acne no more' and followed it to the letter for a couple of months, until I suffered such extreme weight loss (it kind of crept up on me in an 'Oh my God' moment) that I had to return to my normal, very healthy diet. This regimen had pretty much ruled out dairy, wheat, fruit (because of the natural sugars that may be sparking candida) and lots of other wacky things that were supposedly associated with acne. Actually, looking back, I can't believe that I did it. Husband thought i was nuts, and he's right.

A few months after eating normally, and starting to put weight back on, my hair started shedding big time. It's been going on for a good 6 weeks, and is very alarming. My doctor assures me that it will stop in a couple of months, and that this time next year, my hair should be back to its normal glory. So I just really wanted to WARN all of you out there that we are finely balanced animals - please avoid what's happened to me and thank your lucky stars that you're spotty, and not skinny, balding and spotty!

Good luck to you all, and never forget that there are a lot of people worse off than yourselves!

[MedusaGorgonia]

Changing my diet has helped me find lots of new foods I enjoy but it has not had any real effect on my skin.I don't think my skin problems are diet related

[Kamber]

Thanks for this post.

I've sat in many dermatologist appointments, and OBGYN appts, talking about my acne. i've been on antibiotics for FIVE YEARS. I was on Minocycline for 4 years, and then Doxacycline for 6 months or so, and then it started making me throw up. Then I stopped taking it, and I was okay for awhile. I started breaking out severely, and my doctor recommended me taking it again, and it hasn't helped at all. Coincidentally (maybe?), my face absolutely exploded when I started drinking milk and consuming more dairy for a couple weeks. I've also tried Yaz, a birth control pill to help my acne. Yes it helps, but at a steep price-my sanity.

I'm sick of the synthetic hormones, antibiotics, and all the weird chemicals that are in my makeup.

I've never really got into organic foods, but I'm very interested, and I'm going to cut out dairy, except yogurt with probiotics, to get my body back in balance. I've also bought some cosmetic products that are all natural as well.

I like my doctors, but all they know to do is to recommend weird drugs that alter my hormones and cover up the problem. It's time to take control of my health!

[MrBodyacne]

Diet has alot too do with your acne.

[chunkylard]

Thanks for this post.

I've sat in many dermatologist appointments, and OBGYN appts, talking about my acne. i've been on antibiotics for FIVE YEARS. I was on Minocycline for 4 years, and then Doxacycline for 6 months or so, and then it started making me throw up. Then I stopped taking it, and I was okay for awhile. I started breaking out severely, and my doctor recommended me taking it again, and it hasn't helped at all. Coincidentally (maybe?), my face absolutely exploded when I started drinking milk and consuming more dairy for a couple weeks. I've also tried Yaz, a birth control pill to help my acne. Yes it helps, but at a steep price-my sanity.

I'm sick of the synthetic hormones, antibiotics, and all the weird chemicals that are in my makeup.

I've never really got into organic foods, but I'm very interested, and I'm going to cut out dairy, except yogurt with probiotics, to get my body back in balance. I've also bought some cosmetic products that are all natural as well.

I like my doctors, but all they know to do is to recommend weird drugs that alter my hormones and cover up the problem. It's time to take control of my health!

If you're interested in probiotic supplementation, I wouldn't really go for yogurt. Yogurt generally has about 100 million cfu per gram of bacteria at the time of manufacture (not when you take it home and pop open that lid.) And it generally only has two strains of probiotic bacteria. Most yogurt cups are about 4oz or a little over 113 grams. That means there's about 11.3 billion cfu of bacteria, under ideal conditions, in one of those yogurt cups.

Most people can tolerate kefir and yogurt better than other dairy because the bacteria partially consumes the lactose in the dairy. However, many yogurt manufactures sweeten their yogurt a second time which isn't something you want extra of, especially if you're trying to avoid acne. Some of this secondary sugar might be consumed by the probiotic bacteria but if you've ever fermented your own food you know that it takes time. So even if it's being consumed, it's probably not being consumed fast enough.

Probiotic supplements (provided you get a reliable brand with the type of pill coating that stops it from being broken down by the stomach) generally have anywhere from 20-30 BILLION cfu per pill and have anywhere from two to five strains. This means that not only are you getting more bacteria but they are more likely to survive as well. You will also be avoiding the negative effects of dairy and added sugar.