18 replies to this topic

[jerry12]

So I have been struggling with mild acne for about a year now. I had a problem with pimples maybe five years ago, but it was usually only a few pimples on my face, and once in a while a huge one that would turn out to be like 3 pimples in the same spot, otherwise known as a carbuncle. Recently, it has been much worse, with maybe 20 pimples or red blemishes on my face and neck at any given time. I am 23 years old now, will be 24 in a month.
I tried many cures, like everyone else, but couldn't find anything that worked consistently and effectively. I went to a natural doctor two days ago for a free consultation. This doctor was well versed in chinese medicine, particulary acupuncture and herbal remedies. I didn't want to take antibiotics, as being a chemistry major, I understood the consequences that any use of antibiotics can have on the biology of my body. So during my free consultation, the doc checked my pulse and looked at my tongue. He didn't say anything about my pulse, but when I asked him what he thought about my tongue, he said it looked red and that my body was experiencing inflammation. In an ayurvedic sense, my body was too hot and needed to cool off. So I took this information, along with a website, www.nutritiondata.com, and composed a diet of entirely anti-inflammatory agents.
It has been two days and I kid you not, the progress is undeniable to the point where my acne will be totally gone in another 2 weeks if progress continues. Redness or inflammation is greatly reduced and my face feels good. No pains from upcoming pimples or aches from old pimples. So here is what my diet consists of: garlic, ginger, peppers (bell, hot, yellow, red, green, banana, chile, etc.) onions (red, white, etc.), an all natural ant-inflammatory supplement containing small amounts of rosemary, turmeric, ginger, holy basil, green tea, hu zhang, chinese goldthread, barberry, oregano, and baikal skullcap. I know that sounds like a lot of herbs for one supplement, but I think any anti-inflammatory supplement could be used in place of this one. The one I use I bought at a natural food store. It's made by NewChapter and it's called zyflamend softgels.
So I eat as many of those aforementioned vegetables as often as possible, along with any type of seafood or fish, because they contain loads of omega-3's, which greatly reduce inflammation. Every morning, I wake up and take 1 zyflamed softgel, 1 turmeric pill (400mg), and a tablespoon of the highest quality organic flaxseed oil I could find for more omega-3's, and I also brew some ginger tea. I rinse my face with warm water, then use a tea tree oil soap to cleanse. Then I drink about 3 or 4 gulps (1/2 cup) of organic aloe vera juice made from inner fillet before I eat anything for breakfast. I found that at a natural food store. That is my morning routine. I have been staying away from caffeine, sugar, anything with yeast, and all dairy products. (I want to try including yogurt as I think it'd be beneficial by lowering the pH of my digestive tract, killing unwanted bacteria but promoting beneficial bacteria.) At night, I make a mask composed of ground turmeric, honey, and water. I mix them, and apply it to my face and neck, then leave it on for 15 minutes before rinsing it with warm water and gently washing it off with a wet cloth. The mask will make your face yellow for some time, probably overnight. Try the mask on a small spot on your neck first, just to make sure you aren't allergic, and so you understand that it turns your face yellow for a few hours, even after you wash it off. After I rinse the mask off, I use a moisturizer that has sandalwood and aloe vera gel. The next morning, my face will still be yellow from the turmeric mask, but the color washes off easily at this time. Also at night, I take 1 more zyflamend softgel, 1 more turmeric pill (400mg), 1 more tablespoon of flaxseed oil, and another cup of ginger tea. I also try to get another 3 or 4 gulps of aloe vera juice about 30 minutes before dinner. All of these things I am doing support my body's digestive system, as I have always felt that acne is more of an internal problem than an external problem such as bacteria on the face or clogged pores. Bacteria and clogged pores are only symptoms which point to a larger problem, and in this case, it's poor digestion.
I know this sounds like a lot, and a lot of work. But using the website, www.nutritiondata.com, you can eliminate foods that cause inflammation in your body very easily, so don't be afraid to compose your own diet that primarily consists of anti-inflammatory foods. This regimen works for me and considering how awesome I feel right now, it is sooo worth the time and effort to try it. After all, I noticed definite results in 2 days! I will check back regularly to answer questions, because I have been through what everyone here is going through, and I would have loved to have someone available to answer questions like I will be. So give it a shot, but discontinue this regimen if it doesn't feel right to you. The day I started this regimen, I had a very strong feeling it was going to work, and maybe I have a sort of placebo effect going on, but it's working so I'm not stopping. I hope I at least helped someone! Good luck!

[blazenarrow]

Holy shit! That sounds like a full time job!

[jerry12]

Yeah, it is. But I have had this shit for too damn long, and as human beings are driven by desire, it's time to get rid of it. I went out fishing today and got about 4 hours of sun, and my pimples look even better. I notice that my pimples come out and disappear/heal much faster. For instance, when I woke up this morning, I had 3 white heads that were barely being held in place because so much puss wanted to creep out. Popping them was easy, and I didn't have to squeeze to get the hard white clog out. This will be the end of day 3, more to come.

[ctrl-alt-del]

Good for you man! I've also been a believer in healing with proper nutrition and have been using nutritiondata.com for a while now (for the reasons as you). Quick question for you though - have you noticed that they eliminated the option to list foods with the highest/lowest IF ratings (inflammation ratings)? What's up with that...

Anyway. Find foods with the least amount of sugars and inflammatory ratings in them, and build your diet based on those...

[Acneminator]

Wow cool , i guess i'm not the only one doing this . haha i'm not so strict about my diet like you do
about the mask using turmeric is very good , it helps to cool down your face ,and most indians used them since ages , i'm eating yoghurt to make sure ma digestive system is not infected with harmful bacteria , and i'm using yoghurt as my mask . 2 times a day

[jerry12]

You can still search for foods with the highest/lowest IF rating. They just changed the site around. On the main page, under tools, go to 'food category explorer', there is an option on that page to search for foods with the highest/lowest IF rating.

[Ludwig]

I dont't get it. I searched for Tilapia on nutritiondata and it came back with positive on anti-inflammatory response. I did a search on tilipia few days ago on google and it says it increases inflammatory response instead of anti. Take a look at this

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114274.php

I also eat rice everyday and that came back with a negative on anti-inflame, that sucks if that's true.

[ayla]

The difference is Nutritiondata is basing there answer on the premise of wild-caught fish - the article you linked is using farm-raised. They are practically different fish.

Use wild-caught.

[Aidenkane]

Ouch, that diet sounds pretty intense. More so than mine, anyway. Right now im doing a gluten free, dairy free, processed food free diet, and i'm getting pretty decent results. I'm also using dan's regimen and am taking about 20,000 IU of vitamin a and a 100mg vitamin B complex daily, along with omega 3 fish oil and vitamins C and D. I might try adding some of the stuff you talked about. Thanks a lot for posting this!

[ctrl-alt-del]

You can still search for foods with the highest/lowest IF rating. They just changed the site around. On the main page, under tools, go to 'food category explorer', there is an option on that page to search for foods with the highest/lowest IF rating.

Thanks!

[jerry12]

End of day 5 and I have fewer pimples than I've had in a long time. From a distance of maybe 5 feet my skin looks flawless, one more week and I should be where I want to be. I can even use the mask and the moisturizer instead of after shave and it makes my skin sooo smooth. Just as smooth if not smoother than an expensive after shave. The turmeric mask also helps with my complexion. It sort of turns my skin a slightly darker color, which makes it look better. It blends the color tone of my entire face so that red spots are harder to recognize or notice. I have also noticed that my old pimples seem to be flushing out much more puss than ever before. They secrete puss for a longer period of time, but they aren't as red. They don't get big and swollen, and I had one that secreted an enormous amount of puss. Like the kind of pimple that gets really big and noticeable and sensitive and sticks around for a month. It didn't do that, and it's almost gone after showing up like 3 or 4 days ago. It's barely noticeable now. Just wanted to give some updates. Goodnight!

[crevin]

Great post--

I've been tweaking my diet for over a year now, and can honestly, truely say my skin has never looked better for the past two weeks, right after I began eating salmon 3-4 times a week and 2-3 cloves of garlic a day, prior to which I never had either.

There might be something to this.

BTW I am a 24 yr old male.

[Max-]

The problem of using chinese medical is that it focus mostly on detox by using herbs. Some people (example me) just cannot go thru detox because it went up rather than went down and this means even more acnes instead.

[dreamweaver66]

Ummm, dummy here, what do you mean your body was too hot and needed to cool off and your tongue being red?? I am conflustered.....

[alternativista]

I follow an anti-inflammatory diet too and it cleared my skin completely. Not this Chinese stuff, though. I simply eat fewer inflammatory foods, the worst being sugar and bad fats, and more anti-inflammatory foods: Fruits, veggies, herbs, spices, fish and other sources of good anti-inflammatory fish.

Just switch from crap processed foods to real food.

[jerry12]

Ummm, dummy here, what do you mean your body was too hot and needed to cool off and your tongue being red?? I am conflustered.....

This is how I see it. I don't have a medical degree, so I cannot legally give advice, but I can share my perspective on the subject.
When you eat hot foods, foods that are spicy, your body must make 'cooling' biological compounds in order to reduce the heat. The hot foods can be referred to as anti-inflammatory, because they cause anti-inflammatory or 'cooler' biological compounds to be produced in order to maintain homeostasis or regularity within the body/cell. So eating a lot of spicy foods causes a flood of anti-inflammatory compounds to enter the bloodstream and make their way to the cells in your body. Ideally, more anti-inflammatory compounds are produced than are really needed to simply neutralize the heat, and the extra can be used for cooling in other areas, where ever your body may need it. In this case, some of the extra compounds may be used to help cells in the face to reduce the redness and swelling caused by the inflammation of pimples.
My tongue being red is a simple method of diagnosis through observation. It only takes a second and can be a powerful aid in diagnosing many dis-eases or illnesses. I am no expert on chinese medicine so that's all I can really say about that. I'm sure you could find a lot more information with a 5 minute search about it on google, if you are still curious.

Today is the end of day 8. I didn't have a chance to use the mask twice in the past few days, and missed parts of my routine a few times. My face still looks good, but it's not completely flawless yet. I have eaten pasta dishes twice, and can notice new pimples the next morning and into the next day after consumption. I used some benzoyl peroxide yesterday on some small pimples and they are gone now. My original estimate of clear skin in 2 weeks will be hard to come by, but I can see results and that's all I need to continue using this all natural regimen.

[Max-]

Hey Jerry, most westeners doesn't believe in or have no idea of "body heatiness" and "cooling" things. This is why it is very difficult to explain to them sometimes.

[Maria12]

I just stumbled across this post today. I have been taking Now Boswellin with Curcumin (from tumeric) to lessen general inflammation. It helps tremendously with all kinds of things like aches and pains and migraines (for me.) They also make it in a topical cream formula.

I used to occasionally use an aspirin/honey mask, so I thought to myself, hmm... that works because it reduces inflammation, so why not try adding the Boswellin/Curcumin instead of the aspirin to my raw honey.

I did and it's been working incredibly well for me. I only use it at night because it does turn my face yellow, but in the morning my skin looks fantastic! And it's calmer than it's ever been, which is wonderful. I tend to have a lot of chronic redness in my face, and nothing has helped it more than this Raw Honey/Boswellin mask. Sometimes I only add half a capsule so my skin doesn't stain as much. My pillowcases stained yellow too, because even though I rinsed it off, some remains on my face overnight.

So glad to read that someone else is using the same type of facial treatment and getting good results too!

[nowonder]

So I have been struggling with mild acne for about a year now. I had a problem with pimples maybe five years ago, but it was usually only a few pimples on my face, and once in a while a huge one that would turn out to be like 3 pimples in the same spot, otherwise known as a carbuncle. Recently, it has been much worse, with maybe 20 pimples or red blemishes on my face and neck at any given time. I am 23 years old now, will be 24 in a month.
I tried many cures, like everyone else, but couldn't find anything that worked consistently and effectively. I went to a natural doctor two days ago for a free consultation. This doctor was well versed in chinese medicine, particulary acupuncture and herbal remedies. I didn't want to take antibiotics, as being a chemistry major, I understood the consequences that any use of antibiotics can have on the biology of my body. So during my free consultation, the doc checked my pulse and looked at my tongue. He didn't say anything about my pulse, but when I asked him what he thought about my tongue, he said it looked red and that my body was experiencing inflammation. In an ayurvedic sense, my body was too hot and needed to cool off. So I took this information, along with a website, www.nutritiondata.com, and composed a diet of entirely anti-inflammatory agents.
It has been two days and I kid you not, the progress is undeniable to the point where my acne will be totally gone in another 2 weeks if progress continues. Redness or inflammation is greatly reduced and my face feels good. No pains from upcoming pimples or aches from old pimples. So here is what my diet consists of: garlic, ginger, peppers (bell, hot, yellow, red, green, banana, chile, etc.) onions (red, white, etc.), an all natural ant-inflammatory supplement containing small amounts of rosemary, turmeric, ginger, holy basil, green tea, hu zhang, chinese goldthread, barberry, oregano, and baikal skullcap. I know that sounds like a lot of herbs for one supplement, but I think any anti-inflammatory supplement could be used in place of this one. The one I use I bought at a natural food store. It's made by NewChapter and it's called zyflamend softgels.
So I eat as many of those aforementioned vegetables as often as possible, along with any type of seafood or fish, because they contain loads of omega-3's, which greatly reduce inflammation. Every morning, I wake up and take 1 zyflamed softgel, 1 turmeric pill (400mg), and a tablespoon of the highest quality organic flaxseed oil I could find for more omega-3's, and I also brew some ginger tea. I rinse my face with warm water, then use a tea tree oil soap to cleanse. Then I drink about 3 or 4 gulps (1/2 cup) of organic aloe vera juice made from inner fillet before I eat anything for breakfast. I found that at a natural food store. That is my morning routine. I have been staying away from caffeine, sugar, anything with yeast, and all dairy products. (I want to try including yogurt as I think it'd be beneficial by lowering the pH of my digestive tract, killing unwanted bacteria but promoting beneficial bacteria.) At night, I make a mask composed of ground turmeric, honey, and water. I mix them, and apply it to my face and neck, then leave it on for 15 minutes before rinsing it with warm water and gently washing it off with a wet cloth. The mask will make your face yellow for some time, probably overnight. Try the mask on a small spot on your neck first, just to make sure you aren't allergic, and so you understand that it turns your face yellow for a few hours, even after you wash it off. After I rinse the mask off, I use a moisturizer that has sandalwood and aloe vera gel. The next morning, my face will still be yellow from the turmeric mask, but the color washes off easily at this time. Also at night, I take 1 more zyflamend softgel, 1 more turmeric pill (400mg), 1 more tablespoon of flaxseed oil, and another cup of ginger tea. I also try to get another 3 or 4 gulps of aloe vera juice about 30 minutes before dinner. All of these things I am doing support my body's digestive system, as I have always felt that acne is more of an internal problem than an external problem such as bacteria on the face or clogged pores. Bacteria and clogged pores are only symptoms which point to a larger problem, and in this case, it's poor digestion.
I know this sounds like a lot, and a lot of work. But using the website, www.nutritiondata.com, you can eliminate foods that cause inflammation in your body very easily, so don't be afraid to compose your own diet that primarily consists of anti-inflammatory foods. This regimen works for me and considering how awesome I feel right now, it is sooo worth the time and effort to try it. After all, I noticed definite results in 2 days! I will check back regularly to answer questions, because I have been through what everyone here is going through, and I would have loved to have someone available to answer questions like I will be. So give it a shot, but discontinue this regimen if it doesn't feel right to you. The day I started this regimen, I had a very strong feeling it was going to work, and maybe I have a sort of placebo effect going on, but it's working so I'm not stopping. I hope I at least helped someone! Good luck!

So is this diet still working for you ?