53 replies to this topic

[alternativista]

Stretching the purpose of this thread here, but this is a survey of South Beach dieters, a mainstream diet, with 86% reporting improvement in their acne.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/589308

Which fits with all the Atkins dieters posting on healthboards.com that the diet cleared their skin 3-4 years ago during the last big Atkins fad. Which is what made me change my diet.

[Believe]

I tell you guys one thing, if things go like they have for the past few years, someday young adults will be brainwashed into not seeing the diet link anymore, humans are unfortunately too irrational to grasp a lot of simple ideas.

[alternativista]

Also wish to point out all the researchers who've demonstrated the diet acne connection. But they've been doing that for decades. What we need now is more doctors telling patients.

Actually, I was just providing a link to this study to someone so as long I'm looking at it, I'll post the names:

Royal Melbourne Hospital Dermatology, Dr George Varigos, and Associate Professor Mann - conductors of probably our most well known studies demonstrating the connection between high Glycemic diets and acne.

And several years back, there were people here on this board conversing with them as they completed the study. They had such high hopes about getting the word out to everyone and making this common knowledge. It was in quite a few publications, but not enough.

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

Well, the doctors may not be getting the word out, but at least people like YOU are Alternativista! I know a LOT of people have stumbled upon and been helped by your posts. Thank goodness for the internet!

[alternativista]

Article about pistachios being beneficial for acne, with researchers using the impact of blood sugar on acne and hormones as a given.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/26101

[oryon]

I'll definitely backup the connection between acne and diet. I've only been dieting for a week and I've noticed a decrease in the oiliness of my skin and what pimples I have gotten (mainly due to trying to figure out what I can and can't eat) have healed very quickly.

[alternativista]

Ok, this article is by a naturopath, so not mainstream. But I decided to add it anyway as it has some useful simple explanations. It's especially good for pointing out the ways our diets don't just cause acne, they are the reason this is a nation of sickly people.

"ACNE - HOW TO PREVENT AND
OVERCOME ACNE FOREVER.
ACNE IS MUCH MORE THAN SKIN DEEP, IT IS THE FIRST SIGN OF
MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEMS TO COME.
THIS REPORT WILL SHOW YOU WHY, AND ALSO HOW TO PREVENT THEM!"

http://www.iinr.org/specialreports/ACNE.PDF

But do not take that title to mean that those of us with acne are the only ones with major health problems to come. That applies to everyone who eats the typical bad diet with no clue just how bad for us our diets/food supply has become. We acne prone people just get a visible early warning sign. Most aren't so fortunate.

Edited by alternativista, 30 August 2011 - 07:13 PM.

[alternativista]

So, in a recent episode of Dr. Oz, someone asked him about adult acne and he responded saying he believed diet did affect acne and hormones. Unfortunately, he gave only a superficial response and only mentioned saturated fat as a culprit.

Edited by alternativista, 21 November 2010 - 11:06 AM.

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

That's so sad when he has the opportunity to enlighten so many people. He is good friends with Dr. Fuhrman (they were roomies in college), who advises those with acne to eat lots of blended and juiced leafy greens and cruciferous veggies along with limiting animal products.... I think I heard Dr. Oz once say that he agrees with Dr. Fuhrman's advice on diet but that he thinks it's too much for the average person to take in. Even Dr. Fuhrman left out the green smoothies in his Eat to Live book thinking the concept would be way too foreign and strange to most people. Dr. F doesn't hold back though these days - I think he's fully realized that people really are hungry for the full truth. He posted a recipe for black bean brownies the other day on his Disease Proof Blog!! hahaha Now, if only Dr. Oz would follow!

Edited by *`*~ABG Fairy~*`*, 04 February 2010 - 02:35 PM.

[venam]

Dr. OZ is a toy. The only show I have seen of his he put a man in an "evolutionary diet." This diet was composed of several pounds of greens and fruits, and nothing else.

[alternativista]

I think I heard Dr. Oz once say that he agrees with Dr. Fuhrman's advice on diet but that he thinks it's too much for the average person to take in.

But why, when a good diet for acne improves/prevents/reverses so many illnesses?

Dr. OZ is a toy. The only show I have seen of his he put a man in an "evolutionary diet." This diet was composed of several pounds of greens and fruits, and nothing else.

Are you talking about the BBC/Discovery specials where a group of people are put on a gorilla diet?

The daily show is dumbed down for the masses. If you aren't one of the many overweight people on a crap diet, there isn't often much of value on the show and he only makes the most superficial comments about anything new to me or of real interest. It sometimes gives me something to look into further though.

I'm going to cancel the DVR series recording one of these days, but at least you can forward through most of it. The middle 30 minutes is always about someone losing weight.

But at least he preaches diet and lifestyle which is such a rare thing, especially considering he's a surgeon. And at least he did say diet affects acne.

I just heard the intro to today's Oprah and he's on her show talking about diabetes. In the opening, she said it is the fastest growing disease in history.

Edited by alternativista, 21 November 2010 - 11:09 AM.

[alternativista]

So I saw a bit of the Dr Oz show today and an audience member asked if it was true that chocolate caused acne. And this time he said any high glycemic food can stimulate oil and exacerbate acne.

Which is a good, but too brief an answer. There needs to be a whole segment if not a whole episode dedicated to the topic. It would really have so much value considering the same diet habits help so many prevalent and preventable health conditions.

Edited by alternativista, 21 November 2010 - 11:11 AM.

[alternativista]

The wikipedia page on acne now has info on the link between the glycemic impact of diet and acne.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne_vulgaris

[*`*~ABG Fairy~*`*]

The wikipedia page on acne now has info on the link between the glycemic impact of diet and acne.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne_vulgaris

That is awesome! I see that it also mentions the link to dairy. I wouldn't be surprised if you helped make this happen alternativista.

[alternativista]

Acne/diet posts on Dr. Furman's blog:

http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/cat-acne.html

[alternativista]

So Dr Oz had a fairly useful show today. Guests were three doctors who are all about anti-inflammatory diets.

There was Arthur Agatston, the doctor who created the South Beach diet, who is a really important cardiologist, which I never knew.

And OB/GYN Dr. Christiane Northrup, who is a little new agey for me, but what's most important is that she's much more interested in diet and lifestyle than drugs and surguries.

And Perricone, a dermatologist who mentioned he is also a nutritionist who is well known for talking about diet for skin and has a book called something like the acne prescription diet. Already been mentioned in this thread.

And so when Oz asked Perricone about anti-inflammatory diets and acne, Perricone confirmed that such diets clear skin. And then Oz asked the other 2 if they'd noticed the same thing in their practice, and they both confirmed that they had.

Then when it was Dr Agatston's turn, he brought up the survey done on South Beach dieters that showed dieters experienced clearer skin. I'd posted a link to that here a while ago.

[alternativista]

Response to question on diet for acne on sharecare.com

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum Answered:

Avoid sugar and high carbohydrate foods. A high protein and low sugar diet decreases acne by half after 12 weeks. The good news - chocolate has been shown not to cause acne. Avoid milk and cheese products.

Jacob Teitelbaum, MD is a board certified internist and best-selling author of From Fatigued to Fantastic!, Beat Sugar Addiction Now!, and Pain Free 1-2-3. He is the author of landmark research on effective treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, illnesses he knows as an insider, having contracted CFS in medical school. “Dr. T” dropped out for a year to recover and in the ensuing 35 years, he has dedicated his career to finding effective treatment.

In response to a different question, another doctor made this response:
Dr. Ellen Marmur Answered:

If you have acne-prone skin, take a good, hard look at your lifestyle, your stress level, what you put on your face every day, and what you are eating. Do some detectives work on your particular triggers, and then try to avoid or adjust them. And be sure to choose the right ingredients in your cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen.

Not real helpful, but she mentioned diet.

[era]

Just need to tell my personal story because I know how hard life with severe acne is. I've always had acne....until recently. I did all sorts of medications through my teens...my acne went from bad to severe when I was around 18. I had went off birth control during this time because I was single...I was also living, well, lets just say not the best lifestyle and I was losing weight...for some reason I craved milk so strongly, I would chug it constantly, I guess because of the weight loss my body wanted the fat. My acne became the worst it had ever been times 10. It was the most depressing thing I have ever been through, I hated life...So anyways I went back on birthcontrol a while after..acne improved or course. Not completely gone, but now it just went to moderate which I could live with. Then a few years back it got pretty bad again....depression, poor diet. I did acutane..it worked..my skin looked great....no acne at all. Then last year I decided to get off birthcontrol..I was 26..because I felt that it was just unhealthy to make your body think it was pregnant all the time. I wanted to get an non-hormonal IUD. Not long after my skin started to get bad again. I did some research, really not wanting to go back on BC again. I read about dairy causing acne. It made perfect sense to me. Dairy is full of hormones for baby calves..it is unnatural for an adult to be getting extra hormones for growth..even if it is organic, Milk=Hormones Acne IS hormonal. My husband also told me that his mom and grandmother would always tell him when he was young and his face would get bad that he needed to stop drinking all that milk and eating peanut butter sandwiches. So anyways I have completely cleared my skin with ONLY cutting out dairy, peanut butter (not sure why just that product but it really does cause me to break out), and sugar (from like candy and stuff not fruits)..and it has worked. When I slip up and eat dairy my face breaks out. I have repeatedly watched the cause and effect process. Sugar from junkfood also causes me to break out but not as badly as milk. Milk causes break out in my face oil glands..sugar causes breakouts under my jaw and back. I don't eat a super healthy diet or anything, but I do eat a lot of fruits, vegetable, meats, just no dairy or sugar or peanut butter. I ONLY drink one cup of coffee in the morning with soy milk or just black (get dark roast coffee and drinking it black isn't so bitter) and WATER..and I drink beer or wine at night. NO sugary drinks anytime...that means no sodas, juices, whatever. I think trying to be too severe on your diet can cause depression which causes hormonal imbalance..you need some fats for happiness I think and your diet shouldn't stress you out. Stress is unhealthy and effects your hormones. I eat burgers with everything..just no cheese..and it's really not a hard diet to keep up. But one thing is for sure acne is hormonal, that is why teenagers have it the most. Dairy has the most direct effect on acne because dairy is hormones. I thought my acne came from my moms side of the family..she's from a family of 11 kids, they were farmers. Her brother all had super severe acne, but all the kids dealt with it. They also had cows and were drinking the pure whole milk constantly. Milk does not cause acne for everyone..I know that..but if you are susceptible to acne you definitely should not be eating milk products. Soy milk is a great alternative and now I prefer it to cows milk. I really wish I could have figured out this direct effect so long ago and could have saved myself so much pain and acne scarring. I felt the need to pay this information forward. I hope this helps some of you. I wish someone would have told it to me.

[Thehoper]

^^ That's great that you figured out your acne problem. Just watch out about soy milk, for many that causes more problems then cow's milk, and I'm not just talking skin. After not drinking milk for a year, I just recently have started experimenting with organic whole raw milk, going to give it a few weeks before I conclude the experiment.

[alternativista]

Someone mentioned Dr. Mercola as a mainstream doctor before. although, I don't think he's mainstream as he's anti-vaccine and into the blood type diet amongst other things.

Anyway, he just posted this article on his site:
"Plagued by Pimples?"
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles...e-for-good.aspx

Edited by alternativista, 30 August 2011 - 07:02 PM.