12 replies to this topic

[alexisc]

Hello Everyone! Just want to say it has been an enlightening experience joining this site and learning more about nutrition than ever before. There have been some extremely helpful resources and posters that have helped me on my path to a healthy lifestyle.

This post isn't necessarily about acne, although it can relate to acne, but for the most part my skin is pretty clear now since changing my diet. I just wanted to ask for some general advice on nutrition because there seem to be many well informed and well researched people on these boards. It is by far the best place to direct my questions.

Background: Throughout my life I have taken antibiotics, prescription drugs including many courses of Accutane, and while my diet did contain some healthy foods it was for the most part unhealthy and filled with sugars, preservatives, carbohydrates and copious amounts of caffeine. For quite a while in my life, probably close to 7 years, I was anorexic and had an unhealthy emotional connection to food as well. I have long since changed my attitude and beliefs and strongly value taking care of my overall health. Unfortunately I have been a vegetarian for the last 10 years too. While I know this is not healthy from a nutritional standpoint I just can't bring myself to eat meat and am even more repulsed by fish.

What can I do to try and maintain the best diet possible under these circumstances? My current lifestyle looks like this:
Quality sleep, low stress, daily physical exercise and generally good mood - dealing with frequent migranes unfortunately
Supplements: quality probiotic supplement, natural fibre with L-Glutamine, Oil of Oregano and Spirullina
Foods consumed most: eggs, nuts, nut butters, coconut oil, olive oil, butter, cheese, coconut milk and coconut water, apples, kiwis, berries, grapes, zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, kale, carrots, assorted peppers, assorted beans, beets, avocado, tomatoes, garlic, onions, ginger and fresh herbs. I'm also trying to add in more bone broth soup made from meats so I can get nutrients that way. I just take the meat of of the soup after I've made the broth.
I occasionally eat: Low sugar cookies, potatoes, whole wheat bread, rice, quinoa, pasta.

Should I be eating more of anything? What else can I add to make myself healthier? I'm losing weight and I feel like all I do is eat. I really don't have the weight to lose and people are starting to question me having an eating disorder because of my past. Should I add any supplements to my diet? Any suggestions, tips, advice?

One last note is that I tried taking omega fish oil supplements in the past and suffered a horrible cystic breakout when I was not prone to cysts. I will not even try to take fish oil again after that experience unfortunately.

Edited by alexisc, 26 January 2012 - 11:52 PM.

[alternativista]

Looks a lot like my diet without my nearly daily sweet potatoes and fish. And I do eat meat once in a while.

Make sure your beans are soaked and cooked properly and use lots of herbs, spices and drink tea.

[corgisoulpower]

I'd for sure say to get some more omega 3's in there somewhere. Omega 3 enriched eggs and high quality butters are a good source, as are the bone broths you're hopefully making from grass-fed meats (the healthier the animal, the more omega 3 content, it's not just a matter of empathy for the other creatures but respect for your own body by deliberately choosing to eat happy ones). Sorry you've had bad experiences with fish oil, perhaps try a cod liver oil, which is more nutrient-rich anyway? Or actual fish. I love nut butters as much as the next guy but I'm sorry to say that they're omega 6 city and you really need something to balance 'em out, not talking about the ALA's in flax or trace amounts in chia seeds.

[dejaclairevoyant]

I wouldn't worry about the meat issue. If you're eating eggs, you're getting your complete protein. It sounds like you're doing pretty good overall. I'm against wheat and suggest most people avoid it, but for the most part your diet sounds pretty good compared to a lot of people. How is your skin, following this? Also, what about flax? That is a good source of healthy fats, sort of like fish. I take fish oil occasionally but for the most part I use flax. Some people have said it messed with their hormones, but I didn't find that to be true for myself. I'd consider adding a little in. You can soak it until it sprouts and then blend it into a gooey cream that can be put in smoothies or made into salad dressing. It's GREAT for the digestive track.

[AcnID]

Hi there alexisc.
One thing I noticed from your post is that vegetarianism is 'not healthy' - it may pay to do a little research into the subject. All I'll say that it definitely has the potential to be healthier. (a poor vegetarian diet is unhealthy compared to a healthy meat diet, although a healthy vegetarian diet is much healthier than a 'healthy' meat diet).
You will enjoy a longer lifespan, less chance of cancer and heart related diseases, and a ton more benefits.

Basically, don't thing as the vegetarianism as something that is holding you back - it's actually a really good thing

You seem to have a really good diet - although, I don't see a lot of fats in there. You've got the oils and the nut butters, that's good - but you need more. Anorexia has a devastating effect on how people view food, and I've been there supporting those who have had, and still do have the disorder. A lot of people who have been through it and fully recovered (I don't know many) do still have a pretty warped view on food.

First off - stay away from any health advice from the media. It's terrible. Fats are an extremely important aspect of your diet, and you can get these from nuts and yogurts and milk and pasta, tons of places! I see your list of foods that you eat occasionally - I can't help but wonder.. Why not more often? These foods are FANTASTIC for getting more healthy fats and calories into your diet. You're losing weight due to the fact that your caloric requirement is less than your daily caloric consumption. You NEED to eat more calories - This could be where the migraines are coming from, the brain may simply not be getting enough energy.

Another thing that COULD possibly be causing the migraines is the meat broth. Firstly, soup tends to be low in calories, so I try to stay away from it too often or I tend to under-eat. But more importantly, the meat broth COULD be contributing somewhat to the migraines. Vegetarians, when revertng back to a meat-based diet, tend to go through a stage where they feel sick and lethargic et cetera, for about a week or so. This is apparently because your body isn't used to all the toxins of meat, and it's not used to needing to deal with it. I'm not saying I think it is the meat broth, but it might be worth leaving out of the soups - because the nutritional value it brings won't be all that much, and you eat a pretty healthy diet anyways, so it's pretty unnecessary.

I do recommend focusing on getting lots of calories into your diet. A fully satisfying diet will allow your body to carry out all of its processes properly, and that includes those which rid of acne naturally.

I note that you eat 'low-sugar cookies' - aka diet cookies? I tend to stay away from anything with 'diet' written on it. They include things with artificial sweeteners, such as E951 and E952 (from memory) and can be very bad for health, causing brain tumors, etc. These sweetners could be attributing to your migraines, they're BAD!

Your body converts sugars and fats and carbs into basically the same thing - so don't see sugar as the bad guy, it's a bad guy for diabetics, but not for healthy people.

Improving your diet to include more calories and fats will likely have a positive effect on your livelihood and wellbeing, and it will probably also help with your acne - but it's not the all-ending solution.

I'd have a search into 'Manuka Honey' here at the forums - I hear it can be very good for acne, and is a generally wonderful product, both internally and externally.

Hope this helps

[alexisc]

Hey everyone! Thanks for all of the replies I really appreciate the advice.

Alternativista - saying my diet is similar to yours is a huge compliment, you seem to know a lot about health!

Corgisoulpower - I often eat grass fed organic eggs, they taste so much better than store bought! I'm so wary of taking animal/fish oils, it seems like my body doesn't know how to process them. I made some bone broth soup last night and today I woke up with a cyst! I haven't had a cyst in two years since I tried the fish oil.

Dejaclairevoyant - I hear you on the wheat, it tends to cause inflammation in me and I get tiny breakouts. Some is okay but not too much. My skin is usually great since following this diet, but like I said above since adding the bone broth I broke out in a cyst. I really wanted to eat a lot of bone broth but I'm going to have to ease into it slowly. I've been on accutane 5 times and to finally clear my skin though diet was so amazing! I do feel betrayed by the health system though, I as so naive. I was even more restrictive on this diet at first because I cut most things out to try and eliminate foods that were causing my migraines and added foods back one by one. I do take flax but in the form of a fibre powder. It is made mainly of flax seed and I've heard it is really good for the digestive system. It definitely helps me stay clear.

AcnID - Thank you for your suggestions! I cut many of the carbohydrates out because I realized they were contributing to me breaking out. Some were also causing me to have migraines. I think that my gut is damaged and so these foods are hard to digest causing me to break out. Or it has to do with insulin sensitivity and they cause me to break out because of blood sugar changes. Yogurt I used to love but it was causing me migraines as well. What I am trying to do at the moment is heal my gut and then slowly re-introduce foods like yogurt back in, hoping that my reaction isn't the same. I totally agree with ignoring what the media says about health, or really about anything for that matter! They are just pushing whatever food items are going to make them the most money, and saying bad things about healthy fats that are actually good for you. The meat broth can't be causing the migraines because I have been dealing with severe migraines for 4 months, and I only started the meat broth a week ago. Interesting what you write about vegetarians not being used to the toxins in meat, I think that is why I have developed a cyst when I am not even prone to acne anymore. The cookies I am consuming are not diet cookies I stay away from anything that says diet and read labels like crazy.. spelnda and aspartame are terrible and would probably also give me a migraine. I've heard so many good things about manuka honey, I really want to try that as well! I agree with everything you are saying and thanks for taking the time to write all of that, I will start trying to introduce more healthy carbohydrates and get some more calories in my system.

[AcnID]

Alexisc - glad to hear we're on the same page!

One thing that may be good for helping heal your gut could be homemade yogurt? I recommend you purchase an EasiYo (they're dirt cheap). You can make your own yogurts either from their mixes (which contain huge amounts of beneficial bacteria - which aid in digestion) or you can 'roll your own' from your own starters, etc. I just use premade mixes as I assume they have the most beneficial bacteria. One thing that pisses me off about EasiYo mixes is that they put an emphasis on it being low calorie - I'd prefer it was high calorie. Although I am going to experiment with making it with milk instead of water (it has milk solids in the mix) as a calorie/protein boost.

Indeed it is interesting about the cyst. If you do research into it, you'll find that humans are biological herbivores, NOT omnivores or carnivores. There's tons of research to support it, and once you look, it becomes very obvious. (also clashes with the media's portrayal that meats are fantastic for us).
ANYWAYS, what I think happens is that our bodies get 'used to' meat. And yeah, when our bodies stop being used to it, when we reintroduce it, it's a bit confused as to why we're poisoning it again.

I have a manuka honey 'face pack' by 'Wild Ferns.' I've only used it once, but it seems pretty nicely formulated, and I think it just helped my skin quite nicely in just settling it down and making it just a whole lot 'nicer.'

[dejaclairevoyant]

Quote

a healthy vegetarian diet is much healthier than a 'healthy' meat diet

That is not true, I'm sorry. You're speaking for yourself and that's fine, but please don't say things like that as if they are fact. Whether or not a person needs meat in their diet or whether they would be healthier as a vegetarian is completely dependant on their own unique genetic situation combined with their current health situation. Some people need more protein genetically, others need more iron for certain reasons, others just need meat during certain times for healing.

Quote

Indeed it is interesting about the cyst. If you do research into it, you'll find that humans are biological herbivores, NOT omnivores or carnivores. There's tons of research to support it, and once you look, it becomes very obvious

Also incorrect. Sorry. It's your opinion, and you're only looking at the research you want to see and spinning it your own way. It makes zero sense to say humans are herbivores. For one, we've always been omnivores, for the most part. Throughout our entire history of existance. So who decided we were herbivores? We are built more like the carnivores than the herbivores. I personally am definitely an omnivore. 100%.

I'm not attacking you, think what you want--about yourself. But I have tried vegetarianism multiple times and it failed me. I NEED (not want, NEED) red meat in order to be healthy. It's pretty maddening when others try and say this isn't so because they have their own agenda.

People need to accept that you can be healthy as a meat eater or a vegetarian, but a lot of people feel forced into being vegetarian by that sort of propaganda and it isn't right.

[Ukulala]

Yeah, in general, I'd say you're pretty healthy! If you're losing weight, you obviously need to add in some calories - some healthy fats ... but I am not nearly as knowledgeable about nutrition as others on here. I just know what works for me.

My one thought is about the fish oil capsules -- could it be that you had a reaction not to the fish oil itself, but to some other ingredient within? Capsules are never *just* what they claim to be, after all. Have you looked into the ingredients?
I've started taking fermented cod liver oil after reading some raaave reviews about it. It comes in a gel/paste-y thing, but the added ingredients are all ones I feel okay about.

I understand how you feel about meat (and I really despise meat from the mainstream production system, blech), but could you perchance try adding it back in slowly by getting some small portions from a local farmers' market or somewhere trustworthy like that? If not , hm, well you eat beans ...
I know it's entirely possible to be healthy and vegetarian; I've seen it, and there's that huge 40-year study about it - the China study. If you have the means, have you considered going to a nutritionist? They can totally help you decode what your body is telling you.

Good luck! <3

[AcnID]

Dejaclairevoyant - it's not my opinion, it is fact.
I am not here to argue over things like this though - believe what you want to.
I have just woken up and don't fancy stressing over what someone elses' beliefs are - I'd rather enjoy my long weekend.

[alternativista]

Ukulala, on 28 January 2012 - 09:37 AM, said:

My one thought is about the fish oil capsules -- could it be that you had a reaction not to the fish oil itself, but to some other ingredient within?

Or a bad source. You might have to spend a little more.

[alexisc]

Homemade yoghurt is a really good idea! I'm feeling kind of crappy since upping my probiotic intake but once I level out from that I will look into it for sure.

The fish oil capsules I took were part of a nutritional supplement called "perfect skin" by genuine health. They use high quality fish oil, but it could have been other ingredients in the capsule breaking me out. They have green tea, chromium, zinc and selenium in them as well. It just seems like too much of a coincidence to have a cystic break out from fatty bone broth soup too when I never ever get cysts. I've done a lot of research and it seems like many people suffer jawline cystic breakouts when taking fish oil. Does anyone have any ideas of why this is? My one thought is that we are badly damaged in the gut and the body cannot process the animal fats properly, or it's an allergic type reaction in myself since I haven't had meat/fish products for some time.

In the debate on whether vegetarianism is healthy, I have to say I don't exactly think it is. If I wasn't completely disgusted by fish I would eat it because my instincts tell me it would be really healthy. As for meat I'm not vegetarian so much from an ethical standpoint (although I love animals) I have just never understood the psychology of eating animals. Even as a child I would eat all of my vegetables and leave the meat on the plate and my Mom would have to force me to eat it. When I was growing up I had a friend who's Mom made her watch PETA videos of animals in cages being slaughtered. I was over at her house when this video was put on and I was very young, I think it traumatized me in some way. A goldfish was my first pet and when it died I was really sad. To think of eating my pet may be why I can't eat fish either. Who knows. The smell of seafood makes me nauseous and gag. I am very small and do feel frail from not eating seafood or meat. I think that if it is from high quality sources that it is essential to eat it for good nutrition, but unfortunately my body and mind don't seem to agree with it. However, the toxins and hormones from low quality meat are something I am glad to avoid.

I went to a nutritionist a long time ago when I had my eating disorder but I didn't take it seriously and denied I had any problems with food. I wish I had and learned more from the experience. I've been considering seeing a naturopath to get allergy tested but I can't afford it at the moment. I'm really curious to see what foods I react to. Is it possible to be allergic to meat? Is allergy testing even accurate? I've heard of false positives and I don't want to cut anything out of my diet that I don't have to.

Thanks for your input everyone!

[dejaclairevoyant]

It's possible to be allergic to meat. You can be allergic to anything. It's not a very common allergy though.

It definitely sounds like this aversion at least happened in part due to having that video forced on you at a young age. So sorry. That sort of stuff disgusts me too and that's what led me to being vegetarian so many times. But I get so weak and feel so instantly better from red meat there's just no denying it.