27 replies to this topic

[Cubsfan]

Diet does affect acne , but it is just so hard to stick to a certain diet ,because most of us in western country , are used to foods that we have been eating past 20 yrs or so , it is just so hard to change it , i tried many times to stick to veggies but i just cannot , i starve all the time , even i eat lots of veggies but i just cant stop eating meat , and other tasty foods.

there's a theory that if you get through the first 3 months of changing a habit without fail then it becomes smooth sailing from then on. unfortunately it took me 2 years to be well disciplined.

changing ones diet is like that trick where you move one hand in circles on top of your head and the other hand moves in circles on your tummy, then you switch the hands around. you'll find it difficult to do at first but if you keep practising and stick with it, it becomes second nature like brushing your teeth.

[Blo0dCrIeSZ]

Thank you sweetjade for your lovely information as always! I am contemplating about seeing a endoctrinologist, I think it would be towards my best benefit. Though my acne is very well in check at the moment it couldn't hurt as I have diabetes in my family and obesity (though they may be obese due to other factors). Anyway thanks :D

[Dingo Jellybean]

For me personally, diet is the #1 reason for my acne.

I changed my diet to vegetarian 6 months ago and saw moderate improvement in my skin. No bacne or assne after 5 months on it. But of course, I want my skin 100% clear or near it...so I was wondering maybe I should stick with this diet. But although pimples were gone, I had pore size issues and oily skin. I thought I would be stuck with this the rest of my life as pore size was directly (often) related to oil production. So I wanted to see what was affecting my oil production...and I believe diet was the key to reducing oil.

I asked a few of my family member's what their diet was and a few co-workers. More importantly, I asked them if they consumed any dairy. In my family's side, of the 4 people who did not consume dairy...they all had perfect or near perfect skin. Of the people I asked who were lactose intolerant...again, perfect extremely low main. skin. So I decided to cut dairy out of my diet completely.

I switched to soy milk for my calcium needs and got a bad allergic (not acne) breakout that worsened my acne. So naturally, I went to look for something else. So I decided on calcimum fortified OJ and rice milk (I'm allergic to nuts, so no almond milk for me).

At the same time I've been taking B5, but only 2g a day. About 3 weeks later? AMAZING results. The blackhead population is dying everyday (as opposed to growing everyday), my skin is 30% less oily with 25% smaller and less visible pores. Kill me if I am lying. I think it's a combination of diet and B5...as my topical regimen has not changed...in fact, I use to use Queen Helen's Mint Julep mask religiously...but I've only used it once a week and probably won't need it again. I also used Neutrogena's Pore Refining Cleanser...which works...but to a small degree...and I only used it once and probably won't need it again.

The only thing I do now is used Zinc Kit cream (2% SA and 4%TTO) at night and in the morning I use Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash and slap on sunscreen during the day.

Changing my diet means less time on my topical regimen. It's amazing though. Although my acne was mild, I had huge pores that were bigger than those who had cystic acne and severe acne (I think that's the main reason people had nodular/cystic acne...their pores just aren't big enough to accomodate the extra oil flow) and had enough oil to power a powerplant (figuratively speaking of course).

I don't mind sticking to this non-dairy diet. If it means have a near 100% clear face (luckily I don't have many scars or red marks), then I'll happily kiss dairy goodbye. For the B5 part, notice it was just 2g. I don't need the 10g or even 15g a day people were claiming.

[Bonobo Man]

Minny talking:

I sent him an email telling him how much improvement I saw in my son's cystic acne from being on this for 1 month. He has one breakout on his cheek right now verses a whole face full prior to this diet. He is on NO medication.

--Very happy to hear this, fantastic for us researchers when we hear the
beneficial results of what we are working on, particularly when it does
not involve drugs.

Once we publish our study we will be talking at conferences in the USA
about it. I also hope to get print and TV media coverage so we can get
this knowledge out to millions of other young people and their families.
If you ever get an opportunity to present this information to media
particularly your US TV shows go for it and let me know. This is really
the best way to to communicate with the widest possible audience and as
you have seen the benefit can be outstanding.

...

SweetJade1980, you didn't say whether you were had a correspondence with Dr Mann, but have you been updated about any of this?


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[GoldenSkin]

What i am interested to know is ,
1.How many people here has dandruff?


these 2 things , seem to be the main cause for many acne sufferers ,,,

I got dandruff...

[Solros]

I had dandruff, but it went away along with my acne when I changed my diet (took me about 2-3 weeks to get rid of it completely). My skin also heals so much faster now that I've done a few liver and salt water flushes to cleanse my liver and bowel.

I follow a somewhat strict paleolithic diet with only organic and natural foods. I don't use any supplements at all except for some high quality cod liver oil from St Clements. I'm more tolerable to candy and junk right after an intensive training session, but anything with milk or hydrogenated oils in it will make me very naucious for a few hours now that my body knows what it can't stand.

Maybe some of us who follow these kind of strict diets could share some recipies? I have several good ones that will make you forget all about candy, chocolate and all that other nasty junk food.

[SweetJade1980]

Update: The last two articles I posted in my initial post were recently pulled from pubmed. I don't know why but I guess I can email Dr. Mann to find out.

However with regards to the second study below I can post at least a dozen more linking various dietary changes, predominantly what the boys were following, and blood chemistry changes. These studies will cover both the hormonal and inflammatory markers that are linked to acne just as in the study below and then some, but will be in relation to high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, PCOS, Insulin Resistance and even Hyperandrogenism, most of which CAN have acne as a symptom, but these studies will not specifically mention the word "acne".

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2005;14 Suppl:S43. Related Articles, Links


The effect of a low glycemic load, high protein diet on hormonal markers of acne.

Smith R, Mann N, Braue A, Varigos G.

School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC.

Background - Acne vulgaris is a common endocrine condition affecting adolescents in Western civilizations. Acne typically manifests during puberty when there is a transient decrease in insulin sensitivity. It has been suggested that high glycemic nutrition during puberty induces hyperinsulinemia which increases the bioavailability of androgens and certain growth factors. These changes may induce follicular epithelial growth and increased sebum production - two factors responsible for acne proliferation.

Objective - To determine the effect of a low glycemic load diet, comprised of high levels of protein and low glycemic index (GI) foods, on hormonal makers of acne vulgaris.

Design - Male acne sufferers [n=43, age=18.3+/-0.4 (mean +/- SEM)] were randomly assigned to either the dietary intervention (n=23) or control groups (n=20). The intervention diet consisted of 25% energy from protein and 45% energy from low glycemic index carbohydrates. The control group received no information about diet nor were they given dietary instruction. Venous blood was collected at baseline and 12-weeks for an assessment of testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), free androgen index (FAI), dehydroepiandrosterone - sulfate (DHEA-S), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and IGF-binding proteins -I and -3.

Outcomes - Dietary intervention resulted in a significant reduction in FAI (-9.1 +/- 4.5, P<0.05) and DHEA-S (-0.72 +/- 0.33 umol/L, P<0.05) and an increase in IGFBP-1 (5.3 +/- 1.6 ng/mL, P<0.01). No significant changes were observed in levels of IGF-I, IGFBP-3, testosterone or SHBG following dietary intervention. The control group showed no change in any of the blood parameters measured.

Conclusion - These data suggest that a low glycemic load diet may reduce androgenic activity (as indicated by a reduction in FAI and DHEA-S) and may oppose the growth promoting effects of IGF-I by increasing levels of its binding protein, IGFBP-I. This implies that a low glycemic load diet may reduce hormonal influences involved in acne pathogenesis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum

PMID: 16326495 [PubMed - in process]

[Ariventa]

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