97 replies to this topic

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Hi everyone.

I'm glad to report that after almost a year, my face remains clear, apart from the occasional small whitehead, which I can usually trace to a specific cause.

What brings me to start a new log, however, is that I still have body acne on my chest, arms, back, and to a smaller extent shoulders and neck. After many months of experimenting, I have narrowed the possible causes down to pretty much only candida, and am now fully in the fight against it.

The reasons I'm pretty sure I have candida:
A) I never had chest acne before I went on antibiotics, and the rest of my body had cleared up after high school. They all flared up after I came off antibiotics, and haven't gotten better since, regardless of any changes.
B) My body acne always gets worse after sugar or alcohol, but not my face. For some reason, Taurine (see my other log) keeps my face clear (which is where I had normal acne) but not my body (which only broke out after antibiotics).
C) I thought it couldn't be candida because I ate a "low-sugar" diet, but didn't realize that the carbs I was craving (giant bowls of cereal, bread rolls, rice, etc) were all feeding the candida.
D) I experienced a fair few candida-like symptoms over the last year (fatigue, jock itch, muscle pains in my legs, headaches (especially after sugar consumption)
E) most promisingly, I have experienced strong die-off symptoms since I began treatment consistent with candida.

So basically, this summer I decided to finally try to fight it, having eliminated all my other theories and added up all the evidence. I first got into a stable normal regimen that kept my face clear, then simply added several tablespoons of ACV (an antifungal) each day. After 2 weeks, I was experiencing flu-like symptoms, fatigue, depressed sexual appetite, etc. This was enough evidence to put me on the full program.

So my current regimen (I am on day 4) is this:
No carbs
No fungal things
Nothing that could aggravate my digestion
Plenty of healthy meat and vegetables
Lots of anti-fungals

I replaced my morning giant bowl of all-bran with scrambled eggs with a side of sliced avocado, topped with cayenne and black pepper. I started on green smoothies containing spinach, ginger, and garlic. I've begun cooking my own candida-friendly dinners (which is two birds with one stone, since I wanted to learn to cook these holidays). I'm still drinking ACV, and am also taking psyllium husks to replace the fiber that all bran was giving me.

Since I started this regimen my die-off symptoms have intensified. I have near-constant muscle ache in my arms and legs, sometimes back and neck. I get headaches now and then. I get tired easily, and my body acne has intensified to a level it's not been at in months (thankfully my face hasn't been too badly effected yet, just a lot more blackheads and some small spots on my forehead where I had them last year).

These die-off symptoms actually make me feel really good however. It means that I'm killing a significant amount of candida each day. In following advice from Brenton's thread, I'm not taking probiotics for a while, until they can do the most good. Since I've been taking ACV for about 3 weeks now, I will rotate it out next week and add either coconut oil or caprylic acid (if I can get the latter, I can't seem to find anywhere selling it).

After spending a year unable to make much progress on this body acne, seeing everything playing out consistent with candida makes me very glad to be combating it. I know it might take a few months, but I hope to beat it out.

Anyhow, that's all for now. I'm going down to the farmer's market tomorrow to buy some organic vegetables. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Edited by ThatPrimalGuy, 22 December 2011 - 07:28 PM.

[iamthat]

Hi everyone. Those of you who've been around a while may remember that I had a previous log in which I reported how I cleared my facial acne: http://www.acne.org/...-f-t258040.html

I'm glad to report that after almost a year, my face remains clear, apart from the occasional small whitehead, which I can usually trace to a specific cause.

What brings me to start a new log, however, is that I still have body acne on my chest, arms, back, and to a smaller extent shoulders and neck. After many months of experimenting, I have narrowed the possible causes down to pretty much only candida, and am now fully in the fight against it.

The reasons I'm pretty sure I have candida:
A) I never had chest acne before I went on antibiotics, and the rest of my body had cleared up after high school. They all flared up after I came off antibiotics, and haven't gotten better since, regardless of any changes.
B) My body acne always gets worse after sugar or alcohol, but not my face. For some reason, Taurine (see my other log) keeps my face clear (which is where I had normal acne) but not my body (which only broke out after antibiotics).
C) I thought it couldn't be candida because I ate a "low-sugar" diet, but didn't realize that the carbs I was craving (giant bowls of cereal, bread rolls, rice, etc) were all feeding the candida.
D) I experienced a fair few candida-like symptoms over the last year (fatigue, jock itch, muscle pains in my legs, headaches (especially after sugar consumption)
E) most promisingly, I have experienced strong die-off symptoms since I began treatment consistent with candida.

So basically, this summer I decided to finally try to fight it, having eliminated all my other theories and added up all the evidence. I first got into a stable normal regimen that kept my face clear, then simply added several tablespoons of ACV (an antifungal) each day. After 2 weeks, I was experiencing flu-like symptoms, fatigue, depressed sexual appetite, etc. This was enough evidence to put me on the full program.

So my current regimen (I am on day 4) is this:
No carbs
No fungal things
Nothing that could aggravate my digestion
Plenty of healthy meat and vegetables
Lots of anti-fungals

I replaced my morning giant bowl of all-bran with scrambled eggs with a side of sliced avocado, topped with cayenne and black pepper. I started on green smoothies containing spinach, ginger, and garlic. I've begun cooking my own candida-friendly dinners (which is two birds with one stone, since I wanted to learn to cook these holidays). I'm still drinking ACV, and am also taking psyllium husks to replace the fiber that all bran was giving me.

Since I started this regimen my die-off symptoms have intensified. I have near-constant muscle ache in my arms and legs, sometimes back and neck. I get headaches now and then. I get tired easily, and my body acne has intensified to a level it's not been at in months (thankfully my face hasn't been too badly effected yet, just a lot more blackheads and some small spots on my forehead where I had them last year).

These die-off symptoms actually make me feel really good however. It means that I'm killing a significant amount of candida each day. In following advice from Brenton's thread, I'm not taking probiotics for a while, until they can do the most good. Since I've been taking ACV for about 3 weeks now, I will rotate it out next week and add either coconut oil or caprylic acid (if I can get the latter, I can't seem to find anywhere selling it).

After spending a year unable to make much progress on this body acne, seeing everything playing out consistent with candida makes me very glad to be combating it. I know it might take a few months, but I hope to beat it out.

Anyhow, that's all for now. I'm going down to the farmer's market tomorrow to buy some organic vegetables. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Goodluck! The cravings are hard sometimes (I have been having them bad lately) but this diet makes you feel so much better. You should try coconut oil, it's def the iceing on the cake for the candida diet.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Goodluck! The cravings are hard sometimes (I have been having them bad lately) but this diet makes you feel so much better. You should try coconut oil, it's def the iceing on the cake for the candida diet.

Thanks
The cravings are there, but I've never had trouble sticking to a diet before. My hatred of acne is just so much stronger than my desire to eat. It's mostly the die-off that sucks - my muscles hurt so bad, and I haven't even been doing that much.

I am going to the health food store tomorrow, if they don't have coconut oil there, I'll order some from the place I get my taurine, they have big buckets of the good stuff

[ThatPrimalGuy]

The end of day 5 on my stricter anti-candida regimen.

Today (being valentines day) I took my girlfriend on a picnic. Thankfully, I've explained all my dietary restrictions to her so while I did intake a small amount of carbs, it wasn't much. I had some cucumber with hummus dip (10% carbs but apparently because of the fiber it's effectively less?). We also shared a store-bought cooked chicken. It was only 5% carbs, only bad thing being it was cooked in canola oil (bad) while I cook everything in grape seed oil, and coconut oil once I get it.

Last night I made a really nice beef stew (yay acne causing me to learn to cook). I took out potatoes for radishes, which are similar in texture and look but don't have the starchy carbs. The only source of carbs there were a few carrots I threw in, less than the recipe called for, but I figured they were pretty essential to the dish. Carrots aren't too bad though, and they were my only carb source for the day, so I think I'm doing ok.

The die-off symptoms seem to have reduced quite a bit today, and to a lesser extent yesterday. I still wake up dehydrated and with a sore back, but my arms and legs hurt less. This might be because I had such intense die-off for a while, even before the strict diet. Also, the psyllium finally kicked in (I hadn't been at all regular since going off my huge fiber intake when I dropped all bran) which might have played a part. I reduced my garlic intake for valentines (heh) and missed a day of acv, though, so that might be it. Not counting any chickens before they hatch.

Still feeling good, and going to make a smoothie and take a bath before bed.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Posting so I remember:
Day 7 of the strict diet.
Over the past day or so the more noticable die-off symptoms seem to have faded. I'd like to believe this means I've killed most of the candida, but I think it might just be that I lowered my garlic dose and took it with psyllium. I'm not sure binding it into the psyllium stuff helps or hurts digestion for garlic, so I'm going to separate them for now.

I got a giant tub of coconut oil from my local health store (they had unfiltered ACV, which is a shame, since I've been using filtered, but it's time to rotate ACV out). With coconut oil replacing ACV, I'll be on garlic and coconut oil, which are two of the more effective antifungals. We'll see if die-off re-emerges - I'vee already noticed a bit more tiredness, I'll be interested if the achiness comes back.

It was valentines yesterday and my gf took me out to a fancy dinner. I did consume a few carbs in the form of a little potato and a small piece of carrot (also possible the sauces on my steak). Apart from that I just had pumpkin soup (which was awesome). I also had some unsweetened shep milk yoghurt earlier in the day with flax seeds. From what I've read, flax seeds are good, but I'm not so sure about the yoghurt - Does anyone have any opinions on that? I think I'll restrict it to small amounts, maybe when I get hungry cooking my breakfast.

Overall, carbs have been kept very low, and while my antifungals may have slipped slightly, they are now fully on track.

[iamthat]

Posting so I remember:
Day 7 of the strict diet.
Over the past day or so the more noticable die-off symptoms seem to have faded. I'd like to believe this means I've killed most of the candida, but I think it might just be that I lowered my garlic dose and took it with psyllium. I'm not sure binding it into the psyllium stuff helps or hurts digestion for garlic, so I'm going to separate them for now.

I got a giant tub of coconut oil from my local health store (they had unfiltered ACV, which is a shame, since I've been using filtered, but it's time to rotate ACV out). With coconut oil replacing ACV, I'll be on garlic and coconut oil, which are two of the more effective antifungals. We'll see if die-off re-emerges - I'vee already noticed a bit more tiredness, I'll be interested if the achiness comes back.

It was valentines yesterday and my gf took me out to a fancy dinner. I did consume a few carbs in the form of a little potato and a small piece of carrot (also possible the sauces on my steak). Apart from that I just had pumpkin soup (which was awesome). I also had some unsweetened shep milk yoghurt earlier in the day with flax seeds. From what I've read, flax seeds are good, but I'm not so sure about the yoghurt - Does anyone have any opinions on that? I think I'll restrict it to small amounts, maybe when I get hungry cooking my breakfast.

Overall, carbs have been kept very low, and while my antifungals may have slipped slightly, they are now fully on track.

Since you don't breakout on your face you can probably do little cheats like that.. Bee (she hads a great candida website) says no flax seeds, and yogurt. Her candida diet is the strictest on the web but it also works wonders for people.. It's the one im doing since I need to clear my face 100%.. But since you are just trying for body acne I don't think one or two cheats a week will set you back much. Take coconut oil by the spoonful. What I do is heat up the coconut oil by the stove (I just set my jar by the stove and turn it on high till it turns some of it liquid) then I take a tablespoon and take like 5-10 big tablespoons through out the day and I always chase it with water If you do it that way you cant even taste it.

Edited by biologygirly, 16 February 2011 - 01:55 PM.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Thanks biology

I am trying to be strict so I won't touch the yogurt anymore. I was re-reading your thread, thinking maybe I should try to eat fish instead of just red meat and chicken. Thing is I hate sea food and had a mild allergy as a child so I don't want to irritate my digestion.

My coconut oil is kinda half liquid half solid at room temperature (it's warm here) so I've just been spooning liquid off the top of the jar.

Most worrying symptom right now is constipation - I'm taking heaps of psyllium for fiber but after 8 days I'm getting worried (only one bowel movement in that time). Starting to consider something more extreme to try and overcome it.
'

[iamthat]

Thanks biology

I am trying to be strict so I won't touch the yogurt anymore. I was re-reading your thread, thinking maybe I should try to eat fish instead of just red meat and chicken. Thing is I hate sea food and had a mild allergy as a child so I don't want to irritate my digestion.

My coconut oil is kinda half liquid half solid at room temperature (it's warm here) so I've just been spooning liquid off the top of the jar.

Most worrying symptom right now is constipation - I'm taking heaps of psyllium for fiber but after 8 days I'm getting worried (only one bowel movement in that time). Starting to consider something more extreme to try and overcome it.
'

When I started this diet I was going to the bathroom once a day.. When I cut out nuts a few weeks ago I didn't go to the bathroom for about 3 days.. Now I go to that bathroom 3-4 times a day no joke. Bee says that you shouldn't take psyllium and here is her link to why.

http://www.healingna...ticles/mn26.php


Im not sure what I think about red meat and chicken yet ... I ate fish for so long and had GREAT results.. But I asked Bee and she said that meat and eggs break me out because it's a healing reaction. Well I ate red meat a few days ago and had a bad breakout. So I tested it again today and ate two hotdog's (organic no antibiotics) so I will see how that goes. Keep me updated! I'll list some things that have helped me and I wish I did from the beginning

1) coconut oil (5-10 tablespoons per day)
2) a variety of food but not all at once so I can see what I have a reaction too
3) all of the supplements Bee says you should take and the amount (here is a link)
http://www.healingna...icles/supp7.php
4) 1 1/2 teaspoons Celtic sea salt per day (which is on the chart but I just started a week ago).. if you notice high anxiety frm it then cut down a tad
5) Adding cinnamon to my decaf coffee from starbucks (great anti fungal)
6) Bee says do coffee enemas but I haven't yet
7) Eating whole raw onions mixed in with tuna
8) and you have to try this snack! it is SOOSOSOSOS good.. zucchini chips (cut zucchini into very thin slices like paper.. Put coconut oil on tin foil .. Put out slices all over pan only one slice per area (don't lay them in layers) then put more coconut oil drizzled on top and add Celtic sea salt over the whole thing and bake at any temp from 275-350 (275 if you don't want coconut oil to denature) .. leave in about 20 minutes or until you see some pieces brown (the browner the better).. you can also do this with green pepper and red pepper.. it's a great snack when you cut out all carbs

[ThatPrimalGuy]

When I started this diet I was going to the bathroom once a day.. When I cut out nuts a few weeks ago I didn't go to the bathroom for about 3 days.. Now I go to that bathroom 3-4 times a day no joke. Bee says that you shouldn't take psyllium and here is her link to why.

http://www.healingna...ticles/mn26.php


Im not sure what I think about red meat and chicken yet ... I ate fish for so long and had GREAT results.. But I asked Bee and she said that meat and eggs break me out because it's a healing reaction. Well I ate red meat a few days ago and had a bad breakout. So I tested it again today and ate two hotdog's (organic no antibiotics) so I will see how that goes. Keep me updated! I'll list some things that have helped me and I wish I did from the beginning

1) coconut oil (5-10 tablespoons per day)
2) a variety of food but not all at once so I can see what I have a reaction too
3) all of the supplements Bee says you should take and the amount (here is a link)
http://www.healingna...icles/supp7.php
4) 1 1/2 teaspoons Celtic sea salt per day (which is on the chart but I just started a week ago).. if you notice high anxiety frm it then cut down a tad
5) Adding cinnamon to my decaf coffee from starbucks (great anti fungal)
6) Bee says do coffee enemas but I haven't yet
7) Eating whole raw onions mixed in with tuna
8) and you have to try this snack! it is SOOSOSOSOS good.. zucchini chips (cut zucchini into very thin slices like paper.. Put coconut oil on tin foil .. Put out slices all over pan only one slice per area (don't lay them in layers) then put more coconut oil drizzled on top and add Celtic sea salt over the whole thing and bake at any temp from 275-350 (275 if you don't want coconut oil to denature) .. leave in about 20 minutes or until you see some pieces brown (the browner the better).. you can also do this with green pepper and red pepper.. it's a great snack when you cut out all carbs

1. I'm on coconut oil, but working it up, only 3 or 4 tablespoons a day atm
2. Generally doing this - I've been testing for reactions in food for a while though, what I'm mainly interested in now is getting the diet as a whole right, killing candida, not worrying too much about mild reactions.
3. To be honest, I'm not a fan of rampant supplementation. If I want vitamin C, I get it from the lemon I juice every day. Vitamin B is found plentifully in eggs. Vitamin E is in grapeseed oil. Etc, etc. I take additional oils and herbs like garlic and ginger, but I don't feel popping a tonne of pills is that beneficial. At one stage I was taking every supplement on that list and more. As I got sick of them, I slowly removed them, one by one, and found absolutely no difference. But do let me know if you think any one in particular has been good for you.
4. Just got some celtic sea salt, I have it on my breakfast in the morning
5. I don't drink coffee, but I might try to get ahold of some cinnamon
6. Not sure about the coffee enemas
7. I eat plenty of onion, but I can't stand tuna, and not sure how I would eat onion on it's own. Maybe mix it with my garlic sometime, heh.
8. I will definitely make sure to try those!

As for the psyllium thing - I'm really not sure I buy that page. I've not been able to find much anywhere else on the internet saying negative things about psyllium or fiber in general, while there are tonnes of stories of psyllium helping people. I'm not really sure I understand the theory of why psyllium wouldn't work. I guess my die-off symptoms have gotten milder in some respects since I started taking it though (no achey arms/legs anymore). I guess I'll lay off it for now and see what happens. I should probably be more disciplined in the things I add to my diet (this is the lesson I learned hard last time, but I've been eager to ramp up the things I add and got hasty). I don't know what I would do to help steady bowel movements without fiber though, it seems like a strange notion that it doesn't help, since I -know- all bran made a difference for me.

As a side note, what's your opinion on the slightly higher carb vegetables? some people warn against them but I'm having a hard time finding a substitute for carrot in a lot of vegetable based recipes.

Thanks for all the help

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Edit: After reading the full article on fiber, I'm a tad more prone to believe it, though it's kind of a shock considering I was eating huge amounts of all bran for years, to find out it may have just been stripping me of nutrients with no real benefit (might explain why I was always so hungry). I'll stop psyllium and wait to see what happens. Thanks for the link

[iamthat]

When I started the diet I also didn't like taking pills but now I am just use to it. I would def take calcium because your bones can only absorb it till you are 30 years old and then you are stuck with what you have (on this diet you don't get enough because the lack of dairy.) And you need magnesium to balance the calcium, and vitamin D3 helps those vitamins absorb but if you get 20 minutes of sun per day then you don't need vitamin d3. I would take vitamin C unless you are getting 1000 mg per day. Vitamin A you will become deficient in unless you eat a lot of carrots or orange veggies.. The B-complex I guess you can do without if you eat lots of green veggies.

I always get decaf from starbucks but I guess you have to like black coffee to do that and not many people do lol.

I just started eating the raw onion more and noticed healing reactions a lot more.. I should be eating garlic but I don't like it that much raw And it always gives me bad headaches


I didn't read the article on the psyllium but I remembered seeing it on the /do not/ list so I wanted to send it your way. Let me know the results!

If I am craving carbs I usually make the zucchini chips... They are soooo good. I eat any kind of veggie on her list and I just try to vary them everyday. I actually don't eat carrot though. When I tried to I broke out really really bad which im not sure if it was a die off healing reaction or a candida living off of it and making me break out reaction. I think a lot of research went into Bee's diet food list so I would just eat what is on there. And maybe cheat 2x a week at most with nuts or almond butter. Some people can tolerate more then others I guess it depends on how bad your candida is. I get pretty bad reactions from all the food I eat so I tend to try not to cheat with any carbs at all. I was kinda cheating the first 5 months of my diet and since I stopped cheating for the past month I have noticed a significant difference in my bodies reactions (die off's/energy/mood/bowel movements/acne)


Sorry for the long post! I ate to much coconut oil tonight and it is keeping me up

[ThatPrimalGuy]

I find the easiest way to take garlic is to chop it up and just drink it floating in plain water. Sounds gross but you taste it less than in a smoothy or on it's own.

I see your point on the vitamins. I do like pumpkin and such so I'll probably get some vitamin A from that, but I guess lemon juice doesn't have quite as much C as I thought, so I'll have to check into that. Mostly it's the cost of all those pills (anything to do with health food is expensive in australia) but also I just want to take things in stages. If I see progress on a healthy, low carb diet with antifungals I might start supplementing to enhance that.

When I crave carbs I tend to go for meat it's the closest thing I get to breads etc. But I find myself a lot more full lately than I used to be.

I had a nice dinner tonight - I just stir fried some green bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, shallots, onion, and chilli with some herbs and lemon/olive oil dressing. Cooked it with plenty of coconut oil. I felt really good about it afterward, so my brother and I went out for a short gym session, worked up a bit of a sweat. I seem to have kicked the slight depression I was feeling as well.

*Ugh cranky parents came home to complain about the "messy" kitchen - all the food put away and cookware scrubbed clean and stacked in the sink - I don't know what they have to be cranky about, they were just out at a show - looking forward to moving out*

Slight interlude aside, things are looking up. Glad to have a strict guideline (Bee's) to adhere to. It seems like they have a lot of good recipes there too. And I'll try the zucchini chips

[iamthat]

Slight interlude aside, things are looking up. Glad to have a strict guideline (Bee's) to adhere to. It seems like they have a lot of good recipes there too. And I'll try the zucchini chips

Glad things are looking up! They are for me too thought I still feel sick from all the coconut oil I took yesterday. You can also do the same thing with green pepper and red pepper.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Things have been improving since I got more strict with the low carbs.

I cooked a meal from Bee's low carb recipe page today, chicken in yellow curry sauce: http://www.healingna...s/recipe137.php - It was so delicious, seriously one of the best meals I've had in a while. I love indian/thai curries so it's nice to know they're one of the things I can have, even if I have to stay away from yoghurt and such.

Once I stopped taking the psyllium I started getting the die-off reactions back a little - dehydration, minor headaches, and increased acne on my arms and chest. Oddly though, none of the more extreme symptoms I had to start with when I was on the garlic/ACV combo - aching limbs, flu symptoms, etc. It's possible that I killed a decent portion of candida in the first batch and now it's going more slowly. I'm taking 2 gloves of garlic a day and a fair bit of coconut oil - hard to estimate exactly since some of its taking on my food but I'd say at least 3-4 tablespoons a day for now.

On the plus side, I have been feeling a lot more energetic. I went to the gym twice this week, and I just feel more energized in general - for the past year and a bit I've felt tired and sluggish a lot of the time. We'll have to wait to see if it lasts, but it's positive. Also, my face looks amazing. After the initial breakout when I started on acv the symptoms appear to have gone downwards, so my face and neck are fine, and the skin quality on my face looks the best it has in a while. My face has always reacted badly to sugars and alcohols, and this diet restricts them, so that could be part of it, but it looks more vibrant, and my eyes are less baggy. Perhaps stopping the huge amounts of fiber that strip minerals from my system helped as well.

Anyhow, after learning to cook due to this diet and being able to make food I find delicious on it, I think I can keep this up. I'll be interested to see if it does indeed have an impact on my body acne (please god yes).

That's it for now

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Day 6 of the strict candida diet:

Various pieces of news to reports, mostly pretty good:

- When I went to my girlfriend's house on Day 4 she said I looked great and her mom even commented to her (she told me later) that I was "glowing". To put it in context while I generally have clear skin on my face I often look sickly/tired/bored because I have deep dark circles and other general stuff. It seems like this diet might be fighting that, which would be pretty great
- Have been feeling increased energy and elevated mood
- Finally got past the constipation phase, and may have passed some candida, not 100% sure. Still glad to be past that.

Been eating almost perfectly for the diet. My only cheats are sometimes eating store-prepared meat, i.e. buying pre-made kebabs (which, while they aren't heavily marinaded, do have store marinade) or buying a whole cooked chicken (I checked, they don't cook it in oil, but do use a light marinade). I don't think this is too big a deal - while these are probably not free range animals, meaning their omega ratio is skewed away from omega-3's, the marinade is such a small portion of the meal that I don't think it matters too much what it contains, so long as it's not pure iodine or something.

Lunches are the hardest meals for me - I'm fine cooking breakfast and dinner but it seems weird to cook lunch and without sandwiches I am left with only salad. I don't mind this, espescially with some cold meat on the side, but I do need to be careful to have stuff on hand.

I did notice a minor change today, had one or two tiny red spots about my mouth and my skin seemed a little less "glowy" and had a blackhead or two. The mouth spots are generally from making out with the gf too much, but I'm not sure about the blackheads. I also have a but of activity on my chest and the back of my neck.

Possibilities:
-I had a plate of tomatoes, which are somewhat acidic (however they're supposed to be ok raw according to bee's diet page, and they're a bit recent to cause changes)
-I stayed up waaaay too late last night, installing stuff on the computer
-I took an extra large helping of garlic last night to make up for missing a bit with my gf, so it may be a mini-die-off
- Maybe the prepared meats aren't so good?


Regardless, most of these possibilities shouldn't cause more problems than I already have. It's getting late here so I'm gonna try to get a good nights sleep in the hope that I'll look bright and happy tommorow, I'm meeting a friend I haven't seen in a while and would like to look good

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Day 8

Mostly good news - my coloring has continued to improve - I seem to be finally regaining my snowy white facial complexion (it's been tinged red ever since I finished my course of antibiotics). Apparently my coloring on my arms etc looks more healthy too.

I seem to be going through little bouts of die-off with headaches/dehydration. After I take a lot of antifungals I seem to get scatterings of rapid, angry whiteheads over my body (not many, but noticable) that go away relatively quickly. Only worry is that I got a single pimple in the corner of my forehead today - hopefully that's isolated.

Worth noting that I started cooking a few meals with butter yesterday. Apparently it's recommended since it's low in milk proteins and nutrient rich, but I am aware of my childhood aversion to lactose, so keeping an eye on that. Also had take-out for the first time on the strict diet today, but it was straight lamb vindaloo, no rice or yoghurt, and from the recipes I looked up it seems pretty good.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Day 9

I feel really exhausted today - which is how I've felt most of the past year. I didn't realise just how much better I'd been feeling over the past fortnight or so. I haven't been getting really tired at all, now I can barely keep myself active (and that's after a good night's sleep).

Either this is really bad die-off, or (more likely) its because its the first time I've had takeaway food in a while. I'm suspicious that either the indian food was microwaved (I haven't been eating microwaved food do to possible damage) or it had preservatives/cheap ingredients that I've reacted to. Either way, I'm going to go back to my own cooking for at least a week before I test take-out again. Also switching back to cooking with just coconut oil, not butter, to rule that out just for now.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Day 11,

So the symptoms I experienced on day 9 quickly dissipated - my face went back to normal, energy levels bounced back up, etc. So I'm guessing it was the takeout. Have been eating my own cooking since and feeling great.

My face is looking amazing, but my body not so much - it seems to have grown worse over the past week instead of better. I hope it's die-off from my increased garlic and coconut oil consumption as well as stricter diet. Other than that I can only think it's that I increased my tomato consumption (apparently they're ok, even though they're a slightly sweeter vegetable, but they are acidic).

Apart from my body though, things are going well. I lost a few kilo's, but have stabilised at what I believe is my ideal weight - my muscle mass seems to be growing again now that I'm working out. I feel pretty good and my mood is generally high. I really hope that once I get through this phase of my body acne it will start the clearing process.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Day 13,

My body symptoms are dieing down a bit (still worse than they were before this diet, however). Still feeling relatively energetic, though I've been missing out on a little sleep since I started a new job. Just hoping this body stuff was die-off and not something like butter or tomatoes. Not sure what I'm going to make for tommorow's dinner.

[ThatPrimalGuy]

Day 17

My skin feels pretty smooth all over my body today - no large and painful body pimples like there were just a few days ago. I've been eating pretty much meat and veges and eggs the past few days, and have cut out tomatoes and cut down on butter. Reintroducing eggs may also have done some good. I also took a day off antifungals, just to give my body a break, and now I'm just taking coconut oil for a while, not taking garlic apart from what's in my food. Apart from drinking garlic chunks making me feel ill, I think I was hitting too hard with the antifungals maybe. Anyway, I'm still getting symptoms of die-off occasionally like diarrhea, itchy butt, and stomach upsets, so who knows how long it will take to get over that. Thankfully my face has stayed clear, though my neck has played up a bit.

That is all.