8 replies to this topic

[thinklikealady]

Hi,

I have just joined the board to post my experience in so far as acne.

I have never been a serious acne sufferer, and generally have had very clear skin (although for a year or so in my teens I suffered from awful forehead acne which disappeared without much thought). A few years ago, I began to get cystic, irritating acne on my jaws, forehead, cheeks. In short, I have tried a number of treatments which alleviated the breakouts but did not stop them completely (still two or three pimples would come through every few days:

The pill- progesterone which was prescribed by a doctor
Cutting out wheat
Vitamin D
Zinc
Fish oils
Echniacea (sp?)
Limiting alcohol
Cutting out wine
Benzol peroxide
Cutting out processed carbs
Low GI diet
Neutrogena face washes
Cutting out fried food
Avoiding dairy
Cutting out nuts


The thing which has made a HUGE difference, taking my skin back to how it usually is- i.e. completely clear is.....


CUTTING OUT GLUTEN.

I know that cutting out gluten for some has not proven beneifical to curing their acne, and it may not sor others, however I just wanted to post my experience because if it has worked for me, it might work for you too. It's very simple..

Although I had cut out bread, I was eating Oatcakes (Nairn's brand and Tesco brand) ALOT.... every single day... I am quite the snacker, and oatcakes seemed a safe bet, being that they are not wheat or sugary.

It wasn't until I went on holiday to Cyprus for a week and was on standard non processed food such as eggs, chicken, broccoli, tomato, nuts, vegetables, beef, potatoes that it crossed my mind that my skin was extremely clear. I had been drinking everyday whilst in Cyprus, mind you (Metaxa- brandy!) and still my skin had cleared in 3 days (so this eliminated the 'liver-acne-alcohol is a cause of bad skin' theory). I also wasn;t drinking my usual daily soya decaff cappuccino I drink when in the UK, nor eating beans everyday as I did in the UK.

So I then eliminated the following:

Daily soya Cappuccino
Daily Beans

But still, although the breakouts had calmed down a lot, my skin wasn't clear 100%.

I then cam accross an article about the gluten-acne relationship, and read that oats can also contain gluten. I checked the box of my precious oatcakes and low and behold, the packet reads 'This product contains gluten'.

I cut the oatcakes out from my diet and literally, within 5 days, my skin has cleared DRAMATICALLY. The old pimples dried up and peeled off.

I'm so grateful I have been given a cure, and just thought that the least I can do is share my experience with those on this board who are still searching for answers to the FINAL end of their skin woes.


You have probably guessed from reading the above that I am all about healthy inside= healthy outside.. you are what you eat/drink, and food for some people really has serious affects (my brother has flawless skin despite eating sugar, fried foods, beer, chocolate, starchy carbs). I have a pretty sensitive digestive system which has been the case since I was around 14.

My diet is the following:

Vitamins daily:
Multi vit and mineral (which includes B complex 80 mg)
Zinc - 50mg
Fish oils- omega 3- 4g

General health:

Enema every so often- to cleans the colon
Plenty of mineral water
Fresh Water/lemon drink
Herbal teas such as green tea/oolong/jasmine/mint etc


Foods I don't eat:

Gluten (bread, oats, barley, rye, wheat etc)
Fast foods like pizza, fried chicken, burgers
Red meat (not acne related choice- I just find it too filling in my stomach)
Dairy (although I would like to reintroduce it to consume once every so often)
Soy

Foods I eat on a daily basis:

Vegetables
Lean meats

I hope my post is of use to someone )

As there has been such a dramatic change from cutting out gluten, I'm really tempted to introduce things like diary and a little bit of every so often fast foods (as I literally don't accept ANY) back into my diet! We'll see

Be blessed,

Thinklikealady

Edited by thinklikealady, 03 April 2012 - 03:37 AM.

[dejaclairevoyant]

Yep. Gluten is crap. Good job!

[Chocobot]

It wasn't until I went on holiday to Cyprus for a week and was on standard non processed food such as eggs, chicken, broccoli, tomato, nuts, vegetables, beef, potatoes that it crossed my mind that my skin was extremely clear.

I experienced the same in Greece, became completely clear. But I know it was not gluten-related, because I still had bread with my meals and also was able to drink beer at every dinner. Beer usually breaks me out. So in Greece I could eat anything, even ice cream, and I got 100% clear anyway.

So something there made it so that I was 100% tolerant to foods I'm usually not tolerant to.

That means normally gluten would be fine, it just isn't under certain conditions, but what those conditions are I don't know.

[kidego]

It wasn't until I went on holiday to Cyprus for a week and was on standard non processed food such as eggs, chicken, broccoli, tomato, nuts, vegetables, beef, potatoes that it crossed my mind that my skin was extremely clear.

I experienced the same in Greece, became completely clear. But I know it was not gluten-related, because I still had bread with my meals and also was able to drink beer at every dinner. Beer usually breaks me out. So in Greece I could eat anything, even ice cream, and I got 100% clear anyway.

So something there made it so that I was 100% tolerant to foods I'm usually not tolerant to.

That means normally gluten would be fine, it just isn't under certain conditions, but what those conditions are I don't know.

GMO's. US uses a different breed of Wheat. One our bodies do not recognize as food.

[alternativista]

It wasn't until I went on holiday to Cyprus for a week and was on standard non processed food such as eggs, chicken, broccoli, tomato, nuts, vegetables, beef, potatoes that it crossed my mind that my skin was extremely clear.

I experienced the same in Greece, became completely clear. But I know it was not gluten-related, because I still had bread with my meals and also was able to drink beer at every dinner. Beer usually breaks me out. So in Greece I could eat anything, even ice cream, and I got 100% clear anyway.

So something there made it so that I was 100% tolerant to foods I'm usually not tolerant to.

That means normally gluten would be fine, it just isn't under certain conditions, but what those conditions are I don't know.

GMO's. US uses a different breed of Wheat. One our bodies do not recognize as food.

We used a different kind of wheat before it was GM'd. There's also the preparation method. Seeds are filled with anti-nutrients and their nutrients are bound up and not bio-available. Until the conditions are right for sprouting into a new plant and enzymes get to work breaking down the anti-nutrients and freeing up the nutrients. And those conditions are warmth and moisture, i.e. springtime. All the seeds you eat should be prepared with soaking, sprouting and/or fermentation which also breaks down the anti-nutrients. And most European breads are still made the way they were for centuries with long fermentation.

[kidego]

It wasn't until I went on holiday to Cyprus for a week and was on standard non processed food such as eggs, chicken, broccoli, tomato, nuts, vegetables, beef, potatoes that it crossed my mind that my skin was extremely clear.

I experienced the same in Greece, became completely clear. But I know it was not gluten-related, because I still had bread with my meals and also was able to drink beer at every dinner. Beer usually breaks me out. So in Greece I could eat anything, even ice cream, and I got 100% clear anyway.

So something there made it so that I was 100% tolerant to foods I'm usually not tolerant to.

That means normally gluten would be fine, it just isn't under certain conditions, but what those conditions are I don't know.

GMO's. US uses a different breed of Wheat. One our bodies do not recognize as food.

We used a different kind of wheat before it was GM'd. There's also the preparation method. Seeds are filled with anti-nutrients and their nutrients are bound up and not bio-available. Until the conditions are right for sprouting into a new plant and enzymes get to work breaking down the anti-nutrients and freeing up the nutrients. And those conditions are warmth and moisture, i.e. springtime. All the seeds you eat should be prepared with soaking, sprouting and/or fermentation which also breaks down the anti-nutrients. And most European breads are still made the way they were for centuries with long fermentation.

Is that the problem with all GMO's? The Soybean, Corn, Potato, ect... I'm not allergic to. Just Wheat, Legumes, and Caffeine (I'm sure there are more). I'm just trying to understand all this and why I would be able to eat Wheat from other countries even though my allergy tests came back high for Wheat and Barley here.

[DaftFrost]

I also had the similar story too, it just seems to me that its not really about what you eat but the quality of that. You can eat lots of organic Animal fat for example and would not get acne at all.

[alternativista]

Is that the problem with all GMO's? The Soybean, Corn, Potato, ect... I'm not allergic to. Just Wheat, Legumes, and Caffeine (I'm sure there are more). I'm just trying to understand all this and why I would be able to eat Wheat from other countries even though my allergy tests came back high for Wheat and Barley here.

That's the problem with all seeds GM or not, with some seeds having more harmful anti-nutrients than others such as wheat and the other gluten grains and soy. And for the most part, the most problematic anti-nutrients are lectins. I've read that it's usually the lectins that they are swapping around when they genetically engineer things. So they could possibly put a lectin that you are intolerant to into some food that you otherwise wouldn't have a problem with.

humans have soaked, sprouted or fermented most of their grains and legumes prior to cooking for millenia.

[whoartthou1]

It wasn't until I went on holiday to Cyprus for a week and was on standard non processed food such as eggs, chicken, broccoli, tomato, nuts, vegetables, beef, potatoes that it crossed my mind that my skin was extremely clear.

I experienced the same in Greece, became completely clear. But I know it was not gluten-related, because I still had bread with my meals and also was able to drink beer at every dinner. Beer usually breaks me out. So in Greece I could eat anything, even ice cream, and I got 100% clear anyway.

So something there made it so that I was 100% tolerant to foods I'm usually not tolerant to.

That means normally gluten would be fine, it just isn't under certain conditions, but what those conditions are I don't know.

Maybe the water in your previous living area was irritating your skin (fluoride?)