14 replies to this topic

[tay1392]

Hello everyone, I would like to share the results I have experienced by following this diet, specifically to cure my acne issues.

I had mild/moderate acne since I was about 18... I'm 20 now and in college. In college, it became worse..probably considered moderate.

At the end of my freshman year I was talking to my father about how fed up I was with these pimples on my face and how it destroyed my confidence. He is a firm believer that our skin is a visual representation of our internal health. SO he suggested I read the primal blueprint and download the dietary cure for acne by Loren Cordain. So I did, and decided it couldn't hurt to try it for a month.

A bit more background, I was eating like an average college kid. processed foods, soda, coffee, and the occasional fast food. It was not at all healthy/ balanced. Plus, I wasn't exercising...

during the Summer, I began a 1 month paleo experiment.

this is a picture of my skin at its very worst... God I hate looking at this.


Here's what it was like right before I started the diet


This is about 18-20 days into the 30 day diet...


and at about day 28-30...I was clear! I admit, I still had blackheads, but I hadn't had a single new zit in weeks.



Hopefully this inspires some of you to try the paleo diet. I realize it does not help everybody, but it was just what I needed.

I Kept a log of everything I ate for 30 days, so if you guys have any questions, I will try and answer them! I can tell you all now that I followed this program strictly.. with the fish oil, zinc, and vitamin d supplements, and I think that's the reason for my quick success. I only washed my face occasionally with a mild almond/oatmeal natural soap I bought at Winco's.

thanks everyone,

goodluck!

[songbirdsing]

Wow!! Amazing results! I'm going to be adjusting my diet significantly after the holidays (way too much stress for an overhaul now) and this gives me hope of improvement. I'm a vegetarian so I'm afraid paleo would be quite difficult for me but am curious as to the foods you ate. Did you find the change hard? Are you continuing the diet strictly now?

[tay1392]

Thanks SongbirdSing.. I was happy with how it worked out as well

You should definitely give it a try, because it can't hurt, right?

Since you are a vegetarian, I imagine you would be following a modified version..simply without the meats?

For me, the change was extremely difficult. I can remember walking past a bakery, or wanting something like a grilled cheese, pizza, ice cream so bad, but I simply didn't put it in my body. It took a HUGE amount of self discipline, but if that's what it takes for me to stay acne free, I'll do it forever!

As for today, this last term at school gave me almost no time to eat and cook properly to follow this diet, and as you would expect, my skin suffered! So I recently started back up on the strict 30 day plan, and I won't stop it until I can zero in on exactly what is it that makes me break out.

Examples of foods I ate on a regular day..

breakfast:
Eggs, fruit salad, fruit/veggie smoothie with almond milk and organic juice.

lunch:
Salads with a protein, usually grilled chicken or steak, along with a healthy beverage ( water, tea, juice)

dinner:
A lean protein with vegetables
Salmon with asparagus, steak with sweet potatoes, pork chops and broccoli, chicken and cauliflower, etc.

Dessert:
this was really difficult. Try and substitute fruits, or bake a low glycemic index food that's tasty.

snacks:
Fruit ( apples, oranges, bananas, papaya, berries, etc)
Veggies (carrot sticks, salad, small egg scramble with dark leafy greens)

beverages:
I still drank coffee in the mornings, herbal tea, iced tea, lemon water, juice, almond milk.

hope that helps!

[whoartthou1]

do you have problems with lentils?

[tay1392]

I'm not sure, I avoided them entirely because Loren Cordains book suggested they might cause problems.

[Ind1g0]

Diet is indeed the cure for many, and Paleo is indeed the right way to be eating!!! You're doing so much for your body inside and out and it shows. It's so great to see your results...gives me hope. Did you go 100% paleo (NO sugar? NO dairy? NO grains?) this entire month? I have a problem with slipping up and having a little bit of cheese or some dark chocolate chips once in a while- so I justify to myself that it could be why I'm not seeing results like you. I'm actually surprised at how fast your skin cleared. Maybe you had an intolerance to dairy or grains--or both. Also, are you using any topicals?

Edited by Ind1g0, 19 December 2012 - 12:08 PM.

[songbirdsing]

Thanks for posting your diet! The part for me that would be hard is because of the no legumes. That's where I get most of my protein from. I don't eat any dairy but I do eat eggs. What your diet consists of is what my goal is (minus the meat and replace with a vegetarian protein source). This term as you strayed from your diet, is your skin back to square one basically? Or just some breakouts here and there? At least now you can definitely make the connection that it's something in your diet! I gave up dairy back in September (for acne and ethical reasons) but have seen no improvement.

[andrewbleah]

This is simply amazing!
Congrats!

[tay1392]

Diet is indeed the cure for many, and Paleo is indeed the right way to be eating!!! You're doing so much for your body inside and out and it shows. It's so great to see your results...gives me hope. Did you go 100% paleo (NO sugar? NO dairy? NO grains?) this entire month? I have a problem with slipping up and having a little bit of cheese or some dark chocolate chips once in a while- so I justify to myself that it could be why I'm not seeing results like you. I'm actually surprised at how fast your skin cleared. Maybe you had an intolerance to dairy or grains--or both. Also, are you using any topicals?

Glad it can give you hope! But I would say I was very strict on the diet yes, NO sugar, dairy, or grains! The only time I slipped up was when I went camping with family and had no choice but to eat junky stuff for 2 days. And that resulted in a pimple haha. But yeah I guess whenever you feel like slipping, just ask yourself, is it worth it? Do you want another red mark? I sure as hell didn't, and that was enough for me to say no to my favorite treats like pastries and ice cream. But as long as you're at least 90% paleo, You should see at least some improvement..

Also - I did not use any acne specific topicals. I bought a bar of additive-free almond/oatmeal soap from a health food store and used that to wash my face about every other day, or whenever I showered.

Thanks for posting your diet! The part for me that would be hard is because of the no legumes. That's where I get most of my protein from. I don't eat any dairy but I do eat eggs. What your diet consists of is what my goal is (minus the meat and replace with a vegetarian protein source). This term as you strayed from your diet, is your skin back to square one basically? Or just some breakouts here and there? At least now you can definitely make the connection that it's something in your diet! I gave up dairy back in September (for acne and ethical reasons) but have seen no improvement.

I see your trouble with legumes, Yes. I honestly rarely ate them so it wasn't difficult for me to give them up, but I can see where you might find this difficult. I suggest just substituting with another form of protein like you would for meat,

After falling off the wagon last term, I had breakouts here and there yes. I could almost tell I was going to. I ate whatever I wanted, huge sandwiches, hamburgers, ice cream, etc, and my skin didn't like it. Maybe I'll post a pic of my current state soon.


But if any of you haven't already, download Loren Cordain's book "The dietary cure for acne" . It literally saved my skin. I was trying the whole Benzoyl Peroxide, topical solutions, scrubs, etc. Then I finally thought you know what, something is wrong on the inside that's causing my face to breakout, and I'm going to fix it from the source. Enough slathering chemicals on my face

[Tony1990]

I'm not sure, I avoided them entirely because Loren Cordains book suggested they might cause problems.

Where can I buy/download this book?

[tay1392]

towards the bottom of the page:

http://thepaleodiet.com/books/

[RedRuby]

Did you just stop putting bp on your face one day to another? Bp is keeping my acne kinda at bay, so im kind of scared.

[billybob2020]

One thing I don't get about the idea of a Paleo diet is that all fruits that contain a form of sugar (usually fructose in the case of fruits) get converted to glucose in your body and make your blood sugar go up just like bread and grains do.

There has to be something else to grains making some people break out. It can't just be the fact that it's converted to sugar, or even converted quickly because a lot of fruits are reall sweet.

To the original poster: Any chance of an exact diet plan that you can post? Did you make up for not having a carb during your meals with twice the serving of vegies?

[Ichance23]

One thing I don't get about the idea of a Paleo diet is that all fruits that contain a form of sugar (usually fructose in the case of fruits) get converted to glucose in your body and make your blood sugar go up just like bread and grains do.

There has to be something else to grains making some people break out. It can't just be the fact that it's converted to sugar, or even converted quickly because a lot of fruits are reall sweet.

To the original poster: Any chance of an exact diet plan that you can post? Did you make up for not having a carb during your meals with twice the serving of vegies?

great question. i also wonder this. it strange that breads do not have lots of sugar but cause acne for some. personally, i am not sure if breads cause acne for me. i know when i got rid of all sugar my acne decreased by 75%. but i had a slow gradual change when i got rid of bread and white rice/pasta. i am not sure i need to follow the strict paleo diet or maybe just avoid sugar and dairy. 

[whoartthou1]

One thing I don't get about the idea of a Paleo diet is that all fruits that contain a form of sugar (usually fructose in the case of fruits) get converted to glucose in your body and make your blood sugar go up just like bread and grains do.

There has to be something else to grains making some people break out. It can't just be the fact that it's converted to sugar, or even converted quickly because a lot of fruits are reall sweet.

To the original poster: Any chance of an exact diet plan that you can post? Did you make up for not having a carb during your meals with twice the serving of vegies?

I believe the other reason you are looking for are lectins. Lectins in grains are the real killers here