i wrote this in response to RockingRedHead's post.
"Sorry to read about your frustration, but making dietary/lifestyle change IS hard and requires patience, persistence and some experimentation.
I went dairy-free two years ago and it took me about 4-5 MONTHS to really see the effects. I was also very strict about my dairy intake during those first few months. That meant no pats of butter on toast. No baked goods made with butter/cream. No splashes of milk in my coffee. No ranch/blue cheese dressing on my salad. No extra grated cheese on my pasta. All of these matter and there is no easy way around it. I sometimes use soy or rice milk as a substitute, but not often and not a lot. More often than not, I don't bother with a dairy-substitute. And there were a couple of days when I felt depressed and annoyed and all I wanted was a spoonful of ice cream to soothe my mood, but you get past it. You get past the desire to reach for the quick fix or the convenient meal.
Fortunately for me, I discovered that dairy was the culprit. It took a couple of months to notice that I wasn't getting any NEW cystic acne around my chin and mouth, but it took those extra 3-4 months to see that my existing ones were calming down and healing as well.
Today, I don't even use topical acne products (just a gentle cleanser and a moisturizer) and even when I get my period, I don't even get little whiteheads. In fact, my periods are lighter and shorter. I have never been this happy with my skin since before puberty (I'm in my 30's) and I battled with adult acne and tried all sorts of harsh topicals (BP, salicylic acid...I have very sensitive skin) before settling on a diet change.
Now that my skin is in balance, I do allow myself some dairy occasionally. I enjoy baked goods made with dairy (croissants, muffins) on a regular basis. I'll have a very small serving of cheese or ice cream once a month. But if I ingest too much, or too many days in a row, I will either get a cyst or a plugged pore that takes months to heal. So no, it's not easy for me to maintain clear skin, but I make the effort because it's worth it to me.
I would also suggest taking on one "culprit" at a time to see what allergen is contributing to the acne. It will take a long time, but it will be easier for you to adjust to the new dietary changes as well as help figure out what's helping/hurting.
I hope you found some encouragement from someone who was once in the same boat as you and still deals with it. Good luck and don't give up"
I finally get to add myself to the success thread!
After struggling for 7-8 years, 3-4 where everything was getting progressively worse, I finally found my dietary triggers. Staying away from gluten, almonds, and dairy and taking 3g of spirulina daily has cleared my acne.
It took a while, but I finally mustered the resolve to stay gluten-free for a singificant amount of time. This helped a lot, but there was still plenty of inflammation lingering around. Within two weeks of starting the spirulina, my face is almost 100% clear. I wasn't sure about dairy, because I had been dairy free for 3 years with only minor improvement, but I tried dairy again one weekend and things took a bit of a turn for the worse. It seems that I was being affected by a combination of trigger foods.
I'm so excited to be posting here...because here's my success story! I'm clear!
Took me 7 months to discover what was wrong in my diet. The final piece I discovered about 2 weeks ago. Finally, naturally clear ever since. Skin is normal, not oily, clear...wish I just had known this in high school.
This is what I did. The specifics of why you can research on your own.
-Pasteurized dairy: The worst aggravator imaginable.
-Sugar: Added sugar = no, period. The most sugary thing I eat now is fruit, and that's OK because it's mostly berries (here and there I'll eat something else).
-Unsprouted/fermented Wheat: I still don't entirely understand wheat, but the typical wheat you find in bread and what-not will screw up your body ecology and cause oily skin/acne. If it's been fermented or sprouted, though, it's OK. This one took me awhile to discover.
Other things I do:
-Take cod liver oil twice a day, along with EFAs
-Eat a lot of fresh ground flax/chia seeds for omega-3s.
-Eat a lot of veggies.
-Took a probiotic for awhile to re-establish body ecology.
-Take a magnesium supplement before bed to alkalize my blood.
-Make sure I ingest at least 1 tsp of sea salt a day to get chloride and other minerals to clean my blood.
And I'm clear. Simple as that. My favorite part is my back is finally clear so I can go shirtless and feel good about myself, and do squats at the gym without breaking out.
I am a 25 year male who suffered from very severe cystic acne since the age of 13. My acne was much more severe than most of what I have seen on this site, as was/is the scarring (although it is fading at a rate I never expected). I will tell you now that about a year ago I discovered the cause of my acne and have since been in remission. It's a little bit word heavy, but if you're running through these forums in a panic like I always was, I figure you're willing to read as much as you can get.
I'm a graduate student in neurochemistry, so I'm usually skeptical of anecdotal evidence that these forums provide, it can often be a cycle of misinformation borrowed from hippie specialists who would have you believe that "toxins" are responsible for every disease in human history. But unfortunately I've found that medical community is very much misinformed as well. None of the heavy duty regimens my doctors put me on ever worked for me, and a few of them actually made my skin much worse.
I had several short times in my life where I was convinced I had rid myself of acne forever. Most effective was the "anti-candida" diet. My acne had cleared up about 90% within the first month, and I was convinced I was beginning "part 2" of my life. I cut out all grains, cheeses, sugars, the sweetest fruits and juices. I still drank alcohol on the occasional weekend, but when I did it was usually gin which I reasoned might be less harmful than carb/sugar heavy drinks. (Probably not true) I wanted to make a post on this site filled with capital letters and exclamation marks about how I HAVE FINALLY CURED MY ADULT CYSTIC ACNE FOREVER!!!! But I never really got past that 90% clearance. Every morning I woke up happy to a face that seemed to be clearly headed towards clarity. I would often see a very small cyst on my chin or on my forehead, but I usually dismissed it as the last small cyst of this period of my life. Sure I would only have these cysts for about a week here and there, but the red marks stayed for a few months after, so after many months on this diet, I never really made any progress. If I had stayed perfectly on this diet, I no doubt would have had flawless skin, but for an young single urban man like myself who leads an unpredictable life, such a strict diet is not possible to follow 100%.
Also I noticed that these diets made me much more susceptible to the foods that they prohibited. I ate bread my whole life, with a seemingly consistent amount of acne, but after this diet, one sandwich exploded my face and made me very irritable.
I needed a new approach. Here are a few pieces of information I've put together.
I read a few posts around the internet about some promising results from vitamin and mineral supplements. Vitamin A, D, E, Zinc, Magnesium and fish oil all have their followers exclaiming to the internet gods that they have found the last one and only cure for adult acne. I tried all of these with moderate success, but nothing ever really finally did it all for me.
I've read a lot of posts and heard from many friends that their new vegan diet had brought about adult acne after a lifetime of clear skin. This was news to me, I always imagined they would have perfect skin.
My mother is an MD/PhD and is a very "old school" doctor (Ivy league educated in the 1970s, not into gluten free remedies or anything new age you would find on the internet). We talk about medicine all the time being in a medical family. She was telling me one random day that vitamin deficiencies lead to food intolerances.
I also had palmar hyperhidrosis, sweating of the hands which in some cases is a sign of vitamin deficiency.
Then I realized that despite the fact that my diet was the most extreme of all healthy diets. Cleanest of the cleanest, completely devoid of "toxins" what I had always neglected was the amount of fat I was assuming. Fat is bad, I grew up to believe. Then I realized that all of the vitamins and minerals most highly touted on these sites are all the fat soluble ones. You can take all the supplements in the world eat all the healthiest foods, but if you don't eat fat, you're not going to get much more than a stomach ache.
Low fat = Low vitamin/mineral absorption = food intolerance = acne.
This might explain why so many hippies love coconut oil despite the fact that it's a pretty unhealthy oil. (Not hating on hippies, I have shoulder length hair, play djembe and guitar and live in Austin, TX)
What I started doing was putting olive oil on everything. In the beginning I was so excited I went a little crazy. I made salads filled with olives, avocados, nuts and spinach all covered in olive oil. For dinner I had fish, olives, avocados, nuts and olive oil. I lived on pretty much an unsaturated fat diet. I also threw out all my mineral and vitamin supplements and traded them for one bottle of multivitamins which I took with a fatty meal. (You should never really take just one vitamin by itself as it can deplete you of other vitamins and minerals) Then I realized it wasn't the amount that really mattered, just the fact that every meal had some olive oil in it.
I've added cheese and grains back into my diet and no acne has come from it. My diet has now mostly returned to a slightly healthier than average american diet with no restrictions (except sugar and white grains).
A few billion years of genetic warfare and a quarter of a century of dietary and hygienic habits have gone into the construction of my body. I know every body is different. I discovered my body wasn't getting enough unsaturated fats. Your body may be completely different. In any case, I firmly believe that having troubled skin saved me from the vanity that soiled the character of all my spoiled rich kid friends in high school. I feel deeper, calmer and wiser because of it.
Good luck!
About 15 years ago I was diagnosed with rosacea, at the time I was very stressed with personal issues and I believe this is what kicked it off. I tried every treatment from the doctor and hospital and nothing worked for me. I also tried every other option, ie cutting out spicy food, alcohol etc. it lasted about 2 years before it died down and towards the end I had started a few different things which looking back now I really think helped. I started taking Bassetts multivitamins that aid hormonal balance, i also started drinking aloe vera colon cleanse (tastes disgusting by the way) and using boots perfect and protect serum. Now i'm not sure which of these worked but it did! About 5 months ago it all flared up again and about 5 days ago I started all three of these again and I'm delighted to say it has all started to calm again. I'm 39 now and I also found using a high factor and uv moisturiser helps. Anyway just wanted to share and hope it helps some 
So this is a picture from back in September 2011 when I became super down and depressed about my acne. This was when I decided to stop trying the topical approach and explore it from the inside via diet. Note: I had to apply a filter to the picture to accentuate the acne as the original picture didn't show just how bad I saw it when I looked in the mirror. It still really doesn't.
And here I am today:
Note: I still have some post-inflammatory marks from almost a year ago that need to fade, but it doesn't really show up in the photo. You can see it a bit to the sides of my nose and my cheekbones. I also still have those pesky little blackheads.
All the information I got about diet and key lifestyle changes I found here through doing extensive searches and occasionally asking questions. You can look through my posts or check out my thread here:
http://www.acne.org/...rogress-thread/
Diet is key to my acne problems. F tha haters.
Diet is key to all acne problems. I was drinking soda. junk food, chocolate after coming to the US and my blood sugar went tremendously high. Got cystic acne all over my face. After battling it for years I went on an anti - candida diet for a while. Also started making homemade plain kefir which gave me glowing skin. Then after sometime I stopped the kefir and started juicing vegetables carrot, cucumber, celery, dandelion greens, ginger, wheat grass etc. One cup daily. Now I don't follow any special diet except avoid cola, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, refined sugar, junk food and sometimes red meat. I still have a bit of oily skin which I believe is due to weak hormonal glands. So have started doing hardcore baba ramdev yoga headstand, shoulder stand etc. Really refreshing and never felt better.
Hey everyone I though I would post my success with diet related changes.
Any questions or comments just leave them in that thread, enjoy!
Thanks for looking
Ive been meaning to post this for a long time. I wanted to share what has helped me. Short story no dairy.
I'm 27. been suffering since 12. I was doing semi ok with my skin and than i moved and started eating a lot more.
Was almost getting new cystic acne every day.
tried the regimen and nothing worked. was caking the BP on didnt do anything.
so i cut cheese out completely. I dont drink milk either. been doing this now for probably 6 months.
i was continuing the regimen with the diet change. my acne was reduced by approx 90%.
i never thought that my diet could effect my skin because i read that there was no correlation.
even in a pamphlet that came with some BP treatment i bought, said that diet doesn't effect it.
it definitely does for me. it was getting really bad.
i have now stopped the regimen for 3 weeks, while continuing to not eat dairy, and my skin is still not bad. i can however notice small acne starting.
I hope this helps somebody.
I would say that my journey has been a success. I have had mild acne all my youth and even in my twenties. Then I finally went to a dermatologist, who prescribed me specifically made medication that I should apply in mornings and evenings. It cleared up my face. I'm really happy about this. It's still not "photoshop" skin, but it doesn't have any noticeable flaws.
Way back when in 2011 this thread motivated me to get my healthy eating act together. It's 2013 and here I am adding It's possible, people. For many of us, diet is the key for clearing acne. It takes time, patience, commitment, and (initially) tremendous will power, but you won't regret it. Don't give up. Where would I be today if 3 or 6 months down the road I'd given up on my eating plan because I wasn't seeing results?
I eat what is known as the paleo diet, meaning I:
- Do not consume gluten, dairy, or refined sugar;
- Eat plenty of leafy greens and other veggies, quality meat and eggs, and fruits;
- Avoid cooking oil and use only animal fat and organic coconut oil; and
- Avoid commercially processed foods: if it contains additives (like preservatives or flavoring), I'm not eating it.
To treat insulin resistance I:
- Consume a gram of cinnamon spice (the everyday spice used in cooking and baking) after each meal;
- Practice intermittent fasting by going without food for 15 or more hours a day. On a typical weekday I eat between 13:00 and 20:00; and
- Supplement with minerals zinc, chromium, and magnesium. At present, I am now only taking 150mg of magnesium.
To care for my face I:
- Only wash it 2-3 times a week with plain water;
- Regularly apply home made face masks consisting of avocado or honey or both;
- Exfoliate by gently rubbing off dead skin with my fingers. I then brush the dead skin off my face with moist cotton wool;
- Use honey as a lip balm; and
- Use apple cider vinegar as a shampoo. I'll sometimes mash a chunk of avocado, spread it over my hair leave it in for 30 minutes, and wash it off. Fantastic!
I've read that others in this success compilation thread find eating a healthy diet difficult and restrictive. I don't. I'm very comfortable with this way of eating and I will continue to eat paleo for the rest of my life. I don't miss junk food and sugar. Because of this diet, I am depression and anxiety free, 20 pounds lighter, happier, more energetic, calmer, and I have better skin. I'm going to stick with this.
These are my results: (the first pic was taken February 2012 - five months into the paleo diet - and the second pic was taken March 2013)
Why is this topic unpinned?
They recently unpinned several topics. My index of all of our very useful nutrition, recipe and meal idea threads, for example. And the Sweetjade topic titled something about leaky gut. Which I suppose made it controversial. But it wasn't just about that. They never are. And a while back, She had many more pinned threads full of research on the many ways diet affects acne which they unpinned then, for some reason choosing to leave the leaky gut thread. I have links to them in my Good Things thread which they thankfully left pinned.
NEARLY CLEAR!
A quick post to say that women who have PCOS very often have vitamin d deficiency too.
This was the case with me. A couple of years ago I was extremely deficient. My specialist put me on 3x the recommended daily dose of vit D for 3 months and my acne cleared up in a couple of months (for the first time in about 8 years!!). After 3 months I stopped taking any vitamin D at all- I thought my cure was down to the contraceptive pill Dianette.
Over a year ago I came off the pill and about a yea later my acne reappeared. I blamed this on coming off the pill, despite the fact I had managed to go a year acne free since coming off it.
I immediately started researching holistic treatment of PCOS and put myself on a low sugar, low GI diet. This helped my hormones but didn't really stop the breakouts.
So, eventually I put two and two together and decided to assume I might be vitamin d deficient again. Getting a blood test at my doctors is like trying to get blood out of a stone so I didn't bother, and just started taking double the recommended daily dose- 2,000 iu
I plan to take this dose for three months altogether and then reduce to the RDA of 1,000 iu.
I'm about two months in on my 2,000 iu dosage and my skin has finally stopped breaking out!
Just left with lots of red scars now but they will disappear- I hope!
And, if you don't have PCOS, as previous posts have shown, it's very likely that Vitamin D3 will still help you to cure your acne.
I desperately wish I'd tried this sooner and really encourage you to start taking supplements.
However, I'd say best to get checked out by your doctor first if you intend on taking above the recommended allowanceHi,
A quick post to say that women who have PCOS very often have vitamin d deficiency too.
This was the case with me. A couple of years ago I was extremely deficient. My specialist put me on 3x the recommended daily dose of vit D for 3 months and my acne cleared up in a couple of months (for the first time in about 8 years!!). After 3 months I stopped taking any vitamin D at all- I thought my cure was down to the contraceptive pill Dianette.
Over a year ago I came off the pill and about a yea later my acne reappeared. I blamed this on coming off the pill, despite the fact I had managed to go a year acne free since coming off it.
I immediately started researching holistic treatment of PCOS and put myself on a low sugar, low GI diet. This helped my hormones but didn't really stop the breakouts.
So, eventually I put two and two together and decided to assume I might be vitamin d deficient again. Getting a blood test at my doctors is like trying to get blood out of a stone so I didn't bother, and just started taking double the recommended daily dose- 2,000 iu
I plan to take this dose for three months altogether and then reduce to the RDA of 1,000 iu.
I'm about two months in on my 2,000 iu dosage and my skin has finally stopped breaking out!
Just left with lots of red scars now but they will disappear- I hope!
And, if you don't have PCOS, as previous posts have shown, it's very likely that Vitamin D3 will still help you to cure your acne.
I desperately wish I'd tried this sooner and really encourage you to start taking supplements.
However, I'd say best to get checked out by your doctor first if you intend on taking above the recommended allowance
After years of being on the regime and seeing great results but still getting pesky breakouts especially if I didn't follow it exactly, I decided to try a low GI diet. Hence why I'm checking in because I cleared my skin with diet, too! My log is in my signature.
I still follow the regime but I also now avoid dairy and refined grains. I do have them on occasion although I really shouldn't because it sometimes leads to a binge and a breakout. But nonetheless, I go right back on the diet and my skin clears right up. Sticking to it 100% and 24/7 is very hard but well worth it.
I also supplement with green smoothies that is basically a way for me to eat more fruits and vegetables since I lead a pretty busy lifestyle and don't want to be in the kitchen all day.
I will say this: the diet is more effective than the regime. And I really, REALLY wish there was more research but telling you to not eat cereal or drink milk doesn't necessary help sell products.
I suggest everyone give it a shot!
Wow, can't believe I get to be in the success compilation thread with my story.
Hi friends,
I'm creating this post, not only to help those who are still looking, or who are finding hard to keep up with strict regimens, but also to help myself, If I ever go down the old path again and need a refresher 
I have been using certain NATURAL steps to control my cyctic acne that have helped immensely. These are aimed at preventing the root cause which leads my body to wreck havoc on my skin. Over the last few weeks, my thinking has changed drastically. I stopped looking for a magic superficial cure to acne and started thinking in depth. For the first time I started to notice how I feel after eating certain things or doing certain things.
For e.g. If I have blackheads, I can be sure those they will erupt into cysts any day. Now my aunt also has blackheads but her body doesn't think of those as threats which must be attacked. She can live with those for years. So what is different here? My body is reacting differently to blackheads than hers.
What I have learnt is that any type of acne at heart is basically one thing. It is an inflammation in the body that is out of control. Now this can further be due to several factors such as Insulin resistance, Fluctuating blood sugar levels, Unhealthy gut, fluctuating harmones etc. You don't have to worry about that. All you have to do is take any measures you can to reduce the inflammation and hence facilitate your body to heal from within! I just found some articles where this exactly has been explained very well by Seppo at clear for life. I wont go into the details here but he has explained exactly what I have been trying to implement into my life. This realization, i.e. the body will heal by itself, you just have to help a little bit really set me free. I have been feeling so much better knowing that I don't have to go on a highly restrictive diet or take crazy measures to cure it, I can live a relatively normal life.
Here is what I'm doing
My goal: Reduce any inflammation in my body, keep blood sugar moderated, mitigate stress
How to achieve it: Limit things that cause spikes in blood sugar or put body under any abnormal stress. Increase things which help keep body calm and reduce inflammation.
Step 1: We all have read that diary, wheat etc. trigger acne. Instead of going crazy with a restrictive diet, eliminate one thing at a time, if you notice no difference. Move onto another. This is important because I have previously tried to eliminate diary, wheat etc. all at once, which was so difficult to manage that my diet would just fall apart and Ill go back to beginnings. So baby-steps.
Hence I limited dairy. I used to drink a glass of cow milk every night, have milk tea etc. I stopped. And new cysts stopped forming. I still eat wheat as I cannot do without it, but after my diary experiment, I know it is not that big of a problem for me. Still I have tried to limit it very slightly anyway. (Note: Having a balanced diet is the healthiest for our bodies. Moderation is the key)
(For those who have noticed that wheat is a problem for them, they will obviously have to limit it until their body heals)
I eat everything else in moderation. Meat, chicken, fruits, and all. The only things I am consciously trying to limit are dairy and sugar.
Step 2: Increase vegetable and fruits (Quickest way is to have a blended vegetable fruit juice in morning). Again fruit is not a problem for me in moderation.
Step 3: Green tea after every meal to reduce inflammation. Now I didnt like the taste of green tea so I did something interesting. I added some more anti-inflammatory things to improve the taste, so much so that I actually really enjoy it now. I want to share my recipe for those who do not like green tea much either. Put half centimeter piece of ginger in a cup of water. Bring it to boil. Add a green tea bag. Then add a pinch of Cinnamon and half a pinch of turmeric to it. i also add 2 teaspoons of honey, and squeeze half a lemon. So this is my own super anti inflammatory drink It has not caused me any problems in case someone is wondering this might be too 'hot'.
Step 4: I am taking a multivitamin just because I dont think I get all the required nutrients through diet. I'm taking one called skin, hair and nails vitamins.
Step 5: Intermittent fasting. This means, reduce the time bracket in which you eat. Do not have too many meals in a day. I have 3. Even a snack counts as meal here because it will be converted to sugar in your body, I have just the green juice for breakfast. Then a proper lunch and dinner later.
Step 6: That is it for now. I want to start exercising as that also helps in moderating insulin resistance, similarly mitigating stress helps. But I just wanted to share these little steps so that you guys get the idea about where to go from here.
I eat everything but in moderation. I used to get sugar cravings and hunger pangs but it has quickly moderated. My skin has become less oily. (Used to be embarrassingly oily before), no new cysts, just one or two pustules but I'm not bothered as I'm sure that I'm on the right track and by taking some more healthy lifestyle measures, I will be free from those as well. The feeling of having swelling all over has subsided. I feel much calmer and my face is pretty calm too. I have even lost some weight as I don't feel hungry all the time like I used to just few weeks ago.
I'm still learning new things every day about making my body healthy from inside and I really think this is the path to a happy healthy me.
Good Luck to us all.
I have gotten clear following the following regiment:
-Sleep as much possible
-Vitamins(Systemic Enzmyes, Probiotics, Fish Oil, B-complex, Pantothenic Acid, Vit C,)
-Herbs(Licorice Root, Siberian Ginseng, Maca, Rhodiola)
-No face makeup
-Diet(Carb moderated Paleo) NOTE: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
-Avoiding working too many hours, commiting to excessive social obligations
Hi! The following is my acne story.
I was in fight with acnes for 3 years.
I tried different methods...but nothing helps.
I even had depression because of acnes.
Life was a hell to me.
Until there came a day, I read a book " The Vitamin D Cure" , written by a doctor..
It mentions how alkaline diet and vitaminD works in beating Hypertension, DM,..and even Acnes.
Since then, I turned to a new diet.
I cut off all the sugar and salts in my diet. No cheese. No candy.
I have meat and vegetables in 1: 3 proportion.
More than 8 glasses of water/ Day
I take vitamin D 5000iu/ day.
I go sunbathing whenever it is possible.
I have 1 tablespoon of organic coconut oil/ day
I use warm water to clean my face only. No chemicals.
I found my mood, appetite and sleep quality were improved in just 2 weeks since having this reigme
I started to see the result on acnes in 3 month's time (minimal outbreak only)
Now, NO more outbreak , No more depression (9 months now).
I'm so happy with the result.
That's why Im here to share it with You.
Kind Regards,
This is a great thread! Thank you all for posting your stories. I don't have a success YET, but Im replying so it be easier to find!
I'm reading:
Paleo diet (meat, seafood and eggs, vegetables, fruits)
Coconut oil instead of cooking oil, does that include olive oil?
Found a website on Paleo diet since I know nothing about, includes recipes
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