Did you cut out fruit and fruit juices as well?

Did you cut out fruit and fruit juices as well?

Yes, which I'm not thrilled about, but I take a daily vitamin. I answered a bit of my own question while doing some research today about why I can have carbs but not junky sugar:

briancalkins.com/simplevscomplexcarb.htm

Looks like carbs don't cause a spike in blood sugar like the simple sugars do. (probably well-known to most, but I'm new at this ) It's only been 2 months, so I've been successful in repeating foods that gave me no reaction, and managed to avoid drinking milk, eating fruit, or honey. Looks like this was in my best interest, and I'll have to keep those to a minimum.

Anyone have any similar experiences? I'm reading good things about stevia as a natural sweetener. I'm starting to compile some recipes that substitute sugar for stevia. I'm excited!

i've long noticed that sugar breaks me out too

I think it's the fructose which your liver converts to triglycerides which then are uptaken and used to make more sebum oil

I've also noticed, myself included, that it seems to be mostly skinny people that have acne and fat people almost never have any type of severe acne. I think there is a genetic difference here that allows some people to store the fat that the liver converts from fructose and others to produce skin oil from it

The increase in fructose intake is one of the biggest changes to our diet in modern times, that and the consupmtion of vegetable oils

I'm not a doctor or scientist though, but I can plainly see that men have eaten bread, rice and potatoes for thousands of years but this acne "epidemic" came with these 20th century dietary changes

I've also noticed, myself included, that it seems to be mostly skinny people that have acne and fat people almost never have any type of severe acne. I think there is a genetic difference here that allows some people to store the fat that the liver converts from fructose and others to produce skin oil from it

I am very skinny, but I've always eaten a lot. Actually that was always my excuse for eating a ton of sweets. Looks like I really wasn't doing myself any favors, but it's hard to rationalize going on a diet to yourself when you're rail thin.

I think your problem is fructose if you can eat starch (glucose) without problems. Fructose is generally alot worse than glucose and the metabolic processes they go though in the body are very different.

Thank you for this! I'm trying to learn as much as I can before I start testing things to add back into my diet. I think I'm very lucky so far, because I'm able to still eat a lot of what I was previously.

I've been thinking about trying to give up sugary snacks for a month...not for my skin..but because I crave sugar sooo bad. My grandmother and dad used to have a serious sweet tooth lol..and I think I inherited it. My dad had a sugar crash on girl scout cookies a few years ago and quit eating that stuff and it doesn't bother him. But when I get home in the afternoons..even when I'm not hungry...I crave sugary things....usually cookies. I like peanut butter...but that's not full of sugar. I have fairly bad skin...so I'm wondering if the sugar is contributing to it. I wanted to try and give sugar up at the beginning of a month..but of course Valentine's day is in February haha.

So you gave up fruit too? But fruit has natural sugar in it...which is better than refined sugar, right? I love fruit. I eat it everyday with my lunch.

So you gave up fruit too? But fruit has natural sugar in it...which is better than refined sugar, right? I love fruit. I eat it everyday with my lunch.

For now, yes, but I'm going to test it soon to see if I can eat some. The first month I was clear I thought it was a coincidence, but it's already 21 days into the second month... This is the longest I've gone with my face being spotless, so it's a good chance for me to see what does what to my face. I really hope it's just refined sugars I can't eat, but I'm willing to give up whatever I have to in order to stay clear!

I was more addicted to sugar than I thought. I'm very proud of my will-power, especially since there have been so many goodies due to the holidays

Congratulations on figuring out something that works for your skin! Do you get any blackheads or other comedones, or is your skin totally smooth? (Just asking 'cause I'm fighting the comedones still, even though the rest of my acne is gone.)

I have had a similar experience with starch vs refined sugar, but fruit doesn't seem to impact my skin one way or the other (maybe just because I don't like it a heck of a lot and don't eat much of it). I get hypoglycemia if I eat too much fructose though, and glucose doesn't do that to me.

As for the tiredness without sugar, here are some things that have helped me:

1) Taking a B-complex.

B1/Thiamine is especially important in the processing of starchy foods. I had to get liquid softgels, as multivitamins and B-complex tablets had no effect. I don't take it every day, but if I go a few weeks eating a lot of starches without taking it, I get extra tired and fuzzy-brained. (That doesn't happen so much on paleo though.)

2) Never eating substantial amounts of carbs (of any kind) on an empty stomach.

Breakfast is especially important for me be careful with. I need it to be mostly protein and fat, or I'll be dragging for hours. A teensy bit of veg on the side is ok, but if the main part of the morning meal is starch or vegetable, I am a goner.

3) No lengthy screen-time in the morning.

If I start the day out with chores or a morning walk, I feel much better. If I start with a couple hours of surfing the internet or reading my feeds, I feel more tired. Ten or fifteen minutes at a time doesn't bother me though.

4) No restricting calories.

I used to go on long fasts or try to eat less than I was hungry for. Now I eat according to appetite, and I have a ton more energy.

5) Taking care of long-term issues that need to be resolved.

By "long-term issues", I mean anything that makes a person feel chronically stressed, trapped, or otherwise unhappy. If there's something like this that's weighing on you, you might find that your energy levels get better after beginning to take care of it (start speaking up for yourself, leave the situation, go to a support group, etc).

For me this meant getting help with PTSD, which I'd previously been covering up by nomming on sugar every time my mood started to dip. For someone else the problem might be a controlling parent, a soul-sucking job, a mean boy or girlfriend, a desire to go to college but no money to do so, an unfair division of household labor, bad communication in an important relationship, fear of socializing, etc. It could even be a combination of many issues.

Lots of people self-medicate with sugar without even realizing what they're doing. And then, when sugar is taken away, the bad situation is still there. And many people don't know that our bodies change on a real, physical, biochemical level when we feel trapped or powerless. We secrete different hormones in different amounts, have poorer quality sleep cycles (and thus can sleep for ages and still be exhausted when we wake up), have less motivation to move our bodies, and feel pain more intensely. The situations we're in and the way we deal with those situations can have a big impact on our overall health and energy levels.

Apologies if you already knew all this. I didn't when I started out, and I wish I had!

I'm definitely going to give this a try!! I realized that with breakfast (orange juice and a bagel with honey) I was ingesting 118 grams of sugar every morning!!! I cut that out and noticed a big change.

However I do eat a lot of fruit. I'm obsessed with it hahah.

Do you think that three pieces of fruit a day would be too much?

Also, what about veggies like sweet potatoes? I heard those actually clear up acne.

Glad to hear your clear Congratss!!

I don't think you can accurately draw some of the conclusions you are making regarding which carbs affect you and which don't.

Yes, it is correct that consuming meals/drinks/snacks that spike blood sugar and therefore insulin screws up your hormones and is inflammatory and therefore is a big factor in acne along with all kinds of health conditions.

And I am sure your cutting out the sugar had the biggest impact and is quite possibly enough to lead to clear skin. It was for me. My skin cleared in less than 2 months of the day I drank my last soda and began, just began, improving my diet.

But that doesn't mean other refined carbs don't affect you. You may be keeping blood sugar just stable enough to just result in clear skin. Also, you are most likely consuming those other carbs in meals containing fat and fiber that lower the glycemic impact. And you can do the same with sugar or fruit.

For more info on this and the many other ways diet and lifestyle affect acne see the Good Things link below in my signature.

Apologies if you already knew all this. I didn't when I started out, and I wish I had!

This is extremely helpful, thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to type this all out. My work heavily involves the computer, and since I gave up the excess sugar, I've had the hardest time focusing. I'm definitely making a key mistake with the starch for breakfast, as well as too much time looking at the computer. I think I'll find a more appropriate breakfast, and do other work related things away from the computer for the morning portion of my day. I can't wait to feel like this fog has lifted!

Also thanks for the congrats, and my face has been completely smooth. I have a few areas of hyperpigmentation around my mouth, but those should fade soon and will hopefully be the last!

I realized that with breakfast (orange juice and a bagel with honey) I was ingesting 118 grams of sugar every morning!!!

Also, what about veggies like sweet potatoes? I heard those actually clear up acne.

 

Glad to hear your clear Congratss!!

Thanks! Isn't it scary how much sugar is in foods, and you'd never even think? You should give it a try! I've been eating veggies and sweet potatoes just fine, but everyone seems to have their own thing when it comes to what helps and doesn't. Hope you give it a go, and good luck!

I don't think you can accurately draw some of the conclusions you are making regarding which carbs affect you and which don't.

Thanks for the link, and you're right I'm absolutely clueless! This is all so new to me, when I first started eliminating sugar I had no idea how complex it all was. I started by just checking the nutritional label to pick foods with very little to no sugar. As I said I noticed results immediately, and I'm shocked that I've remained clear for this long. I have to learn all about sugar, how it's affecting me, and where to go from this point. So I really appreciate any tips or advice.

Congrats. Sugar also had a big impact on me. I noticed a lot of changes when I cut sugar out. For the first 8-10 weeks that I cut out sugar- I cut out sugar. Didn't have a piece of fruit, nothing. Now the only sugar I have is blueberries, which an entire cup of blueberries is 10g of sugar, and I have about 1/4-1/2 cup a day, so still not even getting more then 5g a day. Then once in a while I will put a tablespoon or two into my oatmeal or squash, and a tablespoon of pure maple syrup is 4g of sugar.

Something I found that helped me a lot is Chromium supplements. I'm always trying to regulate my blood sugar, and insulin levels. I put cinnamon into everything I possibly can. My oatmeal, my green smoothies, squash/sweet potato, paleo cookies, GF bread etc. And I also have 1000mg cinnamon supplements when I feel I need a little more kick.

Niacin and Taurine are also great, keeps your blood moving and helps insulin levels.

Congrats. Sugar also had a big impact on me. I noticed a lot of changes when I cut sugar out. For the first 8-10 weeks that I cut out sugar- I cut out sugar. Didn't have a piece of fruit, nothing. Now the only sugar I have is blueberries, which an entire cup of blueberries is 10g of sugar, and I have about 1/4-1/2 cup a day, so still not even getting more then 5g a day. Then once in a while I will put a tablespoon or two into my oatmeal or squash, and a tablespoon of pure maple syrup is 4g of sugar.

 

Something I found that helped me a lot is Chromium supplements. I'm always trying to regulate my blood sugar, and insulin levels. I put cinnamon into everything I possibly can. My oatmeal, my green smoothies, squash/sweet potato, paleo cookies, GF bread etc. And I also have 1000mg cinnamon supplements when I feel I need a little more kick.

 

Niacin and Taurine are also great, keeps your blood moving and helps insulin levels.

You know, I like cinnamon too... but I prefer using vinegar to control blood sugar. The actual mechanism of how cinnamon controls blood sugar points to it being an insulin mimetic of sorts, though it's certainly not clear. An insulin mimetic might reduce your blood sugar, but it still pushes the buttons of insulin receptors, and can probably do a lot of other things that insulin can do. None of this is solid, but better safe than sorry?

Ah gotcha. Well I also put organic ACV on all my salads so I get plenty of that as well.

Taking out sugars has helped my acne tremendously too, not even my visible clogged pores become acne anymore. I think sugar fuels acne for some of us. I'm skinny too, there's a pattern here..

Cheating has caused me one break out.. I ate a few cookies the other day..

http://www.carbs-information.com/glycemic-index.htm

hmm...great info here. First off, I'm addicted to junk food and second, I'm a stress eater and going to college and wrking 30 hours a week left me with little time to eat right. I've recently lost a significant amount of weight by working out and cutting out cookies, ice cream, etc. I've def seen an improvement in my skin. For some reason I didn't put it all together until I read this.

Yes, it's the sugar and simple carbs!!!

I just posted a thread on this topic.

I'm trying the no sugar diet at the moment and i'm finding it extremely difficult to stay motivated due to poor health and stomach problems. My diet basically consists of yeast free soda bread and riveta, a variety of veg. potatoes, sunflower/pumpkin seeds and only drinking water. My stomach is hurting a lot and i'm breaking out but not in the usual places. Usually for me i break out beneath my lower lip and chin area and they are usually pustules that clear in about 10 days and leave horrible red marks. Now however i'm getting swowllen/inflamed blackedheads beneath my eye and near my nose. This strikes me as very odd.

I'm hoping, if indeed candida is the cause of my acne, that by not having sugar i'm starving my candida and that this is the die off effect where all my toxins are being eliminated from my body.

My question for the original poster or those who have helped their acne through cutting their sugar levels would be this; did your skin get worse before it started to get better?

I'm trying the no sugar diet at the moment and i'm finding it extremely difficult to stay motivated due to poor health and stomach problems. My diet basically consists of yeast free soda bread and riveta, a variety of veg. potatoes, sunflower/pumpkin seeds and only drinking water. My stomach is hurting a lot and i'm breaking out but not in the usual places. Usually for me i break out beneath my lower lip and chin area and they are usually pustules that clear in about 10 days and leave horrible red marks. Now however i'm getting swowllen/inflamed blackedheads beneath my eye and near my nose. This strikes me as very odd.

I'm hoping, if indeed candida is the cause of my acne, that by not having sugar i'm starving my candida and that this is the die off effect where all my toxins are being eliminated from my body.

My question for the original poster or those who have helped their acne through cutting their sugar levels would be this; did your skin get worse before it started to get better?

I'm trying the no sugar diet at the moment and i'm finding it extremely difficult to stay motivated due to poor health and stomach problems. My diet basically consists of yeast free soda bread and riveta, a variety of veg. potatoes, sunflower/pumpkin seeds and only drinking water. My stomach is hurting a lot and i'm breaking out but not in the usual places. Usually for me i break out beneath my lower lip and chin area and they are usually pustules that clear in about 10 days and leave horrible red marks. Now however i'm getting swowllen/inflamed blackedheads beneath my eye and near my nose. This strikes me as very odd.

I'm hoping, if indeed candida is the cause of my acne, that by not having sugar i'm starving my candida and that this is the die off effect where all my toxins are being eliminated from my body.

My question for the original poster or those who have helped their acne through cutting their sugar levels would be this; did your skin get worse before it started to get better?

My question for the original poster or those who have helped their acne through cutting their sugar levels would be this; did your skin get worse before it started to get better?

 

 

Personally my acne did not get worse. I remember the day I decided to give it 100% I had 2 big cystic zits on my chin. From that point I haven't gotten anymore. I really think it depends though, so don't give up and give it a while longer if you can! My acne was never really terrible, it was just this persistant small breakout that has followed me into my adult years, so I finally realized there was something simple I was missing. I've tried *everything*, and followed the advice of this forum for years. Sugar was the one thing I couldn't justify giving up, because I'm very thin, and didn't feel like dealing with the stigma of passing on dessert all the time. It's frustrating that sugar was clearly my trigger, and I ignored it for this long. I hope no sugar is your solution as well, and best of luck!

It isn't surprising cutting out sugar improved your skin's condition. I have been on a Paleo "Primal" diet and my inflammation has decreased dramatically. My old acne spots are fading as well.

Cutting out sugars and carbs (starch, grains) alone will result in dramatic difference in health inside and out.

My diet mainly consists of:

Fat - coconut oil (main), olive oil, Kerrymaid Garlic Butter (sparingly)

Protein - chicken w/ skin (main), fish, sausage, steak (sparingly), ground beef (sparingly)

Carbs - green vegetables, mixed greens salad

Spices - red chili peppers, black pepper, garlic & herbs, and general seasons (no salt or sugar)

The diet is great, I don't get hunger "pains" because my body satisfied by the fat I ingest since it is the main source of energy now. Even exercising doesn't seem to be a problem. I don't miss the days I go hungry every few hours based on a carb/sugar/American/buy expensive bars diet.

What's great is all the other perks that come with it too! Better concentration, less anxiety, keeping hunger stable, and keeping body fat in check. It's been a winner so far.

I'm trying the no sugar diet at the moment and i'm finding it extremely difficult to stay motivated due to poor health and stomach problems. My diet basically consists of yeast free soda bread and riveta, a variety of veg. potatoes, sunflower/pumpkin seeds and only drinking water.

Leaving out leaving some natural sugars helped me even more, especially starchy foods, potatoes have a very high Glycemic Index, every potato your eating is spiking your sugar levels too high.

look here http://www.carbs-information.com/gi-value-starchy-foods.htm

I'm on my third week of a reduced sugar diet. I haven't completely eliminated it, but I've greatly reduced it. I have a major sweet tooth and ate a ton of junk food. I was inspired after a pretty bad breakout following Christmas when I ate a ton of sweets. I had noticed a correlation for a while with sugar, but it was bad enough (and I'm getting well into my 20s now, so I'm really tired of this) that I decided to finally to cut the sweets. My face has improved a lot over the past couple weeks, and I haven't had any new cysts or anything. I still have a lot of blackheads, and it's harder to tell if they're going away.

I'm not really what sure to do about fruit. I haven't been eating any, though I'm considering reintroducing it into my diet.

arthas said:

I'm not really what sure to do about fruit. I haven't been eating any, though I'm considering reintroducing it into my diet.

Personally, I would eliminate fruit altogether for the time being. While I am not against fruit, I believe you can get most of your nutrients via other ways without ingesting sugars, even if they are natural. For now eliminate it from your diet and reintroduce it slowly. Then, record and observe any changes that may or may not happen.

The sweet tooth disappears once you load up on good fats, green veggies, nuts, meat, fish, and eggs.

This clip may be old, and he mentions that fruit should be part of your diet, but listen to the main message. Is it any wonder why the health of this country is in a mess?

[Edited link out]

I'm trying the no sugar diet at the moment and i'm finding it extremely difficult to stay motivated due to poor health and stomach problems. My diet basically consists of yeast free soda bread and riveta, a variety of veg. potatoes, sunflower/pumpkin seeds and only drinking water.

Leaving out leaving some natural sugars helped me even more, especially starchy foods, potatoes have a very high Glycemic Index, every potato your eating is spiking your sugar levels too high.

look here http://www.carbs-information.com/gi-value-starchy-foods.htm

 

New potatoes are an exception though apparantly, Ive been eating them for a month or so now and they dont seem to break me out.....

Did you cut out fruit and fruit juices as well?

Theres a huge difference between them.

Fruit juices (out of the shops) are often worse than soda.

Self made fruit juices arent that bad but still not great.

Fruit is arguable. Depends per person.

But at least theres a huge difference between fruit and fruit juices. And btw did you cut out bread, pasta and potatoes?