I stopped eating dairy about a month ago and have found the same thing: that dairy seems to be in almost everything! Even in things you don't really expect like curry sauces. I am doing pretty well with it so far though by substituting my spread for a dairy-free one and my normal semi-skimmed milk for unsweetened almond milk. The almond milk's really nice on cereal but it's so difficult to get hold of in the unsweetened version and I don't think ingesting a load of sugar first thing every morning would do my teeth or skin any good. There's only one supermarket in my hometown that sells it but I'm moving back to uni next week and I still haven't found anywhere that stocks it there so I think that's going to be a major issue! Really hope I find somewhere that does because I think cutting out dairy has actually contributed to my skin improving somewhat over the past few weeks. Although, like you, I'm also on antibiotics and hormonal treatments as well.

But yeh cutting out dairy is a bit of a trial, especially from a supply point of view. I hope you manage to stick with it and start seeing some improvements in your skin from doing so though! Best of luck.

Is there any actual link to dairy and acne? I drink 2 cups of milk a day and it doesn't seem to worsen my acne.

You are so right... i can't eat ice cream, i can't eat the best food i ever made for my family (everybody asks when i will cook it again but i can't eat it because there is cheese in), dairy seem to be everywhere. The thing is that it's not only dairy.. the same happens with grains, nuts, even meat. I don't know what to eat anymore. My hair are shedding and i don't know if it's from starting spiro again (the only solution that clears me 100% no matter what i eat ) or iron deficiency after eating almost nothing but salads. Anyway i have read about homemade almond milk (if almonds don't break you out) and even cheese from almonds, they may be decent substitutes.

You can try reducing your dairy intake, that can help too. It's not a guarantee that it will help clear your skin, it all depends on how sensitive your body is to dairy. But generally, it's one of the most common acne triggers that's why most people choose to eliminate dairy from their diet. If you go to an organic foodstore, you will find plenty of alternatives to dairy. There's soy milk (which some people have trouble with too), almond milk, rice milk, flax milk, goats milk, etc.

I like the taste of Almond Breeze almond milk and Rice Dream rice milk. The other brands either taste like crap or have weird additives that give me indigestion (the Silk brand in particular gives me painful trapped gas).

There is a great book called Go Dairy Free which has lots of ways to cook without dairy.

You could also try the organic milk stuff from cows that aren't treated with antibiotics/hormones...however most of it is double pasteurized, which basically means it tastes dead. When I tried the "dead" taste almost tastes spoiled.

Some people swear by raw milk, which is organic milk but not pasteurized. I can't seem to find it in most places, though, it seems you have to basically buy it straight from a farm, I think there are regulations about stores carrying non-pasteurized milk.

I was totally just thinking the same thing. The only thing that has even helped my skin be clear is diet. And it's so hard to stick to. I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't. It just takes a ton of practice and knowing what to eat.

The past week I slipped up at least once everyday. I ALWAYS tell myself it will be worth it, or I shut the voice up in my head that tells me to stop eating it. But I end up doing it and then regretting it later. I was flirting with disaster for awhile since my motivation to eat dairy/gluten-free has been lacking. I've been having more and more smaller breakouts. Today I notice a larger cyst developing on my face.

So yeah, back to eating dairy-free. It always seems to go in this cycle. I really wish I could stop.

@zach128

Milk/dairy causes acne no doubt about it. I'll start the story about 4 months back. I never really drank milk at this point. I just didn't ever really like it. Well, I started enjoying milk. I started drinking ~3 cups a day. After about 2 weeks of this.. BLAM! My acne was the worst it's ever been. I mean it easily went to 3x as bad. Needless to say I stoppped drinking milk but never eliminated dairy completely (until now). I didn't believe the whole acne/dairy link. My doctor told me to avoid dairy and that's when I started looking into it.

Anyways, for the naysayers: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2281151/Milk-sugary-foods-DO-increase-risk-acne-say-researchers-looked-50-years-research.html

It's an analysis of many studies. For me I would rather have to eliminate my favorite foods than suffer from acne. I don't think dairy is worth it. Even though cheese, ice cream, etc. is delicious it's just not worth having acne.

I will look into almond milk.

My main dairy sources used to be cheese and milk, but that's about it. I replaced cheese for peanut butter And I replaced milk for rice milk - tastes just as good if not better. Slightly more expensive though.

I found it impossible to cut dairy from my diet completely and found myself loosing weight as I was eating less than I normally would have due to being unable to find enough food without diary to replace the ones I had stopped eating. As I'm pretty light already, losing weight wasn't ideal so now I just try and reduce my dairy intake as much as possible by cutting down on treats containing dairy that I used to have a lot of such as yohgurt, milk on cerceal, icecream, chocolate etc etc. I have never noticed much difference in my acne from cutting down on dairy though to be honest.

Alright so after reading up a lot on the diet section here, I decided to quit dairy about 5 days ago. I noticed something. Dairy is in EVERYTHING. Ranch dressing, cheese, butter, ice cream. I never noticed how much dairy i've been ingesting all along.

My skin is looking great by the way, but that may be from the supplements I've been taking (Vitamin A, Sesamin, Saw Palmetto...) and the antibiotic I started a few weeks ago.

Back to the point, is anyone else having trouble stopping dairy?

Well, I don't avoid dairy completely, but I also don't buy or consume junk like ranch dressing, and rarely have ice cream (in which the sugar does more harm than the dairy).

It is amazing to me how so many people have no idea what they are eating that they are surprised that ice cream, cheese & butter are dairy. And think that eggs are dairy. It's crazy how disconnected people have become from food.

Is there any actual link to dairy and acne? I drink 2 cups of milk a day and it doesn't seem to worsen my acne.

Yes. There are many links between dairy and acne.

And have you tried avoiding it? I had no idea that my diet affected my acne until I changed it and my skin cleared.

Alright so after reading up a lot on the diet section here, I decided to quit dairy about 5 days ago. I noticed something. Dairy is in EVERYTHING. Ranch dressing, cheese, butter, ice cream. I never noticed how much dairy i've been ingesting all along.

My skin is looking great by the way, but that may be from the supplements I've been taking (Vitamin A, Sesamin, Saw Palmetto...) and the antibiotic I started a few weeks ago.

Back to the point, is anyone else having trouble stopping dairy?

Well, I don't avoid dairy completely, but I also don't buy or consume junk like ranch dressing, and rarely have ice cream (in which the sugar does more harm than the dairy).

It is amazing to me how so many people have no idea what they are eating that they are surprised that ice cream, cheese & butter are dairy. And think that eggs are dairy. It's crazy how disconnected people have become from food.

>Is there any actual link to dairy and acne? I drink 2 cups of milk a day and it doesn't seem to worsen my acne.

Yes. There are many links between dairy and acne.

And have you tried avoiding it? I had no idea that my diet affected my acne until I changed it and my skin cleared.

So you never eat ice cream now?

Alright so after reading up a lot on the diet section here, I decided to quit dairy about 5 days ago. I noticed something. Dairy is in EVERYTHING. Ranch dressing, cheese, butter, ice cream. I never noticed how much dairy i've been ingesting all along.

My skin is looking great by the way, but that may be from the supplements I've been taking (Vitamin A, Sesamin, Saw Palmetto...) and the antibiotic I started a few weeks ago.

Back to the point, is anyone else having trouble stopping dairy?

.

Well, I don't avoid dairy completely, but I also don't buy or consume junk like ranch dressing, and rarely have ice cream (in which the sugar does more harm than the dairy).

It is amazing to me how so many people have no idea what they are eating that they are surprised that ice cream, cheese & butter are dairy. And think that eggs are dairy. It's crazy how disconnected people have become from food.

>

>Is there any actual link to dairy and acne? I drink 2 cups of milk a day and it doesn't seem to worsen my acne.

>

Yes. There are many links between dairy and acne.

And have you tried avoiding it? I had no idea that my diet affected my acne until I changed it and my skin cleared.

 

So you never eat ice cream now?

Rarely. It's too sweet

Alright so after reading up a lot on the diet section here, I decided to quit dairy about 5 days ago. I noticed something. Dairy is in EVERYTHING. Ranch dressing, cheese, butter, ice cream. I never noticed how much dairy i've been ingesting all along.

My skin is looking great by the way, but that may be from the supplements I've been taking (Vitamin A, Sesamin, Saw Palmetto...) and the antibiotic I started a few weeks ago.

Back to the point, is anyone else having trouble stopping dairy?

.

Well, I don't avoid dairy completely, but I also don't buy or consume junk like ranch dressing, and rarely have ice cream (in which the sugar does more harm than the dairy).

It is amazing to me how so many people have no idea what they are eating that they are surprised that ice cream, cheese & butter are dairy. And think that eggs are dairy. It's crazy how disconnected people have become from food.

>

>Is there any actual link to dairy and acne? I drink 2 cups of milk a day and it doesn't seem to worsen my acne.

>ockquote>

Yes. There are many links between dairy and acne.

And have you tried avoiding it? I had no idea that my diet affected my acne until I changed it and my skin cleared.

So you never eat ice cream now?

Rarely. It's too sweet

What about things like cheese, butter, and milk?

Would ice cream cause you to break out??

Alright so after reading up a lot on the diet section here, I decided to quit dairy about 5 days ago. I noticed something. Dairy is in EVERYTHING. Ranch dressing, cheese, butter, ice cream. I never noticed how much dairy i've been ingesting all along.

My skin is looking great by the way, but that may be from the supplements I've been taking (Vitamin A, Sesamin, Saw Palmetto...) and the antibiotic I started a few weeks ago.

Back to the point, is anyone else having trouble stopping dairy?

.

Well, I don't avoid dairy completely, but I also don't buy or consume junk like ranch dressing, and rarely have ice cream (in which the sugar does more harm than the dairy).

It is amazing to me how so many people have no idea what they are eating that they are surprised that ice cream, cheese & butter are dairy. And think that eggs are dairy. It's crazy how disconnected people have become from food.

>>Is there any actual link to dairy and acne? I drink 2 cups of milk a day and it doesn't seem to worsen my acne.

>ockquote>

Yes. There are many links between dairy and acne.

And have you tried avoiding it? I had no idea that my diet affected my acne until I changed it and my skin cleared.

So you never eat ice cream now?

Rarely. It's too sweet

 

What about things like cheese, butter, and milk?

Would ice cream cause you to break out??

Yes I eat those things and no a small amount wouldn't make me break out.