Hi,

Interesting thread. I definitely believe there to be a link between diet and acne and I think it comes down to common sense, for example eat as many fresh foods in their natural form as possible and as little as possible of refined and processed foods so as not to overload your system. I've had gestational diabetes twice now and found that a low GI diet focusing on natural foods and fresh vegetables really cleared my skin up!! I have recently stopped breastfeeding my baby and have been slack with my diet and my skin is horrible right now.

It's interesting you mention Vitex as I have also read that it works on the pituary gland (in the brain) to regulate hormones thus helping with hormone related problems. (it does not contain any sort of hormone however) Unfortunately it hasn't directly improved my skin but has shortened my period cycle from 37 days down to 30.

I am going to continue taking Vitex but plan on going back to my low GI diet and cutting out sugar. I also drink spearmint or peppermint tea as it is supposed to be antiandrogenic. Some supplements I plan on taking shortly are: zinc, b6 vitamin, licorice extract, ground flaxseed, vitamin E. I just started back on th bcp pill today (yasmine) and currently take fish oil supplements (cold pressed alaskan salmon), vitex, iron tabs with vitamin c and magnesium.

I personally think my hormones are to blame though I have never had them tested and believe my skin problems are further exacerbated by my diet.

I biggest vices are coffee (about 3-4 cups per day) and chocolate but I don't think I can stop and don't really want to stop!!

hmm. So I've had some kind of acne going on on my back since sometime mid-summer. At first it was non-inflammed tiny things. Not like I can see it. It's all up and down my spine including the back of my neck. I used to get acne there, but haven't for many years. At first I thought maybe it was from the extreme heat, but summer is long over. And the ones on my neck have been there for a really long time. I've never had any pimples that didn't heal before, other than giant cysts that just took a long time to heal.

But starting in the last month, I've gotten a few cysts, mostly on my back, one on my neck, one on my jaw. I need to figure out what i've been doing. The cysts are small and heal fast at least, due to my anti-inflammatory diet habits. I was worried it was the Vitex, but I see I started that in September.

I also haven't been regular since some date in May. I don't know why. I eat a lot of fiber, drink a lot of water. And think I get adequate fats, but even if not, I've tried taking spoonfuls of olive oil, coconut oil, etc. I take small doses of epsom salts every few days and I've just managed to force down ACV for three days in a row.

I also quit washing with cleanser most days starting late spring. So I've decided I should go back to washing my back with a cleanser again.

Edit for new thoughts:

And I was taking MSM which I've stopped a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure when I started.

I've also been eating more flaxseed. Not by the tablespoon or anything, just sprinkled on top of oatmeal or whatever. And again, not sure when I started that, but I stopped a few weeks ago. But flax seed breaks some people out due to the estrogenic effect. I'm also having Chia seed.

And at first I was having quite a lot of peanut butter on sprouted grain toast. This was a nearly daily breakfast. But I quit that during the summer. I do have almonds, cashews, etc nearly daily as a snack.

I keep thinking my skin is a bit better, but it hasn't gone away. The cysts have stopped though. It was mostly in the weeks before thanksgiving.

Ohh, and I started having stronger peppermint tea in hopes to help my hirsutism. But according to this log, that started in August. Or at least, I made a note of it in August. Peppermint tea is also estrogenic somehow.

How are you doing with the back acne at the moment? have you found the trigger? And also, how did you discover that oranges where causing some of your acne?

How are you doing with the back acne at the moment? have you found the trigger? And also, how did you discover that oranges where causing some of your acne?

It's way better, but not gone. I haven't gotten anymore cysts since the one's mentioned above. And it seemed to go away about the same time as I got back to being regular. But I also started washing my back with a cleanser again. I also haven't had any flax seed in a while either.

I also started taking fish oil again. I hadn't taken it since before last summer because I meant to have fish several times a week, but I often didn't manage that.

Just added an MSM capsule to my aloe, green tea, niacinimide and oil concoction. Will report later if it makes a difference.

Also, i think my back stopped breaking out a long time ago. Maybe it was the extreme summer heat or other change that occurred over the summer. It's just that this type of non-inflamed acne doesn't just go away. It has to be extracted or exfoliate away. I know that's the case with the blackheads. I've never had these other little non inflamed closed comedones before.

I've been increasing my use of BHA to try to speed the process.

I wanted to keep reading through your whole log but I haaaaavee to go start my homework. Sorry if you talked about this somewhere, but I am wondering if you make or buy your mint tea?

I am a big tea drinker - I love them all - green, white, roobios, herbal blends of all kinds. My most recent purchase is an herbal cinnamon apple spice, and I have a box of 4 teas in the mail to me at this moment lol. Anyways, I just started an herb garden where I planted all the herbs I had seeds for, and in a few weeks when they are near the size of the little started ones at home depot, I'm going to go buy the few I didn't have seeds for.. including mint and spearmint. Since I'm going to get the plant I would like to make it myself. Do you? Do I need to lay the leaves in the sun to dry them like tea, or with mint do you just use it fresh?? I would like to just go out and buy a box of mint tea, but with all the teas I've purchased recently my mom would KILL me if I spent another cent on teas hahahhah.

I wanted to keep reading through your whole log but I haaaaavee to go start my homework. Sorry if you talked about this somewhere, but I am wondering if you make or buy your mint tea?

 

I am a big tea drinker - I love them all - green, white, roobios, herbal blends of all kinds. My most recent purchase is an herbal cinnamon apple spice, and I have a box of 4 teas in the mail to me at this moment lol. Anyways, I just started an herb garden where I planted all the herbs I had seeds for, and in a few weeks when they are near the size of the little started ones at home depot, I'm going to go buy the few I didn't have seeds for.. including mint and spearmint. Since I'm going to get the plant I would like to make it myself. Do you? Do I need to lay the leaves in the sun to dry them like tea, or with mint do you just use it fresh?? I would like to just go out and buy a box of mint tea, but with all the teas I've purchased recently my mom would KILL me if I spent another cent on teas hahahhah.

I brew the mint tea but from purchased tea. I do grow some spearmint and peppermint but not enough to keep me in tea. I may move it to a flower bed in the front of my house where it will probably do much better than in the little pots on my back patio where there isn't many hours of sunlight in any one spot. If you are planning to grow peppermint, keep it in a pot unless you want it to spread all over.

If you use fresh leaves it will probably taste quite a bit different from dried tea. Also, I heard some chef who was using mint in something say to keep the stems and use them to make tea. So you could try that too.

So I got a cyst on my back and some new little non-inflamed pimples on the back of my neck. And my back never completely cleared. So, I decided to quit taking MSM for a few months to see if that helps. Some people breakout from it. Too bad, it was nice having such soft skin.

Thanks for the advice alternativista! Peppermint was actually one I was going to put in the ground under my pomegranate tree, so I'm glad I read your post first.. I mean, a whole yard full of peppermint would smell awesome, but I live with my mom and she would probably prefer her whole lawn isn't taken over by peppermint hah. I put it in a pot instead. I also got a regular mint plant, which I'm excited to try and make tea and MOJITOS with!! I love my plants!

So I looked it up and I ordered the MSM from vitacost on May 11 so it may coincide with the development of my back acne. It's now just been 10 days since I last took it. And I think the small stuff is going away. But I have had more cysts.

So now I'm considering that the cysts are not related, especially since they haven't been constant. I had a few around Thanksgiving. And again in the past month or so. But not in between and I don't think last summer through early fall.

Since cysts in the past have been an allergic reaction, I'm thinking about what I may be eating more of/different. Perhaps I've been putting too much lemon on my drinks. Support for this includes the fact that I had less cold drinks in which I would have had lemon during the colder months when I don't recall that I had any cysts. Also, during December-maybe February, the lemons would have been Meyer lemons from my sister's tree and they are much less acidic. But I know I can have lemons without breaking out. I have been all through the past 4 years when I was clear.

Ok, I'm calling it. it was the MSM. I'm pretty much clear now. The last cyst on my back is not quite faded yet.

It is still possible that the cysts are something else since they weren't constant. I have been having a small banana nearly daily which I've done a lot in the past, but according to a test, i am mildly allergic to them. i've been having more nuts than i'd had in the past since the fall when I stocked up when the new crop was on sale. Walnuts would be the most likely culprit, because I've been having almonds nearly daily for years and I didn't have that many pecans. And walnuts, I believe, are a true tree nut, and it's more common to be allergic to them.

Edit: It could also be flax seed, which I stopped having the same time I stopped the MSM, but I've had flax seed of and on for years without a problem. And I wasn't having it by the tablespoon or anything. Just sprinkling it on some foods.

Just a note that I received new supplements and am starting some of them. Trying beta-alanine which uses histadine to make carnosine to see if reducing histadine helps my always congested nose not to mention the anti-aging benefits of carnosine which I don't expect to be detectable.

I also got NAC, but I think I'll wait a week or so to start it. And I'm switching to Nature's Way Alive whole food supplements, but don't expect to see any difference from that.

Oh, and I'm trying to have some tomato sauce nearly daily. I bought some organic jarred sauce from Costco and am thinning it to make soup most days.

I have felt more dehydrated lately with drier eyes and nasal passages than usual. And my skin has not been oily at all. But it's also been more prone to irritation. I seem to have more of the flat red rosacea pimples and my face just feels irritated 'around the edges' like after a day out in sun or wind.

On the one hand, I haven't felt congested at all due to the drier nasal passages, but my eyes feel like crap. I use eye drops and saline nasal spray all day long.

I think these correspond to my starting the beta alanine. But there could be other changes or the irritation could be unrelated to the dehydration. I've had more tomatoes lately, for example and they are a common allergen. I had the soup mentioned above nearly daily for about a week, but then have been having tomato/basil/greens/fresh mozzarella cheese salad since. And there's the heat, which I mostly avoid, but can't always.

I'm not going to take it for a couple days, then try taking it every other day.

I'm also getting cysts on my shoulders or neck. And while they don't get all that inflamed, they are fairly large and take forever to go away. This after 3 years of very few cysts and those that I did get were small, not very inflamed and went away quickly. I have three on my shoulders/back right now and they are new, possibly since starting beta alanine or eating more tomatoes or something. And I have one on my neck that's been there going on 2 weeks now. And I have a few smaller bumps below my ears that have been there for quite a while, during the strange MSM related breakouts. They are mostly gone, but they were there for months. I never had acne like that before.

So I think the dryness was due to my ceiling fan use so I've started using them only on the lower setting or in reverse mode.

But I'm pretty sure the Beta Alanine causes the flushing type reaction. Last time, I took it in the evening and later my face, neck, chest and even arms and legs started to tingle and feel irritated. And my face was a bit red. I'm going to try taking a half a tablet, but they are such wide, flat tablets I think that will be uncomfortable.

I started taking Resveratrol, but every other day as the trans -resveratrol I have on hand is expensive and to make it last because I don't plan to place a vitamin order for over a month. It's been over a week. And I took the beta alanine on the alternate days, sometimes.

I also found a little bottle to keep in the bath filled with a mix of castor oil, grape seed and olive oil. I am going to oil cleanse when I have makeup to remove and use water only other times. No cleanser on my face. So the only time I'm using cleanser is on my back after conditioning my hair to hopefully help get it all off.

Oh, and there's been no new cysts, but the one I had on my neck is still healing slowly.

^ok, so the dry eyes, skin and everything is better since I turned down the fan speed.

When I take the beta alanine, I take half and separate from other supplements and get a barely noticeable reaction. Could be the stearates which are in just about all supplements, but appear higher in the ingredient list on the beta alanine. I've heard people react to them.

Also, all clear of anything inflamed and pretty near completely clear.

i think I'll start the NAC soon.

So the reaction from the beta alanine has stopped. I've just been having half every other day, but I think I'll increase it now. And according the the body building sites, which are the primary source of info on beta alanine, it's not an allergic reaction or a flush.

It seems to help my congestion a lot.

I've decided to start having coconut oil daily because it is supposed to help with hypothyroidism, and candida. Though I've tested 'normal' for thyroid, it's one of the most underdiagnosed conditions. And I have the symptoms of cold feet and low body temp and some of the other Chinese or folk medicine signs, like lines on the neck. And a few others I come across, but can't remember.

I made some coconut oil and cocoa powder fudge with lots of added grated coconut to get my coconut oil daily dose. I'll also make coconut pancakes a lot.

Started this Sunday September 12th.

Edit to note: Not sweating much is supposedly a sign hypothyroid. And i recently hear Dr. Oz tell someone that sweating a lot is a symptom of hyperthyroid. Anyway, I don't sweat.

Hey Alterna ,

I was wondering if you wouldnt mind giving me a rundown of what a normal day of eating is like for you. I want to see what "low GI" looks like. I just came off of Bee's candida diet after 4 months. It didnt clear me completely but it helped. I just couldnt handle it any longer though and I've decided to just start a low GI diet and try to keep my carbs to a minimum. I've just added organic brown rice back in and I had some organic, whole grain, stone groud brown rice pastsa last night with a seafood meal. I had a VERY small amount, like just enough to fill the surface area of my palm.... and I felt fine after eating it.

I also noticed you use AVC as a gentle cleanser? I use it too, but I have a hard time with it burning my eyes, even when I close my eyes it burns. How do you fix that problem? I'm also trying jojoba oil as just a moisturizer.... I have kind of a love hate relationship with it though, I canttell if it makes me break out! I just cant tell. I always have a new pimple forming whether I use it or not.... but it makes me paranoid. I LOVE the way it maks my skin feel though, gets rid of flakies. I have reallly dry skin.

Thank-you in advance for you advice .

Hey Alterna ,

 

I was wondering if you wouldnt mind giving me a rundown of what a normal day of eating is like for you. I want to see what "low GI" looks like. I just came off of Bee's candida diet after 4 months. It didnt clear me completely but it helped. I just couldnt handle it any longer though and I've decided to just start a low GI diet and try to keep my carbs to a minimum. I've just added organic brown rice back in and I had some organic, whole grain, stone groud brown rice pastsa last night with a seafood meal. I had a VERY small amount, like just enough to fill the surface area of my palm.... and I felt fine after eating it.

 

I also noticed you use AVC as a gentle cleanser? I use it too, but I have a hard time with it burning my eyes, even when I close my eyes it burns. How do you fix that problem? I'm also trying jojoba oil as just a moisturizer.... I have kind of a love hate relationship with it though, I canttell if it makes me break out! I just cant tell. I always have a new pimple forming whether I use it or not.... but it makes me paranoid. I LOVE the way it maks my skin feel though, gets rid of flakies. I have reallly dry skin.

 

Thank-you in advance for you advice .

I don't really eat low GI. It's more like moderate GL. I just don't eat high GI foods by themselves

(without fat, protein and fiber) and only in very small amounts. And I never drink sugar, not counting a little bit of wine. I've been trying the 1 small glass a day thing, but only with a meal.

With the ACV toner, I add only a little bit to brewed green tea. And with the oil, apply with wet fingers or to wet skin to make it easy to apply thinly. It can give me some small non-inflamed acne on my forehead, although that hasn't happened in a long time. I use to just avoid my forehead, but I haven't been careful about that in a while.

For meals, you could check my posts in this what I ate today thread.

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Eat-Today...45#entry2538745

I admire your knowledge about nutrition and healhty life style. One thing I cant help wondering is, how does your body cope with all the supplements you mention? I hear from various people here on message board taking so many vitamins and things doesnt it harm your kidneys and liver? do u take all of them in same day or do u divide them into days per week. like monday is zinc day tuesday is for fish oil kinda

This allergy formula sinus busters seems to be doing me some good. My nose is a little runny, as in normal drainage, I think. Since they mainly talk about helping with airborne allergens, in other words, not foods, I'm thinking I may have been mildly allergic to my pets all along. And the worsening of my symptoms may have coincided with having pets indoors more often. Growing up, the dogs were mostly outside and cats indoor/outdoor, but thrown out by my Mom most of the time. And per tests, I am mildly allergic to cat and dog dander.

are pet and pollen allergies related to acne?

I admire your knowledge about nutrition and healhty life style. One thing I cant help wondering is, how does your body cope with all the supplements you mention? I hear from various people here on message board taking so many vitamins and things doesnt it harm your kidneys and liver? do u take all of them in same day or do u divide them into days per week. like monday is zinc day tuesday is for fish oil kinda

The only zinc I take is in my multi. I haven't taken a zinc supplement or a high dose in years.

And on that note, I want to post an update on the beta alanine. I didn't take any for several weeks and I started to get more headaches with the changes in barometric pressure. I started taking it again and within a few days, the headaches reduced. So, I'd have to guess that my feelings of constant congestion are due to some form of allergy as the beta alanine works by converting histamine to L-carnosine. or carnitine. I can't keep those two straight. The one that's anti-aging. Not the one that people take for weightloss. I'm sure I specify in some prior post.

Notes for me, not about acne:

Re, my low Serum Sodium levels for which I was supposed to return to the endocrinologist for another test after not drinking any water after 1o pm the night before:

Per the test I had, which was possibly dilluted by the amount of water I drink, my levels 133 mmol/L. 'Normal Range according to the lab results is 135-145. That was 2 years ago.

So, I just noticed that results from a physical 2 years before that included serum sodium and it measured 142. So, I would say that there's nothing wrong with me and my low levels during that last test were due the bottle of water I was drinking. Which I always am. And I don't consume much salt.

I went to endocrinologist to try to find a reason why I always feel thirsty such as diabetes insipidus. And I know I felt the same way the 2 years prior and discussed it with the NP who did the tests. I thought perhaps that was why I also always felt congested--that I had thickened mucus due to dehydration due to cells poor ability to take in water.

I'd also gone to an ENT earlier that year for the same reason. The ENT suggested, tested and prescribed expensive drugs for only one conditions, srojen's, for which the test results were negative.

And both those visits ended up costing me quite a lot of money and were a complete waste of time. And our medical industry remains completely useles to me.

I mean, the endo saw the prior test results so should have seen the sodium serum result. And after the ENT visit, I saw a post on a diagnoseme thread or something from a dentist who pointed out if your mouth isn't dry underneath the tongue which is where most of the salivary glands are, then there's nothing wrong with your glands and you don't have Srojen's. So why the hell didn't the ENT check this???

Anyway, info on low sodium serum:

Low values

Low sodium levels (hyponatremia) can be caused by a lot of sweating, burns, severe vomiting or diarrhea, drinking too much water (psychogenic polydipsia), or poor nutrition.

Low sodium levels can also be caused by underactive adrenal glands or thyroid gland, heart failure, kidney disease, cirrhosis, cystic fibrosis, or SIADH (syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion).

What Affects the Test

Reasons you may not be able to have the test or why the results may not be helpful include:

 

Taking medicines, such as birth control pills, corticosteroids, antibiotics, estrogens, tricyclic antidepressants, heparin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), diuretics, lithium, and many medicines used to treat high blood pressure.

Having high levels of glucose, triglycerides, or protein.

Getting sodium in intravenous (IV) fluids given during a recent surgery or hospitalization.

Too much of the hormone vasopressin

Im so intrigued with all the information you provided. Its quite insightful and im wondering if you would mind answering a few questions for me...My background: 43 yr old woman who has suffered for 30yrs with skin issues...I now have rosacea with broken capilliaries along and on my nose..I have HUGE pores that resemble an orange peel on my cheeks down toward my chin..My problem area right now is my chin..It congested with small pin sized whiteheads in the crease as well as hard plugged sebum in the corners down..This is something ive been dealing with since June 09..I keep a skin journal that im obsessed with and i cant get a handle on anything..Im currently taking propanolol for high blood pressure, spironolactone 100mg, iron because im severly anemic, zinc, vitamin c. I know i should be taking fish oil as it would probably help with my sebum out put but it seems every time i take it i get some sort of cyst. Im experiencing reactions with every cleanser i use whether its mild or exfoliating..Aloe from the plant feels wonderful to calm but is drying and doesnt moisturize at all..Ive used Cerave, Cetaphil and all make me flaming red after..I wash only in the evening and barely wear much makeup..I splash water in the morning..I went for a facial and chickend out because my skin was already inflamed as i tried to do some extractions myself..She suggested skinceuticals and gave me samples of their cleanser, B5 moisturizer and phyto corrective gel..Initially they felt good but after day 4 my already congested chin was now loaded with gunk...I have been doing the anti candida diet for two weeks and a low carb/no sugar/wheat/dairy for 3 months...I have had a ton of blood work and what came back was the anemia, vitamin d deficiency, my estrogen is slightly low and i was slightly hyperthyroid...I went to an endocrinolgist and she laughed and wanted to know why i was here..WTF!!! She said it was so small she would never put me on meds..I need help because im afraid to eat for fear of breakouts and cysts and i cant get my pores to regulate. I noticed you use aloe mixed with hyalronic acid and jojoba and some green tea..do you find this moistuizes enough and do you use regular steeped green tea that you let cool first? Im hoping you can offer some guidance as we shared many similar symptoms...PS..Lately i constantly have sinus drainage from one nostril...What does it all mean?

A good acne diet in brief summary:

What you want is blood sugar stabilizing diet habits, consisting of real, whole, nutrient dense foods, and more anti-inflammatory than inflammatory foods. That doesn't include anything you have an intolerance for.

The most inflammatory are sugar and refined high GI carbs, hydrogenated or trans fats, anything you have an intolerance for and any meal/drink/snack that spikes blood sugar. Other inflammatory foods are omega 6 sources like seeds, especially grains and oils from grains.

The most anti-inflammatory are fish, especially fatty high omega 3 fish, and just about any plant food/herb/spice/tea that isn't a seed or a high sugar fruit. If it's colorful or strongly flavored, then it's probably at the most anti-inflammatory.

In the Middle:

Animal products that aren't fish are in the middle but mostly lean to mildly inflammatory to very inflammatory. Their omega 3/6 ratio is big factor in that. Products from grain fed animals is going to be worse than pastured or wild game. Try to get eggs from pastured chickens . Almost everyone is going to feed them some grain, but access to greens and insects increase their omega 3 content and hopefully, they also feed them flax seed which increases omega 3s.

Seeds that aren't grains, like nuts and legumes are also usually mildly to moderately inflammatory. Some have more anti-inflammatory omega 3 EFAs than others like walnuts and flax seed. Cook the legumes, after soaking at least overnight, with anti-inflammatory veggies like onions, garlic, carrot, greens, etc.

What to eat most, ideally:

Eat a lot of greens, cabbage, broccoli, sweet potatoes, berries, fish. Drink only water, teas or things like water with lemon, ginger, berries or splash of juice. Buy only small high sugar fruits or have only small amounts or in combination with fat to lower the glycemic impact.

Also, sleep, physical activity, muscle/body fat, light/dark exposure (circadian rhythm), nutrients and stress are all important factors in how your body functions and affects how strict your diet needs to be.