Hi,
I am a 35 year old woman and I just discovered what was causing my big, red, painful blemishes, a condition that stayed with me since I was 20 years old. It was gluten-sensitivity. Before I had discovered this sensitivity, I had tried the "Proactiv" type medicines, I made sure I didn't wear moisturizer or make-up with oil in it, (definitely no sunscreen), and even went to the doctor to try a medicine ( but I soon talked myself out of it). Then a few months ago, I read an article about the hidden link between gluten and acne. It gave me hope even though I wasn't thrilled about restricting my eating. But I looked in the mirror at the ugly red marks (old ones and new ones) and became so distressed that it was clear to me that enjoying that piece of bread for a few minutes wasn't worth months and months of distress over skin issues. So, for 25 days, I stopped eating gluten completely. I had to make my food from scratch, I was severely limited to what I could eat at restaurants, but just after the third day, I noticed that a new blemish didn't appear. (And with me, there was always a new one every three days.) I only had the ones I already had. But I knew I had to wait longer than a few days to really be convinced it was gluten that was causing my acne.
Meanwhile, I used diluted tea tree oil to wipe my face after cleansing and used undiluted tea tree oil to spot-treat the unhealed blemishes. It really helped the inflammation go down and, it may be just my imagination, but it seemed to help the red scarring go away faster.
Anyway, weeks went by, and my face never saw another new blemish. And the tea tree oil helped heal the old ones. For the first time in 15 years, I was blemish free and I was certain I wasn't going to find a new one anytime soon. Why? Because I had discovered the cause: gluten in my diet.
For others, it may be something else, but really, you have to try this for 25 days. You may feel upset at the thought of never having another burrito again, but... keep reading.
On that 26th night, my friend came home with a papa john's pizza... and I was HUNGRY. So, I thought, "This would be a great opportunity to test my theory as to whether gluten really caused my acne or not. My skin is clear now but what about tomorrow, after having eating a few pieces of pizza?" So I ate a few pieces. The next morning, I looked in the mirror expecting at least one red blemish. Nothing. So I thought maybe it'll show up the next day. The next morning came, I looked in the mirror, and nothing. I was confused. I never had clear skin before, I never eliminated gluten from my diet before, so was it just a coincidence? I gave it more thought and then I remembered reading somewhere that it is possible to decrease sensitivity to gluten. Apparently, that is what I did.
I started my gluten-free diet on April 1, 2012 and it ended on April 26, 2012. I've been eating gluten since then, off and on, and my skin still remains clear of acne, except for the one that appears during PMS.
You guys have to try this. Stop the pills, the creams that dry out your skin, and just simply eat without gluten for a few weeks. See what happens. You will notice after the third day that your skin will stop producing pimples. Really. I wish someone, many years ago, had shook me really hard to get my attention and told me to just try it and see what happens. It's really amazing how what you eat can have such an impact on your body.
Oh, and here are two links to the websites that informed me of the gluten-sensitivity:
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By the way, one or both may be selling something but I never bought anything. I just read the article and applied it to my lifestyle.
philcl
My acne is also caused by gluten. Gluten, corn and sugar are my three big triggers. If I avoid them I stay clear too! Glad to hear you found your answer, tea tree oil is great stuff too. Strange that you are able to eat gluen again, maybe it was more of a food intolerance than an actual allergy? Totally agree with you though, everyone should try eliminating gluten to see if it impacts their acne.
It's very inflammatory and a huge trigger for a number of health problems for many people.
do you substitute gluten free things or do you just avoid all of that. personally, i like to run...so i like to carb before long runs on gluten free penne and organic tomato sauce,,,i have had zero issues and the good brands actually taste good. i know this is different for everyone though
Looks like you managed to find an old post of mine that naturalnews published. I should say that I've updated my view on gluten-acne connection a bit since.
Gluten is a trigger for some acne patients, but I'm pretty sure it causes no problems for majority of acne patients. I say this because gluten sensitivity in psoriasis patients have been studies a few times. One study showed that 18% were gluten sensitive (not outright celiac disease but sensitivity that caused no immediate reactions).
They then put a group of psoriasis patients on gluten-free diet. The 18% that were gluten sensitive got a lot better, but gluten-free diet had no effect on the other 72% of the psoriasis patients.
Unfortunately no studies have been done on acne, but I believe those psoriasis numbers are at least somewhat indicative of the situation with acne patients.
Of course gluten sensitive people tend to gather in a place like this (holistic health forum). So what you see here probably doesn't reflect on the reality in acne patient population as a whole.
It's very inflammatory and a huge trigger for a number of health problems for many people.
do you substitute gluten free things or do you just avoid all of that. personally, i like to run...so i like to carb before long runs on gluten free penne and organic tomato sauce,,,i have had zero issues and the good brands actually taste good. i know this is different for everyone though
I don't eat any grains and haven't since the first day of 2011. I had major health improvements from doing this! But I would like to be able to add rice back in, in small amounts, without a negative reaction. Over this next year I plan to try reintroducing it, beginning with very small amounts. Then I'd like to try and de-sensitive my system to it by eating it once a week. This isn't because I think rice is good, but rather because I'd like to travel and rice is a go-to food you can almost always find in foreign countries when gluten free. I can't imagine how I'll be able to take another trip to Asia otherwise. 
The last time I ate a big plate of rice I had a reaction, so we'll see. As of now I'm mostly using fruit and sweet potatoes for my carbs.
On another note, I had chronic psoriasis for years as well as my acne issues.
They then put a group of psoriasis patients on gluten-free diet. The 18% that were gluten sensitive got a lot better, but gluten-free diet had no effect on the other 72% of the psoriasis patients.
I know someone with severe psoriasis who is also gluten intolerant. His psoriasis did not get better that isn't necessarily a green light that gluten is okay. In some people, the damage is so severe that their skin doesn't improve no matter what they do. But gluten is still killing them (internally) if they were to continue to eat it.
It's very inflammatory and a huge trigger for a number of health problems for many people.
do you substitute gluten free things or do you just avoid all of that. personally, i like to run...so i like to carb before long runs on gluten free penne and organic tomato sauce,,,i have had zero issues and the good brands actually taste good. i know this is different for everyone though
I don't eat any grains and haven't since the first day of 2011. I had major health improvements from doing this! But I would like to be able to add rice back in, in small amounts, without a negative reaction. Over this next year I plan to try reintroducing it, beginning with very small amounts. Then I'd like to try and de-sensitive my system to it by eating it once a week. This isn't because I think rice is good, but rather because I'd like to travel and rice is a go-to food you can almost always find in foreign countries when gluten free. I can't imagine how I'll be able to take another trip to Asia otherwise.
The last time I ate a big plate of rice I had a reaction, so we'll see. As of now I'm mostly using fruit and sweet potatoes for my carbs.
On another note, I had chronic psoriasis for years as well as my acne issues.
They then put a group of psoriasis patients on gluten-free diet. The 18% that were gluten sensitive got a lot better, but gluten-free diet had no effect on the other 72% of the psoriasis patients.I know someone with severe psoriasis who is also gluten intolerant. His psoriasis did not get better that isn't necessarily a green light that gluten is okay. In some people, the damage is so severe that their skin doesn't improve no matter what they do. But gluten is still killing them (internally) if they were to continue to eat it.
yeah, there are many good "grains" out there when talking about gluten free. most of the GF pasta i get is corn or sweet rice based, with other added things like wild rice flour or potato starch. i have no issues with them and enjoy them. if you start to get rice again go for wild rice or brown rice, white rice is just a lot of empty calories...but like you said it is a sustaining food practically everywhere you go. I am currently eating raw, and have been for about 2 and 1/2 weeks...i also like to add in cooked foods however from time to time...its not so bad
i have even had the GF pizza from dominos a couple of times (before going raw) and I had no reactions or anything at all...except slight mucus build up from the cheese, lol.
I know someone with severe psoriasis who is also gluten intolerant. His psoriasis did not get better that isn't necessarily a green light that gluten is okay. In some people, the damage is so severe that their skin doesn't improve no matter what they do. But gluten is still killing them (internally) if they were to continue to eat it.
Ah but in this study they determined gluten sensitivity by looking at tissue samples from the small intestine (if I remember correctly). They found that those 18% who were sensitive had minor damage in the small intestine and the immune system reacted to gluten. No such damage was detected in the other 72%. So it's unlikely that gluten had damage their intestines.
Just an update (I had started this topic):
I had said that I started eating gluten-containing foods again after eliminating my acne and that my skin didn't react to it the way it had for years. Because of this, I had concluded that I desensitized myself to it. Well, not the case. Soon after posting, I started breaking out while constantly consuming gluten. I am on day 4 of a gluten-free diet and I plan on sticking to it. I think I will only allow myself to eat something with gluten in it once a month or less (special occasions). Today I made gluten-free, sugar-free fudge brownies. I find ways to avoid foods that are traditionally not gluten-free but, right now, I'm craving sweets and carbs because I'm PMS'ing.
Someone mentioned that gluten may not be the cause of every individual's acne. I totally agree. But I am adamant in my belief that it is SOMETHING the person is consuming or directly applying to their skin. So, if it isn't gluten, it's sugar, or dairy, or meat, or something. Just purify your diet. If you takes steps to further purifying your diet, you will make progress or even find resolution, once and for all. Remember that most of the foods we normally have consumed our entire lives have been highly processed. It makes total sense, then, to conclude that an 'unnatural' substance that we put in our bodies will result in some sort of physical reaction and acne is a reaction to SOMETHING.
Oh, and brown rice is okay, in case someone thought it wasn't. I eat brown rice every day, almost. Sometimes white rice, but usually brown rice. It's a gluten-free grain. So, if you are trying to eliminate glutenous grains, brown rice is not one of them. So, enjoy your brown rice! 
