Okay --- I'm now about a week into this diet and I've lost five pounds. Weight loss was not a goal but this is interesting because it tells me I was getting a lot of empty calories in all that organic margarine and oil I was consuming. Initially I was getting pretty hungry until I realized I needed to increase the amount of food I was eating...specifically the vegetables, root vegetables and whole grain. The whole grain I'm eating is mainly brown rice and oatmeal. The other thing I've become aware of is how much salad dressing I used to eat. I was always so proud of the big salads I consumed but I doused them in salad dressing (organic - yes...but still alot). Now I eat my salads plain. This didn't taste good at first but now I actually like it...and I find myself adding more raw vegetables...chewing well and really enjoying the burst of natural flavor. Before it was the flavor of the salad dressing or oil but now it is the salad itself.

I had a bit of a rosacea flair this weekend due to hiking in 95+ heat (stupid) but it didn't last as long as it usually does. So this is interesting too.

This diet is probably the best diet for overall health. I eventually want to do it myself, but I live with my parents and I kinda have to eat what I'm given. They don't cook unhealthy foods, but not the best.

I want to live by the rule 'if you can't pick it or kill it, don't eat it' which is essentially the 'primitive' diet you explain (or paleo).

I'll enjoy reading your updates!

Thanks --- I like your motto 'if you can't pick it or kill it, don't eat it' --- that says it all! Interestingly, the fish I eat in moderation is what I have usually caught myself so I know where it comes from and that it's very fresh. The berries I eat come from blackberry bushes in the field behind us and the blueberries come from a u-pick place...so again local and fresh.

It's very hard when you want to eat a certain way but are living with others. I cook for my family so I have the option of choosing what we eat but my husband likes meats, refined carbs, etc. so I modify things and make stuff for him and stuff for me. That said, I only put on my plate foods I want to eat. Could you offer to make some of the food...like the salad or vegies? When my son was at home he offered to cook and I loved it. Nice to have company in the kitchen! Now he's a very good cook and appreciates good food.

I'm really noticing a difference in inflammation levels now that I have cut out all refined oils. The only oil I'm using is organic extra virgin olive oil and hardly any at all...basically nothing. Again, this mimics the way primitive people eat. My skin is sooooo much calmer and I have acne-rosacea so this is a huge difference.

One change I've had to make is I'm eating white rice. YES --- I know this is horrible but I have Fructose Malabsorption (lack enzyme to digest fructose) and brown rice just doesn't digest for me. However I always eat the rice with lots of vegetables like Asian people do so I get plenty of fiber and nutrients. I eat oatmeal, quinoa and Ezekial Bread (sprouted wheat - no oil, flour or sugars) once a week or so with no problem. I eat potatoes...particularly yams and white, red and yellow potatoes too. I know they're supposedly high glycemic but I've seen conflicting research on this particularly if you eat the skins. And these kinds of root vegetables are frequently eaten by primitive people who don't get acne.

I have an issue with the Paleo diet mainly because research into primitive cultures doesn't bear out their argument for avoiding starchy foods. There is ample evidence ancient people ate lots of grains and roots based on what has been found in their gut, teeth and tools they left behind. The only primitive people who subsist almost entirely on animal food is the Masai Tribe and they are not hunters...they are herders. This is the only instance of a primitive tribe that eats almost entirely animal foods and is free of acne. That said, it's interesting that they do not consume processed oils at all...none. They get their fats directly from the animal...not processed. (edit --- Eskimos used to eat an almost total meat diet but now they are westernized and get acne, etc.) So I wonder if this is an issue more of processed oils. It is modern man who has gone crazy with processed oils. Even ancient cultures that had oils used them very sparingly because they were so precious. And those oils were minimally processed (olive oil) because everything was done by hand. Only the very wealthy could cook regularly with oils and I wouldn't be surprised if they suffered from the diseases our culture suffers from today.

Well --- this is interesting. I'm continuing the diet no problems and my skin is looking very good --- much less oily and calmer. My desire for processed oils (margarine in particular) is waning and my food tastes better. When I started this diet I really missed margarine and salad dressing but now not so much. They were organic and supposedly good for you but I was using alot. I'm now using only organic extra-virgin first press olive oil and just a teeny amount in cooking. This is doable especially if you add a bit of water to the pan when doing a saute and steaming. And the food tastes fresher. I've found lots of interesting info regarding the overuse of processed oils and problems such as acne. Dr McDougall's website goes into this. He advocates getting all fats from whole plant foods and none from processed oils but I'm taking a somewhat modified approach to include a bit of olive oil...and see if this works for me since totally avoiding all oils seems too drastic to me and difficult to pull off in the real world. Here's a quote from one of his newsletters:

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/031100puacne.htm

Multiple studies of people living on their traditional native diets almost all of which are low fat-diets, based on starches, vegetables, and fruits have found these people have little or no acne. When these healthy people learn the Western diet, acne becomes an epidemic as do the other diseases of modern civilization (obesity, heart disease, diabetes, prostate and breast cancer). Examples of well-studied populations include the Kitavan Islanders of Papua New Guinea who live on a diet of 70% carbohydrate from plant foods, and the Ache of Eastern Paraguay with a diet of about 70% of the calories coming from manioc (cassava a root vegetable).⁴ Acne is completely absent not a single sufferer in these two populations living primarily on unprocessed, low-fat plant-foods.

People living in Africa on plant-food-based diets show similar freedom from acne. Southern African Bantu adolescents have an incidence of acne of 16%, compared to the whites in Africa with a 45% incidence.⁴ Zulu have been reported to develop acne only after they move from the villages to the cities and learn a Western diet.⁵ People in both Kenya and Zambia have far less acne than do blacks in the USA.⁵ People from Malaysia living on rice-based diets have been reported to have no acne problems.⁶ A rice-centered diet is also the reason people in rural Japan have very few skin troubles. Even those Europeans on lower-fat diets (Crete, Southern Italy) have less acne compared to those in Western Europe on higher fat diets.⁶ The Yemenite Jews following a healthier, lower-fat diet than European Jews report less acne, too.⁶ The picture is clear to me: switch from a plant-based-diet to a high fat Western diet centered on meat and dairy, and your face lights up.

I've had totally clear skin now for a little over a week. No inflammation, no bumps, nothing! Very interesting. My skin is dryer so I'm using DML lotion morning and night. I like DML because it's very soothing and was developed for acne prone skin. It's not natural though. I've tried natural products but they make me breakout...that's how sensitive my skin is. I'm following the diet faithfully. It's hard not to use margarine or oils but I'm learning new ways to cook and satisfy my hunger. Mainly I find I'm eating more nutrient dense foods...i.e. more vegetables, more oatmeal in the morning, more yams, etc. I'm loving garlic, onion and herbs. I'm trying to do meditation often. I really like the free online meditations offered on Fragrant Heart.

Thanks for the feedback regarding your diet changes. I changed my diet only 3 days ago but mine is not low fat. I am high fat but good fats like avocado, nuts and olive oil. Have cut all sugar (including natural sugars like fruit), starch and dairy. Just eating lots of veges, meat and some nuts. It's a struggle so far and I have had the worst withdrawal symptoms coming off the sugar and carbs! Will be interesting to see how my changes go.

Sounds to me like you're doing the Paleo diet. Some people swear by it. But I'm not sure it's the healthiest diet...mainly because the longest lived people eat primarily starch-based (low-animal food) diets. These include people from Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and the Seventh Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California, who live in what are called the Blue Zones. Paleo is a very hard to maintain because you're not getting eneough bulk needed for energy (starches) or for good elimination. Many people on the Paleo diet get very constipated which is not good for skin. Our bodies were designed for consuming whole starches, vegetables, fruits and a little bit of wild meat. This is the diet of apes (our ancestors) and according to many scientists, the diet of primitive man. Wild game was hard to catch and it was shared with a whole tribe. The diet was mainly tubers, seeds, fruits, nuts and supplimented with game caught once in a while. Not much.

Although many people love the Paleo diet. They eat lots of meat and usually gravitate towards fattier meats to compensate for lack of starches. Or they overeat fruit (which is not good for acne-prone skin). I would be curious how it works for you! Everyone is different. I tend to dislike meat anyway...too hard to digest and it makes me constipated. I much prefer whole starches (tubers and grains), vegetables, a little fruit and maybe a tiny bit of wild fish or possibly free-range chicken as a random treat. This seems to be best for my digestion.

As I shared above the biggest change for me is avoiding processed oils of all kinds, except for a teeny tiny amount of olive oil. I already avoid dairy (never digested it well) and sugars (can't eat due to fructose malabsorption and includes all alcoholic beverages).

I think I'm most closely following the diets of people living in the Blue Zones...the longest lived people. Dr McDougall recommends avoiding all flesh foods but I think that is extreme and is not what these people do...they eat a tiny bit of wild or free-range meat or fish. But they all eat very little oil, if any, and the same with sugars.

Yes paleo I guess but I am not eating any fruit either. I would be far too hungry if I didn't eat meat or not much!

Why are you not eating fruit? I have fructose malabsorption so I can only eat berries but I think some fruit is good for skin health...too much is bad due to excessive sugars. I'm eating wild fish a couple times a week. I've found that I have to eat more at each meal than I used to...mainly because I'm not getting calories from fats so don't feel full unless I eat more. So I eat more carbs in the form of whole yams, potatoes, rice, etc. And I eat more vegetables and bigger salads. I noticed in the last couple of days that I have more energy and sleep better. I think I'm getting more nutrients by not eating fats.

I would love to add in fruit, potato, rice etc. but I have a Candida overgrowth so trying to avoid all sugar even natural sugar for now. Let me know how you get on, sounds like its working.

brown rice is a grain therefore not paleo..

Yes --- all grains are taboo on the Paleo Diet. But not on the diet I'm doing which is based on people who eat traditional diets (Chinese, Japanese, Kitavan Islanders, etc) and don't have acne. They eat grains and/or tubers for starches...and they typically eat a lot. They don't eat refined oils, sugars, etc. And they eat tons of vegetables and/or fruit depending on what is available. They eat tiny amounts of wild or free-ranged meat or fish...very little.

I'm continuing to do well on this diet. As I shared above I'm eating more and have lots of energy. I had a teeny tiny whitehead on my lip this morning (most likely due to the lemon I had yesterday...rosacea skin reacts to citrus) and it is gone now. Other than that I'm clear. And happy! The real test will be in several weeks when I'm traveling and more stressed.

Yes paleo I guess but I am not eating any fruit either. I would be far too hungry if I didn't eat meat or not much!

A paleo diet would not have a list that begins with 'whole grains' which they tend to consider evil. While they aren't all equally evil, they shouldn't be a big part of your diet and they should be prepared properly, which people stopped doing about 50 years ago when we started buying everything in bags & boxes at supermarkets.

I'm interested in trying to eat like this because I notice a difference in my skin when I eat too much fat. For example, eggs and omega 3s seem to make my skin worse. Could you maybe give an example of what you eat in a day? Also, if you are avoiding refined oils, what do you cook your food with? I like roasting my meat and veggies in a little olive oil with spices, and I'm not sure how I'd cook these things with no fat. I guess it would just be like a dry rub?

that's more or less my diet too.

except for i have white rice(in small amounts twice a day) and vegetable oils like soyabean oil, sunflower oil, or rice-bran oil (small amounts) in cooking.

i also have oats atleast once a day. i've chickpeas(black ones) dry roasted too.

& green tea(twice daily).

i indulge in very small degree once in a while.

say two bites of dairy-free sweet or 1 wheat(gluten) snack.

Just to clear things up...I'm not doing the Paleo Diet. That's why whole grains is listed first thing on my diet. The diet I'm following is what people in the Blue Zones eat and what primitive people eat who live the longest and have the least amount of acne. Also it is similar to a diet promoted by Dr McDougal. Although I differ with him and eat a tiny amount of wild fish or occasionally wild game because everything I've read indicates that most of these cultures ate or eat tiny amounts of wild fish or game...not much, just a tiny amount.

What all of these diets have in common is an avoidance of processed foods, oils, and sugars. It is very interesting! The only reason I include a tiny amount of extra-virgin organic olive oil is it is the closest thing to what our ancestors ate starting around 7th century BC. I don't eat much because I believe such oil was considered very precious and hard to come by so people didn't drown foods in it but instead used it carefully. Oils such as sesame oil were used very very sparingly as flavoring. What is very revealing is how canola oil is made...really gross. This is the oil that's in almost all modern food and is promoted as being so good for us. It is an oil that really came into being only after the industrial age. Gross. It's an awful food and should be avoided at all cost. Since it is in almost all processed food that means that all processed food should be avoided...including so called health foods with canola oil. Google it...how canola oil is made. And that goes for most other modern processed oils such as corn, safflower, etc. If they were made by crushing the plant or seed as olive oil is made then that would be okay but they're not.

I am coming to believe that such oils are a real culprit behind modern health issues...that and processed sugars. However, the problem is not to confuse avoiding oil with the low-fat craze years ago. Back then what happened was people went crazy avoiding fat but substituted fake processed foods loaded with sugar (everything in the center aisles of the grocery store). This is not healthy. The key is to return to a whole foods, plant based diet.

I saute foods with just about a teaspoon or less of olive oil by putting the oil in the pan on medium heat, adding the ingredients...usually garlic, onion and mushrooms to start, and then the vegetables. I saute the garlic, onion and mushrooms by stirring constantly and adding tiny amounts of water during the process. This keeps them cooking without sticking. Then I add the vegetables and/or fish and saute some more...adding more water as I go to keep things from sticking and steaming a bit. I usually put a lid on at some point to help with the cooking process, especially if cooking things like broccoli. You can use vegetable broth instead of water for more flavor. I grow herbs (oregano, thyme, sage, basil, etc) and add those as well for flavor. Or I just steam my vegetables.

I saute potatoes by the same method of using a teeny tiny amount of oil and adding diced garlic, onion, etc. and then adding sliced potatoes and diced red pepper. I add bits of water here and there to keep the mixture from sticking.

I like to cook up rice in vegetable broth I make myself with odds and ends left over from preparing vegetables. I keep these odds and ends in a plastic ziplock bag in the freezer till full and then put into a big pot with water, salt, pepper and herbs and simmer for an hour or so. Then I freeze up containers of this broth for later use...such as preparing rice. I can't eat brown rice due to having fructose malabsorption so I figure that eating white basmati rice prepared with homemade vegetable broth makes up for some of the lost nutrients. Plus, most Blue Zone and Primitive People who eat rice, actually eat white rice...so I figure it can't be all that bad since they are long-lived and healthy! However, I eat whole white rice...not ground up rice. I have some concern about people who eat a gluten-free diet filling up on rice flour products...I'm not sure that's so healthy.

Someone asked what I eat in a typical day. I eat a lot of food but am normal weight for my height (122 lb 5ft. 4 in.) Here is a typical daily menu:

Breakfast

Big bowl of oatmeal with chia seeds, fresh berries, banana and soymilk.

Dandelion root tea (love it) with soymilk.

or

Sauteed potatoes with chard or kale, garlic, onion and a poached egg (organic free range) cooked in the center.

or

Heated leftover rice with vegetables and a bit of tofu

Lunch

Heated up leftovers from last night's dinner (always cook extra)

or

Salad with diced tofu or garbanzos or other kind of beans

or

Burrito made with beans, avocado, rice, lettuce, sauteed vegetables (always have leftovers)

Dinner

Fresh fish (tiny piece), roasted yams and red potatoes with garlic and herbs, salad with diced peppers, and other raw vegetables

or

Penne pasta with sauteed vegetables --- lots of garlic!

or

Sauteed rice with roasted vegetables

or

Burritos made with fresh sauteed vegetables, beans, avocado and rice

Snacks

Organic brown rice cakes (for some reason I can eat these but not regular brown rice...) with homemade hummus and sliced avocado, or homemade black bean dip. The hummus and black bean dip are made without oil.

or

Sliced cucumber

or

A small bowl of rice

Beverages

Water --- lots of water

Dandelion root tea (Traditionals tea) --- tastes delicious and is good for digestion and liver

That's it. I don't eat sweets. If I feel a need for sweets I eat a small bowl of fresh berries. But I rarely feel that need since I am very satiated with the other foods. And I eat a lot of these foods...a lot. I just read somewhere that many traditional cultures will eat a cup or more of garbanzo beans a day. This is so different than our culture!

Oh and I should mention that my skin is clear...has been for awhile now! And it is so much less oily. Dr McDougall says on his site that you have to wait at least a month to see the difference in acne when following a very low-fat whole food plant-based diet. This is because the pores have to rid themselves of the excess sebum already there and acne that was already forming. However, I am seeing a difference already.

I continue to be amazed with this diet. The real test will be in a couple of weeks when I'm on vacation and more stressed. Also in January when I wean off low-dose doxy I take for inflammation.

I want to give this diet a true test for 6 months (Aug-Jan) without changing anything else in my routine. I want to see if the diet will dramatically reduce sebum production and keep me clearer. Thus far it's working! My skin is much less clogged. Before you could see my pores clogging up with sebum. I get a professional microdermabrasion once a month that helps keep my pores clear but I was still clogging up inbetween and getting small pustules here and there. Now my pores are much clearer!

Avoiding all processed oils has made a significant difference. And this is the only thing I can attribute the change in sebum to because I was already avoiding dairy, sugars, and alcohol and have been for about two years now. I only eat flour products sparingly --- maybe once or twice a week (burrito shell or serving of pasta). Otherwise I eat whole foods --- organic if possible and as much raw as possible...lots of salad with vegetables.

I wish I could get the message across to everyone. I've researched acne issues and cultures that don't have acne and the evidence is overwhelming. Avoid all dairy, processed sugars, processed oils (junk foods, margarines --- even ones with no transfats, fried foods, anything prepackaged in the middle aisles of grocery stores), caffeine, and meats --- except tiny amounts of wild fish or game.

I've known about this way of eating for years but continued to fool myself. I was almost there but doused my food in oil, ate french fries and chips (organic), and used lots of margarine --- organic non-transfat but still margarine loaded with canola oil, etc. I kept thinking why isn't this working? Why do my pores still clog up so badly? I'm way too old for this. I know now that due to genetics I'm extremely prone to acne and inflammation so I have to take more dramatic measures to control things. I have to eat in the purest way possible and in a way that honors how humans have eaten since ancient times (whole foods, organic, little bit of pressed oil, wild fish and game, etc.)...which is much more primitive than our modern way of eating. Hence this diet...and the test of this diet.

Okay --- it's been one month and this diet continues to be everything I'd hoped for. My skin is much much less oily and I'm not breaking out. I had my monthly professional microdermabrasion today and the clinician was amazed by my skin. She said it looked really good compared to before when I had lots of clogged pores and she said it was more dry...which is good for me!

If I get anything at all it is like one teeny tiny whitehead, once every week or so that is not inflammed...can't even see it without magnifying mirror. This is a real change. And it is all due to avoiding oils and foods that have oils in them. I'm continuing to use a scant amount of extra-virgin organic olive oil but just a very small amount to help cook things. And now I don't miss oils...in fact, went to a BBQ yesterday where all the foods were doused in oils...everything...and I tasted a few but was put off by how soggy the salads were, etc. I'm now used to eating very crisp fresh salads with lots of raw vegetables and savoring the flavors without all that oil.

I wish there were a way to convey how dramatic a change this is. I truly think that at the end of this trial diet I will continue to eat this way and be able to wean off some of the oral meds I take. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

These are some articles that help explain for me how eating oils and fatty junk foods can contribute to acne...

"Sebaceous glands, secrete an oily substance (sebum) which gives the skin an oily appearance. Eating fatty food, increases the amount of free fatty acid circulating in the blood. High levels of fatty acids, have been thought too increase secretion of sebum, making the skin oily."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2836431/

"The fact that Western diets are often deficient in the longer chain omega-3s and their precursor LA, raises an additional issue for this discussion. It is known that the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in a typical Western diet can be 101,^43,44 versus a 31 in a non-Western diet44 or primitive, non-industrialized populations. These findings were the basis for population-studies that revealed that non-Western diets correlated with the absence of acne.⁴⁵ Several studies have suggested that inflammatory markers correlate with an increase of the omega-6/omega-3 ratio. In general our Western diet is not only deprived of omega- 3s but is also a diet rich in refined carbohydrates. It has been reported that people living in the Kitavan Islands (off the coast of Papua New Guinea) and the Ache hunter-gathers of Paraguay do not suffer from acne and this is associated with their lowglycemic diet, consisting mainly of fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins."

Vegetable oils have an awful ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. Doesn't matter if they're organic or whatever...the ratio is still the same and contributes to acne.

My skin is continuing to amaze me. Avoiding processed oils has really made the difference. Totally clear. Years ago I was told by a wholistic MD to avoid margarines and I ignored him because I thought he just meant the mainstream ones. I had been using organic margarine with supposedly good oils (Earth Balance). I wish I had followed his advice back then. I think it must be the Omega 6 in oils that causes much of the problem...too much. Doesn't matter if they are transfat-free or organic. And it was just too much oil that I was consuming...margarine on everything...tons of oil in cooking, etc. Also my digestion overall is improving dramatically. I can now eat more fruit (berries, banana, fig) without problem whereas before I had loose bowels and was losing nutrients. I have more energy now.

Thanks for sharing all this information about your diet. Do you also avoid butter? Or just margarine?

@cvd: Your signature lists a bunch of other things you are taking and using on your skin....do you think those made a difference too? If you are taking all those things in your signature, then it's probably not just the diet that's cleared you.

@cvd: Your signature lists a bunch of other things you are taking and using on your skin....do you think those made a difference too? If you are taking all those things in your signature, then it's probably not just the diet that's cleared you.

I was thinking exactly the same.

But very interesting!

I noticed improvement by altering my diet to a similar one. However i just can't live being afraid of eating some pizza, a piece of cake, an ice cream during summer etc. I started again spironolactone 12 days ago but i definitely don't get the same level of acne if i avoid these things. If i eat something of these the next day there it is, a new pimple or even nodule. If i don't i stay clear but there will always be interruptions and voila, i don't want my face ruined again. I will keep spiro level as low as possible to prevent food caused acne.

I also use propolis solution, clyndamicin and a face wash with salicylic acid but when i eat unhealthy the do nothing.I am going to try thyme tincture and essential oil in the future.

cvd, how long have you been taking spiro?