My Story:

My adult-onset acne began in early 2010. I still don't know what triggered it but for the next 3 years, I suffered ugly red zits... mostly on my forehead. Sometimes on my nose.

It effected my self-confidence and made me feel frustrated and depressed.

I had long suspected a dietary cause. But 2 seperate dermatologists told me unequivocally, "there is no proof of a connection between diet and acne". They then prescribed antibiotics and harsh topical creams.

As a result, I suffered with acne far longer than I needed to!

Thankfully, about 6 months ago, I FINALLY dicovered the cause... and the cure!

I haven't shared this earlier because I wanted to be sure I wasn't just enjoying a temporary reprieve. But after 6 months, I think its safe to say this is a solution than could work for others here:

My Solution:

My healing came in two stages:

First, I came across a website claiming a proven connection between dairy and acne.

Although I wasn't convinced, I was desperate, so I cut milk out of my diet and reduced my intake of other dairy products.

This resulted in a significant improvement.

Now, for me, the hardest thing about the dairy-free diet was not being able to put milk in my tea. (Here in UK we all add milk to our tea.) But this led to the discovery of the second part of the cure: black tea!

It all happened one afternoon: I had friends visiting and as luck would have it, I had a large red zit on my forehead!! (Although, I'd given up milk, other things - e.g. sugary, sweet foods - still caused occassional break-outs.)

For some reason (maybe I was thristy?) I drank a LOT of tea that day and later that afternoon I noticed the zit looked less red.

I assumed this was a coincidence but decided to do the same thing the following day, just in case I was onto something.

Sure enough, by the following evening, the zit had almost completely gone!

From then on, I decided to drink one full pot of hot black tea everyday and this has resulted in the clearest skin I've had in 3 years!

I've now been basically acne free from over 6 months. I've had a couple of zits during that time, but they've just served to prove my theory correct: They only appeared after I started compromising my diet; drinking less tea and consuming more dairy.

As soon as I went back to a more strict regimin, they disappeared again.

Summary:

I know everyone's different, so I can only say what worked for me, but here's my reccomendation for an acne-free life:

1) Cut out MOST dairy (cut out milk completely) and reduce sugar intake.

2) Drink at least 1 full pot of Black Tea a day.

3) Wash your face with an exfoiliating face-wash. Then moisturise with a non-oily cream.

I hope this can help at least SOME people here as I know how frustrating it can be to sruggle with this problem!

Good luck everyone and let me know if this works for you!