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Sebum Quality

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/17/2014 1:43 pm

Hi,

I have been reading very interesting things in here about sebum quality and how acne skin has less linoleic acid and higher oleic acid amounts. Has anyone tried to minimize oleic acid consumption and up the linoleic acid use, wouldn't that force your oil glands to produce perfects free flowing sebum that doesn't clog pores? Also does anyone know is Life Flo brands pure safflower oil high linoleic acid or high oleic acid? I asked this directly from life flo customer service, but didn't receive answer..

I know it has bee said that everyone gets plenty of omega-6 from diet, maybe too much, but this has not been the case for me. This has allways been my daily fatty acid profile, 3g EPA+DHA, 5,28g linoleic acid, 38,48g! oleic acid and some saturated fats. As you can see there has been plenty of bad pore clogging oleic acid and not enough skin caring linoleic acid.

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(@quetzlcoatl)

Posted : 09/18/2014 7:54 am

I'm fairly certain that fat intake doesn't correlate with sebum composition. Also, consuming to many polyunsaturated fats, especially omega 6s, will likely make the acne worse by propagating inflammatory signaling.

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/18/2014 8:03 am

I'm fairly certain that fat intake doesn't correlate with sebum composition. Also, consuming to many polyunsaturated fats, especially omega 6s, will likely make the acne worse by propagating inflammatory signaling.

Isn't linoleic acid anti-inflammatory, so how can it cause inflammation? And isn't it true that you are what you eat, If I don't supply my body any bad sebum materials, only the good ones so how can my body make bad sebum then? I'm gonna try to eat a couple of months every day only 3g EPA + DHA, 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil (contains 70% linoleic acid) and some saturated fats. That way oleic acid stays minimum and linoleic acid and omega-3's are gonna be the reigning fats in my body.

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(@quetzlcoatl)

Posted : 09/18/2014 8:08 am

Linoleic acid is an omega 6, so it's going to promote inflammatory processes. Your body has the ability to makea lot of different things from the components it's given. There isn't any evidence to suggest that eating a particular set of oils will directly change your sebum composition.

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/18/2014 8:14 am

Linoleic acid is an omega 6, so it's going to promote inflammatory processes. Your body has the ability to makea lot of different things from the components it's given. There isn't any evidence to suggest that eating a particular set of oils will directly change your sebum composition.

Linoleic acid is an essential fatty acid so your body can't make it from something else and I haven't been getting enough of it. My acne has always been just pustules and I read that if you're deficient in linoleic acid you get pustules. And not one source says that linoleic acid is inflammatory.

"Linoleic acid is an essential fatty acid that the sebaceous glands use as a normal component of sebum. Essential fatty acids are required by the body and most people are more familiar with linoleic as omega 6 oil, flaxseed oil, safflower oil, evening primrose oil, or a number of other terms. Essential fatty acids are very powerful anti-inflammatory agents. Subsequently, sebum made with linoleic acid is actually calming to the skin and follicles." Source http://www.skintactix.com/acne_&_essential_fatty_acids.htm

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(@quetzlcoatl)

Posted : 09/18/2014 8:21 am

Again, still no evidence that dietary fats directly influence sebum composition. But go for it. See what happens, maybe you'll be successful.

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/18/2014 8:48 am

Again, still no evidence that dietary fats directly influence sebum composition. But go for it. See what happens, maybe you'll be successful.

If there's no research from it then there can't be any written evidence. A couple of years ago I got this terrible nervous disease, doctors said that there's no cure for it and I was gonna spend the rest of my life at home, in pain unable to work ever again. But then I read about how amalgam fillings poison your body and nervous system, I told my doctor about it and he said "well you can try to remove the fillings but don't get your hopes up, that's nonsense." The same month I went to remove the fillings and after two months all of my symptoms started to dissappear and after six months from the removal of amalgam I was 100% cured! So there you have it, if I would have listened to all the doctor's (they were leading neuro surgeons of my country) I would be dead now, worms food, so yeah, in my experience these so called experts in this world don't know shit.

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(@quetzlcoatl)

Posted : 09/18/2014 9:32 am

That's all well and good, and I agree in many cases. However, there is plenty of evidence that shows a causal link between omega 6s and inflammation. I'm not just saying that the omega 6s might not help - I'm saying that they will probably actively worsen your condition, because in the experience of not only research scientists but also anecdotal accounts, omega 6s contribute to inflammation, regardless of their proposed effect on sebum quality.

Alternativista experimented with linoleic acid and sebum quality and found no positive effects, if I recall correctly, except in topical application.

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(@alternativista)

Posted : 09/18/2014 9:38 am

I haven't memorized all the info I found, but I'm pretty sure that fat consumption does impact sebum composition. It affects your whole lipid profile, so why wouldn't impact your sebum. However,

 

1) fat I isn't the only way diet affects sebum composition. Stable blood sugar, healthy thyroid and other factors affect it as well. I made a list of things to do in the linoleic acid thread. Again, I didn't memorize it. That's why I write things down.

 

2) researchers don't believe that our deficiency is systemic and have identified a couple of enzyme mutations that may account for the deficiency in sebum. And that it should be addressed topically.

 

That said, there have been a couple of people that have reduced either oleic acid or all plant oils and got good results.

 

CVD has a fairly current thread about avoiding all added fats, I.e. Plant oils. And ndromeo had a long thread filled with research about sebum composition and oleic acid.

 

That's all well and good, and I agree in many cases. However, there is plenty of evidence that shows a causal link between omega 6s and inflammation. I'm not just saying that the omega 6s might not help - I'm saying that they will probably actively worsen your condition, because in the experience of not only research scientists but also anecdotal accounts, omega 6s contribute to inflammation, regardless of their proposed effect on sebum quality.

Alternativista experimented with linoleic acid and sebum quality and found no positive effects, if I recall correctly, except in topical application.

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(@quetzlcoatl)

Posted : 09/18/2014 9:39 am

Yes, which is what I said

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/18/2014 9:45 am

 

Well, we see what happens, I will give it time this year to alter my bodys lipid profile, get rid of that ridiculous amount of oleic acid and fill in linoleic acid. I will report my findings in here.. BTW my skin can't hold moisture well, maybe that's too because I haven't consumed enough linoleic acid. Omega-3's don't do nothing to skins moisture holding ability, only linoleic acid has been found to cure it.

 

 

Oh and btw, does anyone know how tell tell if safflower oil is high in linoleic acid or oleic acid? I always order everything from iHerb but all the safflower oils in there are high oleic and life flo brands doesn't say which one it is, maybe they don't even know because they won't reply to my query?

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(@quetzlcoatl)

Posted : 09/18/2014 9:48 am

Be sure to report back, I would like to know what happens.

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/18/2014 10:04 am

Be sure to report back, I would like to know what happens.

I sure will report back. This is exciting, my own little science project! These are the fats and amounts that I will consume every day, nothing else:

5 capsules Natural Factors Rx Omega-3 fish oils providing 2g EPA and 1g DHA

2 tbsp heritage products grapeseed oil providing 20g linoleic acid

+ some saturated fats from beef and regular eggs

These amount are gonna stay the same every day for the rest of this year and I will not add any other fats at any point. I estimate that it will take maybe three months before my bodys lipid profile has altered in a major way. I will start this next monday when I receive the grapeseed oil. I have taken that fish oil amount every day for years now plus 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil too, but I'm gonna drop that olive oil to 0 right now.

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410
(@alternativista)

Posted : 09/19/2014 8:55 am

Well, we see what happens, I will give it time this year to alter my bodys lipid profile, get rid of that ridiculous amount of oleic acid and fill in linoleic acid. I will report my findings in here.. BTW my skin can't hold moisture well, maybe that's too because I haven't consumed enough linoleic acid. Omega-3's don't do nothing to skins moisture holding ability, only linoleic acid has been found to cure it.

Oh and btw, does anyone know how tell tell if safflower oil is high in linoleic acid or oleic acid? I always order everything from iHerb but all the safflower oils in there are high oleic and life flo brands doesn't say which one it is, maybe they don't even know because they won't reply to my query?

napa valley Organics states it on the bottle.

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/19/2014 12:45 pm

Well, we see what happens, I will give it time this year to alter my bodys lipid profile, get rid of that ridiculous amount of oleic acid and fill in linoleic acid. I will report my findings in here.. BTW my skin can't hold moisture well, maybe that's too because I haven't consumed enough linoleic acid. Omega-3's don't do nothing to skins moisture holding ability, only linoleic acid has been found to cure it.

Oh and btw, does anyone know how tell tell if safflower oil is high in linoleic acid or oleic acid? I always order everything from iHerb but all the safflower oils in there are high oleic and life flo brands doesn't say which one it is, maybe they don't even know because they won't reply to my query?

napa valley Organics states it on the bottle.

No napa valley products in iHerb.. I'm going to use grapeseed oil as my linoleic acid source because that way I can be 100% sure that I will get high amounts of linoleic acid. Almost all the safflower oils today are high oleic acid, why oh whyyyy?

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(@acnewonderland)

Posted : 09/19/2014 2:42 pm

No napa valley products in iHerb.. I'm going to use grapeseed oil as my linoleic acid source because that way I can be 100% sure that I will get high amounts of linoleic acid. Almost all the safflower oils today are high oleic acid, why oh whyyyy?

why would the same oil suddnely change its erm ingredients? it is said tht safflower oil is linoleic acid so wtf now it isnt anymore? wth happened to it suddenly?

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/19/2014 10:56 pm

No napa valley products in iHerb.. I'm going to use grapeseed oil as my linoleic acid source because that way I can be 100% sure that I will get high amounts of linoleic acid. Almost all the safflower oils today are high oleic acid, why oh whyyyy?

why would the same oil suddnely change its erm ingredients? it is said tht safflower oil is linoleic acid so wtf now it isnt anymore? wth happened to it suddenly?

I don't know why they favor safflower oil high in oleic acid, but that's just the way it is. And I think this is were people make the mistake, they don't understand that there's two different versions of safflower oil and are propably using the high oleic acid version either topically or internally and that just makes acne worse. Anyway, I'm going to use grapeseed oil because there's just one version of it and it's guaranteed high linoleic acid. I don't trust the safflower oil brands, it seems that not all of them even know which version of oil they are selling.

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(@acnewonderland)

Posted : 09/20/2014 2:25 pm

this is bs, unless its from diff plants how cn there b 2 versions of it...

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(@eurasianaussie)

Posted : 09/25/2014 2:32 am

I've read alot of research about omega sixes and sebum quality, and most have said that internal consumption doesn't result in a change of sebum which i find weird... I definitely think you should give it a shot.

However, there HAS been heaps of research proving that the topical application of safflower and grape seed oil onto your skin changes/improves sebum quality. Apparently the oils are able to penetrate the skin cells itself and alter how it pumps out sebum.

Definitely look into it, especially since youre already going to be set with all the 'ingredients'.

Also if you only have papules, not cystic acne, I'm going to have to agree that its likely that internal fats aren't going to do much if at all..... Even though youre obviously very set on doing it anyways, which all the more power to you.

BUT I really think that due to the type of your acne, that you should research CERAMIDES.

Linoleic acid is the main component of the skin's ceramide.

This is one of the number one overlooked causes of superficial (not deep) acne, especially if you have used ahas, bhas (salicylic acid), benzoyl peroxide etc before

Hopefully after you read this and its relation to acne, that you'll be convinced to try topical treatment with lanoleic acid instead :)

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(@athleteman)

Posted : 09/26/2014 1:51 am

*Time for an awesome update!*

It's been about two weeks since I completely minimized my oral oleic acid intake and my skin is now light and bright as sunny day all day long! Before when I ate high amounts of oleic acid, my skin would turn darker and darker as the day went on but now, light all day long. My skin still get moderately oily as the day goes along, but my sebum has clearly changed it's composition, it stays light. I can't wait how perfect my skin gets as time goes by!

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