Been eating healthy for years now, mainly to keep my body in shape. I used accutane 8 yrs ago and completely cleared my skin. I started breaking out again last year and am currently on antibiotics and a cream. I am changing my diet to completely clear my skin and just for overall health. Will post once in awhile what the results r.
Diet limitations are: anything sugary, most carbs and breads, anything greasy or fried and a few other things.
Diet consists of: salmon, sardines, oysters or herring almost everyday. Been trying to eat Some kind of seafood high in omega 3's everyday. I cook the salmon and oysters in olive oil, the others r canned.
I eat veggies of all kinds all day, especially carrots and things high in vitamin a. I eat steamed veggies from the freezer, as well as salads and all kinds of raw veggies. Only fat free ranch is used on the salads.
A bit of fruit for dessert and some v8 with fruit and veggie juice mixed. Dark fruits good for inflammation (blueberries, blackberries tart cherry juice and beets). Guess beets r a fruit, right?
Been eating nuts and seeds a lot, which I'm now seeing could b bad for acne. Peanuts, almonds and lots of pumpkin seeds, all no salt or low salt. Might limit it to mainly the pumpkin seeds, which r pretty much proven to b good for acne.
Been drinking green tea zero all day. Also got different kinds of green teas that I brew. I drink 1 cup of coffee a day and the rest is mainly bottled water and the green tea.
Drink 3 cloves of garlic and a spoonful of flaxseeds blended in v8 juice at night.
Supplements: saw palmetto, probiotics, garlic, hair skin and nail and melatonin at night.
They work as a natural antibiotic and to fight inflammation. I didn't even think about garlic until I read all the benefits to them. I blend them into v8 juice, it tastes like spaghetti sauce, mmmmm. Three cloves r what most recommended a day for health. That's 3 segments only, which isn't that much.
About 1 month in and I'm looking alright. No big zits at all, so that's good. I'm 5'11" and am weighing in at 147 lbs. could b a problem with trying to eat this diet and keeping on weight. My skin has a healthy tanned look to it, probably from all the carrots and beta carotene I've been eating. I also have pretty mild psoriasis that seems to have responded well to all the anti inflammatory foods I've been eating and drinking.
Still going 100%. Still oily with mild acne. My skin def has a tanned glow to it though, which I'm sure is the carrots. Diet is actually pretty easy to maintain. After a few months of this diet I should b able to say one way or the other if diet really does make much of a difference to acne.
Still at it. My skin doesn't look real bad, but not much different from before I started the diet. The diet is changing every day, but has a few main foods that I avoid. Dairy, meat, sugars, fried or greasy foods and simple carbs. I am eating cashews, almonds and eggs again. I need the protein and so many high protein foods are supposed to b "acne triggers" that I would have nothing to eat. Also, it can take 4 weeks before a zit pops up, so how can I accurately say if one food causes breakouts???????
There's not much else "holistically" I can do at this point. I'm leaning towards agreeing with most doctors on diet and acne. I think it plays a minor role, but genetics and environment account for about 90% of it.
Avoiding sugar is futile, as the body's primary fuel source is indeed sugar (carbon) - it's why we can also be incredibly addicted to the stuff. Especially the refined kind. And it's the refined sugar you want to steer clear of. Processed sugar is toxic to the human body. Sugar in its natural form, however, does not require insulin to be digested by the body, contrary to popular belief of that of diabetics. The other body's primary fuel source is oxygen (from the air we breath) mixed with carbon (sugar) in the form of simple sugars (carbohydrates) to form A.T.P (Adenosin Triphosphate). In other words, your body runs on A.T.P.
Starve yourself of sugar and the body goes into Ketosis, which basically then uses fat as its primary fuel source and can be very harmful to you. Ketosis can be observed in people with diabetes if they do not have enough insulin.
There is a R.D.A (Recommended Daily Allowance) of sugar (refined), however, you can consume as much simple sugar in the form of fruits as you want, as there is no set R.D.A. Interesting, huh? It sort of tells you what you really should be eating, doesn't it? Not my words, just the facts.
OP, diet is everything. I have 100% cleared my very persistent acne using nothing but diet and cod liver oil supplementation.
I'm not sure if you are doing this yet but AVOID VEGETABLE OIL. You will find most store bought nuts coated in cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, and other shitty oils. Buy only the plain raw ones. Cook in olive, coconut, bacon grease, or butter. Why are you avoiding meat? Meat does not cause acne.
I can relate to the weight loss thing because I initially lost a lot of weight adjusting my diet. The trick is to eat enough. Do you drink and smoke cigarettes? Those kill appetite. I quit all substances and now naturally crave 3000+ calories/day. Meat, eggs, avocados, butter, fish. Eat eat.
You are making some good decisions in addressing your diet. The dermatologists have it completely wrong. Doctors are beginning to look to diet, specifically Paleo diets to treat acne. See this study.
Don't listen to the nonsense. Follow your intuition. Your initial diet description sounded good as long as you are avoiding the insidious vegetable oil and avoiding sugar and milk in that coffee and tea.
I know it seems hard right now but this is the "cure." Society eats like shit.
^^^^nope, I rarely drink and don't smoke. most meat has hormones and most is really fatty and greasy. Docs actually say the hormones in meat make girls go through puberty earlier!!! I can't stand nuts without light salt and most has veg oil. I cut out so many bad foods that cashews will have to b allowed or I would go nuts pun intended 
OP, diet is everything. I have 100% cleared my very persistent acne using nothing but diet and cod liver oil supplementation.
I'm not sure if you are doing this yet but AVOID VEGETABLE OIL. You will find most store bought nuts coated in cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, and other shitty oils. Buy only the plain raw ones. Cook in olive, coconut, bacon grease, or butter. Why are you avoiding meat? Meat does not cause acne.
I can relate to the weight loss thing because I initially lost a lot of weight adjusting my diet. The trick is to eat enough. Do you drink and smoke cigarettes? Those kill appetite. I quit all substances and now naturally crave 3000+ calories/day. Meat, eggs, avocados, butter, fish. Eat eat.
You are making some good decisions in addressing your diet. The dermatologists have it completely wrong. Doctors are beginning to look to diet, specifically Paleo diets to treat acne. See this study.
Don't listen to the nonsense. Follow your intuition. Your initial diet description sounded good as long as you are avoiding the insidious vegetable oil and avoiding sugar and milk in that coffee and tea.
I know it seems hard right now but this is the "cure." Society eats like shit.
There is no 100% proof that diet is the cause for everyone that has acne. I've tried many diets over the years (including the paleo one you mentioned) and none of them did anything. Cod liver oil was completely useless for me as well, what a waste of money. I tried food eliminations and it did nothing. I eat clean anyway and it has no effect on how I look.
Besides, it's true that many people eat like shit and still have clear skin. I know people that eat nothing but fast food all week and drink soda yet they look healtheir than me. It's called being blessed with superior genetics, where one person can live healthier than the other yet the other person will still look better despite living like crap.
Why do you need 100% proof? For centuries there wasn't 100% proof that smoking caused cancer but it didn't change the fact that it does.
I know you want to believe that you can just eat whatever you want and it has no effect on your skin but it is nothing but wishful thinking. How could eating pizza and cake NOT affect your skin? They aren't real food. You can live in comfortable denial as long as you want. Medicine will never be the real answer.
Just because others can eat like shit and have clear skin doesn't prove anything. Not everyone gets fat from eating a standard western diet. Does it still cause obesity? Yes, it does. Does it still cause acne? Yes, it does.
No one is genetically programmed to get acne, diabetes, or obese. We have evolved selectively for hundreds of thousands of years to be extremely healthy. These are all modern day diseases of civilization and the sooner everyone faces the facts the better off they'll be. Superior genetics? Yet they are dumb enough to eat nothing but fast food and soda? I don't think so.
Good luck to you.
^^^^nope, I rarely drink and don't smoke. most meat has hormones and most is really fatty and greasy. Docs actually say the hormones in meat make girls go through puberty earlier!!! I can't stand nuts without light salt and most has veg oil. I cut out so many bad foods that cashews will have to b allowed or I would go nuts pun intended
You're just making excuses. Hormone free and organic meat is now widely available. Fat and grease is good for you. You can put salt on nuts without using vegetable oil. You can get plain raw cashews. It all depends on how bad you actually want results.
Hi Rittdk01!
Awesome job on eating a diet that is great for your health. I may have something that will help you with the weight loss issue.
I am an athlete, working out 5x a week, so it was very important that I was eating enough to maintain muscle/provide energy. My skin was getting sort of bad, so I knew I had to do something. I wanted to fix it INTERNALLY and figure out why my skin and acne was inflamed/ridded with toxins, etc so, like you, I changed my diet.
You HAVE to focus on a source of carbs, especially if you're having a problem maintaining your weight. Eat sweet potatoes, (not white potatoes) and lots of them. Eat squash, it's another good source of carbs. And make sure you're getting enough fats. GOOD fats. I used to eat peanut butter everyday, I stopped about 2 months ago, and its made a hell of a difference. Peanuts impair zinc absorption, thats why people with acne take zinc supplements and it magically helps their skin. Well, you might as well stop the problem from forming and just avoid them. So, good fats = avocado, (helps balance hormones) COCONUT OIL (helps balance hormones, fights bad bacteria in the gut, and gut issues are a common cause of acne) etc. I eat both of these things in a green smoothie every. single. morning. Also... I used to drink almond milk everyday. And I wasn't seeing many changes. Took it out about a month ago, and it seems to have helped a lot. I looked at the ingredient list on my almond milk.... Yikes. Enough said about that. Also, was taking a supplement that had soy lecithin in it, eliminated that around the same time. All of these small changes combined has really helped. Also taking certain vitamins seems to have made a huge difference.
Lastly, just keep going. Keep researching, keep reading. Have a food journal. I am 19 years old and have improved my acne tremendously these past few months by completely changing my diet. I look much better, much leaner thanks to this diet. However, I am healthier in other aspects such as my blood pressure lowering (I know I'm 19, still had semi high blood pressure), healthier bowel movements (lol sorry) and my acne is starting to rapidly decrease and be less inflamed. There are so many other benefits, and I'm starting to truly believe what we put in our bodies is a direct reflection of how we look and feel. Keep us updated, I would like to know how you're doing.
Lot of good stuff in that post.
^^^I still drink V8 and juices from Kroger, but use my juicer mostly..
Im adding 5-HTP, St Johns Wort and SAMe to my supplement regime. Not really sure if Im supposed to take all of them but Im going to do some research Its for depression and mental health. Im not particularly depressed, but I thought I would like to feel as good as possible. How does one know when too many supplements are too much?
Now taking:
minocycline 100mg
zinc 50 mg
probiotics
garlic 1000mg
saw palmetto 1800mg
melatonin 3mg few times week if i cant sleep
going to b adding:
5-HTP
St. Johns Wort
SAMe
well, my skin is nearly blemish and redness free. I have a zit thats almost gone on my right cheek and a tiny zit on my jawline to the left. Best my skin has looked since last year. I dont know if its the diet, antibiotics, ziana or a combination. Who knows, I just hope it stays this good. Still going 100%
I have several moles that might look like zits. Yep, those r scars from before I used accutane. Y I get so nervous when I break out. Little redness in the picture, but I literally took it a few minutes after a shower. Theres BP on my skin too.