Hey guys. I've been lurking on this website for so long, and I promised myself that if I ever found a cure for my acne, I'd share it. Thankfully I did, so here you go.
For the past few years I've been really messing with my diet (do not recommend). My acne started getting worse as I was dieting, and no matter how I changed my diet, it did not go away - it only got worse. So yesterday I made an excel sheet detailing each diet and every symptom I had while on that diet. A few things stood out to me clearly (if only I had done this months ago!).
LONG STORY SHORT: I think a lack of calcium causes acne.
I know there are already so many theories out there. I even saw one user on here explaining why calcium is the cause of acne. I just thought I'd back this theory up and explain my own experiences. Even if calcium isn't your answer, maybe this post will encourage you to analyze your diet to figure out your own cure.
Basically, up until 2014 I was getting calcium from milk, yogurt, and cheese all the time. Then I started the paleo diet, where I was eating NO dairy, much more meat, very few grains, and more fruit/vegetables. This is when the acne started. I went back to eating a regular diet without the dairy, but my skin didn't improve. Then in 2015/2016 I went on a low fat vegan diet with no dairy. My acne was as bad as ever. At this point I didn't know what to do, so I just gave up and started eating whatever I wanted, including dairy. This was also around summertime, so I was getting more vitamin D along with calcium. Lo and behold my skin started drastically improving. It's currently not perfect, but I noticed that the more calcium and vitamin D I get, the better it looks.
Like I said, I analyzed every little detail about my health, and the only correlation with the acne is a lack of calcium. So I'm sure it's not about high/low fat/carb or stress or fiber. If you guys want, I can upload the excel sheet.
The thing about calcium is that it needs vitamin D to be absorbed, and I think magnesium and vitamin K help your body deal with it. (for the record, every time I eat leafy greens, which are high in vitamin K and A, my skin looks worse). I tried taking a magnesium supplement once, but it just gave me an upset stomach.
Also, this is beside the point, but I also noticed that my mental health and grades were by far the best while I was eating more meat on the paleo diet.
I think the calcium somehow affects our hormones. I've only seen studies on how estrogen affects calcium absorption, but I never see any on how calcium levels affect hormones. This is a long story, and would have to be explained in a different post, but I think adequate calcium improves thyroid function, which affects so many other things.
So there you go. I don't know if I'm going to just stick to high-calcium foods, or take a supplement, but I'm happy I found my cure!
I've recently found this to be the case for me too. I think dairy makes me break out, but avoiding dairy without making up for the loss in calcium also makes me break out. My sleep also gets TERRIBLE when I cut out dairy, which I'm finding out is from lack of calcium. I don't think calcium is THE CURE or anything, but I think there is a delicate interplay between calcium, magnesium and the fat soluble vitamins that has a whole lot to do with insulin sensitivity, hormone balance, and skin health. Most people with PCOS lack calcium, and while not all, or even most, of us here have PCOS, the link to insulin senitivity and hormones is worth noting.
I think it's become popular to tout Magnesium and Vitamin D and shun Calcium, but Calcium is so important. I used to get results from Vitamin D and magnesium, but at this point, both of them actually make me break out and magnesium even gives me muscular tension! So many people have told me to take magnesium for relaxing the muscles, but actually it has the opposite effect for me, and CALCIUM actually makes me relax. Go figure. It's a pretty clear sign that all of these vitamins and minerals are important; they just need to be in the right proportions. I think being dairy free and taking magnesium and vitamins D & K2 was the worst thing I ever did for my skin. The thing is, I think those nutrients are actually vital for clear skin, but if you're low in calcium, you're actually just pushing an imbalance. I'm curious to try them again once I spend some time getting my calcium levels up to snuff.
So, question is: what are the best non-dairy sources of dietary calcium, and what are the best calcium supplements(without added D, K, etc.)?
Supposedly miso helps with calcium absorption too, and I've always found it to be beneficial to my skin.
Also, if you're having problems with leafy greens, it may be due to the oxalates which interfere with mineral absorption, especially calcium. What I like to do is boil my greens for a minute or two, drain/drythem, and then sautee them or just mix them with olive oil and garlic and eat as is. Greens are a great source of minerals if you deal with the oxalates, so I wouldn't avoid them.
On 10/30/2016 at 6:12 PM, bidgood said:So, question is: what are the best non-dairy sources of dietary calcium, and what are the best calcium supplements(without added D, K, etc.)?
I've been wondering the same thing. The only one I know of is small fish that still contain bones. The bones are so tiny, they are not hard at all - you don't even know you're eating them. But the fish itself is gross. White beans are an okay source. Other than that, I don't know of any 
I wonder what people do/did when growing up without dairy.
Personally, I'm afraid of taking supplements, so I've just been trying to eat a lot of dairy. I once tried taking a calcium/magnesium/zinc/vitamin d supplement and I felt so weird after, so I'm not doing that again lol.
Also, thanks for the tips about the greens! I had no idea about oxalates.
To go off the thing you said about hormone balance - (sorry if this is tmi haha) but ever since I started eating much more calcium-rich food in the last month, my last period was a little more normal! What's funny is we always hear dairy is bad for hormone health because of the cow hormones in it. Don't get me wrong, the estrogen in dairy is for sure not good, but I guess the calcium outweighs the extra estrogen?
I also forgot to put in my last post that my digestion got terrible with dieting, and in the past couple of months has drastically improved.
