Could anyone please help with identifying what could be the root problem for my acne?
I'm male, 27 years old, acne since puberty. Around nose, mouth and on scalp. I have something opposite of cystic acne, pimples mostly show up on outer layer of skin.
Of all the tests I'v taken and doctors visited, only IgG4 food sensitivity panel show up that there's something wrong with me. High sensitivity to grains and gluten, dairy, few fruits and veggies. But as weird as it sounds, most of the time it feels like the food sensitivities are not the major factor here, there are times when I look even worse when on a "healthy" diet, eating only meat and veggies. As if food sensitivities are just a part of some bigger, yet unidentified.
If you eat lots of poultry and beef that isn't organic and grass-fed, you're also ingesting bad chemicals and antibiotics that can throw off your health, your gut and trigger breakouts. I hate chicken in particular, as well as eggs. My breakouts always seem to get worse when I eat lots of poultry. I just stick to grass-fed beef and fish now [fish is great for good Omega 3s].
Also, make sure you're not using an irritating toothpaste. If you shave, your razor could be irritating your skin and clogging your pores as well, so a toner could possibly help fix that.
7 hours ago, cloudydreamer said:If you eat lots of poultry and beef that isn't organic and grass-fed, you're also ingesting bad chemicals and antibiotics that can throw off your health, your gut and trigger breakouts. I hate chicken in particular, as well as eggs. My breakouts always seem to get worse when I eat lots of poultry. I just stick to grass-fed beef and fish now [fish is great for good Omega 3s].
Also, make sure you're not using an irritating toothpaste. If you shave, your razor could be irritating your skin and clogging your pores as well, so a toner could possibly help fix that.
Thanks for the reply! Hmm, yes, going to try excluding poultry/beef from my diet and see what happens. As for toothpaste - already using organic one and I don't use razor.
Unless you have some strange allergy, poultry is an extremely unlikely culprit. It shouldn't have any unique mechanisms to trigger acne.
Given your stated triggers (which resemble mine), I'd try experimenting with a lower carb diet. The things you've listed are typically high-carb. Even after removing them from your diet, it's pretty easy to inadvertently substitute other high-carb foods, which could explain your skin worsening in their absence. Carbs (sugars) are a definite trigger for some people, so it's worth investigating. There are known mechanisms by which they can affect some people's skin.
Hi,
It might be sugar spikes.. I know on myself. When ever I drink wAter I add pinch of cinnamon(Vietnamese/Saigon my fav) it keeps blood sugar even. Whatch what you eat on empty stomach.. Stick to organic dairy only!. it's the hormones in dairy/meat that triggers acne. Eat beans, quinoa, buckwheat, yams, kale. I highly advise to drink buttermilk/kefir 2 cups a day(separate from any meat) Learn how to control blood sugar and you are going to see a huge difference, I promise you!
Seeing that you have high sensitivity to gluten and dairy I'm almost 100% your acne can be cleared up by working on your gut health. I too had issues with acne around my chin/mouth and it cleared up pretty quickly when I started to heal my gut. Here is what I recommend.
Avoid:
Gluten and Dairy: Both are bad for digestive health and dairy is known to cause acne by messing with hormones and through other means.
Large meals and eating late at night: You're probably dealing with SIBO and these are known to be causes.
Stress: Also effects the gut negatively.
What to do
Herbal anti-biotics at night for 2 weeks. I recommend berberine, oregano oil, & red raspberry leaf tea at night. You can just try one if you are skeptical but I think taking all three would work best to kill the bad bacteria. Red raspberry leaf tea also helps regulate hormones.
Vitamins/Minerals:
Zinc Picolinate 30-40 mg per day, L-glutamine 500 mg, Both known to aid in healing the gut lining.
Optional but very beneficial:
Collegen Protein: Again helps rebuild gut lining
Acacia fiber: Helps feed good bacteria. Be careful not to introduce until after you are sure your SIBO is under control.
After a week or so when you notice you acne start to clear you will want to start slowly introducing probiotics into you diet. Great choices include: a high quality probiotics supplement (I like Garden of Life probiotics), Kefir (the bacteria should help with digestion but be careful if you are sensitive), sauerkraut, other fermented veggies, and raw chocolate. A quick google search will show you other good sources of probiotics.
Now the hard part will be keeping your gut healthy after you have gotten everything under control. I recommend taken the herbal antibiotics in cycles: one week on, one week off, for a month or so after you have everything under control. And a caution with the probiotic foods: too much too soon will make your gut problems worse. Make sure you implement probiotics veryslowly.
