1 month in, and I feel pretty good to be honest.
33/M. I have suffered with acne all my life to some degree. Originally joined this website in 2002 when my acne was really effecting my social life (16/17years old) I'd been to my doctor about it and he prescribed my some pills (I have no idea what they were) which I took for around 6 months. They did nothing to help my acne, but absolutely rotted my stomach and gave me diarrhoea. I stopped using them and started using UK based products similar to Dan's Regimen when I got here. After a while I got my acne down to something I'd describe as mild and I could live with it. I'd occasionally get a big inflamed pustule that would last a week, but they were infrequent and I thought nothing of it. I'd just BP the hell out of them and keep my fingers crossed.
Flash forward to around mid December last year, I was getting some HUGE inflamed and large pustules/whiteheads around my chin and lower lip area... it was pretty bad.just a constant stream of them. One would go down, and 2 more would pop up, sometimes double whiteheads!I did my usual thing of avoiding as much social contact as possible (Which is hard with a fiance at Christmas), I even took a few days off work going into January as it was so bad. , I looked in the mirror after waking up and I just wanted to cry. Why was this happening? I took decent care of my skin. I cleansed morning and evening, gently! I used BP and I moisturised. I thought about the food I'd been eating recently. It was Christmas, and I'd been going hard at it on the food and booze for a while now. I came back to this wonderful place, I needed help badly. I clicked on the 'Diet and Holistic Health' Subforum for thefirst timein my 15 year tenure on this website. My mind was blown.
I'm 33 now, and I'd say for the last 25 years of my life, I've eaten at least 4 pieces of bread each day. porridge with milk, I'd drink 3-4 coffee's most days, all with skimmed milk. I regularly consumed pasta and rice. Chips, Pastries, Pizza, Burgers a TON of cheese, fried foods, (Present day edit* Bagels/ French bread and French bloomers when my acne was at its worst,Beer by the gallon, I eat that stuff weekly by the bucket load. Another thing I never thought of was that during the day, I'd often have bad stomach cramps and sudden bowel movements. This was happening regularly over the last 6 months.
I cut it all out.
In the first 2 weeks I lost weight. I didn't know what I could really eat! I was living off Broccoli. chicken and sweet potato. I eventually came across Quinoa and it's my favourite thing. It goes with everything. I use it in porridges with cococnut milkand it's a great side for all dishes. bought an electric steamer and am enjoying veg for the first time in my life! Currently eating all meats except pork sausage. All fish, Tons of Kale, Sweet Potato and pretty much all veggies (Have been lookinginto FODMAPS so avoiding Onion and Mushroom), Also eating blueberries, banana, Coconut Oil, EVOO, Eggs, Pumpkin Seeds, Almonds Using almond milk to have the occasional coffee and having a few squares of dark chocolate here and there. feeling full after every meal. Drinking Green Tea. Lots of Water. Supplementing Omega 3, Vit d and Zinc. I like to cook, so trying all of these new foods has been great for me. I don't plan on cutting everything out forever, and I will start experimenting with some stuff in a few weeks.
Overall, after a month I'd say my acne has improved for the better. I am still getting the occasional spot, but the ones I've had have been smaller, and quicker to heal. Much less whiteheads too. my skin complexion is also noticeably better. I have a few scars from the rough breakout over Christmas. Thy tend to look red if I get a spot coming anywhere near where they were.but I'm hoping this will lessen as times goes on. No more huge inflamed pustules though, which is wonderful! On the whole there seems to be less Sebum too.
My cleaning Routine is
2x a day
Cleanser: Quinoderm: BP and Salyclic Acid Facewash
In addition to my acne, I've also found my general mood and stress levels have greatly improved by this diet change. I also have felt encouraged to start exercising and doing DDP Yoga/ Upper body workouts again and I've even started doing some meditation/breathing techniques to help with relaxation and stress management. I've cut down on the boozemassivelytoo. Overall I just feel more balanced and happier.
I'm no way out of the woods yet and I'm sure there will be many more bumps to come, but I Just wanna say that this place has helped me so much.To all the beautiful people here that add so much knowledge and theirtime. You are amazing. God bless you all. Never give up. I wont.
TLDR:
Eat less White bread, rice, pasta, wheat and Gluten in General
Eat Low Glycemic Index/Load Carbs, (Sweet Potato, Quinoa) (look this up)
Eat more Veg andGreens (Kale, Broccoli, Carrot etc)
Eat Low GI fuits which are high Antioxidant (Berries, apples, Grapes, Orange, peach)
Cut down on processed sugars
Eat Grass fed Meat if you can
Drink Almond/Cocnut milk instead of Diary
Drink lots of water
Cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil/Coconut oil
Eggs, Nuts and the above Oils are good fats**
**If you have an intolerance to any the above, they will not work for you
6 and a bit weeks update...
Things are going great. my skin over the last week has been the best it's been in a long time.
No new cysts forming and again, the last few spots I did get healed much quicker than previous.
As before, my general mood is much healthier and the added exercise I'm getting helps with the stress and overall general wellbeing.
I'll keep posting updates, even if no-one reads them!
Wow! I'm thinking about doing an elimination diet from Monday.
Dairy, mayonnaise, chocolate, coffee, tomatoes, avocadoes. I suspect these foods make my skin break out. I have stayed away from dairy and coffee for a week now and it has been a huge improvement! Enemy nr. 1 is dairy - my pores get inflamed so quickly just after one latte or a couple of pieces of cheese. Luckily there are some alternatives: I eat soy yoghurt in the mornings and will try vegan cheese tonight.
I want to eliminate the foods for 4 weeks and then reintroduce the back again and see what happens. I eat tomatoes, chocolate (85%), mayonnaise and avocadoes almost every day, it's scary to stop eating those foods!!
give it a go. you may find it helps.
I celebrated 8 weeks gluten and dairy free on April 2nd. this day coincided with a few of my friends staying the weekend. I thought this would be the best time to experiment. I ate 2 large white flour bread rolls with bacon and sausage, 6 slices of pizza and handfuls of pastry snacks like sausage rolls and pasties and cakes.
sure enough, a few days later, my skin isn't looking so good again. nothing major, but I can feel/see a difference. no huge spots at this stage so I'll keep my fingers crossed.
time to cut that stuff out again!
I'll report back shortly.
OK, so it's been about a week since I last posted.
We've been having some nice weather the last week, (I live in the UK) so I've been able to get out in the garden. I've gotten a little tan which is helping my complexion and makes any spots look less noticeable. I'm gonna start slowing down my Vitamin D supplements because of this if the nice weather stays, although it's cloudy today.
My post friend glutinous weekend binge cleared pretty quickly which was nice. I have got 2 active spots currently but they're not large by any means and I'm confident they'll be gone soon
. I'm noticing that the spots I do get rarely come to a head anymore, which is cool. I mentioned before That I used to have the occasional spots on my shoulders, back and chest, but I've been clear in these areas for 2 months now!
in terms of my diet, I've been pretty good since my buddies left. I picked up some gluten/wheat free cookies the other day and whilst I know they're jam packed full of sugar, they were so good to eat over a few days. I also grabbed some fried chicken fillets at the hot counter one day when I felt hungry. no big episodes after these things so I can't complain. Apart from that, I've been pretty good. I'm going to a family gathering for my Fiances Grandad on Sunday so I'm sure I'll be dabbling in some problematic foods there.
Ideally, I'd like to put on a couple of pounds so I'm gonna try to up my calorie intake a little.
I'll report back as I go.
much love!
Thanks for updating 
My face is still doing quite well on a strict diet I'm only 13 days in so no dabbling on any problem foods for awhile. BIG test will be when my next period comes in the beginning of March so we shall see! For now, I'm feeling blessed for another clear free day!!
1 week update.
So my girlfriends, Grandad's 90th Birthday was on Sunday. At his request we ordered a ton of Miss Millies (KFC type place) Chicken and Fries. The beer was in full flow, so I ended up devouring 2 boxes of Fried chicken and Fries, I also gulped down 2 brown bread rolls with butter along with it.
When we got home that night, it was kinda late and I was kinda drunk, so I didn't feel like cooking. We ended up ordering a Papa Johns Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza and a warm Cookie Pie as a dessert. I ate about 4 slices of Pizza and 2 pieces of the Cookie pie... It was a day of terrible (but delicious) food. I was conscious about it during every bite, but damnit, it was like crack cocaine to me at the moment.
Up until the sunday, my skin was the same it's been for the last several weeks -pretty good, But today I am feeling a cysttype spot in the usual place under my lip and I do have 2 tiny spots that have already come to heads and gone. I have to think it's down to my Sunday Funday. I will admit I have had a piece of Cookie pie the last 2 days as I didn't want throw it out, but I'm back on the wagon as of today and will keep my fingers crossed that this big boy under my lipdoesn't hang around too long. I'm a little bit worried as I have an after work gathering on Friday which involves a nice Steak restaurant and another heavy session on the beer. I'm just praying they have a sweet potato option instead of chips/fries.
See you guys in a bit! Much love.
. So I went out after work with a few colleagues last Friday to a steak restaurant. I checked the menu before hand and pretty much everything had Gluten in it. I ended up having a steak with sweet potato fries, onion loaf and a salad with blue cheese and Stilton. washed down with several pints of craft beer.
A few days later, I had the familiar tingling and redness under my lip. I prepared for the worst but as of today, it hasn't come to anything at all, although there is still a little redness there but that is fading. main point being, no cysts! that seems to be the thing with me now.. just redness, rather than spots.
thought I'd posted my daily eating plan too just to give some people an idea
breakfast. - Quinoa porridge made with Almond Milk and cinnamon. blue berries, almonds and pumpkin seeds. (1/4 table spoon of Golden syrup)
mid morning snack - Strawberry, raspberry, Apple, black grapes
lunch - Chicken breast (cooked in coconut oil) quinoa, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, boiled egg
Snack - almonds, cashews pumpkin seeds
coffee with Almond milk
Dinner - chicken breast/Turkey/salmon, quinoa, sweet potato, kale, carrots, broccoli
2 squares on 85% dark chocolate (not every day)
I am eating some vegan cheese now and again too.
I need to start putting some. more weight on whilst keeping my low GI/ low gluten/ low dairy diet. I will start adding a 1/4lb burger to my evening meals and may start eating more than 1 egg a day too.
Onwards and upwards!
Peace!
So yesterday marked 3 months of my diet. As I've said, I've not had any large pustules or cysts at all during this time. I am getting the occasional spot, but they go down super quick and never seem to come to a head.
I've tried to up my calories this last week. I've been eating more eggs, beef and coconut oil.
nothing major to report at the minute, but I'm so happy with my progress to this point.
for anyone struggling, I'd seriously recommend a low Glycemic, low gluten/dairy/sugar diet. it has truly amazed me.
much love
Wow thanks for posting your updates! I too have been doing this diet, has not been nearly three months so far, but the results are great! I also ate exactly pretty much what you ate for the bigger part of my life, i feel like the abuse of wheat and dairy (basically what i ate all day everyday, oh and white potatoes) has contributed to my acne persisting into adulthood.
Question though, why are you avoiding pork sausages specifically?
so as I mentioned the other day, my issue at the minute seems to be redness rather than spots themselves.
over the last week, I've added in more amounts of beef, vegan cheese and cashews. I've also started eating a bowl of fruit (sliced apple and a handful of Raspberries, black grapes, strawberry and blackberries) about 2 hours after my morning quinoa porridge.
I also changed up the salad bags I use and noticed that the brand I'm buying contains quite a lot of beetroot which is high(ish) GI so I'm probably gonna switch that up.
. I got the tiniest of whiteheads this morning. it's only the size of a pin head so nothing to worry about. Just trying to work out if any of the above changes are causing the redness
onwards and upwards!
much love
Hey guys,
Nearly a month since my last update and it's been just over 4 months since I started my journey.
I've been pretty good with my diet since. I've eaten out/at friends a few times where I've eaten things I'd normally try to avoid, and I'm finding that as long as this doesn't happen too often and I stick to my ways on the regular, I'm ok.
The only notable issues I've had were a tiny spot became much worse due to my own actions... I stayed at a friends, and in a drunken stupor, fell asleep on a pillow that was absolutely matted in his Cat's hair. The small spot I had on my jaw seemed to turn into something much bigger. But I got it under control in a short time. The other was a small whitehead on my neck, that I aggravated whilst shaving, but again, it didnt last long. Aside from these things, it's been pretty easy going. The red marks I talked about last month seem to be getting better and any whiteheads I get are pin sized and gone in a day. Not a single cyst or large/inflamed pustule in 4 months!
typical day as follows..
Breakfast:
Quinoa/Almond Milk porridge with chopped almonds, pumpkin seeds, blueberries and cinnamon
2 hours later:
Apple, Peach, Small handfuls of Strawberry, Raspberry, Black grapes, Blackberries, blueberries
Lunch:
Chicken Breast (baked in coconut oil) Quinoa, Lettuce, boiled egg, hanfdful cherry tomatoes, cucumber, redwine vinegar
Snacks:
Boiled eggs ,Almonds, Pumpkins seeds, Cashews, 2 squares Dark Chocolate
Dinner:
Chicken Breast/Salmon/Beef/Turkey, boiled egg, Quinoa, Sweet Potato, Kale, Broccoli, Carrot (Veg all steamed)
I have been mixing in a few gluten free bread rolls and a few pork sausges now and again too (Cant help myself)
Supplements;
Vitamin C and Zinc
Omega 3 fish oil
Green Tea
Vitamin D (although when it's sunny I do not take)
Drinks:
I try to drink at least 2.5 litres of water
2 or 3 cups of. De-caf green tea
1 coffee with almond milk (2 on a weekend)
Usually a few light beers or glasses of red wine
Skin Care:
AM: Shower inlukewarm water with Quinoderm Facewash/ CerAve Moisturiser
PM: Lukewarm wash in Quinoderm Facewash/ 5% BP/ CerAve moisturiser
I can't believe it took 10 plus years before I figured out what helps, I don't believe I'll ever be acne free, but this lifestyle change sure does minimize the effects for me.
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Hi,
I recently found this study you might find interesting, it adds weight to the low GI/GL theory.
