No milk/No Dairy : Dairy Free Diet

I promised myself that if this worked, I would write a review for others who have struggled with acne because these acne blogs have always provided me with a significant source of comfort during the my many years of breakouts and suffering. I've had moderate/severe acne for years- started developing it when I was around 12 (I'm now 28), and it just never seemed to stop. I've also been going to dermatologists since I was 12, because my parents were always really supportive of helping me try to find a cure for the acne. I have tried pretty much everything out there - various antibiotics, salicylic acid (never seemed to do anything for my skin), BP (bleached the sh*t out of everything and made my face feel like a brillo pad), retin-A micro, proactiv, murad, supplements, laser treatments etc. The list just goes on and on. Finally when I was 23 I finally decided to go on accutane and something finally worked! However, it came back. Went on it for another 6 months, and yet the acne came back again after about ten months of no breakouts. Eventually, after switching dermatologists, I was put on spironolactone which finally kept my deep cystic acne at bay, however I would still get regular whiteheads and pustules every few days or so. I've been on spironolactone now for almost two years and a couple months ago my skin took a turn for the worst and the cystic acne would not stop coming. I was breaking out bad, with the type of cysts that will leave scars no matter what you do to help flatten the damn things down. It seems that the spironolactone had finally stopped working, even though I've been on 150mg, which is a pretty high dosage all things considered. All of that being said, there was one thing I hadn't tried, going dairy free. For some reason, I think a part of me has been believing that my acne can't be the result of something diet related because why in the hell does everybody else I know have no acne, but can eat cheese all the live long day!? The truth is we are all different, but some of us are just more greatly affected by the HORMONES in DAIRY. I stopped eating all dairy, and poof, NO ACNE, and I mean NONE. It literally happened over night. and no, I am not exaggerating. I have not had so much as a single pimple,like not even a tiny, little, surface-level, zit since cutting the dairy out. I could actually cry from relief- and also because I'm so mad at myself for not trying this sooner; If i had, then perhaps I wouldn't have the hundreds of acne scars on my face that I do now. However, all that matters to me now is learning how to live a dairy free life and regain my confidence back! I know this post is long, but I felt the need to give you some of my back story because I know how others might be reading this and thinking that I only had surface-level acne, but that is not the case. If you have deep cystic acne, please try this. You owe it to yourself. I know cheese is amazing, but at least try to see if dairy is what is affecting your skin so that you can regain control over your body and health. The most frustrating thing about acne for me has been the fact that I've felt so helpless- but not anymore!!

I had moderate acne for the past year. Was put on Differin about 9 months ago and used/continue to use it every night as directed. While it helped clear up the bigger, deeper pimples, I was still breaking out with small whiteheads and small pimples all over. I heard that cutting out dairy helped some people, so I decided to just try going completely vegan. It's been almost 2 months now and my skin is nearly perfect, with only 2 healing spots leftover from old pimples. I noticed results within 2 weeks of cutting out dairy and meat. I can't guarantee that this is what helped me and not the Differin, so I do continue to use that as well and keep up with my face routine as normal. I definitely recommend giving up dairy for 2 months just to see if it would work for you. It was so worth it to me.

I'm 44. I have had acnes and cysts since 11. I read about diary causing acne online. I stopped taking in any diary products for 5 weeks. My skin now is so clear. I had my facial treatment last week, my beautician was so surprised how clear my skin is. I had had my facial treatment in February. My face was full of white spots and several cysts. I wish I had known the magic of diary free diet, I didn't have to suffer from acnes for 33 years.

I came online to share my experience with pimples and a dairy free diet. I started getting pimples in 7th grade because I guess that's what happens when you first hit puberty. My forehead and nose were always covered in whiteheads, blood, and scars up until the start of 8th grade. My hair which covered my forehead at the time contributed to the amount of pimples I had. So that was puberty, when my hormones were going crazy. During my years in high school I would get pimples here and there. Sometimes it got pretty bad, sometimes I got lucky and no pimples appeared on my face. My parents brought me to a dermatologist and he prescribed me a cream, forgot the name. I used the cream for about a month, but the only difference was my face would become super dry and I would still get pimples. Sure, the cream does dry out the pimples and it would go away, but it's very uncomfortable, hurts when making certain facial expressions, etc. I stopped using it since then. Once I started college, I was subjected to "college food". There is a A LOT of cheese, A LOT of cheese. Now I love cheese and other dairy products, which is why I ate so much of it. I started breaking out on my nose, chin, and around my jawline, and I had no freaking idea why. I washed my face twice a day using Cerave, a facial cleanser that moisturizes your face, and I tried my best not to touch my face. Despite my efforts, I still kept getting pimples. At this point I'm pretty annoyed, so I look up possible causes of my pimples and I came across the dairy free diet. Apparently dairy products contain growth hormones that cause pimples. During winter break of 2016-2017 I went back home from college and I strictly avoided dairy products. Guess what happened? NO MORE PIMPLES, except for one or two every week. I kept track of this and I wish I had pictures to prove it. In January I returned to college, still strictly avoiding dairy. I go to the gym regularly during the semester, but when I am home for the breaks I don't go to the gym, which means I do not take whey protein either. Once I was taking whey protein again since I'm back at college, I started breaking out along my chin, nose and jawline about the same way I did before I stopped eating dairy. Whey protein is derived from milk and contains growth hormones too, based on the research I did. I cut out whey protein and ever since then I have been nearly acne free with the exception of 1-2 small pimples a week. It's been about 3 months since I went dairy free and cut out whey protein from my diet. My friends, girlfriend and family, even those who have not seen me in a long time, have told me that my skin looks a lot clearer. I am also much more confident about how I look. My acne scars are slowly going away so I just have to wait a couple more months for them to go away. It's easy to go dairy free because we don't really need dairy in our diets. We can get more nutritional value from other sources, such as soymilk. Hope this review helps people. I was excited to share my experience because I am going through the dairy free diet right now. It's probably the best decision I've made so far and easy to incorporate into my lifestyle. Because of my findings I am more skeptical of people who prescribe medications. I'm pretty sure they keep things from their patients/clients for more money. Anyway, good luck!

I had terrible nodular and pustular acne all through my late teens and twenties and my dermatologist prescribed everything from antibiotics to creams to lotions. I eventually went on Accutane and it went away only to come back 6 months later. My doc put me on another course. Same result. The Accutane cleared the acne up but after it was discontinued the acne came back. I went on Accutane several more times. This is extremely rare as I have come to find out. My derms at the time said that diet was not the cause of my acne and that studies showed no link. The one diet factor that was consistent through all this was high consumption of milk. I was consuming up to 1/2 gallon on an almost daily basis unknowingly driving the acne problem. In my late thirties I was reading online some people cutting out milk to help their acne. At the time I was getting by on antibiotics to keep the acne under control and drinking less milk because I was drinking other things like Gatorade and orange juice. I decided to experiment and cut out milk from my diet and anything containing it. Against doctor's orders, I stopped the antibiotics. Low and behold, the acne became almost non existent except for some stray whiteheads every now and again. I kept this milk free diet for several months with great results. Over the years, I have consumed milk to see what happens and within 48 hours I am breaking out in pimples only to be cleared again by stopping the milk. I have no doubt now that in certain people milk can really aggravate and drive acne. I have a huge regret though in knowing how many dollars I could have saved in doc visits and medications not to mention the months of chapped lips and side effects on Accutane if my derm had suggested a diet connection. I despise derms now who swear up and down that diet never plays a role in anybody's acne.

I always had clear skin until I hit my late 20s a few years ago. For the past three years or so I suffered from moderate acne. People around me said it's not that bad but when you hardly had any problem with skin your whole life having 3 to 4 cystic acne plus PIH from previous ones on your face at all times is a major concern. I tried everything - all kinds of skincare products, different makeup, antibiotics, extraction at dermatologists' office, etc. Nothing was permanent and some made it worse. Two weeks ago I went dairy-free thinking there's nothing to lose! I can't say my skin cleared up right away because I tried new moisturizer during the first week, which was disastrous. It took about a week for that disaster to fade away. However, I am very happy to say that I have no active acne since then! I still have PIH that is quite noticeable but I am sure it will go away in a few weeks of time. My skin is the best that it has been in three years. I intend to maintain dairy-free diet for a few more months and start experimenting with small amount of dairy products here and there to see how my skin reacts. I understand there is no guarantee that this will work for everybody but it is surely worth trying.

I'm moderately lactose intolerant but I was eating the "healthy" dairy products: Greek yogurt, butter, cheeses, etc. I was also getting about 3 or 4 new cysts on my cheeks a day and my back and chest were a disaster. In January 2016 I cut out all dairy products. My back and chest acne cleared within *days* - like three days at the most - and I haven't had any cystic acne there since. My cheeks improved a TON but not to 100%. I avoid all "significant" forms of dairy. If I eat a dairy product, I get a new cyst within 12 hours within a very narrow zone of my cheeks, so I know they are related. Even my dermatologist tells men with stubborn acne to avoid dairy because of the hormones. Yes, it means cutting out pizza and ice cream but my clear skin is worth it! This got me started on the road toward solving the root cause of acne.

I am 30 years old and had never suffered with bad skin, even in my teenage years I had great skin. However, I was on BC pill for approx. 8 years from age 19-27 but then at 27 decided I wanted to give myself a break. I quickly lost around 20lbs without changing my liefestyle / diet at all, BUT my skin started breaking out like crazy - I suffered with Perioral Dermatitis as well as acne all around my jaw / chin area. After over 2 years of trying all sorts of topical things I decided I'd had enough and read into it a little bit more. It screamed hormonal issues to me, seeing as though the problems arose when I stopped BC pill and the acne was centred around my jaw / chin, so no amount of topical treatments will really help the issue. I came across lots of people saying cutting dairy really helped... well, I am three weeks in to cutting dairy (changed to soya milk and olive oil spread (bertolli)) and my skin has never looked better, I have gone from having lots of deep cystic breakouts (where one would clear and another would pop up next to it on a daily basis) to having pretty much nothing and the clearest skin since I was a teenager! I have also read that it doesn't work for some people, but I would definitely say it is worth a shot! As I am getting married next year and was constantly fretting about the pictures etc. I can't express how happy I am!!! :)

I've struggled with acne, especially cystic acne, since I was a freshman in high school. I spent years experimenting with dermatologist products, I tried every face wash, astringent, moisturizer, spot treatment and sunscreen on the market. Nothing really worked, and many products burned my skin chemically. One day I came across a blog about dairy being the culprit of acne, so I gave it a shot. I cut out all dairy for three weeks, and the results were incredible. My skin immediately stopped breaking out, and the acne that was there dried up completely. After experimenting, I now know which foods cause breakouts, and which I can get away with eating from time to time. There are SO many dairy free options; yogurt, milk, ice cream, cheese, cream cheese...so eliminating the real thing wasn't impossible. However, I will cheat occasionally with real ice cream or cheese, but I know the consequences now. I encourage all of you to try it, even if its just for a week! It's so nice knowing the cause of my breakouts.

For 8 years I suffered from acne during the time that I was pregnant and breastfeeding, so my acne could not be treated with medicines. I tried everything that I could until I finally gave up 100% of dairy products, and anything made or cooked with dairy and within a couple of weeks the cysts on my face flatted and the acne went away. I was acne-free for about two years. I recently went on and off the BC pill (due to excessive hair loss) and have suffered another bout with severe acne. I think that becoming vegan would help my skin even more, but on the dairy-free diet, I've become so thin (I'm over 5'5" and 100 pounds), that I think that I might wither away on the vegan diet.