No milk/No Dairy : Dairy Free Diet

Had acne for a decade. Since i eliminated dairy from my diet it took just 2 weeks for my back acne to clear!! Substitute your milk for almond milk and your whey protein for vegan blend, or high quality izolate since it has considerably less lactose than concetrate.

Eliminating dairy completely from my diet has cleared my acne 95%. For a while I had eliminated all dairy except butter, which I liked to cook with. However, I found that even butter was behind my severe back acne. In my view, the key is to make sure that everything that you are ingesting is free of dairy and milk products. When I go out to eat, I make sure that the dishes that I order do not have dairy, or I go to a vegan restaurant to be 100% sure. I've had moderate to severe acne since my teenage years (I'm now 28), so such an unpleasant dietary change I am willing to do for clear skin.

If you are struggling with acne wether it be light, moderate or severe I STRONGLY suggest you go milk/dairy/meat free JUST FOR 6 MONTHS so you can see a difference. If it has no effect on your skin, then maybe dairy isn't a factor in your acne. For me, I went vegan one month ago and my acne COMPLETELY VANISHED. I am eating a lot of organic fruits and vegetables and nothing that comes in a package. I've been struggling with acne for as long as I can remember and I know for a fact going vegan helped tremendously. I was also using the Indian Healing clay mask (with AVC) and I was drinking A LOT OF TEA. Green tea, white tea, black tea, etc. I hope all of you at least try this method, It has been a life saver for me!

I suffered from severe acne starting in high school, and it continued into my undergraduate career. I'm now 26 and acne free with the best skin I've ever had. I even get compliments from strangers! My acne was so bad, I would want to stay home from school so people could not see my face. I was so embarrassed, I would take being sick to stay home. I'm sure my parents knew the real reason, but they went along with it anyway. The amount of times I went to the dermatologist is uncountable and the number of medications I took to clear my skin is enormous. I have taken several types of daily antibiotics over the course of yeas that I am paying for still today in the form of several digestive problems. If your are taking antibiotics for acne, please, please, please, try and discontinue! They are pointless and will cause so many terrible side effects. I was becoming desperate and depressed. I also was developing small scars on my face, so during times when my skin was relatively clear, I was still embarrassed about my appearance. I was giving up. When I was 22 and finishing my undergrad degree, I developed a lactose sensitivity and severe irritable bowel syndrome stemming from the antibiotic use to treat my acne. I now had to begin cutting out dairy. It was very difficult! I loved ice cream, pizza, and especially those string cheese sticks! Over a few months I was able to cut out nearly all dairy. As a result my skin cleared along with how much dairy I removed from my diet. My mind was blown! Because of this, I started to pay very close attention to what else I could eliminate to help my skin. I reduced sugar, began drinking more water, and cooking only with olive and coconut oil to name the bigger changes in my diet. Over the past four years, my skin has changed completely! My skin is nearly flawless. My lactose sensitivity has been bittersweet - a blessing in disguise. I highly recommend removing dairy from your diet or at least greatly reducing it. Even triggers that caused breakouts before do not affect me - dehydration, stress, lack of sleep, etc... I just completed my graduate degree. It was the most stressful and exhausting time of my life thus far, but I never had a problem with my skin! Diet changes take time, and the clearing of your skin may take more time. I understand that diet alterations may not work for everyone, but it is worth a try! There is also research to support the inflammatory affects of dairy on the human body. An article titled "Evidence for Acne Promoting Effects of Milk and Other Insulinotropic Dairy Products" by Bodo C. Melnik (2011) discusses the relationship between dairy, inflammation, and acne. Do your research! Best of luck with your fight against acne! -CJ

I actually quit dairy for reasons unrelated to acne (I don't believe a cow's hormones are compatible with the human body), but was thrilled to notice an amazing skin improvement. My acne used to be more severe in my teen years and started to clear up in my early 20's. However I've had moderate back acne and little white bumps that are under the skin on my face for as long as I can remember. The ones on my face were mostly only noticeable up close, but we all know we're perfectionists when it comes to our own appearances. They bothered me quite a bit as I thought my skin was an unpleasant texture and would avoid looking at myself in certain lighting. As soon as I quit dairy (three weeks ago) I've noticed a drastic improvement on my back, chest and face. I can only attribute it to the cutting of dairy as it's the only lifestyle alteration I've made, and a problem I've had for 7 years has pretty much disappeared. My back and chest are completely clear and the white bumps on my face are almost completely gone (there are a couple here and there which I'm convinced will clear up too given time). A side bonus note unrelated to acne, I've noticed significantly more stable moods and a massive dulling of my ADHD symptoms since quitting it too. So glad I did it and can't recommend it enough.

Going completely dairy free has helped me with back acne. But you cannot just cut out milk, you have to cut out all dairy products/products with some kind of dairy in it. This is kind of a struggle in the beginning as you have to read a lot of labels, and A LOT of food that you wouldn't think had milk in it does (like some potato chips), but after a while you would know more of what is safe. And also, going dairy free helped me with weight loss. I think it is mostly because nearly every chocolate contains milk, so I stay away from it, and dark chocolate without milk satisfies cravings faster because of the amount of cocoa. Anyway, this is my experience - but if you haven't tried going dairy free yet I recommend trying it at least :-)

Wanted to share my story here about the dairy-acne connection. I tried everything for my acne. Retin-A, antibiotics, birth control, and even Accutane. Most worked for a while and Accutane kept me mostly clear for 9 years but my acne started coming back slowly. The last few weeks, I was getting new breakouts everyday and starting to feel the skin stress of the pre-Accutane days. I was mostly getting acne around my mouth and chin. I decided last week to cut out all dairy from my diet. Since that day, I have not gotten one single new pimple and my skin is less oily as well. It is only after Accutane that I became interested in natural remedies and I've been doing a lot research over the years. I really believe that acne is an internal problem. Often caused by diet and stress. I wish I had known this 10 years ago prior to going on Accutane. It's sad that something as simple as diet change could be saving people from years of insecurity with regards to their skin and a lot of money. To anyone who suffers from stress, anxiety or depression when it comes to their skin (like I did), I would highly recommend eliminating dairy from your diet to determine if this may be the culprit for you. I would also consider testing for other food intolerances that could be affecting your skin (gluten, nuts, etc).

I struggled with acne for a really long time. Just as I hit puberty I went from having a few spots that just got worse. It was to the point where strangers would offer suggestions and point it out without my asking for their input. Just like the many others on this site, my confidence was shot. I learned not to look at myself in the mirror (glance at eyes only or hair basically), which I realized recently I still do! (Scars) Dermatologists loaded me with creams and antibiotics, which looking back I realized how F*cked up it was to be on antibiotics for as long as I was. it wasn't curing anything it was masking whatever it was that was causing the inflammation. The more I started reading up on health and wellness the more I started getting into holistics and nutrition. I used to AlWAYS refer to this website. I love that its still around because it was so helpful to read on a community dealing with the same shizznitt I was. ANYWHO... Whenever I did a cleanse my friends and I would notice how clear my face would get... (Hormone check ups always came back normal.. it had to be food related) I simplified my diet.... did another fast/ cleanse... and tried a few foods... MY goodness, as soon as my inside was "cleaned up" it was so much easier to see what triggered my acne. I found out I have an intolerance toward: DAIRY, SOY, GLUTEN I would break out and feel crummy so fast! Now at 27 I have a very simple diet: primarily gluten free vegan/ no soy and my acne has not been an issue since having figure out what diet worked best for me. People ask me if Im miserable and feel like Im missing out, I feel great and to be frank having a "cheat" with a trigger-food just isn't pleasant for me. Not only do I get nauseous but having do deal with a breakout for 2 weeks is even worse. SO I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. i love the foods I can eat and feel great! Even if I have a flare up(soy oil , for example, can be pretty sneaky when it comes to restaurant ingredients). ,But I'll take GAIA liver health caps (basically anti-inflammatory herbs, with multiple benefits) and it helps things calm down quickly. My dad made fun of me wondering how a child of his could be so sensitive to food. but later we found out that the GI problems he was having was a similar intolerance's. I got him back saying I got it from HIM! So yes I recommend cutting out dairy! Looking into dietary changes takes time, but its worth it!

Let me just start this review by saying that I have NEVER wrote a review for anything in my life. But I promised myself that if this worked I would tell people about it in hopes that it might help someone else. So here it goes, my skin was really good until my last year of college. For whatever reason (most likely hormones) I began breaking out terribly, like 5-7 massive zits each day. I went on birth control, which actually just made things worse so I got off of it. I went on a ton of prescription meds that didn't work either. I even got a handful of strong chemical peels, which helped for a week and then everything came back. I did eventually go on the acne.org regimen, and this helped a lot. I went from 7 zits a day to 1 a day...but the thing is that I have olive skin and every time I have a pimple it leaves a mark that will last for a couple months. Needless to say that 1 zit a day adds up to a huge amount of ugly purple marks I had on my face. I just wasn't fully satisfied. Fast forward to a year later, I'm engaged at this point and I was determined to have clear skin for my wedding day. My last resort was to get rid of dairy. Now for anyone who knows me, they would think this would be impossible because I love cheese and I love ice cream. But I pulled through. I didn't cheat, and you know what? A month later I was getting married and my face was the clearest it's ever been. We've been married for 5 months now and I can honestly say the only times I ever get a pimple is when I'm on my period (I'll get one or two on my chin, not a big deal) or when I cheat and eat dairy. I've cheated three times and every single time my face broke out in 3-5 massive zits the very next day. Now I know for a fact that it is the dairy that I was sensitive to. I'm a nurse and I can say that medically, this does make sense. Just like in the hospital when a patient has an allergic reaction to a medication, a completely different patient may have an allergic reaction to the same medication but have a different reaction, like one might break out in a rash, while the other has an irritated throat. So just because we don't have a typical lactose intolerant reaction, like stomach problems, doesn't mean our bodies aren't trying to tell us that dairy doesn't agree with us. It just comes out in different ways for different people. Anyways, just wanted to put my story out there. going dairy free really did clear me up, I'm even planning on slowly getting off using BP this month. I just don't really need it anymore. I hope this helps someone. one piece of advice if you do decide to try this out is to do it the right way. No cheating, no butter or milk or anything. You can't tell if it will work unless you fully commit. And it's not as hard if you research the substitutes. Earth Balance makes an amazing dairy free butter and So Delicious brand makes incredible dairy free ice cream. If you do the research it is definitely feasible. Hope this helps!

Going online and discovering new face masks things to eat and not to eat I came across a article that talked about dairy. Milk contains hormones those hormones creates excess sebum production thus creating hormones. That article changed my life well not really but you know what I mean. When I stopped drinking dairy products soy milk/almond milk/coconut milk took awhile to get used to because it tasted nothing like cows milk and I eventually got used to it. And with a no dairy diet I saw a huge difference in my acne my face cleared up not completely just a few stubborn pimples around my mouth but it really helped. Milk and acne are not friends and if you have acne I would recommend a no dairy diet.