No milk/No Dairy : Dairy Free Diet

I started a new diet and workout routine a few months back. the popular 21 day fix. I never ate super bad before hand but wanted to see results (I'm thinking and lack muscle tone) and specifically needed to up my protein consumption. one of the easiest ways to do this was with dairy products...cheese, milk, yogurt. I was having multiple servings of these a day. after about a week, I felt sick to my stomach (thought I had the stomach flu, but no temperature), was breaking out in the middle of my forehead (with actual pimples, not the little annoying comedonal acne I am prone to), and felt very gassy and bloated. I cut back on my dairy consumption for the next week and the breakouts disappeared along with my uncomfortable stomach. another thing to keep in mind is protein shakes, lots of those are milk proteins. I also had started drinking these at the time. I don't care for milk or yogurt really and never consumed much of it to begin with but things got worse once I did. I would definitely recommend trying to eliminate dairy if you are acne prone, just to see what happens.

So i'm 22, not the type to write reviews but I said to myself, if i ever find something that works for my acne then im going to write about it because i know how sh*tty acne makes you feel and so if i can help even a single person then thats good! So i have been using acne.org for just under a year to try to get rid of my acne! I used to get big sore spots on my chin and cheeks and some little ones all over my forehead. I have really tried everything - lymecycline for 8 months - worked really well i had clear skin but then went off it and straight away my skin was worse than before and also reading all the bad things about antibiotics online how they affect your gut etc I didn't want to be on them anymore. I tried being on the pill (dianette) and again my skin was perfect but it was making me have mood swings often where i'd just feel sad and I thought that it wasn't worth it! I also tried benzoyl peroxide for a bit and although it did work a bit (it got rid of bumps on my forehead but didnt do much to chin spots) - it made my skin so dry and horrible that it actually almost looked worse - it made my makeup sit horribly on my face and i felt like it made me face look wrinkly! not good! So I started thinking I wanted to take a more natural approach to my acne. Firstly I gave up dairy (still have the odd bit now and then - cant completely give up chocolate haha!) but dramatically cut down. Next I went on acne.org in the natural/holistic section to see what was recommended. I wanted to go in this section because although some other treatments may work, i started not trusting any of the reviews because I started thinking that a lot of them sounded fake as though maybe the company had written them - i figured that in the natural section who would write a fake review? So anyway, i started with ACV - i think this worked quite well, at least for my chin and cheek spots (this is where i used to get a lot of big sore ones), however i started getting loooads of bumps all over my nose and forehead and so had to stop that. Next i tried potato - i think this worked quite well for acne scars but because it was so messy i stopped doing that so much in the end and now will only do it every now and then when i feel like it haha Next i tried epsom salt - i put it in a bath every night and also used the salt to wash my face along with a face wash - i really do think this worked for the big spots but it irritated my skin unfortunately and i got little bumps on my arms and forehead so gave it up! Next i tried green tea and rooibos tea (redbush) - amazing! So i now drink about 4-5 cups of green tea or red bush tea a day, and also wipe the tea bag on my face if i am not wearing makeup when i drink the tea (usually morning and night). I have a chemistry background and have read a lot of scientific papers about green tea and acne and have found that there is a lot of science behind why it works - basically the antioxidant reduces the inflammation and therefore because green tea and red bush tea have such high antioxidants, this means that your acne becomes less inflamed! Also there have been studies that prove that green tea makes your skin less oily - definitely a plus! I also bought an antioxidant face moisturiser, i just typed antioxidant cream into amazon and looked at the first one that came up and it looked good so i got it and it really is good! my face is always hydrated and lovely! so nice to finally not have dry or oily skin! its kinda expensive the one i got but im sure there are others that would work just as well that are cheaper! So yeah thats all i do now - gave up dairy and drink a lotttt of tea! My skin is not flawless i still have some acne scars and i get little spots every now and then but i have not got a big spot in like 3 months so it is definitely working and i'd recommend anyone to try it! Oh and by the way i wash my face with Dr. Bronners tea tree soap stuff - i dont really know if this is any good but it hasn't seemed to make my skin worse, takes makeup off well and makes me feel clean afterwards haha Another thing i'll say is that I don't really know which helped my skin more: no dairy or green/red bush tea - but my skin is so much clearer and i don't want to give either up and get bad skin again haha. Ask me any questions you have and i'll try to help! As i said before I know how horrible having bad skin is, it used to make me feel so sh*tty when i woke up in the morning, but honestly i think little changes make a big difference!

So my acne started becoming a 'critical situation' about 5 months ago. I always had a love hate relationship with dairy and always felt it aggravated my eczema but never did anything about it, So funnily enough, eczema is GONE, and acne is here in full force. I got an allergy test that said i am sensitive to lactose so i cut it all out and i feel better for it. Im did soya for a while which i'm no longer keen on so its almond milk all the way... bottom line is give it a try,

I strongly believe that acne is correlated with dairy consumption and hormonal acne in particular. I have PCOS so my acne is completely hormonal related. I've read that the hormones in dairy increase your testosterone production, which in turn increases your sebum production (oil production) and clogs your pores. Anyway, I went on birth control and it did nothing for my acne. I became a vegan four months ago and my acne got a lot better. I thought it was just because I was eating healthy. But, I soon realized that after EVERY time that I "cheated" and ate dairy, I would have a huge break out within 24 hours. Then I would continue my dairy-free diet and my skin would clear up. I really didn't believe it since this seemed absurd that eating dairy one time would cause me to break out. However, after this happening 5 times now, I KNOW that it is the dairy. One time I ate pizza and woke up with 8 new pimples!!! Honestly, I really miss dairy but it definitely isn't worth the embarrassment of a giant break out to the point where I hide in my apartment for 4 days until it gets better. Since my hormones are still a little out of whack, I still almost always have a couple pimples even when I don't eat dairy. But I can deal with that. I will definitely continue to avoid dairy.

I stopped eating dairy 2 months ago and it has dramatically reduced my acne and now on the extremely rare occasion when I do eat something containing dairy I get huge & painful cysts. I've also reduced my oil and sugar intake and that alongside of being dairy free has made all the difference. I only have about 5 active breakouts the rest is just mild scaring that will go away on its own and with a lot of water intake. Skin Type: Acne Prone / Combination Skin Skin Routine: This is my current skin routine that has been really working for me, eventually I'm going to transition into more natural products. - Acne.org Cleanser & Spot treatment - THAYERS alcohol- free Aloe Vera Toner - Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture - Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture with SPF - For make up I use Cover Fx which is good for acne prone skin Suggestions: - Drink A LOT of water or tea (green tea and I've heard that Rooibos tea is also good for acne but Ive never tired that) - Substitute cows milk with almond milk or soy (I like almond milk) - If you really want to eat cheese you can buy Vegan cheese (I don't) - When eating outside ask if your meal contains dairy and try to eat fresh foods that don't require a lot (salad, sandwiches, beans etc) or eat at vegan / vegetarian spot.

If you're like me then you have hormonal breakouts. I cut out MOST dairy such as soft cheeses, and drinking milk. I still eat hard cheeses and I drink almond milk now. It has absolutely helped in the severity of my acne. I still get pimples, but not the giant puss filled ones that last 3 weeks.

While this may not work for everyone (my sister did not see similar results to mine) I recommend trying it, what have you got to lose? In order to be sure of what has an effect, it is important to only change this one thing and for at least 3-4 weeks before deciding if it works.

35 year old female. Started suffering with acne at 15 years old. "Cured" by the pill from age 17 to 29. Been suffering to varying degrees since coming off the pill 7 years ago. I cut dairy completely out of my diet a month ago; milk, cheese, butter and all milk by products. At the same time I stopped using the topical treatment Clearogen that I had been using once a day, and use a natural wash & moisturiser instead. I also started taking a probiotic, Omega 3 fish oils and zinc. I added Agnus Castus too, but I admit I haven't been taking it everyday as I don't like the taste. I started drinking at least 1 cup of green tea per day. I have mild to moderate acne. I usually have about 2-3 active spots at any time. Up until day 10 my skin got a lot worse, with approximately 9 active spots. This then started to taper off. By day 21, I had no active spots. But at day 30, I'm now back to having 2-3 active spots, which is pretty much where I started. It is my time of month though, so maybe this is why, but I can't say for sure. I also have a lot of new red marks on my face from when my skin purged up until day 10. These will take a long time to fade. I am unsure or not whether to continue. I told myself I'd give it a month and see if it improved. I put a lot of effort in and I feel very disappointed that I don't have the results I was hoping for. Do I need to try it for longer? Are there any other vitamin supplements I should add? I just don't know whether to continue or not.

I feel like an idiot for never trying to cut out dairy before, after suffering for many years. Within a week all new cysts stopped appearing and the existing ones started to shrink considerably. I give 4 stars because I was still getting small inflammatory whiteheads, though they healed quicker than usual. A few weeks after cutting dairy I cut gluten too, and I swear after 1 week all afterthe little whiteheads were gone too. Give it a shot, especially if you get cysts. I wish I had much earlier. ***Edit*** Ok after awhile I feel like I have to edit bcause I was bad during the week of my husbands birthday and ate dairy and gluten 3Ã - . I immediately went back on after that week, but it didnt clear like it did before. I was dispairing over it and feeling like I was right back at square one AGAIN, but then I remembered I had also began 2 tsp of cod liver oil per day a few days before I quit dairy, and I ran out a few days before my week of cheating on my diet and just didnt get a chance to run to the healthfood store for another bottle. Now a week after starting clo again Im already looking great. Im still avoiding dairy bcuz I beleive it really isnt good for you, but now I can have it on special occasions without my skin freaking out. Try it! The pills just arent enough though, you'd have to take 10 to equal a tsp. Garden of life and twinlabs norweigan are both fairly cheap and both worked for me. Good luck everyone!!!