Eating for Acne

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Honestly? Go talk to your doctor.
I had very, very severe acne.

I was on roaccutane for 18months (this is the harshest tab you can get, takes out ALL the oil in your skin)..
Now I am off it is sooo much better but still need to take a form of birth control to keep it under control.

Garlic capsules. Two caplets 3 times a day should provide you a lot of relief. Garlic is a natural antibiotic and antivirul that seriously works wonders. If you are worried about the smell, I'd go for the oderless kind or eat some parsely to neutralize the odor. It is always best to avoid medications whenever possible. all meds have to be processed through the liver. go natural if possible.

I know this seems basic, but also ensure you are washing your pillowcases/sheets every couple of days to avoid grinding the dirt into your skin. Wash your face gently with a mild face soap. Scrubbing hard and long actually makes the problem worse because you strip all the oil off your face, stimulating the oil glands to produce even more oil than before. It becomes a vicious cycle and you will be miserable. Then apply a good oil (I suggest avoiding all chemicals), like avocado, olive, or sesame (not the dark toasted sesame. you would need to get cold-pressed sesame oil from a natural foods store or at mountainroseherbs.com). My son had pretty bad problems and his cleared up within a month using these techniques I learned in a great book called Prescription for Natural Healing I got at my local health food store.

I know your post was specifically about foods, but studies are inconclusive about what foods may cause acne. Most suggestions are just wives tales. Nothing definitive out of the research -- except that garlic seems to work. Garlic will even cure athlete's foot (I've done it). It's such a good food that it will help your heart, lower cholesterol, etc. Should be a part of every person's diet every day. If you don't like garlic, no worries because you can't taste the capsules.

Start with those tips and grab that book. It's got remedies for just about everything and so far everything I've tried has worked like a charm. Good luck.

Lots of veggies and fruits, lots of water, and lots of sweating (with gentle cleansing after the sweating).

Personally I found the biggest things to be drinking more water and adding more healthy fats to my diet. The fats I actually discovered when I started using MFP and found I was only consuming about half of the recommended amount and when I looked up the effects one of them was healthy skin, turns out it made a huge difference for me. I had tried the dermatologist plenty of times and followed their advice, taken pills, and followed skincare regimes and was never very pleased with the results. Along with that I use a natural skincare line and a facial cleansing brush for light exfoliation. Easy and worked wonders for me.

ha ha, Veganbaum. you're right. there must be something to what we are saying, then!

I have always struggled from severe acne. I use tea tree oil on my skin. You can get it at any health food store. I just drop some on a cotton ball and rub it all over. It works better then any cream I have tried.

I agree on cutting out the dairy/sugar and eating more of the healthy fats. I've had issues with my skin but I've been eating a lot of salmon, omega-3 eggs, and yogurt (natural and no sugar added) yogurt also has probiotics in it that really help for skin and I'd reccomend taking a probiotic supplement as well...and if you need to supplement for healthy fats fish oil is great!

Dairy could be the culprit. Milk proteins, whey and casein can wreak havoc on your skin.

I used to have significant acne on my face, shoulder and chest as a teen and into my 20s. I took all manner of different meds and nothing ever worked. When I was 24, a friend suggested I stop drinking milk for a month to see if my skin would improve. I didn't think I could do it, as I loved milk, but I was very motivated to improve my skin.

My skin improved dramatically within about 3 weeks and I decided to go back to milk (because I like it, hey). After 3 or 4 days of consuming milk I broke out again, so I gave it up. I enjoyed significantly clearer skin until my 30s when I started breaking out again.

Over time I have determined that I must avoid most dairy derivatives in order to keep my skin clear. I eat my pizza without cheese most of the time and use almond and coconut milks and frozen desserts. I still use butter and hard, aged cheeses without much backlash, however, on the occasion when I indulge in cheesecake or Ben and Jerry's, I will break out badly a few days later and it lasts about 2 weeks.

My 2 brothers and my son have experienced the same. My son is now 13 and has had acne since age 9, but it is getting better now that he has decided on his own to be vigilant about avoiding dairy. He also discovered that using lemon juice on his skin and drinking a small amount of lemon juice daily with ice seems to be decreasing the redness in the pimples he does get.

At 43, I am pleased to say that for the past 8 years or so my skin is very clear and unless I am performing I don't wear any makeup (except eye makeup) anymore. When I was in my teens and young 20s I could not have imagine having clear enough skin to go without makeup.

Try cutting the most egregious things first: milk, ice cream, cream for coffee. See if you have improvement over a month. That may do it. You may need to eliminate soft cheeses and watch labels for whey and casein, or you may still be able to take smaller amounts and keep your skin nice.

good luck.

My 17 yo was suffering from some pretty acute acne. We initially figured that it was part of being a teen but it was getting worse so I suggested cutting dairy to see if that helped. It did a little bit but not much and she isn't a big dairy eater anyway. The next thing I suggested was cutting wheat out to see if that helped. I've long suspected my husband has a wheat allergy and since these things tend to run in families there was a good chance she could have the same issue.

She cut wheat out for a little while but ended up going back to it. While it was out of her system for the short time she did notice a difference but it was when she began eating it again that she really realized how big of a difference it was. So we've gone gluten free here for the most part on her behalf (and hopefully the husband will notice a difference in himself and be a little more purposeful to avoid it too!) Her skin is beautiful and glowing, there are no more circles under her eyes, her fatigue is lessening every day as she heals and her hair is shiny and beautiful! I couldn't stop looking at her yesterday. Every time I'd glance her way I'd do a double take because she is really just glowing with health and beauty now. She was so pallid and listless looking and feeling before but now she just looks radiant!

If you haven't tried eliminating things from your diet to see if one of those might be the culprit I suggest you do. Also, I drink green smoothies (not selling a thing! I make them at home with fruit and vegetables.) I have much better skin since I began drinking the smoothies probably just because I'm actually nourishing my body.

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