Why, oh why, oh why…why me? What have we done to deserve this tumultuous curse?
What is the cause of acne? No no – not dirt and bacteria and all that garbage that gets spouted off by doctors and dermatologists. What is the real cause of acne?
To put it short and simple: Acne is caused by blood sugar problems. Blood sugar is what affect the hormones that block your pores and low grade inflammation throughout the body is what causes blocked pores to become those angry, inflamed pustules that we all know and love.
What causes blood sugar problems and inflammation? It stems from two things:
- Poor digestion. What causes poor digestion? Well, believe it or not, it’s not just food, although it is obviously a major factor. Exercise, chemical toxins, sunshine, and especially stress and emotions all affect digestion as well.
- Ill emotions. I call it this instead of stress, because stress is an emotion – it’s fear. Chronic stress (usually in the form of low self esteem for us acne folks) cause your adrenal glands to produce the steroid hormone cortisol. Cortisol is good in small amounts, but if there’s too much of it in the blood stream for too long, it suppresses the immune system, adds to blood sugar problems, and further harms your digestive activities.
I am of the firm belief that almost all diseases in the body stem from these two things. Since our bodies are amazing holistic beings (holistic meaning the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts), every body system, including the skin, is dependent on the others to work optimally so that we function the way we’re supposed to.
When it comes to our digestive systems, it is our first point of contact… it’s where the whole cycle of life starts. Our energy is consumed in the form of food, in which those nutrients are converted to serve and let thrive the billions of cells in your body that make you up.This happens through millions of biochemical reactions throughout your body, each intricately dependent on one another.
Over the years, all our little health misdeeds add up to the point where our bodies are not absorbing those nutrients or happen to be absorbing undigested food particles which cause inflammation. Without proper fuel, the cells can’t do their jobs properly, and this then leads to all sorts of problems in a very intricate trickle down effect. When your stomach isn’t functioning properly, that affects the intestines, which in turn affect the job of the liver, gallbladder, and kidneys, which in turn affect the composition of the blood (here’s where the stress and blood sugar problems jump into play), which in turn affects hormones and all the cells in the entire body, including the immune system and the lymphatic system.
So as you can see, it can end up a real mess.
Chronic disease is the end point of this whole trickle down effect. Your genetics determine what is the part of your body that goes first… other people end up with obesity, chronic fatigue, arthritis, diabetes, auto immune diseases, and a whole array of others. For us, it’s acne.
Damn.
So now you know what causes acne. Drugs and topicals will never truly fix the problem. They may work for a while, but if you stop using them, your acne is still there waiting, lurking in the shadows, like the monster under your bed. And unless you address the cause behind the symptom, it will eventually break through that patch of acne drugs you’ve been using and… well…you know what happens next.
All Hope Is Not Lost
The good news is that our bodies are incredible and are always working to maintain a level of homeostasis where everything is working as it should. This is why we don’t need drugs to “heal”. Your body knows exactly what to do, and it’s always trying so very hard. Like the little engine that could! But it just can’t stay on track and get up that hill when your unhealthy habits are throwing it off the rails at every turn. It simply can’t make it over that mountain – unless you allow it to by taking a step back, examining where you can improve your health, and taking action.
Hey, what do you think is causing your acne? Tell me below.
62 Responses
hey there! great website/blog by the way. i cleared my severe face full of acne *cringe* after three years from a diet and emotional healing. i had tried every diet from reasonable to down right ridiculous to get rid of my acne. one time i was just eating chicken and broccoli everyday for three months. it was so stupid. i later realised the connection between the time i developed acne. it was when my dad left out of the blue, who i was really really close to and i felt depressed, abandoned, unworthy and unloved. i was extremely stressed and it came out of every pore in my body, i turned to food bad fatty sugar filled foods 24/7. it wasnt until i tackled both at the same time i could have clear, smooth skin again..
Hi Faith! Thanks for checking out the website!
And thank you so much for sharing that story… it is exactly what those with acne need to understand. The emotional part – the unworthy, unloved, abandoned parts of our souls are harming our bodies more than the food, and you can never fix that scared child inside of us with an unreasonably strict diet. It only makes the stress worse!
I am so glad you finally found that connection, especially after three years of severe acne! Amazing. Really… thanks for sharing that Faith. It makes me happy 🙂
I see what you mean: products like benzoylperoxide and pills etc. take away the problem for a while (the time you take them) but don’t take away the cause which you can do by eating healthy, doing some exercise,… So every time you stop with the pills, you just get it again and again etc.
I currently am quite good with my face but now I developed Acne Keloidalis which causes my hair to fall off every time a get a cyst in my hair and it doesn’t grow back (yet, I don’t have it that long to say that it doesn’t come back but until now nothing has come back). It really makes me feel depressed as I’m the only one with bold spots in the whole school. 🙁
So now I’m reading your blog and I’ll probably try to change my food habits (3 or 4 times french frites a week, not a lot of vegetables and almost no fruits (1 or 2 a week at max now)) and I’m going to try to start cycling again, I stopped with it because of my acne (I chose to keep creme on my face over taking the creme off and go cycling). ANd maybe I’ll change some other things too, that’s why I’m reading your blog, to give me ideas and give me hope that it’ll work.
Noah
Hi Noah!
I’m sorry to hear you have such an unusual form of acne… that must be very distressing to have it make your hair fall out… but don’t worry… that type of acne will respond just as well as any other. I’m glad you found my site! 🙂
Hey thelovevitamin/tangerine – A very very useful and interesting article. You have shown me something that ive never appreciated before. This emotional part -ive always discarded it as utter crap and “weak science”. But your article has shown me how important this is. :))) I have been following an extremely strict diet where i consume absolutely no dairy or egg and my acne is just getting worse. Im going to now read all your other articles, to try and find what diet i need to follow. 😛
I know you have a video about birth control which this post would be more accurately placed, but what you said about drugs and topicals never being able to fix the problem really rang true to me. I have been on and off of the BCP…this time around I am taking a different one than before and I just started a month ago. I have two more months. I am not to the level of health and healing that I think would benefit my acne. I have only begun to start my journey and being an overly busy person have hardly the time at the moment to put all my efforts into it (although here soon I will). Would you suggest continuing to take the BCP (I am in a committed relationship as well) until I feel as if I have made some holistic progress? I don’t want to rely on drugs and chemicals. I know my body is capable and that I am capable of keeping it healthy, I just need to make it into a habit.
Yes, I don’t want you to get a bad breakout if you aren’t ready to go off of it. If you will have more time in the future to put effort into your health, it may be a good idea to stay on it a little longer. I’m sure a couple more months won’t hurt you! Go off it when you think the time is right, I just don’t think it’s something people should be relying on for a long time… because you do need to go off of it at some point in your life, and I think the sooner the better because of all the potential risks of long term BCP risks.
hi, i’ve watched all of your videos i find it very interesting… i am in a long distance relationship and i try not to stress myself about it because i know he loves me but its too hard to remain calm because i miss him alot . now i know that stress isnt good for acne so i will try to remain calm and confident about this love of ours… i have acne for more than 5 years when i was 14 until 18 years old my acne was really bad but now iam 19 and its starting to calm down but am so sad because i used to pick on my face and i have scars and marks its so ugly i even wear make up when i go to the beach with my friends i am kind of frustated i wanna get rid of this of this ugly scars help me please 🙁
Look up my video about how to get rid of acne scars naturally, and see if it will help! I know scars are frustrating, but they will fade, and no one is even looking at them anyway! Believe me! …. it’s hard to believe, but seriously, people are way more concerned with themselves than your scars 🙂
My acne is a whole mess of things but mainly i believe it is caused by foods. When i went vegan my skin became more happy and then when i started going raw a few days a week it got even happier and since i have started using my new juicer my skin has improved a ton! There is an emotional side with the eating though. When ever i get stressed i don’t think about my food choices which results in huge breakouts ( sugar is my main go-to food). I still need to figure out how to deal with stress in a more constructive manner so i don’t turn to southern comfort foods, but im working on it everyday. It is a step by step process! I have to say i love this article regarding digestion and acne because i have digestion troubles and i have been wondering if that somehow is related to my acne. After reading this i have some good basic information to jump off of and use for more research. Thank you for your hard work on this website and your blunt honesty. I appreciate it!
Good luck Rachel!! There’s actually going to be an article posted in a couple days that gets even more specific about what may be causing your acne… it breaks it down even further. So keep an eye out for that!!
Hey there! you mention how we shouldn’t be using perscritions and antibiotics and stuff like that but currently im using Epiduo, which contains benzoyl peroxide. However I do eat a healthy diet and try to live stress free and get my exercise daily and enough sleep. My question is will i be okay if i stop using the Epiduo (perscriptions) but still maintain my healthy lifestyle? My break outs are much smaller compared to how they used to be but im scared that if i stop using them then ill break out horribly again. Thanks you’re the best!
Do you think it’s actually helping your skin? or you don’t know? I actually wrote an article about this sort of thing, it’s getting posted tomorrow. So check that out, it might help your question
Hi Tracy! I never realized that emotions can play such a big role in acne. I remember when I was in college, my acne started clearing up, and I wasn’t really doing anything too different. Once I moved back home it started up again. Needless to say, my home environment isn’t exactly nurturing. Guess I have to figure out a way to deal with this…but anyway, thanks for sharing! There’s a lot of stuff I need to tackle before I get clear skin.
Hi Savita! Yes it’s interesting isn’t it…. it does sound like you probably are dealing with a case of emotional acne, so you may need to find a way to work through the emotions that come up when you are at home. Good luck my friend! xox <3
Hi! I have acne literally everywhere and it’s getting really annoying. Im using clean and clear which is taking away my acne but im also getting scars everywhere… I exercise 5 days a week and eat a healthy diet. What should i do?
Hi Molly,
Despite eating a healthy diet and exercising, you still may be allergic to something that you’re eating. Do you eat a lot of wheat, dairy, or soy? Those are usually the worst offenders and are often considered healthy choices, so it can be confusing. Your emotional health and stress may be a big issue for your skin as well, so take a look at how your self esteem is and if it’s not so great, then that may be the culprit.
I had some weird coincidence this summer. Don’t know if its a coincidence, but this past summer, at a certain point, I was the happiest I had ever been. I suffer from depression and very low self esteem. I was eating tons of ice cream and fast food (which I had never eaten before) but I did not get one cystic pimple. I then fell into the depression and negativity and it returned.
Hi Skye… it doesn’t sound like a coincidence to me. It definitely sounds like you are faced with a case of emotionally seated acne. What have you done in the past to treat your depression? Anything?
I am still trying to work through it. I don’t believe in meds. So basically I have been trying to be positive as much as I can. It’s slowly going away, but one little bit of negativity and it comes back slowly.
My question is about self-esteem and what I do not understand is that when we have clear skin we have self-esteem. The acne on our face destroys that self-esteem so I am not understanding that you should have self esteem when your skin makes you feel and look so horrible. I do not know how to make sense of this. I have amazing self-esteem when my skin is clear and accomplish many things but the acne destroys that…and I think it is the same for you and others as well…no? I am much more outgoing and confident with ckear skin than not. Women want to look their best and this is very hard for me. I love your website and I am trying holistically to clear skin….at 46 I am working on healing from the inside out since years of antibiotics, bcps, topicals, have never cured it. Learning to handle stress in a positive way since we cannot avoid it. I am also hypothyroid so my energy suffers…I am working the Body Ecology lifestyle into it which I started in May 2011. It is hard to stay positive sometimes….feel discouraged!!
Hi Raffia!
yes I understand that – that feeling of being on top of the world when our skin is good but horrible when it is bad…. and I know that chronic bad skin is really conducive to wearing one down and fostering low self esteem. I guess what it is is that….. even though we are upset about our skin, that we need to find happiness from within… a purpose that doesn’t have to do with looking good… an inner joy that can carry us through life even if we are less than happy with our skin, or something else that’s not so great in our lives… this isn’t easy and I think along our paths, as we grow, we may one day be able to find this joy so that we can be okay with ourselves no matter what. Not to say that we will ever LIKE acne or anything, but we will just be “okay” with reality. Where we can take comfort that we ARE someone to be loved and admired, even if we can’t look exactly as we’d like. I guess that’s what I mean by self esteem :/
For me, milk is a huge cause of acne. Any kind of milk or milk product, like cheese or yogurt totally sets my face off. Sweating can also give me minor acne, as can severe stress…that’s waht causes it for me at least.
I was about to start using benzoyl peroxide to start treating my acne, but you saved my ass from a lot of trouble I would not be able to handle. (Obviously by my ass, I mean my face, but the other word rolls off the tongue better) Any-who, I love your approach to treating acne, I completely agree with your belief that acne is a problem that must be cured from within. I have another condition that will remain nameless, but I was prescribed five different medications that were complete temporary fixes. I would feel fine or eight hours, and then everything just went right back to normal. After about four months, I couldn’t even feel the difference anymore (other than the fact that I had insomnia, no weight, and a heart jumping around like a caged grasshopper.) It drove me insane. Me and my therapist are working on a way to control it naturally, with much more success than before. I feel like you just prevented me from taking the same road all over again. If your roof is leaking, you find the damn leak and fix it. You don’t spend the rest of your life cleaning the reappearing puddle on the floor. You are very intelligent for recognizing that. It seems simple, but most people live their whole lives mopping up that puddle. I am going to throw my bp away, and bookmark this blog. Thanks for saving me.
Thanks for reading, Julian – lots of love to you!
hey Tracy,
I totally agree with the holistic approach to everything esp with our ever-changing/complicated society its best to keep things as close to nature the way it was intended. I personally made amazing progress with my skin once eating more naturally but later when i took my diet too far i lost WAY too much weight. so i starting eating a lot to gain it back in the form of breads and sugary things -_- needless to say my skin got bad and now im trying to find a balance, what do you recommend?
Hi Michelle – I recommend just not taking your diet so far. Try to change 90% of your food over to whole, unprocessed foods, and then don’t go and cut out entire food groups unless you have a really good reason to (ie, like you have obvious lactose intolerance symptoms, or something like that etc). Eat a variety of foods – vegetables, fruits, meat, raw or fermented organic dairy, eggs, whole grains, legumes. Eat what your body desires. If you’re concerned about a certain group of food causing your acne (like gluten, or dairy, or soy, for example, which are common culprits, but not a problem for everyone), cut each one out one at a time and watch to see if you feel any different/acne improves. If not, add it back in and then try another one.
Limiting your diet too much is detrimental, both physically and mentally. Diet is only one piece of the puzzle and taking it too far makes you miserable and doesn’t improve your skin enough to make it worth it, if at all.
Fuck this shit, acne is caused by DEMODEX. Seriously, only knowing about these made me cure my acne after years of pointless struggle, thinking that I wasn’t healthy enough… Oh damn, oh damn, I wish all this propaganda about acne vanished
What did you use to get rid of demodex?
Nosorry- Glad you found out what was causing yours, and sorry it took so long. A lot of people have to go through years of struggle to find what works for them. As for me, I know mine is related to hormone imbalance because it fluctuates with my hormone changes. So all of this is not propaganda to me.
Tracy- This is amazing! You are reflecting exactly what I’ve been thinking lately as to a holistic approach. Even down to the fact that this struggle is actually forcing me to become the person I’m meant to be. I think I’ve said that to someone twice in the last week. I went off BC again recently and am expecting hell, but this time I’m not afraid. I know its a process and I am excited to find joy in the process. Thank you for all the resources and positive approach!
Hi Francis
– hmm I agree about Nosorry… I wish acne was just caused by one thing, but it’s so different for everyone.
Anyway, good luck on your journey! I know that it can be a struggle, but you’re right… without struggle one never grows. I know this journey for me has allowed me to grow more than anything else and I’m really grateful 🙂
So up until the past 6 months I have never had acne…maybe a pimple now and then but never more than that. Most of the time I would have a small breakout around my time of the month. I also didn’t have the best diet…ate fast food, tons of sweets, lots of prepackaged snacks, etc.
Now to the present day: Over a year ago I completely changed my diet…absolutely no processed foods, nothing out of a “package”, went 90% organic (I eat it if I can afford it, sometimes its hard to eat everything organic), eliminated gluten, limited my dairy (only organic cheese or yogurt every now and then…at the most like once a month), drink a “green smoothie” every day, tons of fruits and veggies, nuts/seeds, take green pastures cod liver oil, stopped wearing foundation/makeup. Annnddd, now my acne is HORRIBLE. I mean my entire forehead looks like the pictures you posted prior to your diet change..my chin has huge cystic acne bumps as well..but the worst is my forehead and a little around my nose. It’s so depressing. I don’t know what to do?!?!
All my friends who still eat horrible tell me now they wont ever change their diet like I did because they don’t want their face to look like mine. It’s so upsetting. I don’t understand how now that I eat a 100% real food and clean diet how I have such a horrible problem with acne??? It makes no sense. And all those people who I was trying to convince to eat clean make fun of me and say they won’t because they see what it did to my face…I know the diet change didn’t do this to my face because it happened like 6 months after I changed my diet..I just can’t figure out what is causing it.
Every dermatologist I go to tries to prescribe meds and I refuse because I did it for a month and it make things 10 times worse.
Any advice or suggestions are welcome.
Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that Alicia! that’s horrible 🙁 Unfortunately I wish I could tell you what is wrong. Are you eating enough food? Many times people don’t eat enough calories when they change their diets which can actually have a very detrimental effect on their hormones. Have you cut anything else out aside from what you mentioned, or are you still eating animal foods, etc? Did you stop birth control pills recently? Do you have something very stressful going on in your life? Did you start exercising a lot and intensely?
I am pretty sure I eat enough food. I eat meat like once every couple weeks, eggs on occasion as well. I don’t really have anything stressful in my life. I haven’t been on birth control in a few years..and I only exercise like twice a week.
hi alicia 🙂
i had the exact problem. but before i wasnt eating like so bad.just normal eating, no hamburgers or so.i had mild type of acne but 10 years, so i was fed up with it and decided to change my diet completely according to advices on internet books.i was eating lot of vegetables,fruit, i was without gluten, just like you told. i started to break out like crazy on forehead a lot of small pimples but chin was worst, like big pimples and especially from corners of mouth down to the chin. i was still thinking that it was detox, but then when it didnt dissapeared i wrote tracy, she said to me it could be intolerance to some food, so i made a test on 50 kinds of food.i found out that i am sensitive to corn and eggs the most and some other things less. i started to eat what i used to, also milk products also meat and bread.i stopped everything with corn and eggs, i started to go on therapies based on bioresonancy. it took some time but my skin still got better and better, now i can say i am ok, still some little scars after that acne, but it is almost away. this change of eating wasnt good for me, but what i found out, was that cause of my acne, mainly corn. still it happened to me that i ate some food which consist the corn, because it is in many foods and i found out that it is the worst for me. this bad experience revealed me my problem.the worst from all of that was that i had depresions,i found out that the food intollerance cause depresion.but it was terrible.i think everyone is different and everyone react different to food. i like everything about what tracy or some other like seppo are advicing, i think many people get rid of acne with their advices, but for me it was better to eat like before,but not unhealthy :)here is the question now that what is healthy, hard to answer sometimes maybe..
and i forgot to say that when i changed my diet, i started to eat a lot of things which was containong corn, because i was trying to avoid gluten 🙂 so i was choosing the worst type of food for me
Hi Marina,
Thanks for sharing your experience with this. Glad to hear I was on the right track with thinking it might be an intolerance to a different food. Perhaps this is what it is for Alicia.
The whole food sensitivities thing is a real pain sometimes since you can be sensitive to anything, not just the “usual” ones. It makes everything so confusing!! Really happy you figured it out though, but I’m sorry you had to go through that 🙁 At least you know corn is your culprit.
Hey,lovevitamin,as for me,I think pimples is in my blood,I have pimples and blackheads all over my back.Have tried using the unrefined shea butter,but still didn’t work.Please what can I do?I would love you to reply into my e-mail adress,thanks.From Oyindamola
My 8 year old daughter has started breaking out on her nose and forhead. 8 seems to young. She already doesn’t eat dairy or wheat. I have suffered with acne myself. Do you think I should follow the same guidelines for adults that you recommend? I feel like I have a real emotional response to this situation since I myself have suffered with acne. Do you have any suggestions?
I like what you say, and I’m 100% behind the alternative root, and finding the root cause and fixing at source, but I feel you have missed on crucial Element. Hormones!
You have mentioned the problems Associated with emotions and stress from the adrenal gland producing cortisol, but what about all the other hormones, mostly oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone!
I know from Personal experience the close connection between skin and emotions having suffered from a severe bowel related eczema, but Suffering from Acne with PCOS is much more difficult, and is most defiantly not all emotional basied, oestrogen has so much more of an input! Balancing oestrogen and progesterone Testosterone androgens and so on, is a real skill and has a huge influence on acne!
Hi J, yes you are totally right, this is an old post and needs to be updated!
Thanx you for your quick response Tracy…
I’d be extremely grateful if you had any info on PCOS and managing or stephen related acne and rosacea.
I already eat a wheat and lactose free diet… And follow a healthy lifestyle…
Thank you
Jxx
Tracy, do you think it’s safe to say that, if you have acne, you are generally unhealthy? Not only emotionally, but physically.
Hi Lauren,
I’m not Tracy, but I think, acne is definitely a sign that something isn’t working smoothly inside of your body. It’s not just a superficial problem. From that point of view, it’s similar to being unhealthy, but you should also consider that there are still lots of healthy parts in your body that need to be activated and supported to help you heal.
hi Tracy, reading your blog is so inspiring. it has really inspired me and my friend to eat more healthy and changing our lifestyles. I recently started breaking out due to a moisterizer, i used the cream on my chin as i had a dark spot there. its been three months since iv used that cream and i keep getting whiteheads in my chin and they are leaving dark spots 🙁 even beginging to get clogged pores near my nose, like little bumpy spots which make my skin look so rough! i dont know if it is hormonal or if its caused by that cream. its really beginning to affect the way i am, would really appreciate your advice. Many thanks. x
Hi Rumu, you might consider trying the caveman regimen, where you don’t do anything at all to your skin… it might help it get back to it’s natural state prior to the use of the moisturizer… https://thelovevitamin.com/3135/caveman-regimen/
Hi Tracy, thanks for the reply. After using that cream, i had also steamed my face then used lemon on it 🙁 and its made things slighly worse, im geting odd small red spots on my cheek and my skin looks slightly wrinkled. i did this exantly a month ago, as i got olive skin tone, im geting more prone to PIH, so now my face looks all uneven 🙁 i genuinely dont know what to do, i havent washed my face since last saturday and i feel like its drying my skin, iv had a few whiteheads near my mouth. So what im asking is that, do you think i have cosmetic acne or do you think something is wrong internally. i never had an issue with acne ever even when i was a teengaer. ever since i started using makeup and products its kinda been a upspiral journey for me. is there a way to speak to privately? your blog is the only thing that keeps me sane lol! everyday i would read it just to reassure myself and i would really like to thank you 🙂
Sorry Rumu, I don’t do private consultations, but it sounds to me mainly like cosmetic acne. If you start the caveman regimen then it’s going to be a while before your skin normalizes, it’s probably going to feel dry, flakey, weird, and patchy for a while, but it’s just the healing phase, and it’s normal. Make sure you read all the articles about the caveman thoroughly so you know what to expect! 🙂
i havent washed my face since saturday, but i feel like im having a few breakouts like whitheads and one huge under the skin spot on my cheek last night. im scared that im gona break out everywhere 🙁 this is so stressful! and these dark marks left by spots look so ugly! how long do they take till they go away or do they not fade? i’ve also tried eating healthy since saturday too but in turn i feel like its making me feel more weak :/ and i dont have the energy! am i doing something wrong?
Hi Rumu,
With the breakouts that you’re getting now… are they more than what you were experiencing before you stopped washing your face? As for eating healthy… for one, make sure you are eating enough food, but also when you begin to eat healthy all at once instead of making the changes gradually, you can experience a healing reaction… it’s like all the toxins in your body get released all at once and make you feel like shit (it can also make you break out a little more, temporarily). But then it all gets better. I think this is what you’re experiencing.
Guys. I highly recommend probiotics and having regular bowel movement everyday!! acne is caused by lack of good bacteria in your gut especially if you have taken a lot of antibiotics like me. It kills both good and bad bacteria and without the good bacteria it can’t get rid of the acne bacteria.80% of your immune system is located in your gut without enough good bacteria which is called flora helps to digest food better. So you can get more of the vitamins and minerals.say if you eat 100gram of chicken a healthy gut will be able to digest 90% of the protein, while an unhealthy guy that lacks bacteria will only utilize 50 – 60%!! no wonder when i take vitamins they don’t work haha.
I started by eating more fermented foods because i did not want to introduce so much bacteria supplements contain a lot!! Anyways. Not only is it helping me have regular bowel movements which helps to remove toxins so they don’t back up into the blood stream and cause pimples, it completely stopped my craving for sugar too. Now i hardly break out!! i recommend when eating fermented foods. Watch your diet. Sugar feeds the bad bacteria. Our flora loves fiber. So feed it lots of fiber too.After eating fermented foods. You can try to taking supplements.
I also suggest that you guys should search if you have leaky gut syndrome.It can also cause skin problems.It means your intestinal walls are damaged and this leaves a little gap for not only nutrients to go through, but all bacteria and pathogens will enter into the blood stream and cause inflammatory diseases of all sorts! Your intestinal walls acts as a barrier to pathogens! Hope this helps!!
Also stop using medication on your skin. Flora lives on your skin as well and acts as a barrier. It helps to protect the skin. When you keep washing and using medication. Your stripping away the flora!!! i suggest using probiotic creams!!! much much better.
Hey Julie, great advice! I whole heartedly agree about the probiotics / fermented foods, as well as no medication on the skin 🙂
Hi Tracy! I sent you an email! Please read it when you have time and stuff. I’m just confuse and curious if what I have right now are acnes or pimples or marks already. Huhuhuhuhuhu
Hey the love vitamin,
I am currently on accutane right now and have been for a moth and I am worried about long term effects, but living a healthy life seems challenging as of right now. Can you suggest anything I can do? Thanks
Hello Tracy and everyone here,
Thank you for writing and sharing this article with us.
I definitely agree with you that sugar largely influences a face of most, if not all, surferers of acne.
I have been experimenting with food a lot, trying out different healthy products for almost six months. By now I have come to a state of “no sugar. no grain. no no dairy). It definitely makes changes. However my concern is that I am just trying to please my desease, by adjusting to the conditions it dictates, but not fighting against it.
For instance, if I (theoretically) ever eat a piece of cake or have a burger and drink glass of Coke with my colleagues or clients, or I am in some highly important business dinner, I will inevitably have negative consequences on my face the very next day. In other words, what we trying to achieve by changing our food might just be a very beneficial and healthy effort, but I have to do it my whole life. At this point, my thinking has made me to think that there might be even a deeper reason than just the one of what we eat and consume. Why other people can eat chocolate their entire lifes and it doesn’t do any harm for them, at least visually, and for some like me it comes out in the most visible way. It just doesn’t make any sense at all for me. Maybe you guys have some practical suggestions or advices for me. Thanks a lot 🙂
Hi Tracy,
I am now 35 and have suffered acne since I was 12. I have been on accutane twice (didn’t work) and have tried many other treatments to no avail. I realised myself that something was happening internally, it didn’t matter how much i cleansed etc, the acne would appear. The light bulb moment came to me at the age of 22, I had just had my left ovary removed due to a tumour (which was slightly cancerous) and i spent 6 days in hospital, and my skin completely cleared. At first I thought it must have been the tumour causing my acne and it must be hormone related, I thought great, that’s gone now so my skin will clear up right? The day I left hospital my skin was the clearest it had been since the age of 11 but within two weeks my acne was back, with a vengence! I was shattered, I couldnt believe it, after having gone through the operation, finding out it was cancer etc, then to have to deal with my acne returning, i was desperate for answers. I sat and I thought about what was different in hospital, why did my skin clear up? I started thinking about diet and for the first few days post op I didnt eat at all, then after that it was very bland food, soup etc, and something was missing from my diet, the missing link, the answer to everything, the solution was right there in front of me!!! I hadn’t eaten DAIRY products in the hospital!! Then I realised I was allergic to Dairy, it was the ONLY cause of my acne, all this time! So once out of hospital I tested my theory and cut out all dairy products, well sure enough my skin remained clear. Every now and then I would indulge in an ice cream or dessert and sure enough the next day i was greeted with a new pimple!!!! Once i researched it, it made sense, it was affecting my hormones and increasing my androgen, i also believe it was responsible for my ovary tumour. Now at 35 I still get the odd pimple, coz dairy is in everything and sometimes i just choose to indulge, but i can control it now, knowing that an ice cream = a little pimple, and i can live with it 🙂 I wonder how many people out there are suffering when they are just allergic to dairy and if they only knew it would solve everything 🙂
Hi Kate! Yes dairy can be such an acne causer for some people! Although avoiding all dairy can be a big pain in the butt, you’re almost lucky it’s such a clear cut thing for you that was causing your acne- and that you discovered what it was early on. A lot of people their main acne triggers are not so cut and dry nor very easy to discover (not that dairy allergy is always easy to discover for people, but it is common information that dairy is the most common acne causing food) . Anyway – happy for you!
As a new teen (13) I have a lot of acne. Would your guidelines help in any way? Are they geared to teens? Or is this adult acne only? I feel like i ma very healthy.
Diet is home cooked whole foods with once per month occasional fast food, I get a lot of fresh air-love nature and being outside, exercise, sleep and sunshine. I eat almost no sugar, i really don’t crave it or feel like i need it. Always eat vegetables with my meals (my mom insists-she tries to keep all of us healthy!) with minimal starches. There is some stress as in all life, but nothing that worries me, just tests and studying, but as a seventh grader nothing intensive or extreme. I have a good life. Acne getting worse every day. Would your guidelines help in any way? Are they geared to teens? Or is this adult acne only? I do eat some dairy and some wheat (maybe once a week), but my parents don’t have any food issues and they had acne much milder than me as teens. My mom has gotten me some antioxidants for the skin, as well as some benzoyl peroxide when they wren’t working. None of this is helping. Suggestions?
Hello Tracy! Do you know of staphyloccocal infection? It seems that some people’s acne are caused by this strain of bacteria. If you have any knowledge of possible treatments for this, please say so in your reply. I might be having this thing, I read somewhere that its symptoms are persistent acne on one part of the skin and inlamed acne with a small white dot in the middle and I noticed it on my face. More power <333333
Hi Grace, yes it could be folliculitis!
What would you do if heat/ exercise seems to make your acne worse? Any time I really start working out, my body sweating causes large, painful cysts on my back. Anywhere that something rubs (ie bra strap) causes cysts. I want to keep working out and being healthy.