Does a healthy lifestyle also treat eczema, rosacea, psoriasis, and other skin diseases aside from acne?
The answer is yes, because I have also dealt with painful eczema on my fingers and I have had the same success with clearing it at the same rate as my acne! Find out more in the video, as well as getting a bit of an update on my life and where I’m at! (aaaahhh I still don’t have the internet at my new cabin!)
To make this clear… when I say “consequences” in the video, I don’t mean that you should constantly live in fear of the consequences. I just mean accepting them as they are… I have been slacking off on my health and I realized it. But I chose to do it anyway, knowing that there may be consequences – and I guess that it turns out there are.
Having a return of the eczema is somewhat of a big deal to me because it is associated in my heart with the severe acne (since they were born and died at the same time), but I’m trying to not let it get to me so that I can accept the way things are and calmly go about reversing the situation. Although it can be hard sometimes, I know now that going into hysterical fear will not help it go away any faster, and will be more likely to manifest a return of a major facial breakout. I am instead trying to visualize and feel the way I would if I saw that it was all clearing up and going away – and essentially ushering this outcome into my life. ♥
I can’t vouch for a healthy lifestyle and its effectiveness against rosacea, but I can 100% say that a better diet and lifestyle WILL help with eczema. I used to have eczema on my scalp near the nape of my neck and it would dry up and flake sometimes and it itched like hell.
It was part of the reason why I went No Poo also. The No Poo helped a bit, probably because my scalp wasn’t so dry from the crap in shampoos, but once I started improving my diet it went away completely. I didn’t even realize it was gone until one day I scratched my head and realized “oh, my eczema is gone. Cool.”
Yes, it’s exciting when it clears up! It felt so awesome last year when my hand stopped being painful… I hope this flare up goes soon.
Hey!
I’ve been trying to clear up my ‘sudden breakout’ for a month now and have not achieved it, but now that I found your website I’ve decided to follow the natural path to clear skin. Concerning the diet, I’m a vegetarian, and even though cutting the dairies, soy and gluten/wheat were kind of difficult they are definitely doable. My only question is, what other sources of protein would you recommend besides eggs, and maybe nuts ?(even though most of the time they are processed in plants where they process soy and wheat, and that’s no good). Also, I was pretty much addicted to cereal (as silly as that sounds) as a snack basically, would homemade popcorn be a healthy option for a snack? and by homemade I don’t mean the ones you make in the microwave, but the actual corn kernels…
Hi Celeste! yes the vegetarian diet is tough without soy, gluten/wheat, and dairy, but it’s do-able. I think it’s very important to get at least some animal foods into your diet because they contain important vitamins and minerals that are hard to absorb only from plant food. You can use quality grassfed butter or ghee as and if you aren’t against taking fish oil or cod liver oil, I would highly recommend that. As for proteins to eat aside from egg, there isn’t too much, although you can get protein from beans, grains, etc, but it’s best to soak and cook them thoroughly in order to break down their anti-nutrients and make them digestible. Homemade popcorn is a fine snack as long as you aren’t allergic to corn.
Thank you so much Tracy! I’ll be looking for grassfed butter or ghee at my local whole foods. I had stopped taking my supplements (B-complex, Biotin, Fish Oil, Evening Primrose oil, Zinc, C, D, Beta-carotene) when I started the healthy lifestyle (I wasn’t sure it was 100% safe), but I’ll start taking my fish oil now that you mention it 🙂 And now I know I can occasionally throw some previously soaked beans into my salads, so that’s great!
Also, what’s your opinion on gluten-free hummus?
Thanks again!
Yep, hummus is alright. Hummus shouldn’t ever contain gluten, as its main ingredients (chickpeas, tahini, garlic, and lemon) aren’t grains and don’t have gluten. Homemade hummus is best as you can soak the beans and such… also because commercial hummus usually has chemicals and such, like most processed foods.
Quick question — I’ve already eliminated all grains and bad stuff from my diet for about 9 months now — I’m beginning to think I’m a vegetarian because 75 percent of the food I eat are veggies! I still have meat though, salmon or other fish almost every other day but beef or chicken only once or twice a week. Do you think there’s any connection at all between meat/protein and acne?
The reason is, I think I’ve become a bit afraid of meat that isn’t fish. It’s weird! Before, I used to get breakouts after a bit of meat (or so I thought) but I also had grains and other sugary foods as well back then. Do you think that this will still cause a problem now? (or was I totally wrong about the meat-acne connection?)
Thanks!
Hi Jeffrey… so if you don’t eat grains, or much meat, what makes up the bulk of your diet on an average day? I personally don’t think there is a big connection between meat and acne if it’s quality meat… if it is poor quality and has hormones and a lot of toxins, then maybe. I also think it can cause problems if you eat a lot of it in combination with tons of sugary food or not enough vegetables, like you mentioned there. However, I eat meat every day and so do many acne victims… it’s very nutritious… I think you can go overboard, but if you are balancing it with tons of veggies like you are, I don’t think you should worry!
hm okay! i guess i’ll start incorporating it more — i think it’s more due to just paranoia than actual thinking that meat is bad.
my meals look like:
morning:
eggs, avocado, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds sprinkled on. or leftover salmon.
lunch:
big salad with nuts, balsamic vinegar and lemon with some sort of tuna/ham/turkey.
dinner:
variety of things, usually a good combination of carbs, protein, and fats (olive oil/butter, basmati rice, veggies, and some beef/pork/chicken mixed in in a stirfry usually)
that’s about all!
Hmm well your diet looks great! But your skin still isn`t clear? Or is it? If not, have you been checked for individual allergies? And are you healthy in other areas of your life too?
my skin is pretty much clear except for red spots from before. I get a blemish like once every few weeks or month. It’s kind of frustrating that I’m so close to getting all clear but I still get one or two every once in awhile. I can’t really trace the cause either.
i was just curious about the meat thing because I just don’t feel that good after having too much meat – it’s probably just psychological though.
Tracy,
I had a dermatologist appointment and she told me for years I’d been treating acne when what I really have is rosacea. I’m a long time reader and have never noticed many mention-ings of rosacea. Basically she said I could get laser surgery or pay $900 on medications. I’m devastated and feel incredibly hopeless. I didn’t know if there was any hope in the holistic realm that might be worth an investment? Pumping my body full of chemicals is terrible-but I feel very helpless, and am willing to try it.
Hi Autumn Jade,
I’m Svea and I’m helping Tracy a little with the comments while she’s in India. Generally, all different types of skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis respond very well to lifestyle changes, but it’s a pretty slow process. You really have to have the courage to go through a long period of trial and error. Natural methods can never be as fast working as conventional products or processes. A holistic approach gives quite subtle impulses, but usually with a long-lasting effect 😉
I guess you already tried loads of things like eating a healthy whole foods diet (getting tested for food intolerances could be another option: intolerances, hot or spicy foods, hot beverages, etc. might trigger rosacea), getting enough sleep and rest, regular sweaty exercise, lowering your stress levels and so on. Stress is a really big issue, especially emotional stress, and it’s not easy to fix.
I have a little bit of rosacea as well (even though it’s never been very noticeable), and I find washing my face with oatmeal water very soothing and calming. Just add a little oatmeal to a cup of water, let it soak for 5-10 minutes (or longer), stain and use the water only to wash your face. It’s not expensive at all, and I think it’s worth a try. I don’t moisturize at night and apply just a few drops of olive oil (a cooling and soothing oil) to damp skin in the morning – but only if needed. With rosacea, less is more.