Eating to Prevent Acne

I have struggled with acne since I was in 9th grade. Later in my teen years I got fed up and went to a very well known dermatologist in town because isn't that what you should do when you have skin problems? They told me I had hormonal acne, put me on prescriptions, and sent me out the door. I took the prescriptions for a few years. Then I started being really interested and concerned about everything that I was putting in my body including medications. I decided that the long term side effects and harm I was doing to my body wasn't worth it and I quit taking the prescriptions.  At this time I was already eating a pretty healthy, organic diet so I never thought diet could be what was causing it. For goodness sakes I bought wheat berries and grind my own flour to make homemade bread...what could be bad about that? A few months after all of the medications were out of my system my face went nuts and I discovered that I had worse skin as a 24 year old than I did as a 14 year old. After a few months of being really embarrassed of my terrible skin I went on a search bound and determined to find a natural way to solve my problem. I came across The Oil Cleansing Method and tired it for a few weeks. It didn't work. I tried expensive high quality face washes and spot treatments. They didn't work either. Discouraged and at the end of my rope I was ready to go back to the dermatologist.  I thought I would research the internet one last time because I really think the majority of our society's health problems can be solved naturally. When searching I found website after website recommending to cut out wheat, dairy and sugar from your diet to prevent acne. Since I had nothing to lose I went for it. I did a two day acne detox followed by a three day whole body cleanse to rid my body of all the garbage and toxins. In the picture below the top left picture was taken the day before I started the detox while I was still eating whatever I wanted. The bottom left picture was taken on the last day of the cleanse. You can see the within just five days my face started to heal dramatically with no new zits forming. After these five days I started to incorporate small amounts of dairy, wheat, and sugar individually to see what my body could tolerate. I found that for me dairy is the the biggest culprit followed by wheat and then sugar.  Even when I ate small amounts my face would break out again and have an even worse reaction than before since my body wasn't used to it. I vowed to cut them out for good because nothing is worth eating that makes me look and feel like crap. Plus I found that when I ate something I shouldn't it would take my skin just a couple days to react but almost two weeks to heal.  The picture to on the right is from yesterday after 3 weeks of being dairy, wheat, and sugar free. Below are some links that explain more about why dairy, wheat and sugar cause problems. You can get an idea of what I do eat from previous blog posts and am happy to answer any questions.


Skin Sinners-Foods that aggravate acne
Skin Savers- Foods to help reduce acne
How does food influence acne
Five foods that cause acne


After much contemplation of whether or not to post this... here is the before during and after picture.

I can't forget to mention that I no longer use harsh salicylic acid cleansers or have to wear a ton of makeup. In the morning exfoliate my face by scrubbing really good it with a soapy wash cloth. In the evening I was my face with a plain organic bar soap then rub 1/4 teaspoon of extra virgin organic coconut  oil over my face. I was freaked out about putting oil on my already super oily face too, but coconut oil has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and antiseptic properties. It's amazing how well my pores absorb it. I don't even wake up with an oily face. Read more about coconut oil for health skin here.

Thanks for reading!

-Shanny