“For the first time in 15 years I’m free of acne”
She found low carb and this is what happened:
The email
Hello Diet Doctor!
I’ve never been overweight, instead it was my skin problems that got me looking for alternatives to the countless ineffective pieces of advice I’ve received from physicians over the years. I’m now 28 years old but until recently have never had a completely acne-free face. Really, not even one day free from acne for 15 years. I’ve tried everything from Tetralysal, doxycycline, cortisone, prescription creams, expensive facial treatments and creams, to excluding dairy products and having osteopath treatment. Everything except for Accutane which, according to me, causes side effects that are too difficult. I could probably have gone on a trip around the world with all the money I’ve spent on fixing my skin. Imagine if I had met a doctor who focused on what causes acne instead of trying to remove the symptoms!
About four years ago I had just given up on my acne, accepted that it doesn’t “go away when you grow up” like the dermatologists had said. On top of everything I got a strange redness with little pus-filled pimples around my eyes, nose and mouth – I had developed perioral dermatitis. Everyone who’s got acne, perioral dermatitis or rosacea knows how incredibly much it affects ones quality of life. I was desperate and turned once again to the health care. The doctor at the care center prescribed tetralysal for 8 weeks as well as cortisone cream for my face. The antibiotics and the cortisone not only wiped out my entire immune system and ruined my sensitive skin but the dermatitis came back after a few months. I decided to never again eat antibiotics or use strong medications. I decided to find the reason for my problems and I felt more and more convinced that my skin problems were a sign that something wasn’t right with my body.
I quickly found LCHF, low carb high fat, and gobbled down enormous amounts of information and changed my diet straight away. My skin got better, not entirely good, but better. Being a severe sugar addict I felt content with this and ate liberal LCHF and fell off the wagon and ate sugar every once in a while. I felt good, but I now realize that the insulin resistance caused an inflammation which never got to heal properly and therefore prevented my skin from being quite free from problems. I was inspired by Ann Fernholm’s book about the hormone IGF-1 and immediately realized the connection. And after having read Dr. Fung’s blog I started with intermittent fasting in order to raise the insulin sensitivity and lower the inflammation: 16:8 plus one 24 hour fast every week.
I’m not kidding, after FOUR days my skin was free of problems. For the first time in 15 years I’m free of acne and for the first time in four years my perioral dermatitis is gone. In order to rule out other underlying factors that could possibly explain this change, I stopped after a month and ate “regular” food without fasting – the problem returned! So I’ve really found my lifestyle, thank you for an awesome blog!
/L
Comment
A big congratulations to you, Laura! To be rid of something that’s been troubling you for so long must be a relief.
There are scientific reasons for why LCHF and intermittent fasting can help with acne problems. These kinds of problems seem to have strong connections to elevated hormone levels of insulin and IGF in the blood. These send growth signals to sebaceous glands in the skin which grow together and block the pores.
LCHF and intermittent fasting lowers and normalizes insulin and IGF numbers, which may normalize the sebaceous glands as well, so that they no longer are a hotbed for acne.
This isn’t the first success story on this theme:
Acne (and IBS) Vanished with a Diet Change
Do you have experience with acne and diet changes? Let us know in the comments.
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Here are some health conditions caused by grains.
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2016/02/wheat-belly-self-directed-health/
But your point is still valid, as wheat consumption alone may be an acne provoker. It's appetite-provoking, often addictive, and with the risks of celiac and NCGS unknown in this case, setting the wheat dial to zero, and nailing it there, is a sensible precautionary measure. And sure, barley and rye too.
What do you think about this? just wondering
LCHF diet must bother the anointed that are selling junk and pills.
Not acne but I suffered from countless minor and chronic skin, eye, gum, sinus and fungal infections, and outbreaks of thrush for most of my life, along with other things that are "common in diabetics" like dyslipidemia and early onset high BP.
After FIFTY years a doctor finally gave me a Glucose Tolerance Test, which I only just "passed". Using the meter I was expressly told not to use I discovered my postprandial BG was routinely going up to 8 - 10, which I have since been told is "perfectly normal". No, it may have become "common" but is NOT "normal". Many diabetics I know have tested friends and family and found, like Dr Richard Bernstein, that genuinely normal people have VERY tightly controlled BG in the region of 4.5 - 5.5 whatever they eat or do.
Nailing my BG by low carbing made all the other problems reduce or go away completely. Though I don't appear to be gluten intolerant as such, wheat causes much worse glucose spikes than almost any other carb source - I blame Wheat Germ Agglutinin.
Added benefits - my teeth no longer need fillings and hardly even need polishing. Too late for the two that fell out as my gums rotted though.
Read the health.com article you asked about. Excuse my crudity, but what an unmitigated load of BS - No reflection on you, you are just posting the article for comment from others!
I love the line "Only 78% managed to stay on a low-carb diet whilst 90% managed to stay on a high carb diet" - therefore a high carb diet is more sustainable!!!
Yes, because the high carbers are hooked and addicted on the damaging sugars in refined carbs.
I think a 78% success rate for LCHF, maintaining the diet over 2 years, is pretty awesome really, considering that it involves people giving up sugar, which is more addictive than crack cocaine according to Robert Lustig!!!
On a personal note, ALL my ailments (joint pain, constant headaches, overweight, post-nasal-sinus drip, chronic inflammation, eczema, anxiety and depression etc.) literally DISSAPEARED after a couple of months on LCHF.
I have been sugar "clean" and LCHF for 2.5 years now and have never felt better!
Well done, Laura.
Oh yes, you are so right.
As soon as you say dont eat grains, they say you follow an orthorexic lifestyle or you are simply crazy.
I think the main reason for this, is that they are unable to give up grains and sugar.
One specific thought was regarding the constipation figures. I had that same issue when I first started LCHF, and I eventually eliminated it by cutting out mozzarella cheese sticks (the only cheese I ate with any regularity). Lots of anecdotal evidence linking dairy consumption with constipation in some individuals, so I figured it was worth a try - and it was.
I had to Google "orthorexy", never heard the term before. I could say some things about that, but murray (comment #10) already hit the nail on the head.
If the dietary approach works, the problem goes away and the "extraordinary" measures become the new normal. What outsiders may think and say is irrelevant, let they waffle.
Replacing wheat with LCHF foods won't somehow conjure up a nutrient deficient diet or even malnutrition, so no problem there.
AND she's clearly not an NZO mouse, so eating this way is beneficial - as shown above.
I am very pleased for Laura that she has found something that helps her , but it says nothing about LCHF
It put me in a path where I found Dr Jasin Fung on YouTube. I did some longer fasts of 3-5 days, and to my surprise I not only lost weight and my acne cleared up. I am 47 year old male and I have had acne for 35 years. Now I do IF daily and one long fast per month (3-5 days) in my fitness training recovery week.
Only downside to fasting I found is that since I am much more alert, the quality of my sleep is not the same during a long fast. Other than that, I have no issues. I even find my job to be easier since my thoughts are much clearer during a fast.