Skin Problems

[bcetiger24]

The diet had the opposite impact on me, I had mild to moderate acne most of my life and the diet helped immensely. The other thing that has helped is that I stopped using any harsh products and use only organic gentle products. The topical use of organic jojoba oil also has been a godsend for me.

 

I am convinced that almost all ailments, including skin problems, are the result of some kind of food allergy or nutritional defeciency. If it is in fact zinc defeciency, I would probably anticipate that it would take 4-6 weeks of consistent zinc use to see a difference. If that doesn't work, I would cut out the different staples of your diet for 1-2 weeks at a time to try and pinpoint which of the foods may be causing the breakouts.

[veggieprincess]

So my skin is worse than ever!

 

I have had good skin all my life. Its getting worse and worse.

 

I have now concocted my own solution of Benzoly Peroxide and pure tea tree oil that I rub on twice a day. It dries up all of the existing ones overnight but every day several take its place.

 

This weekend was the worse than ever because I didn't want to leave the house because of my sking. I have a date next weekend and I'm afraid I'll cancel it if it doesen't clear up. What's frustrating is that I've tried so many things.

 

Acne washes, medicines, tea-tree oil, daily zinc supplements, tons and tons of water (which I do anyway), not wearing face makeup.... NOTHING IS WORKING, it is only getting worse. I've never ever ever had bad skin. What the hell is going on?? It's really depressing.

 

When I plugged my diet in the Cron-O-Meter, I'm getting triple the amount of all vitamins, minerals and nutrients. I don't know what to do.

[beforewisdom]

VP, have you thought about seeing a dermatologist? How about someone specializing in allergies?

 

I mention the later because I have had friends over the years who have had allergic reactions after giving up bad habits. Smoking, going vegan, removing an allergen from their diet. I think our bodies can become dulled to things that are bad for us, then when they are removed, our systems wake up, become very sensitive for a while or start purging all sorts of crap out of us.'

 

Your system could be detoxing.

 

The other possibility is that you introduced new foods you are allergic to or have been eating more foods your system could tolerate in smaller amounts.

 

Have you tried new supplements or old supplements in new amounts? That could be throwing your system out of balance.

 

You may just need some time for your system to adjust to your new regime.

 

I have another e-friend who was a vegetarian who I convinced to go vegan. She was a human garbage pale, especially with dairy beforehand. After I got her to give up dairy her cholesterol dropped 50 pts. She is only in her early 30s. That is how much crap she was eating. Now she is having dry pimply skin after a lifetime of nice skin.

 

I'm not an expert by any means. A dermatologist might not have answers either, but it is possible. It can't hurt to get an educated opinion.

[beforewisdom]

Maybe it could also help to write away to vegan health professionals. They may have heard of similar things before.

 

Try writing away to the PCRM ( pcrm.org ) I know they have contact information on their web site and that they answer letters.

 

Jack Norris RD of Vegan Outreach will also answer his emails:

http://www.veganhealth.org http://www.veganoutreach.org

 

Then there is Brenda Davis R.D. she cowrote "Becoming Vegan" and the American Dietetic Association's position paper on Vegetarianism

http://www.brendadavisrd.com/

 

The Vegetarian Resource Group has been around forever and is run by nutritionists. I have always found them to be approachable:

http://www.vrg.org

 

Dr. Michael Klapper has also been examining health problems vegans get in his "Vegan Health Study". He is likely to have some insights IMHO:

http://www.veganhealthstudy.org/

 

HTH

 

I would be curious to know what these people have to say and what ends up working for you.

 

Steve

[Michelle]

I have now concocted my own solution of Benzoly Peroxide and pure tea tree oil that I rub on twice a day. It dries up all of the existing ones overnight but every day several take its place.

 

This weekend was the worse than ever because I didn't want to leave the house because of my sking. I have a date next weekend and I'm afraid I'll cancel it if it doesen't clear up. What's frustrating is that I've tried so many things.

 

Acne washes, medicines, tea-tree oil, daily zinc supplements, tons and tons of water (which I do anyway), not wearing face makeup.... NOTHING IS WORKING, it is only getting worse. I've never ever ever had bad skin. What the hell is going on?? It's really depressing.

Could be detox of some kind, as several people have mentioned... as skin eruptions are one way that the body eliminates toxins. You can help a detox along (hopefully faster!) with things like lots of water, juicing, salt water flushes, massage, skin brushing, and herbal teas - although I don't know which teas. If you do a search for "detox" you may get some more ideas.

 

All that stuff you've been putting on to try to clear up the problem could actually be making it worse. As difficult as it may be to do, the best thing may be to just give your skin a rest for a couple days so it'll have the opportunity to normalize and clear itself up. Seriously.

 

My usual skin regimen is to wash with plain water every day and use an exfoliating scrub once a week, plus I moisturize my face with virgin coconut oil immediately after getting out of the shower. I've been doing that for ten years now and get probably six blemishes a year - if I try to switch to some fancy face wash or moisturizer I break out every time. I'm no dermatologist, of course, but I personally believe that simpler is better, when it comes to skin care.

 

And finally - don't cancel a date over a few blemishes! Anyone who can't overlook those isn't worth your time.

[Kon]

hm.. my skin is doing the opposite.

michelle's water suggestion perked my ears because lately I have been having to get up in the middle of my sleep to pee, and this is something entirely new to me. So even though I don't drink straight from a glass much, I do get alot of water from my food. I also have been going to the bathroom alot more frequently, which suggests that things are flowing better than they use to (atleast thats what i think)..

you should really dissect your diet.. I've noticed direct correlations to things that I eat and any following outbreaks, but to do this, your diet has to be extremely simple, else you wont have any idea what might be effecting things.

for example, some days I only eat like 4 different ingredients.

[veggieprincess]

thanks for the good suggestions.

 

I am going to look into Vitamin A supplementation. I did a good amount of research on google yesterday and a couple articles said that certain people cannot convert plant sources to the Vitamin A necessary for the body. The article also said that supplementation helped these people. So even though the charts say I'm getting lots of Vitamin A, I may have a deficiency anyway.

[beforewisdom]

Be careful, vitamin A is fat soluble so it is possible to use supplements to build up to a toxic level. It might also be hard/impossible to find a vegan vitamin A supplement in that form.

 

I asked around on a few internet forums. Several people echoed the detox, zinc, and water points brought up here.

 

Taking in a certain amount of ___ is not always the same as actually assimilating _____.

 

Some nutrients have cofactors, so depending on supplements may not give you enough of _____.

 

Food preparation methods matter too. Some things are just hard for some people to extract from raw foods.

 

Since a "detox" takes time to run its course and supplements need time to kick in you might never know what the real issue is.

[_raVen_]

You've been suggested a lot of things I might have. But, I would

 

Re-examine all stuffs you put on your face - lotions, makeup, cleansers, soaps, etc. - check labels. Use only pure oils or minimal-ingredients products, such as Aubrey Organics moisturizers.

 

Wash your face only once per day.

 

Use no makeup till it clears.

 

Eat no sugar at all

 

Eat no dried fruit at all (only fresh, watery fruits for now)

 

Cut out ALL processed foods - flour products, sweeteners, cereals, protein powders, etc.

 

Reduce nuts and seeds to about 2 ounces per day. And soak 24 hours before consuming (depending on activity level)

 

For one week, cut out all grains.

 

Add 1 TB Chia Seeds per day

 

Increase:

 

#1-Large amounts of Leafy Greens (make green smoothies to get a lot)

 

Rainbow colors of vegetables

 

Fresh fruit only

 

Coconut water, if available for a "gatorade" before/after workouts

 

Additional Supplements

 

DHA

 

Borage oil (1/4 tsp per day)

 

---

 

Wash pillowcases/sheets twice per week.

Edited November 26, 2007 by _raVen_

[beforewisdom]

I just think veggieprincess needs to send me her credit card number and ssn. That will take her mind off her skin problem .

[Guest]

Low body fat can have a lot to do with this. Women with low body fat tend to have an elevated testosterone/estrogen ratio making breaking out more common. Go to a proffessional track and field meet and its pretty obvious. The lean runners tend to be broken out(steriods have a lot to do with this but the not so lean athletes are taking them too but don't have the skin issues as badly)...actually most of them. You can't see it so well on TV but its quite obvious in person.

[seitan_man]

Plenty of fresh fruit and veg and lots of water seems to be the best way of clearing up bad skin, at least this has worked with me. Plus an avoidance of sugar.

 

Maybe use a natural facial cleanser too.

[TheLeetOne]

I struggled with acne for about 20 of my 22 years, and everything I've gone through with it has taught me a few things, however one of them is that everyone's skin requires different things to stay healthy (sorry for the 'duh' factor).

 

I tried countless different kinds of facial cleansers when I was younger, all of which would appear to help for the first couple days but then become completely useless, or even aggravate the acne further... strangely enough I didn't realize the key to getting rid of my acne until I was in jail (not exactly a low stress period of my life! haha). While in jail I drank a LOT of water, most likely much more than my body needed... I didn't know much about nutrition then, but I knew enough to know that jail food was crap (which in my opinion somewhat excludes the food factor from being what cleared up my acne -- also of note is that I wasn't vegan at all at this time). I personally had back acne or 'bacne' at this time also, and had had it for years.

 

What seemed to work for me, in conjunction with the water and never squeezing or popping, was that I (for some strange reason) decided to stop washing my face and back with soap (I know this sounds really backwards). Instead I would just shower very frequently (FYI: Canadian jail, or at least jail in BC, is much less scary than what you see in movies, haha... everyone gets a seperate shower stall and anyone acting creepy in any way gets beaten by everyone). After showering 2+ times per day without soap, hand washing acne affected areas thoroughly, the severity of my acne immediately began to decline, and by the time I was released (roughly 5-6 months) I was bacne-less for the first time since I was 13, and my facial acne was significantly improved and has been very light ever since. I personally can't explain how great it feels to have a clear back (completely! amazingly I had no scarring or anything) after being hesitant to take my shirt off for so many years... it's awesome. My face being clear most of the time is nice too, but I still get the odd pimple -- I have noticed however that since I've switched to a vegan diet this happens even less often.

 

I hope this somehow sheds a little light on the subject, because I wasn't too keen on posting the fact that I used to have 'bacne' online (or that I'm a convict, for that matter... LOL)!

[damdaman]

Have you tried cutting gluten out of your diet for a couple weeks? Maybe you're eating more gluten now that you're vegan.

 

Lots of skin problems I had cleared up when I stopped eating gluten.

[joelbct]

What helps for me-

 

Get plenty of sleep

 

Aerobic Exercise- Acne Vulgaris Bacteria is anaerobic, so the increased oxygen in your increased blood flow will help to kill off the acne

 

As suggested, be very picky about what you use on your skin in terms of cleanser/moisturizers... nothing pore-clogging or with oils- look for cleansers with the fewest ingredients (I used to use cetaphil, which is non-comodegenic, meaning does not clog pores, but cetaphil is animal-tested, so I recently switched to the earth science clarifying cleanser).

 

If it persists, seek a dermatologist, erythromycin/benzoyl peroxide combination is the most clinically-proven acne medication in conventional medicine

[veggieprincess]

thanks for trying to help everyone.... many of these things I am already doing (i.e. not eating gluten, tons of water, tons of fruits and veggies, etc)

 

The date is on Sunday. And it doesen't seem to be letting up one bit. See, this is why I don't date... the pressure....

 

 

(I know Michelle... I'm sure it won't matter one bit to him, but it will matter to me and make me self-concious.... )

[beforewisdom]

Has this improved for you at all?

[veggieprincess]

I think so beforewisdom... but I don't want to speak too soon.

 

A combination of Salicylic Acid and Vitamin A supplements daily seems to be bringing in very few new ones.

 

Thanks for asking.