Acne

[SpiderDan]

Im 25 and ive got it a bit

was almost completely clear up until I started training in the gym , face seems to go through phases, its quite clear at the moment. Still got a bit on my chest and back and once again that seems to go in phases (its not particularly great at the moment)

I stopped using exfoliators and soap on my skin about six weeks ago and whilst it hasnt cleared it certainly isnt worse and might even be a little better.

If it is an intolerance to certain foods the only thing I can suggest is go back to basics on a strict meat and veg diet (forget bulking for a few months) and see what happens....it may clear up. If it does go slowly reintroduce foods until you find what causes it.

[beN123]

Just do a rotation of food, instead of eating oats which I find to not help my skin, replace with sweet potatoes. Do you have milk with it as well? Theres another article on there explaining why not to drink milk at all due to it being made primarily for cows. The cows are also pumped full of hormones, which come drinking it enters our bodies, and that obviously isnt good.

Its no wonder when you look at that why so many people suffer from acne through drinking milk, its not very healthy for us!

At the minute ive cut out any gluten, lowered wheat intake as well as any simple carbs (still pondering over high sugar fruit) and processed food. Biscuits are such a nightmare for me, i wont survive without them!

I've just ordered some Alpha Lipoic Acid from MP, its supposed to be excellent at clearing up acne scars and making skin look healthier, so il update this post after taking it for a bit.

[MJ.23]

Thanks for that Ben Yep ive read countless articles on dairy products in general being bad for human consumption. Its not natural to drink milk from another animal at the end of the day. I would only ever consume organic raw milk, but try and buy that somewhere! Its getting rarer and rarer.

Im having the same problem with fruits as well. Im not sure what to do with them! Yes they are high in sugars however these are natural sugars. Not to mention the fibre and other goodies you get from them.

I will say steer clear of bananas. They are a known inflammatory food.

My mum has a yeast intolerance and finds it really hard to buy food. She found these cookies in sainsburys that imo are witchcraft.

They are made without: gluten, wheat, milk, yeast, salt, buckwheat, soya, nuts, eggs or hydrogenated fat. Yet are the nicest cookies you will ever eat!

They are called Doves farm organic cookies. Stella stuff. They are high in sugar but if you know sugar doesnt affect you then go for it!

Will be good to hear how the Alpha Lipoic Acidgoes for you

[Ripped Barbarian]

Quote

Its not natural to drink milk from another animal at the end of the day.

Is it natural for us to:

Eat the eggs of other animals?
Eat deep sea fish we never had the chance of catching in our evolution?
Eat grains on an industrial level of production that never would have been collected in our evolution?
Eat purified sugar from cane?

If anything drinking milk, especially considering we are mammals is far more 'natural' than many other practices, it's more natural than eating a pizza.

[MJ.23]

Im not disputing that, but the milk you buy off the shelf is complete garbage.

Egg wise it is natural. Animals eat other animals eggs.

Animals eat fish. We used to spear fish. We may eat deeper sea fish but a fish is a fish.

I limit sugar intake as yes thats not natural.

You need to realise that pasteurised cows milk is pointless for consumption. All valuable enzymes are destroyed (lactase for the assimilation of lactose; galactase for the assimilation of galactose; phosphatase for the assimilation of calcium). As well as many others.

I could go on about milk but this post would get way too long. Theres tons of scientific research done on cows milk so look it up on google. ( Also look up the effects on infants as a replacement for breast milk)

Also you must have missed the part where i said i would consume organic raw milk. Even then its so full of bacteria its a dodgy decision.

They claim milk is high in calcium to help "strong" bones is irrelevant as theres little evidence to back this up. Ive looked at a number of studies carried out and there is very mixed results. Of the studies i looked at two-thirds showed no impact on bone health above 500 mg. As early as the 1930's doctors were aware that pasteurised milk bought about bone thinning.

Ill try and find the studies i looked at and post them here.

Cows milk is such a specific milk designed for the calf. Cows are much more rugged than us meer humans and milk can have a long term detrimental affect on health.

Other forms of milk such as goats milk arent as bad for human health as its much less "severe" for human consumption, due to the small amount of bacteria compared to cows' milk.

So basically in my view theres no need for milk whatsoever.

[MJ.23]

Ben i was reading the post in the advanced discussion about bedtime carbs. Ive always known this was an issue for me as i need to eat just before bed otherwise i dont make it through the night without having to get up and eat something.

Ive tried countless times before to do this. Ive had HUGE portions 2 hours before bed, changed the type of food but to no avail it seems. Ill have to try and break this cycle as it really could be effecting my skin.

[NU_nutrition_TS]

Agree with RB here...milk is not unnatural or that bad (even pasteurised) for those who do not have intolerances to it.

[beN123]

Alright mate, bit of an update as promised

Skin looks alot better actually. I've changed alot so it could be a number of things. One thing I did notice through taking the ALA is that my skin was shedding faster for a while, but seems to have slowed down now.

I also started doing these things;

-Ginger tea twice most days - raw ginger, cut into small slices and boiled
-NO wheat/gluten - seems to of worked somewhat and could be one big facter which has helped to clear it, although its supposed to take a month or 2/3 to take full effect.
-Upped my omega 3 intake, at first I swear this broke me out with cysts etc, but I decided to gamble and go on as I knew how many other health benefits it brings. Omega 3 is famous for its anti-inflammtory effects, and so far its prooved true. I have one slamon fillet and 4 MP caps a day, probably one of the bravest decisions of my life
-More water, the usual really, tried not to go above 3L maximum on baking hot days like today, might need more next time.
-raw smoothies made out of various veg and frozen berries, very good at getting raw enzymes into your system, cooking foods kills these enzymes which help break food down.
-Cut out eggs/sweet potatoes and walnuts as im sure i have some sort of tolerance to one, and im preying its walnuts, definately cant live without eggs. Obviously this depends on the person.
-Getting more sun, when ever possible i try and get out into the sun, has anti bacterial effects, as well as everything else you probably know about.

Well thats pretty much all of them off the top of my head, the most important I think are getting out into the sun, cutting out gluten/wheat/dairy and increasing my omega 3. Stil got a few spots here and there but overal looking MUCH better, I can actually happily walk around in public, talk to peoples faces while looking into their eyes etc. Still have red marks from old ones, but if it doesnt get worse than it is I will be very happy. Im a firm believer that acne is caused through some sort of digestive problem and/or hormone inbalance. Treating it with creams and pills WILL NOT WORK. You need to restore your body from the inside, and these steps do, which is why I think theres been a change. Theres an interesting thread which explains how a guy removed all his acne through sorting out his bodies body clock, explaining the importance of going to bed at the same time every night and getting as much direct sunlight in the day - something to do with melatonin and carb metabolism or something, will try and find a link.

Some people might read this and think its over the top, but seriously I think acne is one of the hardest things to over come in life past a certain point!

Hope this helps, and will try and update it again in a while, have a go at some of the steps and see if it works for you.

[MJ.23]

Great post! Great to hear some good results. With regards to the water i drink a lot more than 3L a day. I drink near 6L a day. Keeps me feeling fresh and it does help with acne (Not to the extent some claim though!)

Im going to pick up some ginger root and try that tea. Sound tasty as well I drink a lot of tea at the moment. One of the best i found is roobois tea. Very high antioxidant count (double green tea) and really helped my skin.

I upped my fish intake as well although that was for bulking reasons and its delicious Smoked haddock is like a drug.

I might finally start to cut wheat out my diet. Ive always known about the intolerances that a lot of people have with wheat but ive avoided cutting it out for so long, i might really hammer that one on the head.

Does your body go through what i call acne "cycles"? For 3-4 weeks it gets worse and worse then for another 3-4 weeks it gets better and better even if i stray from my usual acne routine. This then repeats itself relentlessly.

Ill buy a blender to make some green smoothies for a morning shake!

I recently cut out soya milk from my diet. I was using it as an alternative to cows milk and i substituted in oat and rice milk. I think ive seen some changes. So ill see how that goes.

I also recently read some great stuff on coconut oil. Funny as i ordered some from MP (coconpure) People use it for cooking, spreads and a million other things. Hope i see some changes.

The acne on my arm is finally healing. Was weird to have it down there as ive only ever got it on my face and a little on my chest.

Im looking into red mark treatments but so far the only thing i can work out is time is the best treatment. Can take weeks months or years for them to fade

[beN123]

Yep, i've had one that goes across the bottom of my eye for the past 7 months, its almost gone now though. Got one on my left cheek which is just a long dark line with a big blob on the top, they dont seem to bother me for some reason, aslong as I dont have many active ones I dont really care as its so good compared to what it used to be.

I've not had acne cycles, however I have noticed that I get them symetrically which is wierd. Acne is heavily dependant on mood, what i've stopped doing is looking in the mirror as much, if at all. You will only worry about it if you know its there and its really helped me forget about it. Hopefully I can get back to training properly, i've never really got started because its always made acne worse and hindered progress.

Acne almost always gets worse when you start trying new things like the ginger tea and smoothie thing, its just a stage which you have to put up with, but things soon improve fast.

Also should mention, I take a shot of apple cider vinegar every day, about two tablespoons in an egg cup and shot it, chased with what ever drink I have near me! Really rank stuff but you get used to it. This is supposed to be really good at cleaning you out inside. Sometimes il put a dab onto cotton wool and put a tiny bit on the top of any spots, it completely nukes them, and are dry by the morning!