Acne Q & A Archive: 3 weeks down the road; new breakouts

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Author	Topic: 3 weeks down the road; new breakouts
Natascha 05-08-2003 04:45 AM	Hi !! I've been reading all of your experiences and questions and I admire the honesty you all show, I wouldn't have come this far if it wasn't for all these posts. I suppose I'm up now. I'm a 32 year old 'girl' and from my teenages up to almost 2 years ago I had a mild form of acne that only resided on my face. Then I quit the birthcontrol pill and within a couple of months it covered not only my face and under my hair, but also my back and chest. Mostly common pimples (inflamed yellowheads and blackheads), but sometimes (and this seemed to be happening more frequently before I started the diet) those big-painful-under-the-skin bumps which take ages to mature. During those 2 years I've been on anti-biotics for 2 weeks (dr. prescribed for a month but I only saw sideaffects so I quit), tried ProActive, benzylperoxide creme (what kind of garbage is that?!?!) , Zenmed Dermacleanse and Neoderma treatments by a skintherapist..., oh... and I've been going to a acupuncturist for the last 1,5 year... No (good) results whatsoever... Like for most of you, this diet seems to be my last resort... 3 weeks ago I started on the sample diet. My skin felt ... better, lighter, fresher. I thought I was strict, when a couple of days later I discovered I shouldn't eat not-handshelled nuts...(oops). The big bumps were slowly diminishing and the pimples were shrinking. Furthermore I no longer had an oily skin. I couldn't dare to believe this would work for me too !! A week later I stopped eating the nuts because I could not see any more progress. After that it was slowly getting better. Still absolutely not clear by the end of week 2... A fiew days ago I learned that eating red onion instead of chives had not been a good idea (as I had been doing for the former 2,5 weeks... (oops again). I stopped eating them, and put in the chives again. But since 2 to 3 days the progress has turned into relapse... I have a few new yellowheads and I feel 2 of those big bumps comming up... (all only in my face, my back and chest are doing relatively fine; red and flaky but no new breakouts). I'm starting to feel like I'm one of the 10 percent... To complete this enormous monologue here's what I eat on a day: breakfast: 1 banana and one glass of OJ/OO in between: 1 apple, 1 pear, 1 kiwi, a glass of OJ/OO lunch: mix of several fruits (mango, pineapple, pear, strawberry etc.) covered in OO in between: 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 kiwi 2 glasses of OJ/OO dinner: small bowl of fruits, tomato-cucumber- avocado-chives-OO-fresh lemon juice salad and 100 gram of fresh raw fish (tuna or salmon)also with a little bit of fresh lemon juice. evening: 1 to 2 glasses of boiled water with -when drinkable- fresh lemon juice. Am I doing something wrong here? is there anything I should leave out of put in??? PS Thank you all, for 'listening'...
Wai 05-08-2003 06:57 AM	Thank you for your contribution, Tazzie people love to read about other people's experiences, so, such a post really never is too long... thank you! quote: big bumps comming up ... only in my face, my back and chest are doing relatively fine; red and flaky but no new breakouts well, that is actually according to how it should go; first your back and chest clear up, then followed by the rest... quote: A fiew days ago I learned that eating red onion instead of chives had not been a good idea actually, whenever you discover that you have 'been doing something wrong', you are back at day 1 and yes, red onions can easily impair your digestion (which may lead to acne), so, strictly taken, you are only on the diet since a few days (sorry for being so cruel) if, after another week, you are not making progress, you might consider taking fresh raw egg yolks instead of fish, because the fish may not be raw (have been frozen), and when the diet doesnt seem to work, you need to exclude all possible culprits (as you have excluded the nuts already!) i would also skip the lemon juice, it is too acidic (also bad for your teeth), and take fresh, sweet OJ instead. have you lost any weight??? (that you didnt want to lose); the lossof muscle protein also may lead to acne (as the larger number of released small protein molecules attract more water) So, ingesting enough energy all the time is key and in that respect, replacing the lemon juice with sweet OJ is important as well please submit your version of the diet to the nutrient calculator, so that you can get to know how many calories it supplies you with. how much do you weigh? how tall are you? do you have any idea how much calories you used to ingest on a daily basis?
Natascha 05-09-2003 05:53 AM	Thank you, Wai for your quick response! quote: actually, whenever you discover that you have 'been doing something wrong', you are back at day 1 Well... better back to day 3 with a chance of clearing my skin then still on day 21 without any progress... quote: you might consider taking fresh raw egg yolks instead of fish, because the fish may not be raw I like the fish best (the eggyolks don't satisfy me as much...), but is also far more expensive. So I change every few days (2-3 days of fish, then 2-3 days of eggyolks); I forgot to mention this in my original post... quote: i would also skip the lemon juice, it is too acidic (also bad for your teeth), and take fresh, sweet OJ instead. Check!! But does lemon juice have any influence on the acne? quote: have you lost any weight??? (that you didnt want to lose); I lost a few pounds in the first week, that was alarming enough to increase my fat-intake (OO). So since then I didn't lose any more weight. (except for this week: having the flu I spend most of the time in bed and was to sick to eat much of anything... Is it possible I used energy from muscles to recover??? And could that have increased the acne???) quote: please submit your version of the diet to the nutrient calculator, so that you can get to know how many calories it supplies you with. how much do you weigh? how tall are you? I have and I eat about 2500kcal per day. (It says it should at least be 2200, so I guess I'm on the save side?) I weigh 59 kg and am 1.75 m tall. (the calculator says 63kgs and 1.63m... but I guess it's just an average). quote: do you have any idea how much calories you used to ingest on a daily basis? I have not the slightest idea... (canned) OJ for breakfast, later on a cereal bar, 4 slices of bread with some butter and cheese or chicken, 2 to 3 pieces of fruit (banana, pear, kiwi) and dinner with beef or chicken or fish (not porc), some cooked, baked or raw veggies and potatoes, pasta or rice sometimes followed by yoghurt with cereal... (I considered it rather healthy....) BTW Not eating any nuts anymore I thought it was best to keep eating avocado, although I don't find it tasty (to say the least!!)... Should I keep the avocado in or can I leave it out by just taking more OO??? Thanks again, Wai! I believe in it again, and won't give up !!
Wai 05-09-2003 12:00 PM	quote: does lemon juice have any influence on the acne? yes, too much acids may impair your digestion, which may affect your acne (by affecting the breakdown of dietary protein) quote: having the flu I spend most of the time in bed and was to sick to eat much of anything... Is it possible I used energy from muscles to recover??? And could that have increased the acne???) yes, being sick generaly comes with undereating, and thus the breakdown of large muscle protein into lots of smaller protein molecules, so these can be more readily utilized for energy this larger number of smaller molecules makes you retain more water, which may pinch off your sebum canals quote: Not eating any nuts anymore I thought it was best to keep eating avocado, although I don't find it tasty (to say the least!!)... Should I keep the avocado in or can I leave it out by just taking more OO??? avocado is better, but sure, you can take olive oil instead