Hello, I would like to describe my situation. English isn't my native language.
I can't get rid of acne no matter what I do. I am desperate. I need some help even though I don't think anyone can really help.

My weight at the moment is 35kg (77 pounds?) and height is 183 cm. I look like i am going to die from starvation. I have dry fasted for 14 days in the previous month (no food and no water) and also I actually fasted even more after I resumed eating. So for example I drank orange juice to break a fast for a week and then dry fasted for 3-5 days again. and so on. I cant really tell the exact number of days I have fasted. I was losing very little weight and I have stopped fasting completely about 2-3 weeks ago. My problem is not my weight though. Even though I can't gain it back which is rather scary since I was always underweight and I thought After fastin I would gain more weight easily.

My real problem is acne. I just really don't want to have acne. I don't think I deserve to have this ugliness. I want to have a normal looking skin, that's all I really want at the moment. I am tired of this constant battle, I just want to live a normal life and look normal, not skinny and ugly.
After all of this fasts I have lost most of my strentgh and I am rather upset (to say the least) that I have to waste another months just to rebuild my body again, what for? to have the same problems?

Another problem also is as long as I was fasting I had a perfect smooth glowing skin. As soon as I resume eating acne slowly but surely comes back. It doesn't matter what I eat or how much. I don't over eat, I combine food properly. Even orange juice diet makes acne come back. But I have to eat in order to live.

What do you think I should do? Any support is welcome. Obviously I could do anything to get rid of acne, dry fasting untill starvation is rather desperate after all...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2008 01:30PM by Walkern.

I'm really sorry this is happening to you. I understand how much of a temptation it is to fast when your skin improves, but sweetie, you need to eat!! I suggest a two-pronged approach: 1) Get yourself on a healthy eating regime to put nutritious food into your body, and 2) tackle your skin problems from several fronts, including professional advice - don't just keep relying on fasting.

Acne has many causes, and in fact, a recent study showed a complete reversal of acne rosacea (not quite the same as acne, but an inflammatory skin condition also) after a treatment involving the gut. The opinion was that a particular bacteria was populating the intestinal tracts of susceptible individuals, causing inflammatory flare-ups.

The fact that your skin improves when you fast says to me that your gut is a major cause. But the answer is NOT fasting, clearly!! IMO you need to talk to a raw-friendly naturopath and figure out if a) you're allergic to something you're eating, b) if you have parasites, and/or c) if your gut flora is causing an inflammatory response. And/or other things I might not know to suggest.

Good luck and please, EAT!!

Edited to add: Here's a blog post I wrote on the topic recently, with a link to the relevant study: [www.seabuckthorn.net]

Do you blog? Add your blog to the thread on blogging: [www.rawfoodsupport.com]!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2008 03:00PM by Seabucktho.

Opinion:

-A cleansing diet of mono fresh fruits (1 hour apart) & fruit juices, and pure water.....while eschewing nuts and high amounts of raw fats (avocado, coconut)...should help facilitate the long-term cleaning out and rejuvination of your internal bacteria. Avoid chemicals and cleansers and other irritants. This might help - and is just a suggestion.

P.S.: Stress will not help. Do everything reasonable that you can. If you are not in CRISIS (pain, inability to function) then just ACCEPT the situation, do what you can....and be joyful in your daily living. What else can you do? Also: lift weights and/or power walk to help maintain a healthy weight...if this is a concern to you.

-Power & Success to you.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Have you tried Proactive? I understand this product is sold in the US and has helped many with acne problems. I don't know where you are, but you might want to look into anti-acne skin products.

I've found that when I'am consuming coconut oil, I almost never have acne. Even if I go back to old acne triggers like chocolate! I think that I got only one pimple over the holiday season where I used to get a dozen or more. I use a few spoons every day, not sure exactly how mutch, but I'm not taking alot of coconut oil. Coconut oil seems to keep my skin healthy, (don't know if it would work for everyone).

Thanks for replies

Quote

-A cleansing diet of mono fresh fruits (1 hour apart) & fruit juices, and pure water.....while eschewing nuts and high amounts of raw fats (avocado, coconut)...should help facilitate the long-term cleaning out and rejuvination of your internal bacteria. Avoid chemicals and cleansers and other irritants. This might help - and is just a suggestion.

That's pretty much how I eat. I Try to have only 2 meals per day though so my body has more time to rest from digestion. first meal after 13:00 and last meal after 23:00 and no snacks and overall volume of food is around 1,5 kg so I don't overeat(I assume). I did only fruit for a first week but I try to eat some vegetables in the evening now because I am afraid that my body needs more protein and minerals at the moment since I have really fasted till completion, starvation... Do you think I should not worry and just eat only fruit\juice for a while and see how it works again? Maybe I could try carrot juice?

Also what about saltless fermented vegetables like sauerkraut? I have read that it is used to repopulate friendly bacteria which helps digestion but some say it's just rotten toxic acidic food? Should I try it?

sorry to hear that you're struggling with this. i really feel your pain and i wanted to offer you some support. the first thing i thought when i read your post was about the mental and emotional attitude that is essential to healing. i know you're frustrated by your attempts to alleviate this acne problem, but if you are harboring beliefs like "i don't think anyone can really help" and that you are ugly and abnormal, then those beliefs should be worked on with the same effort that you have clearly devoted to ridding your body of the acne. i know it sounds hokey but affirmations really work! for skin problems, louise hay recommends "i am at peace with my body. i approve of myself. i love my face. i love myself." you don't have to believe it right now, but just keep repeating this mantra over and over. i would also write down how you want to feel and look as if it were already true. example: "i have released all blocks to my optimum health and well being. i easily discard the old, and welcome the new into my life. i am so joyous and feel so free and healthy now that my skin looks clear and i am at the perfectly healthy weight of X kg." please note, i recommend this practice in addition to continuing the search for a health practice that will work for you. ayurveda works for me.

from your description where your skin looked great during your fast but comes back right away after eating i thought: parasites or candida. but i'm just guessing. maybe try to find a caring alternative health practitioner that could help diagnose the cause of your acne. then you could choose to work with that person or not to treat it. but most of all be gentle with yourself! i look forward to hearing all about your progress with this issue.

namaste,
jennifer

You need to eat and get back up to a healthy weight. Your experience is pretty consistent with what most of the acne experts are saying: unless you starve yourself, diet won't make a difference in the severe cases.

What will help: accutane AKA cis-retinoic acid, the oral one. I'd take it if I were you. In fact, I did take it when I was younger and my acne wasn't even all that severe. I liked it. It was the only time in my life when my skin was perfect.

Hey Walker,
If You'd care to shed some light on Your background it would greatly help us to understand your situation, more from where you are coming, and possibly help You by sharing here our experiences and presenting what had already worked in each case...

I can offer you some serious causes/points to check, just to begin with, but those had been known to destroy life of millions of people, so it may be worth checking.

First a couple of questions.
1. What country/ nationality are you?
Reason for asking that question is, i live currently in Europe, and place where one lives is sometimes key to understanding/helping with one's disease.

2. How does your day's activities look like?
:Reason: you've mentioned time of your two meals to be 13, and 23..
Those times are not biologically "compatible" with humans biorhythmology.
Depending on languages you are fluent with i could suggest some readings/ yest they sre not all translated to English so it'll help in pointing You toward anything.

.A little bit: Natural times for human are: +/- 5 am to wake up, 18:00 last meal +/- 21:00 +/- sleep time :-)

When Your body is getting food at wrong times, it may not digest it, and when undigested food gets from stomach to intestines it can ferment and allow for candida to grow right back on.
No amount of dry fasting can "fix" wrong, destroying habits.
Possibly that factor alone could solve Your Acne as well as weight problems.

Believe Me i know a lot about "weight management" on Your side of scale ;-)

Funny story.., at my SAD times, my friend told me that i can gain weight if I eat more carbohydrates.. so he advised me to drink a lots of beer(carbohydrates..)/ to Try "beer diet" guaranteeing to me, that I'll gain some weight.. do I need to say if it worked..? :-)

Getting back to subject...

Other. LESS important when You are healthy, but when your immune system had been compromised, by contradicting to health lifestyle, environment, VERY CRUCIAL points to check:
1.cosmetics You Use. from skin care, hair, ..
2.chemicals You Use.. Dish washing liquid, glass cleaners
3.Perfumes/scents,
4.Flowers/ plants in house
5.Living / sleeping environment: fungi/bacteria/virus eggs flying around, animals in house(worst source of parasites) Ex.Old carpets, paintings, old wooden elements, furniture, ceiling, asbestos paint, insulation in house..

There is SO MUCH MORE.. try those.

From rotten air alone You can be poisoned again, and regrow Candida/parasites in your upper digestive system in no time.. especially since fresh fruit is so quickly absorbed.. the first one gets it gets it all.. ex.Candida, before your body..

Undigested food can cause it every night and weaken and deplete your body of life as soon as you start eating after dry fast../any fast where not only your body does not get food, but at the same time parasites..

Also I Completely agree to what David and others said.. Mental state/environment, activity levels are crucial to a healthy body/ life.
Very nervous, harsh environment, sometimes even Your own family can be unforgiving and cause somebody to by living in constant tension destroying their life, BUT The times That person does extreme thing, that has nothing to do with "past",Authorities/ parents.. More so if they do not aproove of.. Like: Fasting or choosing Tone or other particular diet "style.."
Be smart, don't try to proove anything to them, or yourself.
Give yourself a lot of attention, work with affirmations if they work for You, Take a "mental" step back, and analyze your life a little more, than your diet. Answer may come from Yourself, from "within".
SLOWLY Incorporate your findings i your life. Life is NOT about revolution, It is harmony.
More abrupt, and sudden changes/sacrifices you'll make in your life farther away You're getting from harmony, and Nature..
Lightning is the only thing happening in Nature Suddenly, and it has great destroying power..
Look up to natural, evolving things/ guidelines/ people if you want to BE where they are.

Treat it as journey, not a race..
If you go racing you may as well go to fast and crash.
If you choose to go slow/natural, you'll enjoy the ride and see so much, and have so much fun, even if You won't be the first one on a finishing line you wont loose your life, and get so much more out of it, then most of "so called winners", who get there first, and start thinking what was the reason/was it worth risking so much to get there SO FAST..

If You can afford it Try changing Your living environment for a couple of month, to one that healthy happy people live.. maybe go to warm country with a lot of fresh fruit, relax and see what happen, may be, that ALL Your problems with Diet will be gone, and health, and weight, and great looking skin will come from that change. most people when on vacations in different environment become different people.. often after experiencing such state, they choose to adjust their life to look/feel/be like that all the time, when they get back home.

..Just a thought, and a real possibility.
Take care.

Free, Open source.Healthy
F.E.A.R. is
an acronym that stands for, False Evidence Appearing Real
F.A.I.T.H. - the First Attribute IN Thoughtful
Health

oh dear, you need to eat. I really feel for you as I have excema and am desperately trying to cure myself. Trying to cure my whole body as toxins come out through the skin.
Can you find a good naturopath? Sometone who will try and cure your whole body? Replenish gut flora, strengthen your immunity etc. I think you need to focus on curing your whole body (not killing it by starving) and eventually I believe and hope that your acne and my excema will go away.

When I am experiencing higher detox levels then usual I make sure to drink lots more clean water then usual and also I increase the raw fiber in my diet to a much, much higher level. I find that chewing on carrots and celery is especially helpful. When I am chewing for fiber's sake I am not as exhaustive in my chewing as I am looking for lots of bulky fiber to collect and push toxins out of my system.

Hey walkern.
I honestly know how you feel. I struggled with acne a lot when i first went raw.
Todoy i am still waiting on the scars to go away. My face stoped breaking out the day i got a colonic. Not sure why but something about having pure watrer flushed through your system, i talked to my colonic doctor and he said that is one of the benifits of colonics is clear skin. Its been over a month now and i have yet to see even a white head.
hope everything works out for you.


.........living to tell a tale of a life it self........

Walkern,

How are you feeling at your 35 Kg weight (77 pounds at 6'0"? Based on the standard Body Mass Index, your minimal weight ought to be more like 60.5 kg 183 cm (133 pounds at 6'0".

If it were me, I would first let go of my attachment to healing the acne. Perhaps acceptance is what is necessary for the acne to disappear. Acceptance of the acne, acceptance of yourself. It may be that the acne is just your body cleansing.

But it also could be that your emotional state is creating that acne. Your non-acceptance of yourself and your condition is creating an internal hormonal state that results in body toxins being created.

Are you under stress and anxiety right now? Perhaps focus on healing these emotions first, the internal psychological and spiritual issues, and then focus on the external issues (skin appearance).

Walkern,

I can relate to what you are going through. I also had bad acne for many years including cystic acne and it made me feel so depressed and in despair. I tried so many different things to try and make it go away and it seemed like nothing worked. (Although I never went as far as Accutane because is hard on your liver and I already had an overtaxed liver).

I eventually came to raw foods (for many reasons, not just skin) and at first my skin started improving but then it got worse again. I kept trying new things and more extreme cleanses. I thought sugar was bad for me then decided I couldn't eat fat so I was trying to live on vegetables and green juices! I was also very emotionally out of balance, extremely anxious and depressed and not in a supportive environment. I got down to 80 lbs and could barely get out of bed.

People were so worried about me, this pity was really stressful to deal with. Everyone that looked at me was so scared. Then I finally met people who were not scared of what I was going through. They helped me acknowledge that I needed to work on my emotional, psychological, spiritual state before I could handle the vibration of the raw foods. I went back to a simple cooked vegan diet for a couple years (no oils, no spices, no garlic or onions, no salt). The rice and beans and oatmeal and steamed veggies really helped balance me out and allowed me to do some emotional work on myself without always being in such an intense state of cleansing. I gradually increased the amount of fruit in my diet a little at a time, and now I've been 100% raw for a couple years this time, mostly fruit.

My skin DID get better on the cooked vegan diet partly because I wasn't always so agitated. Acne apparently is related to anger. It got even better once I returned to raw again.

Also I found with the underweight thing, how much emotions were affecting my digestion. You can eat the most healthful diet in the world but if you are giving yourself indigestion all the time, you won't end up digesting or assimilating very much.

Anyways, now my skin is great and if I do break out, it's a sign that I'm out of balance, need more sleep or ate a bad combo or whatever.

Have you tried playing with mono eating, for example just eating bananas for a week? This is easy on the digestion, so it is healing kind of like a fast without the extremeness of the fast.

Anyways, I feel like I recogize some of what you are going through so I wanted to write this. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. Just have faith that you haven't tried everything possible yet. The answer just might be different than you expect!

Love,
Uma

I cured my 10 years of acne with diet.

The most important things were:

- Increase bio-available retinol intake (prevents hyperkeratinization of corneum and pores, and may regulate sebum production). I personally don't seem to convert carotene into retinol very well, because a high carotene diet did not affect my skin... but when I included rich sources of retinol my facial skin became very smooth, the pores on my nose and cheeks became hardly noticeable, and the fine lines disappeared.

- Reduce oleic acid intake... this means stop using olive oil or other high-oleic fat sources (oleic acid when secreted in the sebum is irritating to the pore lining and is less fluid than sebum with lower oleic acid content).

- Eat a low-carb diet. This means keep grains and fruits to a bare minimum. And especially stop drinking milk. You want to avoid insulin surges. Plus I think all the fructose in sweet fruits is bad for the skin.

- To gain weight, make sure to eat loads of protein and fat from whole foods. Acceptable added fats are coconut oil and small amounts of red palm oil (contains some oleic though so not too much).

- Once you are eating enough calories to gain weight, start doing aerobic exercise daily. At least a 30 min fast-walk, jog, run, or bike ride daily. This improves blood flow to the skin, and I find that it keeps my skin healthy and glowing.

My diet is about 30% protein, 65% fat, and 5% carbs. My carbs come only from veggies like spinach, broccoli, celery, onions etc. I can't really describe the other foods I eat on this forum, but would be happy to via pm.

I'm very thankfull for all the replies! It is all such a great and helpfull support. I just wanted to say that I appreciate all this support a lot. And I guess I just have to relax and really try to ignore acne at the moment. At least my skin did look amazing after a month of dry fasting for a while. It is possible to avoid it but it may take a lot of time and trial and error, my body becomes healthier which each day anyway.

Quote

Treat it as journey, not a race..
If you go racing you may as well go to fast and crash.

I may treat everything as a race and tend to go to extremes, plus I'm always under mental pressure. But I don't have to be.
Thanks!

Quote

Walkern,

How are you feeling at your 35 Kg weight (77 pounds at 6'0"? Based on the standard Body Mass Index, your minimal weight ought to be more like 60.5 kg 183 cm (133 pounds at 6'0".

I look extremly skinny, you can see all bones without fat/muscle. BUT I actually feel rather fine. I think there is not much real danger in weight loss. I'm slowly gaining some muscles back anyway.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2008 08:26PM by Walkern.

Could you please explain what you mean by "bio-available retinol"?

Thanks,
Arlene

jono Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I cured my 10 years of acne with diet.
>
> The most important things were:
>
> - Increase bio-available retinol intake (prevents
> hyperkeratinization of corneum and pores, and may
> regulate sebum production). I personally don't
> seem to convert carotene into retinol very well,
> because a high carotene diet did not affect my
> skin... but when I included rich sources of
> retinol my facial skin became very smooth, the
> pores on my nose and cheeks became hardly
> noticeable, and the fine lines disappeared.

I would like to post an update about my acne issue.
My skin is almost completely clear at the moment, I do have some redness left from old acne though but it's ok.
I do eat too! LOL! I may even overeat a bit sometimes and also I may even combine food poorly and it still doesn't seem to stop my body to only improve and get healthier with each day. What a miracle! However I do eat very simple mono meals only two times per day most of the time.
Anyway it amazes me how foreign people offered me much support and kindness, while people close to me still only try keep me under mental pressure and say negative things despite my obvious victory over acne.
I did win after all, I do not use any topical treatments, don't even wash my face with tap water, don't eat any special food, don't do any cleanses. LOL! I admit it may work for others though.
All I do is try to follow the laws of nature and my instincts as much as possible.
Again many thanks for the support which has helped me.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2008 06:28PM by Walkern.

>>>Could you please explain what you mean by "bio-available retinol"?

Well, I noticed the most pronounced effect from raw butter... raw beef liver also has a normalizing effect on my skin. Beef liver contains much more retinol but I suspect the retinol in the raw butter is much more bioavailable, likely because of being dissolved in fat rather than a cellular matrix.

Sorry I do not have time to read all the posts. Maybe someone has already said this:

One modality that is especially helpful with acne is using healing clay. You could do it two or more times a day, let it dry on your skin where the acne is, then wash off. Add a pure oil such as olive oil to the skin afterwards if it leaves your skin feeling too dry. This has been very helpful to many people, as well as totally eliminating all wheat and gluten foods (wheat, flour, barley, etc.) and also eliminating white sugar if you have been eating any sugar.

Acne is curable and manageable. First you need to take it from 3 aspects:

1st Aspect: Social
Meaning you need to get out there and play. I mean both physical (sports) and socializing. The more you seat at home and think on your face the more you compound the situation through your conscious mind. Don't worry about what people think and your face. In fact, they are compassionate to see get healed. You also need get out there and play some kind of sports that will make you sweat in other to let those toxins out. Playing will also help your emotional well being. So play and socialize.

2nd Aspect: Drink the right water and liquid. Please stop drinking orange juice or anything orange. Orange is very acidic and will aggravate the acne more. I see you like orange and that's the problem to your acne. The best water to drink is alkaline water and distilled water through your fast discontinue after your fast. Stay on alkaline and Spring water. Drink alot of carrot juice best for clear skin and natural apple juice from organic food store.

3rd Aspect: Use non chemical skin care products. Visit your local organic food store and check out their skin care products and ask question.

Keep your fast to minimum two types a week. Drink plenty of alkline water and natural lemonade to help your body PH balance normal. Also do not eat hot and much specie food. This could aggravate the condition. Warm and cold food are the best for acne.

Have you checked if you're celiac or gluten intolerant? I am, and severe cystic acne like lesions and the inability to keep any weight on are two of the symptoms I had. I still get violent skin reactions sometimes from even being in the same ROOM as wheat, that's how sensitive it can be.

It can take a long time for the skin issues to heal up, so even if you've recently given up gluten it could still be that. It could also be some other sort of food allergy or reaction.

Walkern,
The only think I can think is that your body is getting rid of stuff through the skin. Did you loose a lot of weight suddenly? I experimented going raw and vegan, and I remember loosing a lot of weight very quickly, and getting some acne, and in places I have never ever had them. Like on my lower stomach and on my glutes. these appeared exactly where I lost a lot of weight. I figured my body was getting rid of stuff and was using the skin as the fastest way to get rid of it as possible.

If I had endless money, I would have liked to have sent it to a lab. I just have a feeling that what came out of the zit would have been a mix of pesticides, and transfats or oxidized fats from years ago. I understand that sometimes those sort of things can just remain until your body has a chance to do some house cleaning.

Fasting might have induced or increased the chances of your body doing some really deep housecleaning. Rapid weight loss might have done the same.

My interest in healthy eating actually started with concerns about acne. The first book I read on the topic was "Acne Can be Cured" by Gustave H. Hoehn, 1978.

The information is probably somewhat dated, but I might be worth your reading, and a chance to get a another opinion. I found that the dietary changes, and other lifestyle change suggestions to be very, very helpful and actually did reduce acne.

The problem I have with the book now is how it advocated the use of pressed polyunsaturated oils, which are very prone to oxidation, and I have learned recently are actually quite unhealthy. Corn oil, canola, sunflower oil, soybean oil. It did 'cure' acne in my experience, but it might have caused other problems.

The author does not write from a raw food, vegan or vegetarian point of view, just so you know. But does have a few suggestions for vegetarians with acne in the book. So I just thought its something worth your consideration.

Oops I just saw that I missed the post where you said you'd cured your acne. That is so good to hear!~