Acne Success Stories

[ursidae]

It seems like the acne problem is not even close to being solved, I've gone through every topic on acne there is on this forum and all I see the same users endlessly changing their diet, going round in circles and still breaking out years later. People coming here to get help, faithfully following the Peat guidelines to a T and ending up with a face full of scars.

examples:
Adult Acne. What The Hell Is Wrong With People Like Me?
Isotretinoin (accutane)

It's time to get to the bottom of it.

Anyone here struggle with extremely persistent chronic acne for years and manage to get rid of it for good?

If so, was your skin oily or dry? Where was your acne located on your face/body? Did it leave scarring? What type was it (types pictured below)? Was it scattered or in clusters? When did you first start breaking out and how long did you suffer from adult acne? What were the dietary triggers and how did you manage to resolve it? Do you still get blackheads and comedones?

No point in posting if you've done Accutane

 

[Tenacity]

As a male, I took Progest-E. That instantly cleared my facial acne. Backne isn't completely cleared up but is usually pretty clear as long as diet and sleep are dialled in.

 

[mrchibbs]

I don't think you should expect to NEVER have any pimple, especially if you have the tendency to have acne.

I had moderate acne as a teenager, and it would completely disappear in the summer when I was outside playing and swimming in the pool, only to come back during the winter.
Vitamin D levels play a big role, and nutrient deficiencies can be covered with liver and oysters.

So it's not really about finding a ''cure'', more about meeting your body's need.

I still get acne, but never if I make sure to eat nutritious foods, and take some aspirin to lower the inflammation. Vitamin A and zinc (found in liver and oysters) are very important to the skin.

Low thyroid leading to low progesterone is associated with acne, alopecia and hirsutism in young adults and older. Fix the thyroid (by covering D, sun, nutrition, stress) and you probably will be free of acne most of the time.

 

[redsun]

It seems like the acne problem is not even close to being solved, I've gone through every topic on acne there is on this forum and all I see the same users endlessly changing their diet, going round in circles and still breaking out years later. People coming here to get help, faithfully following the Peat guidelines to a T and ending up with a face full of scars.

examples:
Adult Acne. What The Hell Is Wrong With People Like Me?
Isotretinoin (accutane)

It's time to get to the bottom of it.

Anyone here struggle with extremely persistent chronic acne for years and manage to get rid of it for good?

If so, was your skin oily or dry? Where was your acne located on your face/body? Did it leave scarring? What type was it (types pictured below)? Was it scattered or in clusters? When did you first start breaking out and how long did you suffer from adult acne? What were the dietary triggers and how did you manage to resolve it? Do you still get blackheads and comedones?

No point in posting if you've done Accutane

Basically got rid of mine, dont really know how exactly but it reduced doing a carnivore type diet but it still didnt come back when I stopped... I think it reduces androgens a lot making it less likely to occur.

But perhaps it wasn't that, I cheated a lot with sugars as well and still had sugar in morning coffee.

I would say as a result of carnivore meaning increasing animal products, I had a lot more protein intake and anti-inflammatory nutrients such as zinc. My "carnivore" diet had A LOT of dairy actually, a lot of cheese, few cups of milk, and then a good amount of chicken drumstick or red meats which provide even more protein and zinc...

Protein is a big component of acne as it is vital for detoxifying the body and maintaining optimal antioxidant status and is also anti-inflammatory.

Its not a coincidence why zinc is like the go-to recommendation for acne, it does work but if protein intake is still too low it is not going to work as well. Zinc also helps balance hormones and deal with stress. Best way to do it imo is to eat a high zinc diet from high zinc food. Lots of protein so the body can detox. Adequate carb intake is not pro-acne but also helps control hormones and improve detox by raising thyroid.

 

[mrchibbs]

Protein is a big component of acne as it is vital for detoxifying the body and maintaining optimal antioxidant status and is also anti-inflammatory.

Ray emphasizes protein a lot with respect to the liver being able to do its job, but maybe it doesn't resonate as strongly with people

 

[redsun]

Ray emphasizes protein a lot with respect to the liver being able to do its job, but maybe it doesn't resonate as strongly with people

Yeh I think for people with acne, higher proteins to help detox and help the immune system is the long term plan in dealing with acne, along with adequate mineral intake and adequate carb intake from mostly less processed foods.

If I wanted to give myself more acne, I could and I have done it. I ate super low protein, and it came from junk food and fast foods. Lots of fats and sugars from junk foods and super low protein. Give it a few days and just like magic, I start getting a good amount of acne again.

 

[mrchibbs]

Yeh I think for people with acne, higher proteins to help detox and help the immune system is the long term plan in dealing with acne, along with adequate mineral intake and adequate carb intake from mostly less processed foods.

If I wanted to give myself more acne, I could and I have done it. I ate super low protein, and it came from junk food and fast foods. Lots of fats and sugars from junk foods and super low protein. Give it a few days and just like magic, I start getting a good amount of acne again.

Same, my acne is gone, but if I want to, it comes back easily. I think Ray's perspective and consistent effort to get more protein and large amounts of nutrients can restore to a higher health state where resiliency is more easily achieved. (I'm going off into another tangent here, about epigenetic change, sorry if that doesn't make too much sense)

 

[redsun]

Same, my acne is gone, but if I want to, it comes back easily. I think Ray's perspective and consistent effort to get more protein and large amounts of nutrients can restore to a higher health state where resiliency is more easily achieved. (I'm going off into another tangent here, about epigenetic change, sorry if that doesn't make too much sense)

Absolutely makes sense. Quality protein is one of the most important things necessary for resilience to illness of all kinds.

 

[Bushido1]

It seems like the acne problem is not even close to being solved, I've gone through every topic on acne there is on this forum and all I see the same users endlessly changing their diet, going round in circles and still breaking out years later. People coming here to get help, faithfully following the Peat guidelines to a T and ending up with a face full of scars.

examples:
Adult Acne. What The Hell Is Wrong With People Like Me?
Isotretinoin (accutane)

It's time to get to the bottom of it.

Anyone here struggle with extremely persistent chronic acne for years and manage to get rid of it for good?

If so, was your skin oily or dry? Where was your acne located on your face/body? Did it leave scarring? What type was it (types pictured below)? Was it scattered or in clusters? When did you first start breaking out and how long did you suffer from adult acne? What were the dietary triggers and how did you manage to resolve it? Do you still get blackheads and comedones?

No point in posting if you've done Accutane

Since you have clearly seen that most people following this diet haven't been able to improve their acne regardless of doing changes to it. Have you thought that perhaps changing to a completely different diet might be the solution to your acne?

I also got caught up into this whole rabbit whole of making the Peat diet work by trying different foods, supplements or whatever new thing was recommended in the forum. Until I realize that what doesn't work is the diet itself because it just kept worsening all my symptoms the longer I staid on it.

 

[mrchibbs]

Since you have clearly seen that most people following this diet haven't been able to improve their acne regardless of doing changes to it. Have you thought that perhaps changing to a completely different diet might be the solution to your acne?

I also got caught up into this whole rabbit whole of making the Peat diet work by trying different foods, supplements or whatever new thing was recommended in the forum. Until I realize that what doesn't work is the diet itself because it just kept worsening all my symptoms the longer I staid on it.

What is this Peat diet you speak of?

Because I follow Ray's ideas, and I have no acne. I don't follow the ''Peat'' diet, I use common sense and the underlying principles.

I used to have a lot of adult acne, and still can have it if I act stupidly for a while. But it is 100% under control if I choose to.

So please don't make claims that ''the diet'' itself doesn't work because that doesn't mean anything.

There are many interesting threads on acne on this forum. Three things I can think of: 1) are your vitamin D levels high? 2) Are you replete in minerals (zinc particularly) from eating lots of oysters? 3) Is your thyroid function normalized (as in good pulse/temperature) 4) Do you eat a little liver on a regular basis 5) Do you get sunshine

If the answers are not a resounding yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Then it's meaningless to bash a ''diet'' which doesn't exist.

 

[ursidae]

Since you have clearly seen that most people following this diet haven't been able to improve their acne regardless of doing changes to it. Have you thought that perhaps changing to a completely different diet might be the solution to your acne?

I also got caught up into this whole rabbit whole of making the Peat diet work by trying different foods, supplements or whatever new thing was recommended in the forum. Until I realize that what doesn't work is the diet itself because it just kept worsening all my symptoms the longer I staid on it.

I broke out endlessly for six months after my attempt at peating and I got clear for a while by doing everything peat recommends against but it made me weak and it wasn't optimal

 

[ursidae]

I don't think you should expect to NEVER have any pimple, especially if you have the tendency to have acne.

I had moderate acne as a teenager, and it would completely disappear in the summer when I was outside playing and swimming in the pool, only to come back during the winter.
Vitamin D levels play a big role, and nutrient deficiencies can be covered with liver and oysters.

So it's not really about finding a ''cure'', more about meeting your body's need.

I still get acne, but never if I make sure to eat nutritious foods, and take some aspirin to lower the inflammation. Vitamin A and zinc (found in liver and oysters) are very important to the skin.

Low thyroid leading to low progesterone is associated with acne, alopecia and hirsutism in young adults and older. Fix the thyroid (by covering D, sun, nutrition, stress) and you probably will be free of acne most of the time.

liver makes it worse. I have dry thin skin,it makes it even more dry and thins it. Sunshine and seawater used to work when I was a teenager, it no longer does the job. There's no oysters in this country I've been looking everywhere and I can't afford to order them from abroad. I eat all the shellfish I can find/afford. Red meat and dairy inflames me. Saturated fat makes my sebum hard, clogs me up. Everything is problematic. I want peating to work because it makes so much sense but it simply does not

 

[JKX]

I think CO2, iron and endotoxin are heavily involved with acne and possibly also Candida. Intolerance to dairy is likely related to gut bacteria IMO.

With regards to the acne an easy experiment to try would be to add some sodium acetate or bicarbonate daily and perhaps try 200mg or so of lactoferrin daily. I'd also up your insoluble fibre intake if possible.

If you notice an improvement within say a month then you can draw conclusions from that. If not then you can rule those out and try something else. Is there a certain time of the month that your skin seems worse? There may be hormonal conclusions you can draw from that.

Thin skin points to reduced protective sterols and increased cortisol/ estrogen. Anything which improves thyroid should help along with fat soluble and b vitamins. If liver is not helping this would suggest to me either the iron in the liver is a problem or that thyroid is not optimal.

As with all things metabolic there may be multiple factors but pushing things in the correct direction metabolically should always improve the situation. If it does not, there is most likely an issue with vitamin or mineral status which again is just going to be a trial and error situation.

 

[mrchibbs]

liver makes it worse. I have dry thin skin,it makes it even more dry and thins it. Sunshine and seawater used to work when I was a teenager, it no longer does the job. There's no oysters in this country I've been looking everywhere and I can't afford to order them from abroad. I eat all the shellfish I can find/afford. Red meat and dairy inflames me. Saturated fat makes my sebum hard, clogs me up. Everything is problematic. I want peating to work because it makes so much sense but it simply does not

Differences between controls, and moderate to severe acne

For myself, careful use of liver pate (that I make myself), makes my skin absolutely perfect. It doesn't exist in isolation though, your need for vitamin A, copper, b-vitamins is modulated by sunshine exposure, and your vitamin D levels, if the latter are not adequate you can't expect acne to be remedied. Again, as the figure above illustrates, oysters are crucial. Taking some extra vitamin E can help. Don't think of it as ''Peating'', use your common sense, and look at the physiological reality, there is no such thing as ''Peating''. See this quote:

Ray mentioned, in the latest KMUD (Aug 2018), that Vitamin D and thyroid were the most important things he knew of for skin conditions. There is a bit of research on Vitamin D and Acne.


Preliminary evidence for vitamin D deficiency in nodulocystic acne
Conclusion: The patients with nodulocystic acne had relatively low serum vitamin D levels compared with the subjects in the control group. The findings from this study suggest that there is a connection between low vitamin D levels and acne. Larger epidemiologic studies are needed to confirm the status of vitamin D levels in patients with acne.


Hormonal and dietary factors in acne vulgaris versus controls
Results: 453 patients were given a diagnosis of acne vulgaris during the study period. Compared with controls, we found significant associations between vitamin D deficiency (<50nmol/L), and/or positive transglutaminase antibody level (>4.0U/mL) and a diagnosis of acne vulgaris.


Comparison of Vitamin D Levels in Patients with and without Acne: A Case-Control Study Combined with a Randomized Controlled Trial
Vitamin D plays an important role in the immune system, and its deficiency has been implicated in various skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. Acne is a common inflammatory skin disease; however, the association with vitamin D remains unclear.

Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency was more frequent in patients with acne, and serum 25(OH)D levels were inversely correlated with acne severity, especially in patients with inflammatory lesions.

Acne At An Age Older Than 25 May Be A Sign Of Systemic Disease

 

[Vinny]

It seems like the acne problem is not even close to being solved, I've gone through every topic on acne there is on this forum and all I see the same users endlessly changing their diet, going round in circles and still breaking out years later. People coming here to get help, faithfully following the Peat guidelines to a T and ending up with a face full of scars.

examples:
Adult Acne. What The Hell Is Wrong With People Like Me?
Isotretinoin (accutane)

It's time to get to the bottom of it.

Anyone here struggle with extremely persistent chronic acne for years and manage to get rid of it for good?

If so, was your skin oily or dry? Where was your acne located on your face/body? Did it leave scarring? What type was it (types pictured below)? Was it scattered or in clusters? When did you first start breaking out and how long did you suffer from adult acne? What were the dietary triggers and how did you manage to resolve it? Do you still get blackheads and comedones?

No point in posting if you've done Accutane

Cysts. Juicy cysts, for years, on scalp. When worse, go down face, chest etc. No scarring though.
I`d say my skin is oily.

Sugar/carbs definitely makes it worse, so going carnivore did help for some time, to an extent that it disappeared completely. Unfortunately, it came back, despite the lack of sugar, and I`m not sure why. Perhaps, the critters adapted to the diet and hit back with vengeance. Or, they started to use sugar from gluconeogenesis. Or, unknown yet ingredient triggered it, idk.... For sure, it is very, very tricky to fix it.

I think vitamins X, Y, Z have nothing, or very little to do with it, nor hormones or supplements. It`s bacteria, IMO.
How do I know? Because a small dose of Doxycycline wiped it out for good. But it gave me also a brutal pebble poop, which discouraged me from taking an antibiotic for a very long time.

Basically, as you already probably guessed, I boil down the problem to a gut issue. Fixing the gut should solve it. I experienced it already a few times.

 

[JKX]

Doxy chelates iron.

 

[JKX]

Iron-Chelating Activity of Tetracyclines and Its Impact on the Susceptibility of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitansto These Antibiotics

 

[mrchibbs]

I think vitamins X, Y, Z have nothing, or very little to do with it, nor hormones or supplements. It`s bacteria, IMO.
How do I know? Because a small dose of Doxycycline wiped it out for good. But it gave me also a brutal pebble poop, which discouraged me from taking an antibiotic for a very long time.Basically, as you already probably guessed, I boil down the problem to a gut issue. Fixing the gut should solve it. I experienced it already a few times.

I don't think your analogy is adequate. Fixing long-standing nutrient deficiency can resolve inflammatory patterns. Antibiotics are powerful anti-inflammatory substances. Taking aspirin can significantly reduce inflammation and acne. Raising vitamin D levels to optimal can resolve acne, all these factors show that anything you do to resolve underlying inflammation will resolve acne, and at the very least, the results I linked to above show that people with acne have a definite deficiency of minerals/vitamins vs. controls.

 

[Vinny]

I don't think your analogy is adequate. Fixing long-standing nutrient deficiency can resolve inflammatory patterns. Antibiotics are powerful anti-inflammatory substances. Taking aspirin can significantly reduce inflammation and acne. Raising vitamin D levels to optimal can resolve acne, all these factors show that anything you do to resolve underlying inflammation will resolve acne, and at the very least, the results I linked to above show that people with acne have a definite deficiency of minerals/vitamins vs. controls.

You may be very well right

 

[Vinny]

Iron-Chelating Activity of Tetracyclines and Its Impact on the Susceptibility of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitansto These Antibiotics

I have no idea why you post this, sorry.
If Doxy chelated my iron, then what?