Female, 37, Acne, Probably Androgen Related?

[BrianF]

Posting on behalf of a female who is 37 years old and has history of acne related skin problems. Person is at their wits end and really hit hard by the inability to beat this or 'outgrow' the problem so any advice would be welcome. My own feelings are that its esterogen related and probably that she is a little hypothyroid.

 

[ilovethesea]

This is from the Peatarian email exchanges with Ray. For some reason the wiki is missing some of the quotes.

Vitamin A/Dandruff/Acne
Yes, it's definitely hard to get them coordinated when there's an imbalance in one direction or the other. For several years, when I had an extremely high metabolic rate, I needed 100,000 units per day during sunny weather to prevent acne and ingrown whiskers, but when I moved to a cloudy climate, suddenly that much was too much, and suppressed my thyroid. The average person is likely to be hypothyroid, and to need only 5,000 units per day. Avoiding large amounts of carotene, and getting plenty of vitamin B12 to be able to convert any carotene that's in your food, helps to use vitamin A efficiently.

Yes, vitamin A and estrogen are antagonistic, and while estrogen promotes keratinization (shedding of skin cells), vitamin A opposes it. Since vitamin A is highly unsaturated, in excess it suppresses the thyroid, so it has to be balanced with the thyroid; the combination is effective for increasing progesterone and decreasing estrogen, slowing the turnover of skin cells, and making the skin cells function longer before flaking off. Plugged pores, combined with a local shift toward synthesizing inflammatory substances, foster bacterial infection. Bright light stimulates the production of steroids, and consumes vitamin A very quickly, but when the balance is right, the acne clears up in just a day or two. Cream, butter, eggs, and liver are good sources of vitamin A. When people supplement thyroid and eat liver once or twice a week, their acne and dandruff (and many other problems) usually clear up very quickly. It was acne and dandruff that led me into studying the steroids and thyroid, and in the process I found that they were related to constipation and food sensitivity.

I found that I had an extremely high vitamin A requirement, increased by stress or bright light, and that it related to thyroid function. Usually, thyroid and vitamin A are the supplements that stop acne.

I avoid carotene, because it blocks thyroid and steroid production, and very large, excessive, amounts of vitamin A, retinol, can do the same. I use halibut liver oil-derived vitamin A, or retinyl palmitate.

A solution of aspirin in water on the skin helps with the inflammation, and is mildly germicidal.

Vitamin A deficiency is a common cause of dandruff.

Estrogen causes the oil glands to atrophy, so the skin doesn't support bacterial growth so well. Topical sulfur's germicidal effect can help, and topical aspirin and caffeine are antiseptic as well as antiinflammatory. One function of vitamin A is to increase progesterone in the skin, and it has to be in balance with thyroid to do that. Another function is to differentiate the skin cells, reducing keratin plugging of the glands.