New to the Peatarian Ways!

[kettlebell]

Hi, and welcome (Sorry for the late welcome) I forget this page is here as im normally off writing nonsense on the main forum.

 

[PeatFeat]

Hi, and welcome (Sorry for the late welcome) I forget this page is here as im normally off writing nonsense on the main forum.

Thank you! How long have you been Peating?

 

[kettlebell]

about 3-4 months. Early stages so still getting to grips with it. I'm reading and listening to his stuff every day so have managed to absorb a lot and will continue to do so.

 

[PeatFeat]

UPDATE: I'm slowly starting to feel better, but my acne is getting pretty bad. I'm hoping I can wait it out but if I keep getting more cysts I may have to cut back. I have been eating a lot of cheese/yogurt/kefir lately (I know yogurt/kefir are not Peat-approved but they don't affect me nearly as bad as milk). These are likely the primary causes of the increased acne. I have also been drinking more OJ, eating gelatin, more salt, more coffee/chocolate. I am going to start taking an herb called Guggul which I ordered recently. It is supposed to stimulate your thyroid and be good for cystic acne. I feel like my temps are slowly increasing just based on feeling. I also had my temp taken at the Dr. a month ago at 97 F and then 97.5 F a week ago to give you an idea where I'm at.
Interesting note: I had both skin-prick and blood tests done for food allergies and they all came back negative. I have had positives for the skin prick test in the past so hopefully that's a good sign. They aren't the most reliable tests though.... Dr. said I may have food intolerances. I have been extremely inactive too, mostly because my body just feels like resting. I usually feel like ***t when I don't work out for weeks but I feel fine right now. Will probably have to start some light exercise soon though.

 

[j.]

the vitamin a from beef liver once a week might fix your acne.

 

[PeatFeat]

the vitamin a from beef liver once a week might fix your acne.

No, it's much more complicated than that. I've been battling acne for 7 years (since I was 17-18). I've tried so many things I've nearly gone insane. I already eat liver on a semi-regular basis. Gonna start eating it more frequently in smaller doses and see if that helps. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[cliff]

Niacinamide and aspirin can help with acne in my experience.

 

[PeatFeat]

Niacinamide and aspirin can help with acne in my experience.

I take Niacin sometimes and it seems to help. Isn't niacinamide the non-flushing form? I have taken aspirin in the past and it helps with inflammation, but I haven't taken it in a long time for acne because it was never a long term solution. Gonna start experimenting with it again though.

 

[gretchen]

Hi PeatFeat, I am older (42) and female ; I also took Accutane and was clear 10 years but in my late 20s after a foray in to some calorie restrictive dieting the acne came back and I wound up on the bcp in my 30s. Accutane was and still is touted as a wonder drug but it isn't. I'm not sure if you have heard it is a chemotherapy drug ; I never actually knew this till a few years ago.

Anyway, I feel better than I have in a long time on Peat. Dairy seems to work well for me. Increasing sugar/carbs along with some coconut oil and butter may help. I also overate nuts the last year or so plus ten years of eating salmon daily .... PUFAs damage the brain I'm pretty sure. I was totally worn out in my 30s, but not really so much depressed as totally fried mentally. Blocking PUFA is easy to do and does help a lot. I use aspirin, but you will want to read about that and the potential side effects. You may also benefit from retinoids or copper peptides to help build collagen and get rid of any acne slcars you have. A Clarisonic is also useful so long as you wash it frequently. Anyway, cheers & welcome.

 

[PeatFeat]

Hi PeatFeat, I am older (42) and female ; I also took Accutane and was clear 10 years but in my late 20s after a foray in to some calorie restrictive dieting the acne came back and I wound up on the bcp in my 30s. Accutane was and still is touted as a wonder drug but it isn't. I'm not sure if you have heard it is a chemotherapy drug ; I never actually knew this till a few years ago.

Anyway, I feel better than I have in a long time on Peat. Dairy seems to work well for me. Increasing sugar/carbs along with some coconut oil and butter may help. I also overate nuts the last year or so plus ten years of eating salmon daily .... PUFAs damage the brain I'm pretty sure. I was totally worn out in my 30s, but not really so much depressed as totally fried mentally. Blocking PUFA is easy to do and does help a lot. I use aspirin, but you will want to read about that and the potential side effects. You may also benefit from retinoids or copper peptides to help build collagen and get rid of any acne slcars you have. A Clarisonic is also useful so long as you wash it frequently. Anyway, cheers & welcome.

Thank you for your message!
Yea restrictive dieting is the worst. It might clear you up for a little, but you will eventually become nutrient deficient and stressed out! I'm sorry but what did you mean by "bcp"? One of the most intense/depressing/hopeless times of my life was while I was on Accutane. Who knows what it did to my body. I think it's ok as a last resort for EXTREME cases, but who knows if it has any long term effects (hope not). Anyway, I started following Peat rules about a month ago and I seem to be adjusting well. My major changes have been drastically reducing PUFA, eating less legumes and raw vegetables, more dairy, OJ, sugar, gelatin, vitamin E supplement and less beta carotene. I also stopped intense workouts for about 1.5 months because I finally realized that I needed to just rest my system for a while. I previously did heavy lifting/sprints 2-3x a week and also intermittent fasting, which was very stressful for my thyroid/adrenals I now realize. My acne flared up when I first started Peating, but has gotten better since(still not gone though). I'm definitely tolerating dairy better. Iv'e been taking it slow with milk, but it doesn't seem to be negatively effecting me like it used to. My thyroid seems to be functioning better. My temps are up and cold hand are less frequent. My food/environmental allergies have seen some improvement as well. I should note that I had my wisdom teeth removed a few weeks ago and was on Amoxicillin for a while, and it seemed to improve my acne as well. I have been experimenting with aspirin (mostly bc of wisdom teeth) and it does seem to help. I need to be careful though bc I already have stomach/gut issues. I already am using Retin-A, which helps with scarring, but isn't really strong enough for the deeper ones (only strength i can get right now). I also use a microdermabrasion cream/exfoliator on occasion to help smooth out my skin. Unfortunately, I have some pretty significant scars which can't be removed by anything short of a laser beam. So that's an update with me. Are you new to the forum? If so, Welcome!

 

[gretchen]

Hi PeatFeat, I am older (42) and female ; I also took Accutane and was clear 10 years but in my late 20s after a foray in to some calorie restrictive dieting the acne came back and I wound up on the bcp in my 30s. Accutane was and still is touted as a wonder drug but it isn't. I'm not sure if you have heard it is a chemotherapy drug ; I never actually knew this till a few years ago.

Anyway, I feel better than I have in a long time on Peat. Dairy seems to work well for me. Increasing sugar/carbs along with some coconut oil and butter may help. I also overate nuts the last year or so plus ten years of eating salmon daily .... PUFAs damage the brain I'm pretty sure. I was totally worn out in my 30s, but not really so much depressed as totally fried mentally. Blocking PUFA is easy to do and does help a lot. I use aspirin, but you will want to read about that and the potential side effects. You may also benefit from retinoids or copper peptides to help build collagen and get rid of any acne slcars you have. A Clarisonic is also useful so long as you wash it frequently. Anyway, cheers & welcome.

Thank you for your message!
Yea restrictive dieting is the worst. It might clear you up for a little, but you will eventually become nutrient deficient and stressed out! I'm sorry but what did you mean by "bcp"? One of the most intense/depressing/hopeless times of my life was while I was on Accutane. Who knows what it did to my body. I think it's ok as a last resort for EXTREME cases, but who knows if it has any long term effects (hope not). Anyway, I started following Peat rules about a month ago and I seem to be adjusting well. My major changes have been drastically reducing PUFA, eating less legumes and raw vegetables, more dairy, OJ, sugar, gelatin, vitamin E supplement and less beta carotene. I also stopped intense workouts for about 1.5 months because I finally realized that I needed to just rest my system for a while. I previously did heavy lifting/sprints 2-3x a week and also intermittent fasting, which was very stressful for my thyroid/adrenals I now realize. My acne flared up when I first started Peating, but has gotten better since(still not gone though). I'm definitely tolerating dairy better. Iv'e been taking it slow with milk, but it doesn't seem to be negatively effecting me like it used to. My thyroid seems to be functioning better. My temps are up and cold hand are less frequent. My food/environmental allergies have seen some improvement as well. I should note that I had my wisdom teeth removed a few weeks ago and was on Amoxicillin for a while, and it seemed to improve my acne as well. I have been experimenting with aspirin (mostly bc of wisdom teeth) and it does seem to help. I need to be careful though bc I already have stomach/gut issues. I already am using Retin-A, which helps with scarring, but isn't really strong enough for the deeper ones (only strength i can get right now). I also use a microdermabrasion cream/exfoliator on occasion to help smooth out my skin. Unfortunately, I have some pretty significant scars which can't be removed by anything short of a laser beam. So that's an update with me. Are you new to the forum? If so, Welcome!

The bcp is the birth control pill. The common belief in the medical/dermatology world is that shutting the ovaries down with the birth control pill helps control acne; it is also touted as a therapy to help with perimenopause ie you use the pill as a kind of pre-menopause HRT till your cycles stop. I was on it for 7 years and probably developed hypothyroid as a result. Last year, I got a photo ID that showed my neck area as being swollen and a little bit blackish blue. At the time I figured I would just cover it up with a scarf....

Anyway, I've been off the pill about a year and have also switched to Peat eating and feel better. I think my neck looks less swollen and I've lost a little bit of weight in my legs. I actually switched to Peat after reading the Fish Oil Experiment article. The events of that day were pretty indicative of what had been going on with me for a while; I made a bunch of mistakes in basic chores like paying my rent and not getting a receipt. I had actually gone to the store that day to pick up my sardines so I would have a stash of protein to eat. Anyway, for whatever reason, I was able to focus long enough to read the Fish Oil article and lightbulbs went off. I watched a Josh Rubin video about PUFAs later and then googled the food list online and switched diets the next day.

I didn't drink milk for like 20 years, since I was your age. I got in to the whole health kick movement in my 20s after I took Accutane actually as a teen.... I was one of the first wave of people who took it, actually. I think my cystic acne was caused by doing high impact aerobics 5-6 days a week, starving myself, eating low fat (in the 80s everyone was against fats), and smoking. I wanted to be skinny and of course, I did get skinny- well, 1980s skinny- I weighed about 10 lbs more than I do now, all lean tissue I'm pretty sure-- but within a year of all the excess exercise and dieting my skin was shot and Accutane looked like the best solution....... I actually never took any medicine all those years after taking Accutane but was sold on the bcp in similar way; it seemed like the best solution to my problem. I still can't believe I started drinking milk again. For a long time I thought milk was what caused my acne. That and possibly all the exercise and dieting.......

Here is a good website on skin care that might help you. It gives some good info on how to use retinoids:
http://www.skinacea.com/index.html#.UL-emIVOQXw

As I mentioned, I use copper peptides. You might consider trying them since you have scars; the peptides are really good for that:
http://www.reverseskinaging.com/