Why Would Citrus Fruit Cause Acne?

DankMemes

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
131
So there's a lot of people online who get nasty cystic acne from eating citrus fruits - I'm one of them.

I first noticed this when I used to chug lemon juice and water back in my paleo days, I cut out all citrus and my skin is nice and clear. Everytime I test the theory with OJ, lemon or mandarin I start to breakout.

I've tried straining the pulp through a clean cloth and the result stays the same. I can get away with a small amount of lemon juice as seasoning but drinking a whole cup of OJ is a no go.

I feel fine when drinking it and the only problem I find is the acne. I really love the taste of citrus and I can get a 3kg bag of organic navel oranges for $2.50! Plus I'm missing out on the benefits of naringenin, so I really want it to work.

If you have any suggestions or experience the same thing, I'm all ears. Cheers
 

squanch

Member
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
398
Yes, I have the same problem.
Just curios, are there any other foods that cause acne problems for you? Citrus, milk, chocolate, wheat and certain types of alcohol will do the same thing for me, which seems to be relatively consistent with the typical "problem foods" that are often mentioned in the context of different inflammatory conditions.
Since most people don't have issues with those foods as a child, it seems like it's some sort of immune reaction that develops later in life during times off stress. Those allergenic foods could then cause gut irritation which leads to skin issues through gut-skin nerve connections peat has talked about before. Since antibiotics seem to be very helpful, I think it's possible that the food itself is not allergenic, but the body reacts mainly to the waste products of gut bacteria processing those certain foods.
That's all I got, sorry.
I think vitamin a (liver), zinc (oysters), magnesium (preferably mg bicarbonate) and vitamin b6 (p5p) are extremely helpful in this context. High calories, lots of sleep and regular sunshine also. Topical niacinamide is pretty awesome too.
I never managed to fully solve the issue for me, but I can currently drink 1 litre milk/day without getting any cystic acne, only very minor skin issues. Before I would get severe cystic acne with this amount of milk. I'm only doing that temporarily to gain weight though. I think the best idea would be to completely cut out all problematic foods for a few years, while doing everything I mentioned above + the general peat stuff of course (low pufa, calcium - phosphorus ratio etc...)
 
Last edited:
OP
D

DankMemes

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
131
PUFA is definitely the biggest trigger for me - even eggs make me breakout.

Most of my acne stems from digestive distress, so leafy greens, whole grains, certain fibers will cause minor white heads but not deep inflamed acne.

I realised that apple cider vinegar, honey, lemon juice and orange makes me breakout in a particular fashion. Now I'm thinking the acidity is involved. I've just bought more OJ and will be adding baking soda and see if it elicits the same response.

Maybe mandarins will be a better option, they don't seem as acidic.
 

Ulla

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
285
Maybe it has to do with histamine? I am just guessing here...

"Citrus – lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines and grapefruit – are histamine liberators, meaning they stimulate the release of histamine."
 

Emstar1892

Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2015
Messages
346
I get this too!!!!! Stupid horrible tasty citrus haha! I also had it with the lemon water, grrr. And dairy and alcohol. Also nightshades for me - heavy tomato sauces, tomatoes and bell peppers get me every time always around the mouth.

Interesting about the histamines ulla, doesn't alcohol raise these pretty substantially?

Could nightshades be related in the same way I wonder?
 

Elephanto

Member
Joined
May 21, 2015
Messages
820
Maybe it has to do with histamine? I am just guessing here...

"Citrus – lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines and grapefruit – are histamine liberators, meaning they stimulate the release of histamine."

This, probably. I can't find a proper study backing this but it's on selfhacked (who usually sources his claims, not in this case) and all over the net.

Peat himself seems to have a conflicting opinion on citruses. On one side, he advices 1 or 2 quarts of orange juice daily. On another side, he claims that citric acid can trigger dormant cancers. There is an enormous quantity of citric acid in citrus fruits (up to 20g per fruit) , much more than the quantity in some sodas or citrate forms of minerals.

In a study on breast cancer, women who drank more orange juice and/or citrus fruits had higher IGF-1 levels which predicts a worse outcome.
 

Elephanto

Member
Joined
May 21, 2015
Messages
820
Interesting about the histamines ulla, doesn't alcohol raise these pretty substantially?

Only alcohols that aren't pure or distilled like whiskey, rhum, brown liquors, beers, wine etc. Vodka and gin do not raise histamine.

The effect of ethanol, beer, and wine on histamine release from the dog stomach. - PubMed - NCBI

Intragastric administration of 200 ml of beer (4.8% ethanol) or red wine (12.5% ethanol) caused a significant enhancement in gastrin and histamine concentrations in venous blood from the stomach. By contrast, intragastric administration of pure ethanol in distilled water at the same concentrations of wine or beer did not significantly modify gastrin and histamine release.
 

Ulla

Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2015
Messages
285
In the description of Broda Barnes book on Amazon it says:

"The real solution is to stop heart disease is to halt the causes of inflammation, one of which is homocysteine, a harmless acid-like waste product that forms when you eat red meat and other protein foods.
Homocysteine is quickly broken down by certain B vitamins, so it isn't usually a problem. But if a person isn't getting enough of these B vitamins (a widespread and disturbing problem in our country today), then homocysteine builds up to dangerous levels and "burns" the delicate tissue of artery walls.
Plaque is then formed at the site of this inflammation as the body attempts to heal the damage.

How dangerous is this? Studies show that a high level of homocysteine is one of the most dangerous risk factors for heart disease. It increases a person's risk of heart attack by 300 percent!

If you're thinking a little extra B-vitamin intake would correct the problem, you're on the right track. That's exactly how some alternative M.D.s handle the problem. Studies as far back as 1988 show that this B vitamin lowers homocysteine levels back into the safety zone in just weeks. It has an 80% success rate. And the cost is about 5 cents a day.

The secret thyroid connection
But if you're a good detective (and I think you are), you're probably wondering what's causing this B-vitamin deficiency in the first place?
Closer investigation reveals that an underactive thyroid gland is at the root of the problem. This malfunction inhibits the absorption of B vitamins, causing homocysteine levels to skyrocket.

The connection between the thyroid and heart disease was first mentioned in the 1976 book, Solved: The Riddle of Heart Attacks, by Dr. Broda Barnes. His research was largely ignored by the medical community, until the release of a study in 1999. At the Cleveland Clinic, researchers corrected the thyroid function in patients and saw homocysteine levels normalize on their own-without any need for vitamins."​



I would go for B vitamins and avoiding foods containing homocysteine and try to avoid as much Histamine-Releasing Foods.
But if I understand things correctly and if person has enough B vitamins and it is not that sensitive to histamine and not loaded with it --> then also histamine-releasing foods shouldn't be problematic. Probably that is why someone has issues with oranges etc... and someone not.

I also keep some notes about histamine, I think they are from this forum:

Parent amino acids and their biogenic amine products:

Arginine—Agmatine, Putrescine, Spermine, Spermidine
Histidine—Histamine
Lysine—Cadaverine
Ornithine—Putrescine, Spermine, Spermidine
Phenylalanine—Phenylethylamine
Tryptophan—Tryptamine, Serotonin
Tyrosine–Tyramine

To turn a garden variety amino acid into a powerful biogenic amine, you need to remove its carboxyl group. To accomplish this you need a special enzyme called a decarboxylase (fancy word for “enzyme that chops off carboxyl groups”).

Many species of bacteria and yeast contain the enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC), which turns histidine into histamine.
So, when meat (or fish) is not immediately consumed or frozen, bacteria get straight to work breaking down the amino acids within it, and one of the by-products is histamine.

So, take-home lesson: eat your meat/fish either very fresh or confirm that it was frozen quickly. Seems simple enough, right? But wait, there’s more. We silly humans actually go out of our way to ferment foods on purpose.

People like to play with food—we add bacteria to milk to make cheese and yogurt.

We add yeast to grapes to make wine.

We add bacteria to meat to make salami.

In the process, these fresh foods—milk, grapes, and meat—which in their fresh forms are essentially histamine-free, become very high in histamine and other biogenic amines.
Women seem to comprise the majority of people who complain of histamine intolerance. This may be because estrogen and histamine reinforce each other

histamine can increase estrogen levels and vice versa,
which may explain why histamine intolerance is associated with pre-menstrual cramps and menstrual migraine.

Even more fascinating is that pregnant women may experience relief from food sensitivities during pregnancy because the placenta secretes very high amounts of diamine oxidase, or DAO, the enzyme that destroys histamine.
 
Last edited:

YuraCZ

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
674
DankMemes are you eating citrus fruits alone? Mixing citrus fruits with anything else then citrus fruits isn't good idea.. Especially with foods like milk. I know Roddy has in Ebook combinations like this. But for most people it will be problematic..
 

FD8

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
44
Location
Ireland
In the description of Broda Barnes book on Amazon it says:

"The real solution is to stop heart disease is to halt the causes of inflammation, one of which is homocysteine, a harmless acid-like waste product that forms when you eat red meat and other protein foods.
Homocysteine is quickly broken down by certain B vitamins, so it isn't usually a problem. But if a person isn't getting enough of these B vitamins (a widespread and disturbing problem in our country today), then homocysteine builds up to dangerous levels and "burns" the delicate tissue of artery walls.
Plaque is then formed at the site of this inflammation as the body attempts to heal the damage.

How dangerous is this? Studies show that a high level of homocysteine is one of the most dangerous risk factors for heart disease. It increases a person's risk of heart attack by 300 percent!

If you're thinking a little extra B-vitamin intake would correct the problem, you're on the right track. That's exactly how some alternative M.D.s handle the problem. Studies as far back as 1988 show that this B vitamin lowers homocysteine levels back into the safety zone in just weeks. It has an 80% success rate. And the cost is about 5 cents a day.

The secret thyroid connection
But if you're a good detective (and I think you are), you're probably wondering what's causing this B-vitamin deficiency in the first place?
Closer investigation reveals that an underactive thyroid gland is at the root of the problem. This malfunction inhibits the absorption of B vitamins, causing homocysteine levels to skyrocket.

The connection between the thyroid and heart disease was first mentioned in the 1976 book, Solved: The Riddle of Heart Attacks, by Dr. Broda Barnes. His research was largely ignored by the medical community, until the release of a study in 1999. At the Cleveland Clinic, researchers corrected the thyroid function in patients and saw homocysteine levels normalize on their own-without any need for vitamins."​



I would go for B vitamins and avoiding foods containing homocysteine and try to avoid as much Histamine-Releasing Foods.
But if I understand things correctly and if person has enough B vitamins and it is not that sensitive to histamine and not loaded with it --> then also histamine-releasing foods shouldn't be problematic. Probably that is why someone has issues with oranges etc... and someone not.

I also keep some notes about histamine, I think they are from this forum:

Parent amino acids and their biogenic amine products:

Arginine—Agmatine, Putrescine, Spermine, Spermidine
Histidine—Histamine
Lysine—Cadaverine
Ornithine—Putrescine, Spermine, Spermidine
Phenylalanine—Phenylethylamine
Tryptophan—Tryptamine, Serotonin
Tyrosine–Tyramine

To turn a garden variety amino acid into a powerful biogenic amine, you need to remove its carboxyl group. To accomplish this you need a special enzyme called a decarboxylase (fancy word for “enzyme that chops off carboxyl groups”).

Many species of bacteria and yeast contain the enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC), which turns histidine into histamine.
So, when meat (or fish) is not immediately consumed or frozen, bacteria get straight to work breaking down the amino acids within it, and one of the by-products is histamine.

So, take-home lesson: eat your meat/fish either very fresh or confirm that it was frozen quickly. Seems simple enough, right? But wait, there’s more. We silly humans actually go out of our way to ferment foods on purpose.

People like to play with food—we add bacteria to milk to make cheese and yogurt.

We add yeast to grapes to make wine.

We add bacteria to meat to make salami.

In the process, these fresh foods—milk, grapes, and meat—which in their fresh forms are essentially histamine-free, become very high in histamine and other biogenic amines.
Women seem to comprise the majority of people who complain of histamine intolerance. This may be because estrogen and histamine reinforce each other

histamine can increase estrogen levels and vice versa,
which may explain why histamine intolerance is associated with pre-menstrual cramps and menstrual migraine.

Even more fascinating is that pregnant women may experience relief from food sensitivities during pregnancy because the placenta secretes very high amounts of diamine oxidase, or DAO, the enzyme that destroys histamine.



"A few aged cheeses and spoiling fish are the only food sources of histamine that could make a difference." RP
 

FD8

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
Messages
44
Location
Ireland
what about canned sardines?
Not sure this is histamine related, but it probably is since other fruit (pineaple) or cheeses (french emmental) can give very similar reactions, best to avoid them altogether if you react badly
 
OP
D

DankMemes

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
131
DankMemes are you eating citrus fruits alone? Mixing citrus fruits with anything else then citrus fruits isn't good idea.. Especially with foods like milk. I know Roddy has in Ebook combinations like this. But for most people it will be problematic..

I seem to tolerate citrus better when mixing with my coffee. My guess is that the milk dilutes the orange's citric acid or something so it's less stressful to my gut.

I tried the OJ for just one day and had stomach pain and heartburn. No acne yet but it's usually a delayed effect.

I've been eating mandarins like crazy since I made this post and am doing very well. It's too soon to tell but I'll keep y'all updated.
 

bohogirl

Member
Joined
May 1, 2016
Messages
327
I use lemon juice as a part in salad dressing. No breakouts.

If I drink lemon in water, I will break out. I took it as an initial purge though.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom