Reactions to Organs, Vitamin C, Omega 3's, and Sugars... I'm at a loss

[riy freeman]

I used to have pretty bad cystic acne and for the past three years, gradually made dietary changes from junk all the time, to "mainstream healthy", then veges and meats, then raw vegan, than 80/10/10, and now raw paleo for 5 months.

My skin has been getting better the whole time SLOOOWLLYY, but even today if I take a vitamin c powder supplement (even the buffered ones), eat organ meats (i've tried kidneys, hearts, and livers all grassfed), eat anything with omega 3 in it (wild salmon or tuna), nuts, or anything with sugar, I get huge inflamed cystic acne developing within hours of consumption. I also get occasional milia all over my body which decreases if I avoid those above foods. I don't understand my body anymore.

I tried the organ meats as of late because I thought it would speed up my healing process, since all I eat nowadays is grassfed backfat mixed with grassfed ground beef (these things don't break me out).

Does anyone have an idea of what might be wrong here?

Any input would be appreciated...

[Caveman]

I've been through hell with cystic acne in the last 3 years. I also tried just about everything with diet and supplements just for the sake of my skin, but that led me to my never-ending journey to the best health possible for me. I've managed to completely clear all of my acne at times, but I still continue to experiment with different foods, which will set me back.

It's important to know what works best for you. If you're sure something breaks you out, just stop doing it.

Have you tried any raw dairy at all?

You need to balance your hormones. Do you get a lot of fat in your daily diet? Cholesterol is really important for your hormones here. You most likely have estrogen dominance and possibly low testosterone as a result. Progesterone levels are especially important.

Personally, I've been able to completely clear my skin while eating only raw dairy and eggs while taking testosterone boosting herbal supplements. Almost anything else seems to break me out..

When I ate almost only raw meat, my skin would sometimes be good and sometimes worse.

I don't have all the answers, but I keep on going and want to help everyone suffering from this. At the moment, I am eating meat again, but my skin isn't doing as good as it just was without it.

[CHK91]

If you are having negative reactions to omega 3 fatty acids, then you probably don't have enough of the longer chain fatty acids in the omega 6 pathway. I would assume that fruitarianism has left you with impaired insulin sensitivity and unfortunately this inhibits the conversion of ALA and LA into fatty acids further down the chain by inhibiting the enzyme Delta-6-Desaturase.

Linoleic -(Delta-6-Desaturase)> Gamma linolenic -> DGLA (Precursor to anti-inflammatory prostaglandins)

GLA and DGLA is more difficult to obtain from diet than the other EFAs. For people without nutritional deficiencies(biotin, vitamin E, protein, zinc, B12 and B6) and low insulin levels, this would not be an issue. There is probably a need for a balance between the longer chain omega 3 and 6s, and the imbalance caused by more higher end omega 3s compared to omega 6s is possibly causing issues. This is my theory anyways.

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A second possibly that I can think of is that your ability to deal with oxidative stressors, such as polyunsaturated fats, is faulty. I mention this because you said that you had problems with nuts which are high in omega 6(You probably don't convert LA well into GLA so the nuts may be not be helping).

It could be just one or both of these. I'm only stating possibilities.

Correcting nutritional deficiencies is a b****. There seems to be a point of no return or hard to return when it comes to health, when it is difficult to establish equilibrium again.

[riy freeman]

CHK91, do you think I might have a problem with that pathway if Primrose Oil also breaks me out? As I understand its a high source of GLA...

Caveman, its comforting to know I'm not the only one with such problems.... What herbal testosterone booster were/are you taking? Maca?

Yes I do have fat in my diet... a good amount of it actually because i add chunks of beef back fat into my ground meat mixture and blend it some. I guess that should supply me with ample cholesterol...And its the only thing that doesn't seem to break me out too bad so that's why i eat it...So my diet is just that for now and therefore pretty mono...
I haven't tried raw dairy because I don't have access to any. But I am Asian so I assumed I would be lactose intolerant. I've stripped away eggs from my diet for now after I broke out after eating..surprise surprise Omega-3 enhanced eggs. The free-range no antibiotic but grainfed eggs I can get at wegmans seem to not break me out so maybe I should include them again?

Do you think after some more years of doing raw paleo will eventually cure us?

Lastly, as a sidenote this summer I am volunteering at a mobile clinic in thailand so I will have to eat non-raw paleo when I am in rural villages and I'm scared its going to turn my face and body into a cystic acne warzone... I'm hoping there might be some supplement that will mitigate the effects of eating differently for a few weeks....

[CHK91]

Wow, I never heard of anyone that had bad reactions to all EFAs. 

Do you have chemical sensitivities to things like perfume/cologne, cigarette smoke, aerosols?

Do you feel bad on all polyunsaturated fats? How do monounsaturated and saturated fats affect you?

[Ioanna]

just curious, but what about white meat and eggs?  any possibility of a purine reaction rather than fat?

[Caveman]

I take 7 different herbal supplements which can boost testosterone, one a day, or else the body gets used to them and it won't do anything anymore. I've had great success with it, but there are still so many factors, I don't know exactly what's best for me yet, but I am getting closer.

It really is worth a try if you ever happen to find some kind of raw dairy, preferably just the milk. I thought I was lactose intolerant myself, but I've actually had the clearest skin I've ever had at most times since drinking milk.

Have you tried high meat? I haven't yet myself, but am making some right now and hopefully this will do something for me..

To be honest, I think meat in general may have been causing me acne and only notice it now due to getting back on it after being without it for about two weeks or so.

[miles]

Is your meat 100% grass-fed organic Caveman?

[ys]

here is similar report as your, specifically re DHA

http://paleohacks.com/questions/23929/dha-causing-acne

[Caveman]

Is your meat 100% grass-fed organic Caveman?

100% Grass-fed from Slanker's. Very popular source for people in the United States.