Grain Fed Causing Acne?

[DameonWolf]

Hey all. So I've added in crap loads of fruit and my stomach and liver issues seem to be resolving, thankfully. However another problem started a week or so back in which I've been getting really hot, dry, burning skin on my face, upper back and neck. Acne is coming up as a result of it but I'm questioning whether my skin inflammation is typical acne or an allergic reaction. The last two weeks I was eating a crap load of grain fed beef. I was wondering if it's possible this could cause me to have an allergic reaction? My face literally feels like it's on fire at times, which is not the typical acne I'm used too it feels like it's on its way back to the way it was when I was in high school. I'm not necessarily worried, I mean if it gets bad enough I'm fasting no question about it. Any one have any experience with this? I stopped eating grain fed yesterday.

Please don't say it's the fruit it's obviously not the fruit I was eating 3000 calories of fruit a day for 2 months and my acne was almost gone.

[Raw Kyle]

No idea, but instead of saying it's this or that the logical way to deduce that info would be to remove something from your diet for some amount of time, maybe 2 weeks or so, and see if the symptoms go away or reduce. You removed the grain fed, so if you still have the same symptoms, or worse, or only a little better, remove something else. I'm sorry to say that since you only listed two foods, grain fed and fruit, I'd have to say the next suspect is the fruit.

The only time I get any acne on this diet is stuff not on the diet, and it's not bad, so I surmise for myself none of the raw paleo foods cause acne. But for others it may be different, it could be the fabled detox, or it could be an environmental (non-food) culprit. But I stand by the best way being experimental removal of things one at a time and observation as to whether that helps. Good luck, acne sucks!

[TylerDurden]

Yes, it's possible to get an allergic reaction to grainfed beef - a few RPDers are particularly susceptible. However, as RawKyle said, it's best to do elimination-type diets to determine if a specific food is at fault.

[DameonWolf]

Yeah cool I'll try and keep it to grass fed for the next few weeks I'll see how that helps.

[DameonWolf]

Hey all, I'm happy to report that the grain fed beef was indeed the problem! Grass fed my body just loves, my skin is feeling so much better.

[feral]

Hey all, I'm happy to report that the grain fed beef was indeed the problem! Grass fed my body just loves, my skin is feeling so much better.

Congrats.  My acne has been steadily decreasing since switching to raw meat, but I also steadily ate more grassfed (near %100 now).  I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than a basic correlation there.

[feral]

Also, I recently got a full delivery from Slankers.  Some of it was freezer burned but that is another story.  Anyway, I just now was sitting down to eat a plate of ground beef when I realized that I was eating it without any garlic salt.  That's pretty much how I could stomach grain fed ground beef; lots of garlic salt.  I hadn't thought about it much, but I'd say freezer burned grassfed is about as tasty as standard grain fed.  I don't think grass fed tastes good(yet?), but it sure doesn't taste bad either. 

On a side note, I got a bunch of their D&C mix.  It almost tasted good right out of the box, as it were, but I can only eat a small amount before I get the feeling that I can't eat anymore.  I don't feel nauseous, but after 3-4 bites, I just can't swallow any more of the stuff.  It seems to take longer to digest too.   I kinda figured I'd be able to work up to eating more of it.  Anyone else, especially the carnivores following Lex's diet, have anything similar happen?

[Raw Kyle]

When I got the D&C mix I couldn't stomach it at all. I was mixing it with regular muscle, suet and eventually TONS of honey and other stuff to try and get it down. For me it's easier, at least for now, to buy organs and cut them up and eat them by themselves and then eat muscle and fat separately. Organs aren't good to me, but they aren't as hard to eat as the D&C meat+organ ground stuff is. Also I think cubed stuff or cutting up whole organs is better than ground because of less oxidation. But if you think it tastes good I would just keep trying to up your intake, it is a very economical way to eat if you can do it.

[DameonWolf]

I'm so frustrated. I know for a FACT that grain fed causes my skin too feel like it's on fire and dry. I was getting 100 percent grass fed last week and it was making me feel great. I kept buying from the same place which gets from many different farms. This week the flavor of the meat changed and my skin started reacting again. They claim it's 100 percent grass fed, but they either don't know their product or their intentionally lying. Both upsets me deeply. Turns out Toronto and many places in Canada can be a nightmare for a sensitive rvaf eater. I'll be able to get dairy soon which I haven't tried yet. I can go see for my self the way the cows are fed. I'm thinking I'll try butter and cream but damn it's so much less convenient and dairy might make me sick. I've also tried to find pasture fed eggs here in Toronto and it turns out that's also next to impossible. They will claim their chickens are pasture raised, but in reality they STILL FEED THEM GRAINS/CORN EXT. I'm not too happy about how sensitive my body is, but I'm even more unhappy about how people just don't get it.

[feral]

When I got the D&C mix I couldn't stomach it at all. I was mixing it with regular muscle, suet and eventually TONS of honey and other stuff to try and get it down...

I've been trying to keep up a general intake, and it seems to be working.  I generally eat as much as I can stomach right before a main meal (ground beef usually).  I also dried some out using a plywood modification of Lex's meat dehydrator, and snack on that now and again.  At first I had to coat that with honey as well, but that is no longer necessary.  If you have the resources, you might try a dehydrator for some things.  I know you have some difficulty putting a large quantity of raw meat down, and drying it changes the taste some, and the texture significantly. 

I'm so frustrated. I know for a FACT that grain fed causes my skin too feel like it's on fire and dry. I was getting 100 percent grass fed last week and it was making me feel great. I kept buying from the same place which gets from many different farms. This week the flavor of the meat changed and my skin started reacting again...

That is a pretty shitty deal there.  I would try adding more eggs, like you thought.  It might not be any better, but chickens are designed to have a more diverse diet than cows.  Even if they are fed grain, I think it is more likely that your body would handle it better.  That at least has been the case for me.  I know alot of suppliers call their beef grassfed, even when they finish on grain.  It would be nice if they realized that grain does not help taste or quality.  Actually, they probably don't care, just want to pack on the few extra pounds they can before slaughter. 

And yes, it is absurd that they 'just don't get it'. Hopefully at some point it will be taken as seriously as peanut/wheat allergies, and they will be required to add something along the lines of "raised in a facility that processes grain" if they use it at all.