Acne

[CatTreats]

What exactly causes acne when eating RPD? I thought this was a little temporary issue, but it's not going away. I have never had acne more than some blackheads even as a teenager, and even when SAD. People have complimented my skin throughout my life. But since going RPD, it seems like I'm suffering from blackheads. At one point, my forehead was covered in them (thank goodness I have bangs), and it's getting bad enough that I'm having dark spots in some areas to where I look like I have more freckles. It's never big red pimples, just blackheads. But a lot. I get new ones everyday, so it must be something I'm doing wrong ....

Note: When I went primal/paleo (still cooked), what little acne I did have was COMPLETELY gone. Even consuming large amounts of dairy.

[TylerDurden]

The acne is a sign of detox. Such should stop after doing a couple of years on an RPD diet. eating even a small amount of cooked foods, though, will likely mean that the acne problem will never go away.

[eveheart]

This could be related to the change in your body cleaning habits and the amount of time it takes for your body chemistry to adjust. For instance, no-shampoo sites advise that it can take up to three months for the scalp to adjust to not being stripped of oils on a daily basis. This came to mind because you mentioned that the forehead under your bangs was affected. What TD said applies, too, and you may never know every cause-and-effect. Just keep up with good nutrition.

[CatTreats]

The acne is a sign of detox. Such should stop after doing a couple of years on an RPD diet. eating even a small amount of cooked foods, though, will likely mean that the acne problem will never go away.

What non-PRD foods I eat are extremely limited. Right now it's only say, a few almonds (which legally must be pasteurized here), or a hint of maple syrup which, though it's "raw" can't possibly be. Raw more means unfiltered than actually raw. I don't think it's possible to go my entire life without exposure to something just because of the world we live in. Whether it's the one holiday that I try a bite of something, etc. But I would say that I'm 99% RPD "monthly" while 100% RPD on most days, if that makes sense.

This could be related to the change in your body cleaning habits and the amount of time it takes for your body chemistry to adjust. For instance, no-shampoo sites advise that it can take up to three months for the scalp to adjust to not being stripped of oils on a daily basis. This came to mind because you mentioned that the forehead under your bangs was affected. What TD said applies, too, and you may never know every cause-and-effect. Just keep up with good nutrition.

Yes, I'm still adjusting to "no-poo" and I've started that almost half a year ago. I got the "gross" comments at my old job, but who cares.

[CatTreats]

Okay, I have to make another post because this is seriously a problem. I just got out of the shower, and I'm absolutely astounded by my face. I have little pimples EVERYWHERE except for my cheeks. My forehead, nose, around my mouth, and chin are completely COVERED. It's a problem. I've never felt self conscious about my face until now. As I mentioned before, even during my SAD days people ALWAYS complimented me on my skin and complexion.

I need to fix this. It's only getting worse. How can I be on SAD only having one or two pimples around my period, and then on cooked paleo I have virtually no acne AT ALL. Now, I'm covered. This is almost the worst acne I have I have ever experienced in my LIFE. I have no idea what to do. Even my boyfriend is like whoa. He doesn't actually care, but he even said that he's never seen my face so broken out.

I do not use anything on my face. I rinse with water in the shower and just rub off excess oil from my forehead. I've never used acne cleansers or scrubs at all in my life, and I've stuck to just water on my face for almost a year now. Almost as soon as I went 100% raw did this crazy break out start. It hasn't died down and is only getting worse in the last month and a half. Please tell me if I'm doing something wrong or if I'm missing a nutrient or what this is a result of. I don't know what I'm going to do if it gets even worse.

[TylerDurden]

This is odd. While it is normal for something like acne to appear as soon as one switches to raw food, it is most unusual for such detox symptoms to last for more than a few weeks. I have only heard of  a handful of cases where people had them for months.

Possibilities:-

1)  Do an elimination diet, cutting out one raw food at a time or a whole raw food group like fruits or whatever, to see if things suddenly improve. To make sure, though, one has to do several weeks on each different variation of the diet.

2) Go back to eating 100% cooked palaeo. Then very slowly decrease the cooking temperature by 1 degree every few dys/weeks/months, as you wish, until you reach room-temperature, also first add as many sauces as you like then gradually reduce the amounts to zero.

[CatTreats]

This is odd. While it is normal for something like acne to appear as soon as one switches to raw food, it is most unusual for such detox symptoms to last for more than a few weeks. I have only heard of  a handful of cases where people had them for months.

Yeah, I'm not sure. I wouldn't be so bothered if it weren't for the fact that I've never had acne even when SAD of all things.

1)  Do an elimination diet, cutting out one raw food at a time or a whole raw food group like fruits or whatever, to see if things suddenly improve. To make sure, though, one has to do several weeks on each different variation of the diet.

I was afraid of this, haha. I only really eat raw animal foods (land and sea meat, fat, and organs) and fruit. If I do have veggies, it's super super minimal. I had my first veggies in a month today, just a bit of onion and celery. Anything else would be some honey, nuts, cacao, and ... I can't even think of anything else. The misc stuff is all minimal too.

2) Go back to eating 100% cooked palaeo. Then very slowly decrease the cooking temperature by 1 degree every few dys/weeks/months, as you wish, until you reach room-temperature, also first add as many sauces as you like then gradually reduce the amounts to zero.

Would this really affect it? I have no issues eating raw, this is the only thing that's really "going wrong." I was raw before, but not 100%. As in, my meat, seafood, fruits, and veggies were always 100% raw, but sometimes I ate random stuff like pasteurized dairy (contrary to my not eating ANY dairy at all now), and some non-raw chocolate, etc.

Thanks for the reply. This kinda sucks. I feel great, but I know that there has to be something wrong when I have acne. And it's not blackheads anymore, actual pimples. You can pop them and get stuff to come out .... so it makes me wonder what toxins are in me that need to come out in such an extreme manner. You know what I mean? ._. I hate it. I'm just glad they aren't super red. You can't tell from far away, but face to face you see that I'm covered. Blahhhh.

[Alive]

i was reading up on acne for my daughter and found this

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/category/disease/acne/

"Anything you can do to lower insulin and inflammation (both systemic and local in the skin) can help in acne."

My guess is that you are getting too many fruit sugars.
"Omnivorous Raw Paleo Diet = Animal products with some veggies, berries, and non-domesticated, wild fruits added to the mix." So if you are eating lots of modern fruits it would be easy to overload on sugars.

Eating more veges & fat instead would seem sensible.

[CatTreats]

i was reading up on acne for my daughter and found this

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/category/disease/acne/

"Anything you can do to lower insulin and inflammation (both systemic and local in the skin) can help in acne."

My guess is that you are getting too many fruit sugars.
"Omnivorous Raw Paleo Diet = Animal products with some veggies, berries, and non-domesticated, wild fruits added to the mix." So if you are eating lots of modern fruits it would be easy to overload on sugars.

Eating more veges & fat instead would seem sensible.

I avoid veggies almost entirely, but I've already considered just pushing the ratio of animal foods to fruit even more in favor of the RAF.

[CatTreats]

Soo, I think my acne is FIXED.

I did a bit of digging on Google and a reliable source said that Vitamin A, C, and D, along with Zinc are related to acne. I haven't been eating enough liver lately (Vitamin A), I eat more than enough fruit and raw meat (Vitamin C), lots of egg yolks and seafood and adequate sunlight (Vitamin D), but NO shellfish, and definitely no oysters (Zinc). Although, it did say that red meat is a great source of Zinc, I felt like I needed to get a boost.

Two nights ago, we got a ton of oysters and had them for dinner with a side of liver. Well, the oysters did their job in the bedroom area heheh, but the best thing was that as of this morning, it's VERY OBVIOUS that my skin is CLEARING up. My chin and nose are almost completely clear, and my forehead looks to be about 50% healed. NO new pimples at all! And the ones that were there are going down. It's a significant difference.

I know this is probably one of those DUH moments. I should be eating shellfish and seafood often and keeping a variety. But hey, things happen. It's great to see how fast I'm healing, and I can only hope that it continues and will also help with my boyfriend's skin. I just wanted to post here in case anyone has acne issues ... get your Zinc! Vitamin A and D help Zinc absorption, so you can't skimp out on those either.

[aem42290]

Soo, I think my acne is FIXED.

I did a bit of digging on Google and a reliable source said that Vitamin A, C, and D, along with Zinc are related to acne. I haven't been eating enough liver lately (Vitamin A), I eat more than enough fruit and raw meat (Vitamin C), lots of egg yolks and seafood and adequate sunlight (Vitamin D), but NO shellfish, and definitely no oysters (Zinc). Although, it did say that red meat is a great source of Zinc, I felt like I needed to get a boost.

Two nights ago, we got a ton of oysters and had them for dinner with a side of liver. Well, the oysters did their job in the bedroom area heheh, but the best thing was that as of this morning, it's VERY OBVIOUS that my skin is CLEARING up. My chin and nose are almost completely clear, and my forehead looks to be about 50% healed. NO new pimples at all! And the ones that were there are going down. It's a significant difference.

I know this is probably one of those DUH moments. I should be eating shellfish and seafood often and keeping a variety. But hey, things happen. It's great to see how fast I'm healing, and I can only hope that it continues and will also help with my boyfriend's skin. I just wanted to post here in case anyone has acne issues ... get your Zinc! Vitamin A and D help Zinc absorption, so you can't skimp out on those either.

Hey CatTreats,

Really glad to hear that you seem to have found the problem. How long had it been since you had eaten shellfish?

Please keep us informed about how you continue to feel throughout the next few days!

[CatTreats]

Hey CatTreats,

Really glad to hear that you seem to have found the problem. How long had it been since you had eaten shellfish?

Please keep us informed about how you continue to feel throughout the next few days!

Thank you! I'm relieved as well. I'm still shocked out how immediate the change happened. I bet my body was just running on empty with Zinc haha. We had abstained from shellfish for over a month as a pre-caution while healing my boyfriend's eczema. I realize that this was probably over the top cautious and it would be better to just get the nutrients from all RPD foods. And I worry that I just prolonged the healing since we're clearly lacking Zinc and who knows what else.

I will update here still. Especially if my skin makes a full recovery.  We're getting another batch of oysters on Sunday since they were very good.

[PaleoPhil]

Congrats! Why did you abstain from shellfish and was there a reason why you were eating less liver lately?

[CatTreats]

Congrats! Why did you abstain from shellfish and was there a reason why you were eating less liver lately?

When we first got back to eating 100% raw, it was recommended that my boyfriend avoid eggs and shellfish (along with other non-RPD foods like dairy) because of his eczema. I just adjusted to what he can/can't eat too, and then we found ourself in this situation. We only have one source of liver and they went on vacation for two months. I was only able to get two somewhat small livers before she left, so I had to try and portion it to make it last. I was giving more of it to my boyfriend to make sure he got the nutrients he needs to his skin. So I was somewhat ruining my own health for him haha, my mistake.

[PaleoPhil]

Zinc helps my acne too, and in my case I find that foods high in easily-digestible glucose trigger acne breakouts.

I looked into what might be the underlying cause of my acne problem, why glucose triggers it and why zinc helps. I found multiple sources linking acne to oxidative stress and explaining that zinc can help acne by acting as an antioxidant. Apparently, oxidative stress can accumulate due to incomplete cellular respiration, where the mitochondria are not able to fully break down glucose, resulting instead in production of waste products like lactic acid, which can accumulate.

Oxidative stress in acne vulgaris: an important therapeutic target
http://www.scopemed.org/?mno=24732

I require less zinc than I used to and I'm hoping that I'll be able to further improve the cellular respiration process over time.

I think vitamin A also helps with my acne. Vitamin A derivatives were the only medications that helped much with my acne in the past, when I used prescriptions.

Please let me know if you learn anything interesting about it in your case.

[kalo]

PaleoPhil: So would supplementing with an antioxidant help or maybe an antioxidant cream?

[cherimoya_kid]

Oysters and clams are really important for trace minerals. In fact, the copper in clams balances out the zinc in oysters. Those minerals are antagonistic in the body. It's worth noting, also, that liver is very high in copper, so those people who are low in zinc might want to go easy on eating liver.

[PaleoPhil]

PaleoPhil: So would supplementing with an antioxidant help or maybe an antioxidant cream?

Zinc does act as an antioxidant, and I did find that it helped with my acne (though whether it helps me because of antioxidant effects or other effects, I don't know), though limiting foods that trigger it for me and consuming more prebiotic-rich foods reduced my need for zinc supplements, and what helps various individuals can be quite different.