Diet tweaks for problem skin

[LRou]

Thanks, but B12 is not an issue for me.

Just an update, so I am back to eating oats, natural peanut butter, 85 % dark chocolate, maybe half an avocado twice a week, a bit of soy milk and few cashews here and there, nothing excessive. I would say total fat less than 15 % / day. Still predominantly sticking with veg, fruit, wholegrains and beans, but balancing my diet with a bit of fat, no added oil of course.

I feel that the very low fat (6 %) was just too restrictive and I will not be able to do it long-term, I do not want to obsess about food, and following such a restrictive diet results in obsessive behavior for me and I felt deprived and sorry for myself.

Skin still not doing great, but you know what, that's OK. Balance is everything.

[LRou]

Hi everyone, just an update, have been doing a strict low fat starch-based diet this past 3 and a half weeks and my skin is doing great, can't wait to see how it will be at the two month mark.

Eating zero avo, oil, nuts, soy, coconut, that kind of thing. Basically just oats / sorghum meal with fruit for breakfast, lunch / snack: fruit, rye / ww bread with preserve (jam) or left-overs, dinner: bean and veg soup / brown rice / ww pasta / potato / beans (any) and some sort of veg.

Cravings not nearly as bad as when you eat off-plan on occasion. Just miss eating out, but oil and fat in everything, so...

Will update in another week or so.

[bunsofaluminum]

Interesting. I'd be surprised if you didn't experience some improvement with your skin. Eating this way is helpful for so many things. Hopefully you'll get really good results!

[Lyndzie]

It is hard, but the results speak for themselves. You are doing great. Good luck!

[deweyswakms]

Hi everyone, just an update, have been doing a strict low fat starch-based diet this past 3 and a half weeks and my skin is doing great.

Good news about the skin. I had lifelong bad acne, cystic acne. Awful. Tried the prescription meds; no help. Actually I got pretty good relief by adding zinc to my diet. This was years ago. Now I'm post-menopausal and lack of the hormones has helped greatly. Plus the clean plant-strong diet too of course. People actually comment on how good my skin looks now. What a novelty!

Marsha

[LRou]

Thanks everyone, for your kind words. So...I had pizza (no cheese) on Saturday (just had a really bad day, the type of day that you think you can not do this diet thing), but obviously had oil on it and I added garlic (in oil). Next day, woke up with break-out on chin, around nose, skin more oily. I am really wondering what's wrong with me, why can I not digest oils, its so weird. Anyway, back on track since yesterday.

Yesterday's meals:
B: sorghum meal with 2 bananas.
S: 2 slices of 80 % rye bread with jam.
L: Ww pasta with canned tomato and nutritional yeast.
D: Chickpea, sweet potato, mushroom, carrot curry on brown rice.

[LRou]

Things have calmed down today, after the pizza mishap on Saturday. Only two small whiteheads on chin, but my complexion is looking rather dull, flaky and bumpy.

Yesterday's meals:
B: oats with apple and banana.
S: 2 wheat rolls with strawberry jam.
L: chickpea and sweet potato curry with brown rice left overs.
D: Ww pasta with chickpeas, broccoli, tomato, mushroom, onion.

I have watched the clear skin diet lessons 1 to 3 on vegsource, it has helped to motivate me to continue on this path.

[LRou]

Skin still not great, but better, I guess.

Yesterday's meals:

B: 3 ingredient flap jacks (banana, oats, water blended) with strawberry jam (yummy 1).
S: wheat roll with pasta - left overs.
L: chickpea and sweet potato curry with brown rice - left overs.
S: air-popped popcorn with nutritional yeast and liquid aminos (yummy 2).
D: split pea soup with onion, carrot & potato, over jasmine rice (yummy 3).

Ate like a king today, everything was so delicious!

[deweyswakms]

Skin still not great, but better, I guess.

Seems like you are eating (mostly) clean and healthy. Have you thought about getting allergy testing for food sensitivities that might cause skin problems? Even at 73 I still have oily skin. Advantage: fewer wrinkles! Disadvantage: causes awful clogged pores which leads to acne. I never knew how to handle oily skin; certainly got no good advice from dermatologists who just wanted to prescribe Accutane or antibiotics. I fought it with astringents, etc., which only made the sebaceous glands work harder to produce more oil! Definitely do use a skin-healthy moisturizer (lightweight, water based, non-pore clogging); this helps me keep the oil secretion under control. I also use an exfoliant to keep the top layer of dead cells off. I am old now so the acne is mostly gone. I rarely use soap on my face as now it is too drying. Genetics definitely a factor as my dad had it too.

Marsha

[LRou]

Thanks Marsha, from what I read, it seems that food intolerance testing is not very accurate, and could possibly change every couple of months, so I decided it is not worth the cost.

Cutting down on oil and fatty-plant foods do seem to help. Not sure how sustainable it is for me, if I can just manage 2 months strict, very low fat, to assess if it works, that will be a good start.

Yesterday's meals (Day 5, since starting over after eating pizza):

B: oats with apple and cinnamon.
S: wheat roll with strawberry jam.
L: chickpea and sweet potato curry with brown rice, left overs.
S: air-popped popcorn with nutritional yeast and liquid aminos.
D: split pea soup with jasmine rice, left overs.

[LRou]

My skin is finally back to pre-pizza, yah!

Yesterday's meals (Day 6):

B: oats with blueberries.
S: wheat roll with jam.
L: curry left over (last).
S: air-popped popcorn.
D: split pea soap, left overs.