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Hey =)
What I found the most interesting about this thread is how some keep talking about guilt. Do you honestly feel guilty about eating something because you are unsure or afraid of the consequences??? I've NEVER felt guilty over anything that I've eaten or not eaten. Maybe that's because I know that I have CONTROL over my breakouts based on what I eat. I don't stress. I don't worry. I just do what I must and live my life.

Of course, I can understand that if you don't have a clue as to WHAT food is the culprit in your breakouts, worry may play a role. Yet, even when I was 11 and did believe the myths about chocolate, soda, and potato chips, I never worried, I just avoided them. I avoided chocolate and soda for over 10 years and my acne never drastically improved.

10 months ago, I drastically changed my diet and now I eat chocolate. Not every day, but I do and there's no fear of breakouts...I eat quite a bit of "junk" actually, with no repercussions. Oh, but I can't touch soda, for it will certainly give me a cyst or two a few days later. Yet I KNOW this, so if I decide to drink one, I won't fret over the consequences. Then again, sometimes those consequences, a cyst that lasts 2 weeks, are enough to make you stay FAAAR away from your culprits ;-)

So yes, Delphi is correct when she said that ALL acne is HORMONAL. Whether you are allergic, intolerant, pubescent, or imbalanced, there are still hormonal reactions going on inside. Not everyone has the SAME triggers, but I do want to emphasize that ALL acne is treated the SAME way.

That doesn't sound quite right, but what I'm saying is that acne is connected to Insulin Resistance. This is partially WHY the hormones in your body become imbalanced, during puberty or into adulthood. Yes, there are MANY DIFFERENT hormonal disorders involving ACNE, but they all have steriod hormones in common. As such, the medications that you hear about on this board do the SAME job!

They are either going to:
-balance your insulin levels which will balance your androgen levels OR

-they will balance your cortisol levels which will balance your androgen levels OR

-they will reduce your androgen levels, OR

-they are going to inhibit the effects of androgen in your system (sebaceous glands) OR

-they are going to prevent the conversion of testosterone into DHT (super androgen)

The list goes on depending on the disorder, but did anyone notice the key here is ANDROGEN? Thankfully there's several ways you can go about dealing with this hormone, and yes diet is one of them. I do not claim that diet will help EVERYONE, but what I do know is that it has helped me and others that had tried a great deal of things, natural supplements, medications and I believe that we are really lucky as a result.

I have a post somewhere around here talking about Insulin and how it leads to a variety of health problems, that are rising in the United States. You should take a look at your family history and see what health/hormonal problems they have. The more they do have that relate to insulin, the more likely that a diet change could be your answer. The fact that at people at 10, 15, 20, 30 or 50 years of age get acne is rather troublesome. Yet, acne is a SYMPTOM of an imbalance, chaos, in your body and if you can find out the true cause and stop it, then you may not end up with Heart Disease, Obesity, Diabetes, etc years down the road. I like that A LOT knowing that I'm preventing WORSE health problems down the road makes me feel, kinda powerful. To think, all I had to do was STOP eating foods my body does NOT know how to HANDLE ;-)

I genuinely care about all of you and the LAST thing I want is for anyone to go around believing in myths or INCORRECT information. I do NOT want ANY of you to be cheated and realize this later down the road. I tried for over a decade to get answers and most doctors did nothing. I kept trying and usually by sheer accident did a doctor take a second look at me and over the years, I was able to put the pieces together as to what is wrong with me. Unfortunately, I went through THREE endocrinologists before I found one that was willing to dig deeper than the usual "hormonal imbalance" or "androgen sensitivity"!

I am sooo grateful to him as well as others on the board that have helped me realize how much a diet change can make a difference. =) Yes you can take medications and become clear. You can take supplements/detoxes and also become clear. Yet, you can do the very same through diet alone, if you so choose. The question is, is there a single internal "cure" or is it a combination of internal aids for YOU?

What I can tell you about me, is that my acne reached it's worse when I was 11. That's when I wasn't just breaking out on my face, but also on my scalp, nose, ears, neck, upper arms, chest, back and other places.... When I was 17, I took Birth Control and Spironolactone (supresses effects of androgen & DHT conversion) for 3 years and they did help, but I was STILL breaking out in most of those areas. When I was 21, I started taking a reduced dose of Spironolactone and Avandia (insulin sensitizer) and that helped a little bit more. Yet when my breakout cycle came around NONE of these popular acne fighting drugs could PREVENT it, but did manage to reduce the amount.

Then just last August, I switched to a gluten free diet. I was taking an increased dose of avandia at the time and so I didn't know what to attribute my skin's 95% clear state and my elimination of menstrual pain to. I knew that both the diet and avandia were working in similar ways to reduce my androgen levels, but which was responsible for this? I always figured I could eat whatever I wanted since I was underweight and saw no reason to low carb, especially since I was taking Avandia. Then 2 months later, due to some fluke I stopped taking the avandia, during my "break out cycle" and I was trying not to FEAR that I would break out horribly as a result. I didn't...and now I'm 99%+ clear =)

Doctors give you pills because nobody wants to CHANGE their eating habits. Fine. Sometimes these pills have horrible side effects that you may end up getting as result of taking these drugs. Yet, they know that people live for "pleasure" and of course drugs make lots of money so while they KNOW diet plays a big role, that isn't as emphasised as telling you to take your medication! Maybe they aren't all incompetant, maybe they are hoping that your condition worsens before they will treat you (hope not). See, why can't they treat to PREVENT, it's much cheaper than after the problem has escalated???

Anyway, so far, I don't have a single internal cure, but 2. I still take spiro because I know it helps with my mild hirsutism and I'm not sure how much it helps with my acne since the diet change. You know, my gluten free diet, which you can also call a low grain diet or a low carbohydrate diet. While I care, I'm not going to preach about what you should do to solve your problems because some people's problems are soo severe or they haven't been kept under some sort of control (ha ha), that you may NEED to take drugs and change your diet to get the results that will make you happy & healthy. Perhaps one day you can taper off of the drugs...

I would like to say though, that if you choose to test out ANYTHING, you must give it enough time to work. Yes some clear in 2 weeks, but others it can take months. Remember that your hormones had YEARS of rampant chaos in your body, do you honestly expect that to change overnight? Not to mention that while I know some of you have eliminated certain foods, are you sure those were the culprits?

What if you are SILL consuming your culprits?

Notice I am not 100% clear? I'm sure that it's because I could drop more grains from my diet to further control that insulin, which I'm reading up on. The same thing goes for those of you who choose to eliminate soda, but are still eating wheat for example. I hesitate to say this, but wheat gets reduced/eliminated in most people's diets.

So if you are breaking out every day, or every week, and are still eating something that COULD be contributing to this, then of course it will look like a diet change doesn't work for you. You didn't eliminate ALL your culprits and some culprits MAY be worse than others.

In fact, this is similar to what happens with skincare. You can't use pore cloggers on your skin and say that it's OK, because you have BP or BHA to help you. No! Yes they are effective, but if you keep the problem that's causing those breakouts around, your skin won't improve as much as it should! So when it comes to diet, just like myself, this could explain why some people improve slightly and other not at all.

I've gotta go to work now, so I'll stop...he he, take care


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