Being Vegan and Acne?
Posted by atsuko on Feb 15, 2009 · Member since Jan 2009 · 5 posts
Dear Fellow Vegani and Vegetarian warriors!
I have been a vegetarian since October now. I have had clear skin before (i did have acne back in middle school). But ever since I've changed my diet my skin has been horrible! I have been getting break outs and I am getting very discouraged. My parents tell me its because I am not getting enough "animal fat" or whatever... They say that it's because I removed meat from my diet. I really REALLy don't want to go back to eating meat, but my skin is really discouraging me as well.
Has anyone else ever experienced this problem? If so, how did you resolve it? I don't know what to do, and going back to being an omnivore is the last of my desires... please help!!! :-\
Is there anything in particular you're eating a lot of now that you didn't before? Using oil for cooking, drinking lots of soymilk? Acne can be a sign of an allergy. Tons of people break out when they eat a bunch of chocolate because a lot of people are allergic and don't even know it.
Just give some thought to anything new you've been doing (I don't think animal fat has much to do with clear skin, or ALL veg*ns would have horrible skin!). Drink LOTS of water (it flushes your system and can help clear up your skin).
Hope this helps a little.
:-\
You are ovo-lacto vegetarian, correct? Not vegan? Did you possibly increase your intake of dairy products when you cut out the meat? I ate a TON of dairy before going vegan, and I noticed that when I cut out the dairy, my skin cleared up and I no longer got menstrual cramps. Could have been a coincidence, but probably not.
Also, are you getting enough overall fat in your diet (i.e. nuts, healthy oils, avocados, etc.)? If you don't get enough fat, your body isn't functioning optimally, which can throw your hormones out of whack and give you acne.
And water is key! If your urine is darker than lemonade, you aren't drinking enough water!
That's my 2 cents. Definitely don't think it has anything to do with animal fat (or else wouldn't all meat-eaters have perfect skin?).
Ugh, first of all..I really feel your pain. Acne sucks big time-I had ALWAYS taken AMAZING care of my skin (since an early age my Mom blessed me with the knowledge of a great skin care routine) and always had shitty skin. I had tried EVERYTHING and finally went down the route of a prescription which nipped it in the bud.
However, I'm totally no suggesting you have to do that, just sharing my experiences.
Sometimes any type of change in the diet can make skin freak-out-I would agree with the poster who made a comment about dairy in the diet..but I just realized this post was called "Being VEGAN and Acne" sooo? But for sure it is not related to your lack of animal fat in the diet.
Try a different skin regime, there's lots you can do to calm down agitated skin and it doesn't have to cost you a fortune either. If you have a health food/GNC type of store near you, pick up a bar of tea/tree soap. You make make your town toner, add a few drops of lavender/Camile to a cup of boiled water, throw it all in a bottle and bam! Also don't jipped yourself on skipping your skin moisturized. You can buy an organic aloe vera gel (for the face, totally forget the name of the company though) even at WalMart! If comes in a pump and has a kola on it!
Hang in there though!
Oh, yeah, I'm confused...are you vegan or vegetarian? It may or may not make a difference, but just for clarification...
In my book, "Radiant Health, Inner Wealth" there is a chapter on my experiences with a vegan diet--I had bad acne UNTIL I became a vegan (gave up dairy and eggs after being an ovo-lacto vegetarian with bad skin), so for me the dairy thing made a big difference. There are several pages you can read (peek inside my book) on my website and I think there is some of that chapter on there. If it helps, check out: www.radianthealth-innerwealth.com and click on "peek inside the book."
Anyway, eating a healthy vegan diet should do wonders for your skin. Drinking lots of water and not being stressed helps too. Also, if you are on a strictly vegan diet and already doing these things, it might be just a tranisitional period and your body is cleansing. It might take a few weeks to see big, positive changes. Keep up the good work!! :)
Unfortunately, I don't really see any huge changes in my skin from a vegan diet, or any of the other billion things I've tried. My acne seems to be solely related to my cycle. I'm vegan, and I drink enormous amounts of water, but I have acne. Oh well! Anyhow, you don't need to, have to, or should go back to being an omni. If you've noticed a big change in your complexion, then it does seem like it might be allergy related? Or, try to think about any other things that have changed lately. Medications? Cosmetic change? Skin care change? It's not because of lack of animal fat!
I think the thing is
the more natural the diet the less you will see bad skin.
As a processed vegan at my age I had some acne.
Processed would mean buying ready made food.
Now that I have transitioned more towards a raw natural vegan my skin has improved so much.
No dry skin or breakouts like before.
Basically the only way to test this is to eat strictly only a few things. That way it will be easier to isolate what might be affecting you.
Maybe I should not comment since it seems I am the only guy in here. :-\
THank you so much everyone for your helpful comments! I will try everything you suggested, drinking water, eating few things to isolate, etc. I am living in Qatar now, and maybe it's the water too that I am washing with... I am trying to be vegan as much as possible (I don't drink milk, or go out of my way to eat cheese, dairy products) and never cook with dairy when I cook myself (I make most of my own meals courtesy of vegweb recipes! :) ) But I don't check everything I eat (like ingredients of the bread I ate, which may have contained dairy).
Maybe it is the fat as kbuttne suggests as well. I will try that. I really hate acne! I feel like from the inside I feel so clean! I've been eating lots of fruits and veggies and feel so good about myself. but then I look at my skin and I feel pooped out!
But I will keep a positive outlook, because it could be a lot worse. the fact that acne is my biggest concern now is something that I should feel lucky about! :)>>>
THank you so much everyone for your helpful comments! I will try everything you suggested, drinking water, eating few things to isolate, etc. I am living in Qatar now, and maybe it's the water too that I am washing with... I am trying to be vegan as much as possible (I don't drink milk, or go out of my way to eat cheese, dairy products) and never cook with dairy when I cook myself (I make most of my own meals courtesy of vegweb recipes! :) ) But I don't check everything I eat (like ingredients of the bread I ate, which may have contained dairy).
Maybe it is the fat as kbuttne suggests as well. I will try that. I really hate acne! I feel like from the inside I feel so clean! I've been eating lots of fruits and veggies and feel so good about myself. but then I look at my skin and I feel pooped out!
But I will keep a positive outlook, because it could be a lot worse. the fact that acne is my biggest concern now is something that I should feel lucky about! :)>>>
Sounds like you have a wonderful attitude!! And you are also beautiful just as you are, especially with that inner glow! :) One final idea--have you ever tried approaching the problem from within, using visualization techniques for example? They work great too!
Keep up the good work, sounds like you're on the right track! :)
are you more stressed? are you getting less exercise? sweating more?
I doubt it's because you are missing the miracle healing properties of animal flesh and fat.
If you used to eat meat every single day and consume lots of dairy products, your body is probably going through some sort of shock.
Just keep it up. It already sounds like you have a positive attitude. Good for you!
The outbreak may be random, too.
THank you so much everyone for your helpful comments! I will try everything you suggested, drinking water, eating few things to isolate, etc. I am living in Qatar now, and maybe it's the water too that I am washing with... I am trying to be vegan as much as possible (I don't drink milk, or go out of my way to eat cheese, dairy products) and never cook with dairy when I cook myself (I make most of my own meals courtesy of vegweb recipes! :) ) But I don't check everything I eat (like ingredients of the bread I ate, which may have contained dairy).
Maybe it is the fat as kbuttne suggests as well. I will try that. I really hate acne! I feel like from the inside I feel so clean! I've been eating lots of fruits and veggies and feel so good about myself. but then I look at my skin and I feel pooped out!
But I will keep a positive outlook, because it could be a lot worse. the fact that acne is my biggest concern now is something that I should feel lucky about! :)>>>
Atsuko, you have an absolutely beautiful outlook on this. Really, you are beautiful inside and out.
I have acne troubles too (and recently acne has come up on my upper & middle back, ugh!). But I agree with you in that acne is basically my only "health" concern, so we're both pretty darn lucky! I wish I had some helpful tips, but nothing I have tried has really helped all too much...
I hope everything clears up for ya! Good luck.
I've been been breaking out in the last few weeks, so I looked up online to see what the eff was going on... I read that zinc can help, so since I actually happen to have zinc supplements in my house (50mg) I started taking those. It worked for me! Also, I work part-time at a cosmetic/dermatologists office, and the Dr. there said that nuts make a lot of people break out. I eat a LOT of nuts..so.. maybe a contributing factor.
You said you've recently moved, it could be a change in climate - my skin can't handle humidity, when I live somewhere humid I break out no matter how well I eat, how much water I drink, how well I look after my skin, but when I live in drier areas I can eat like crap, forget to wash my face and drink a lot and still have perfect skin...it's unfair, since at the moment I have no choice but to live somewhere humid! So it could be a similar problem if your body is getting used to a new climate?
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Sugar is a sturdy culprit for bad skin.
If you drink water, at least 8 glasses a day and not all at once, it'll deffinitly help. Water helps with alot of things, yet it's the most simple thing that alot of people think past.
If the water is bad where you live, you may want to think about investing in a filter, it takes out the chlorine and other crap that builds up over the 3 or so million years it took to come out of your tap. :P
(That could be wrong though, I read it on a fact sheet, eheh)
I had just, the worst acne when i was a kid. I never would have dreamed to make a connection to dairy. Once i changed my diet - to a more vegan friendly diet - it made a huge difference. I find that if i consume dairy - i am more liable to break out.
Even when I'm being more strict about my diet (meaning: really staying away from dairy in any great consumption for long periods of time) - i'm still acne prone to some degree (yay me - *sighs*).
I was recently thinking to try Accutane. In spite of the risks i read about, i thought the rewards were worth the risks (basically, if it works - it clears up your acne - for good!). I decided against it for the main reason that it containts animal products (beeswax and something else, i forget). Medicine is one thing but i couldn't justify taking something with animal products for what amounts to ... a cosmetic (if even, a potentially very effective one).
A doctor I visited recently started me on a sulfur based antibiotic called "sulfameth". At the same time, I went back to a product that seems to have *always* worked for me, Panoxyl. They have a soap to wash with and also a clear based lotion. It's made by Steiffel Labs and last i was able to find, Steiffel doesn't test on animals.
The creme/lotion works *great*. I don't take the antibiotic anymore because of the creme alone works that good, why take antibiotics that i don't need.
The downside of course is, i have to keep regular application of the cream. If i stop for even a day or two - acne starts coming back. Eh, it's a small price to pay for clearer skin - if you ask me.
Dear Fellow Vegani and Vegetarian warriors!
I have been a vegetarian since October now. I have had clear skin before (i did have acne back in middle school). But ever since I've changed my diet my skin has been horrible! I have been getting break outs and I am getting very discouraged. My parents tell me its because I am not getting enough "animal fat" or whatever... They say that it's because I removed meat from my diet. I really REALLy don't want to go back to eating meat, but my skin is really discouraging me as well.
Has anyone else ever experienced this problem? If so, how did you resolve it? I don't know what to do, and going back to being an omnivore is the last of my desires... please help!!! :-\
I JUST BECAME A FULL VEGAN..NO SOY...NO FLOURS..NO SUGARS OR SUCH..NOT TOO MUCH NUTS..CONCENTRATING ON LENTILS..FRUITS AND VEGGIES...FOR U.. I SAY DITCH THE DAIRY PRODUCTS...EVEN SOY PRODUCTS...DICHT THE ALCOHOL OR SMOKE IF U DO..DRINK TONS OF WATER..TRY TO GO TO BED EARLY...I AM TRYING TO GO TO BEAD AS EARLY..THOUGH STABLISHING A ROUTINE IS TOUGH...DONT TOUCH UR FACE UNLESS U WASH IT FIRST..DRINK 3L TO 4 LITTRE OF WATER..TAKE MULTIVITAMINS..A.C, E, B12, CALCIUM PILLS, AND BIOFLAVONOIDS...BIOFLAVONOIDS CLEARED MY SCARS AND REDNESS WHEN I WAS TAKING IT.. DO THIS AND U WILL GET CLEAR..HOPEFULLY. ..ALSO WORKOUT..MEDITATE..PRAY OR SUCH..AVOID STRESS.. HIGH GLYCEMIC FOODS..EAT NATURAL SEASONINGS.. AVOID HEAVY SPICY FOODS
Someone before mentioned the essential fats (well fatty acids, basically the omegas etc.)
Anyway, a great tip I've been told although never put into practice (spots don't bother me too much and I don't get many anyway) is putting avocado on your face.
I can't speak from personal experience, but the people I've been recommended it by all assured me they'd had positive results.
Maybe all it is is that your eating more carbs because your vegan, so eating more carbs makes your bodies insulin levels go up
that then effects your liver and hormones in ovaries.
so estrogen stops but testosterone is will present so
that adjusts hormone level which then leaves to increased oil production in the skin
so thats acne for ya ;) hope it makes since
drink loads of water
it's easy just sipping water from a cup all day long then u wont need to pee so much. and only eat whole grains ;)
I have been vegan for only one month, and I began eating really healthily, I mean every other weekend I usually eat sugary desserts (vegan), but I found that my skin has cleared up so so so much since I started being a vegan. I only drink soy milk now and I think that as I am not drinking cow milk and eating normal chocolate that really helped my skin.
I used to eat a lot of cheese before and I think that also affected my skin as I don't eat cheese anymore (unless it's vegan but I yet to find one).
Good luck for you, and I never heard anyone say that meat was the actually 'trigger' for acne, usually they talk about dairy products. Maybe you could see a doctor, or you could buy a product in the pharmacy where you live and look in the internet for good facial creams. You could buy exfoliant cream and exfoliate once every week which helps a lot.
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