Diet and Acne
 

So, I have been toying with becoming a gluten-free vegan and I decided to do it.

I am still eating the meat I have left but I am down to once a day tops and I pretty much have cut out diary this week and have been doing mostly clean eating. Yesterday, I broke-out terribly. I do get the occasional pimple but never like this unless it is that time of the month but even that is rare. Am I overacting or is this common or maybe it is just some random breakout?

Any wisdom on this?:(

Have you substituted soy for dairy? I started drinking soy milk instead of dairy and it broke me out horribly. I switched to almond milk and it helped a lot. It also could be other gluten substitutes, if you are using those. Otherwise, it might just be a reaction to the change in your diet.

I am using coconut milk, I am not a fan of the taste of soy milk. But I did do the coconut milk switch over a month ago. Perhaps it is catching up with me? I read somewhere that skin is the last place you see the effects of your diet.

There are a lot of different acne triggers, so you can't ever be sure of the cause of any single break out. Instead you have to look for patterns. It can help to keep a log of your diet and activities, even the weather.

Wheat and carbs/sugars are major acne triggers for me, but so are some cosmetic ingredients, hormones (PMS/TOM), summer weather (heat/sun/sweating... especially combined with makeup or sunscreen), forgetting to wash my face before bed, or missing a spot, or washing, but not rinsing well enough....

And those are just the trigger patterns I've learned to recognize. Occasionally I break out for no apparent reason. If I've eaten something new, I'll weight until my skin clears and try the food again. I usually give foods a 3 strike policy at least, but sometimes there is no easiky determined cause, so you have to consider the variable of coincidence.

Sometimes when I change my diet completely I break out, even if I go from not healthy to healthy, it’s like my body is getting rid of toxins or something.
Even one time while doing a 4 day water fast during easter it happened.
I read that it not only happens when you have an actual trigger, but also when you are going through a detox process, and that can happen when you start eating healthier. In that case it should go away rather quickly (1-2 weeks), if it doesn’t maybe you should look deeper to see if there’s something else!

All right, I'm about to sound completely daft, but...changes in your diet can give you acne?

I personally went my entire teenage years without any real issues. Then I got in my twenties and it's a nightmare. My eating was awful for most of that, but I've gone vegan since. Still having issues, though. Must be something else.

Anyroad, I'll have to look in to diet vs. acne.

I'm not sure diet "gives" you acne, so much as it contributes to the conditions that trigger breakouts in people already prone to acne or other inflammatory responses.

More and more research is being done on autoimmune disorders and other inflammatory conditions, that suggests a whole food, low glycemic diets can help treat and even reverse the inflammation. Reducing the inflammation reduces the frequency and severity of flares.

Allergies and sensitivities can also cause acne, but there's evidence that allergies and sensitivities may be autoimmune/inflammatory in origin as well (or at least can be successfully treated with an anti-inflammatory diet).

I've done quite a but of reading on this and yes, diet can give you acne. But there are also a lot of other factors like Kaplods mentioned.

I decided I am going to go vegan and have been reading a ton about it. One issues vegans can have is a lack of vitamin B-12 can cause skin problems. Unfortunately, you have to take a pill for B-12 because animal products are pretty much the only way to get B-12 naturally.


P.S. Thanks for everyone's responses! :D