Food and Acne

I'm so tired of looking in the mirror and feeling disgusted Veeky Forums. I'm 26 years old and my face and shoulders still look like a fucking pizza. Could food be the culprit?

If anything dairy tends to get the blame so I've cut it all out completely about 2/3 months ago and I'm still not getting any noticeable improvements.

What the fuck is causing my acne? Here's my food staples:
- White bread
- White meat (no red meat or fish)
- White rice
- Pasta/Noodles
- Fried potatoes
- Variety of vegetables (very little fruit)
- No dairy dark chocolate
- Tofu/Soy products (only recently after cutting out dairy)
- Peanut Butter

I don't eat much sugary shit so I'm assuming the culprit is somewhere between fried potatoes and bread? Which one is more likely to be ruining me? I think it would be probably easier (and healthier) to quit fried potatoes. Should I drop potatoes altogether or just stop eating them fried?

And what if it's not something I'm putting in but instead something I'm lacking? Are there any foods or supplements I should be taking?

Ps: I'm not fat and I have a job that requires phisical activity

and yeah I will consider accutane but only when I'm sure there's no other options

that girls acne still looks more delicious than dominos

For me, it's sugar. I can eat anything else and it's all great, but if I have even a fun size candy bar or scoop of ice cream, BAM

Stop eating so many processed carbs. Switch to brown bread and brown rice. Also get a vitamin D supplement. Should be available at your nearest pharmacy or health food store.

If it doesn't work then mate I'm afraid your problem is not food-related. How good is your hygiene? You can get creams and face wash products for relatively cheap. Much better than fucking up your body with accutane.

I have heard gluten can make acne worse :( so it might be the white bread?

Try not processed foods, for example PB has palm oil in it - very nasty stuff. Also I'd think bread. But - what your doctor says about this?

see a doctor. have your blood tested for missing nutrients

Genes, sorry

I'm guessing you've talked to a dermatologist or primary care doctor about hormonal issues? I deal with one myself, and believe me, hormone/endocrine disorders can wreak havoc on your skin.

Same here. A candy bar or ice cream for dessert? Next day I will 100% have a thick, pus-filled pimple on my face.

this is a really good point and also overlooked, altho hormonal acne affects different areas of the face, primarily along the jawline. ex gf had bad hormonal acne , changed her diet(mostly cut out dairy) and her flair ups virtually disappeared

Cut down on oily food, keep your hands clean, refrain from touching your face as much as possible, and switch to whole wheat bread. That last one is just because whole wheat objectively tastes better than white bread.

Isnt accutane just a giant dose of vitamin A anyway? Just take a vitamin A supplement and stuff your mouth with carrots.

For me its
cocoa, citrus fruits, fried foods and mustard

Takes like 2-3 days for me which is why it took me years and a lot of trial and error to figure out. I also kind of found a loophole by eating my treat very close to a meal. If I eat a frosted donut by itself in the morning or just a PBJ for lunch, I'm surely fucked.

Do you drink soft drinks?

>I don't eat much sugary shit

Son, from your body's perspective, eating white bread/white rice/pasta is the same as eating a bag of sugar. If you eat lots of these things then you eat lots of sugary shit.

Eat balanced, nutritious and square meals, three times a day. There are lots of places to find information on what to eat if you are not sure. Stick to reputable sources, and not shitty bro-science or stay at home mom sites.
You don't needs vitamins or supplements, because if you're eating a variety of healthy foods you should be able to get everything you need.
Eat whole vegetables, fruits, healthy carbs, and fish, poultry, and only rarely red meat. Nothing processed, or if it is, then ensure it's a healthy choice.
Only drink water, tea, coffee. If you can avoid it, don't drink things with sugar in them.
No soda. No processed candy, snacks, or sugar laden foods in general.

Above all, stay hydrated AS FUCK. Drink a full glass of water every two hours. Force yourself to do it, and keep at it to make it a habit. If your urine is yellow, you're dehydrated to a degree.

Keep the exercise simple. Bike, run, stretch.

Have a sleep schedule that is normal and structured. Go to bed soon after sundown, wake early with the sunset. Get at least 8 hours of sleep.

A small thing that made a big difference in controlling my acne was my bedding. Wash your sheets every week, your comforter or its cover every month, and change your pillowcase every four days. I sleep on one side of the pillow for two days, and then flip it for the last two. Faces are oily, and if your face is laying in it's own old grime every night infections are bound to happen.

I did all of the above, and my acne went away, and of course your results may vary.

tldr eat clean stay clean and exercise.

Sugar can cause acne but thats fucking rare food does not cause acne never has and never will. testosterone causes acne or a dirty fucking face human growth hormone does it as well

honestly I have no idea how you took 26 years of lookint like you do without accutane
learn to love yourself your pore-challenged fuck

Accutane is expensive and made me depressed.
Still worth it.

Is that why I can have clear skin for months, change nothing but eat a bunch of ice cream and be guaranteed to get acne which clears up overnight as soon as I stop eating said ice cream??

Accutane will fix your face.

From what you describe it may be something clinical. You might also consider eating plenty of foods rich in Vitamin A like carrots and sweet potatoes or squash. Keep the processed sugar and saturated fats to a minimum. But get plenty of orange veggies and greens.

It's probably the white bread, white rice and pasta. I cut out all refined sugars and refined grains/flours from my diet and I never get acne anymore. I still eat fat and dairy. It was a very noticeable difference. Can't tell ya on the potatoes. I've never eaten them that much. From a health standpoint, it's pretty silly to not eat fish.

not what you ask for but buy 7 pillow cases, change them every day and wash them all once a week

not OP but how the fuck does one go without potatoes/rice/pasta/bread? What do you even eat?

The problem isnt in gluten, shitbag. It's in the starchy food that contains it

That's because of your shit genes dude

>no fish
What is wrong with you

Brown rice instead of white, sprouted bread instead of regular bread. Lentils/legumes.

Whole grain. Just less-processed shit. Refined, bleached starches seem to cause crazy inflammation. I'm not calling out potatoes.

this

Try putting a fresh towel on your pillow every night. Wont clear it up but will help .

Just start taking isotretinoin. You will be smooth in less than a year

will try all of these.

i did the pillowcase and hydration thing and it did get better but somewhere along the way i sort of stopped drinking water because the acne got less and less(for a short period i had basically no new acne) but not its on the rise again.
not much, but a little; and a little is a little too much.

oily food seems to do it as well all you can do is wash face daily with soap.

you sound like you deserve your fate

yep. i did what those fat people who wanna get slim do.
see a bit of results and go back to their old ways.

This and to check your hormone levels. See a doctor and don't rely on broscience.

not OP

oh yeah no i should have said that too. im not the OP

Could hormones have something to do with red and oily face? I don't have much acne, a couple of zits here and there on the face, but my cheeks, nose, and forehead are always a little red and oily as fuck.

I've been to both derms and standard docs and they never suggested hormone tests, just gave me a bunch of pills and creams that ofc, never worked.

On my own I cut out milk completely for a while now and it hasn't helped at all.

fired foods, this is a no-brainer.

I thought I'd age out of acne after 10 years, but still have bad face acne/back-ne. Shaving is a chore because of how much skin flaking clogs up my razor. I'm considering going to dermotologist for third time and finally doing it. Are the side effects really that bad?

This might not help but all of my acne all went away when I got a job working out side.
I think the huge amount of sweat and the sun sterilizing/burning layers of my skin off fixed it.
My diet did not change.

It's genes. I had some bad cystic acne myself, but did two months of this pill which basically killed my kidney and now it's 99% gone.
Go see a specialist about your acne.

oily skin could just very well be genetic, as for red skin, redness usually indicates irritation or abrasion. in my ex's case she was told to take a variety of medications , she spent a few days/week researching online and then spent a few months cutting different triggers she read about online from her diet. my personal philosophy with doctors is that your health is important to you, a doctor is just doing a job, they don't necessarily have your best interest in mind. the expression 'a carpenter with a hammer sees every problem as a nail' sums up my exp with doctors, they just want to give you pills.

This is also true, OP if you have a farm, or your grandma has one or something, go out there and get naked and work all day in the farm, report back in like 2 weeks and you'll be clean.

That's so true about docs, as for it being genetics I dunno, both my parents had pretty clean and good looking skin in their youth (I'm 22 btw), same with my grandparents on both sizes. I also had great skin in high school, but during the end of it some shit just went wrong and it all got fucked up and I can't figure out what's the deal. I can tolerate some redness but the oil is just unbearable. I wash it and in an hour its the same, and just those parts of face, everything else is good and normal color, its really frustrating.

Yup, it's all the bread and pasta. If you've cut out dairy (which is the usual suspect in food related acne), it's the white, refined carbs.
And, stop frying your potatoes. Roast them, or mash them, or steam them.

As far as vegetables go, eat more cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbages. They contain a compound called Diindolymethane that helps clear up even cystic acne. You can also buy it in supplement form.
And, eat more fruits, but only the fruits that will help your skin - apples, pears, berries, pineapple, papaya, and kiwis.

I was in pain from face and hand peeling, my lips were constantly chapped (as in skin fell off of them constantly, not just a little dry), I think it had a pretty profound effect on my mood. I began to experience moderate bone/back pain, which was pretty terrifying. Probably some stuff I've forgottenjoyed. So yes, very bad side effects. However, I still found it manageable for the effect it had

vitamin A, D and Zinc

Lots of broscience regarding acne but know that genetics heavily comes into play.

Accutane helps. Don't take anything else, especially antibiotics, they're placebo and will fuck your shit up more than Accutane.
Drinking lots of water helps.
Cold shower helps.
Changing pillowcase often helps.
Don't touch your face helps.
Sweating and exercising helps.
Fresh (natural) air helps.

That's about it.

Red skin could also mean rosacea, if it's severe your skin stays red and if not it only appears after physical activity or long exposure to sun. Either way, aside from changing your diet or drinking more water, you should definitely look for skincare products, specially sunscreen.

I have a friend in her late 20s with acne. She is physically fit and eats well. Her acne was cause by either hormonal balance or excessive sebum production and the only time her skin cleared up (fucking beautiful smooth af skin now) is when she started taking prescribed medication. So OP, the reason might not be because of diet, have you visited a Doctor/Dermatologist?

If you're 26 and it's still that bad get acetone or what it's called. I'm the same age and have some blackheads on the nose but full on red and white spots is something I never see on my peers. A friend of mine did the treatment five years ago at 21 and is completely cleaned up still, and he had it bad. No remarks about side-effects either but he might've gotten lucky, though I don't know how common or serious they can get.

Ugh... And it worked? Even after the you stopped?

what kind of shitty PB do you buy that has more ingredients than peanuts and salt?

>Are the side effects really that bad?
Depends on the individual. Some people don't have any besides the dry skin/lips (very common). For me it was dry joints, specifically my shoulder, would just be this dull ache that would not go away. But a lot of the side effects can be mitigated with a balanced diet + supplements and moisturizers.

Yes, not completely clear but barely any and I am no longer in pain from postules

>t.Asian girl that spent way too much time on Arrakis

Do you was your face with aggressive cleaning products? If so, the oiliness could be your skin's reaction to being stripped of its natural oil layer. Use very mild products, or none at all. And get a non-oily moisturizer

Diff user, but a friend of mine really fucked up his back by taking accutane. He's acne free but had back pain every day. Shit sucks

Nope, it has a similar chemical structure but it's not the same thing.

Cut everything to enriched rice and beans. If you still have it, its either a protein overabundance or too many carbs or calories in general. If you get results, roll back on foods and check for recurrence. If you did keep symptoms at rice and beans, add vegetable oils and cut the rice. Check again, if symptoms persist, cut beans, eat rice and oil. Once you have a diet that is stable, roll back on more food groups, then specific ingredients.

Hey, me too. whenever I get sugar cravings and eat some candy next day I'll get the motherload of all acne.
Btw OP are you male or female? I know someone who gets terrible acne right around the time she gets her period

>his peanut butter has salt in it
My peanut butter is nothing but 100% dry-roasted organic peanuts

Fried potatoes. Anything fried.

See a fucking dermatologist. Food CAN affect your skin for better or worse, but no guarantee that changing your diet will fix your problem. I altered my diet significantly, and while my acne got less frequent, I still suffered from massive, enduring cystic pimples on a somewhat regular basis.

Do it. I'm just finishing up my treatment at age 30 after waiting too damn long. Should have done it years ago (but I didn't have health insurance). Skin on your face, lips and possibly hands and forearms will get super dry and flake. I had some pain in my hips, legs and lower back from dry joints. Taking a krill oil supplement daily helps. I didn't experience any of the other side effects I was warned about. Some people complain about crippling depression, but there's no evidence to support a link between that and isotretinoin. I'm a big guy (6'2", 240 lbs) and my liver handled the drug like a champ. My blood tests came back pretty clean every month. Perhaps if you're a smaller person, it could hit you harder.

>he hates salt

anti salt fags are cancer

maybe you shower too hot?

Explain cold shower meme

do yourself a favor and do a diet overhaul. the idea is that you start by only eating things you know your body should be totally fine with (usually chicken breast and rice) and slowly start adding foods to see how your body responds to each new introduction. I'd try eating chicken rice and veggies for a month to get you on a baseline and see if things improve. From there you start adding individual food items so if you start getting fucked up again you'll know it was that last food