Anyone tried the "no grains" diet for acne?

Yeah, those not susceptible to migraine are lucky without knowing they are lucky (like I was before I got them...now I realize!).  It just makes another class of foods to have to avoid in whats turning out to be an already complicated diet.

I heard sulfur was good, I even took that for awhile in my late teens, but I didn't notice any improvement with that either.  Maybe its one of those things that just work for some.  I noticed my bottles of white wine have "contains sulfites" on them like its something I should be worried about, but I don't know if this is the same kind of sulfur that is supposed to be good, or even what's bad about it if not. 

Hi Karen!  Awww bummer!  No more banana ever!  That's okay though, you don't have to go to the trouble of getting it for me (that's supersweet of you to offer though, thanks!)  At least the vanilla is pretty good if you mix it half and half with milk and orange juice (I really don't like the chocolate, very chalky). 

I'm glad your problems are getting better.  That's interesting about the caffeine, I'm surprised giving up decaf that you only had a couple of times a month made a difference.  But we are really all different!  I had gone through periods where I didn't drink anything but water, but my face didn't improve really, so I gave that up and went back to my beloved caffeine.  (I'm not really drinking decaf, which I didn't find very satisfying,  I'm drinking Turkish coffee, which takes about 15 minutes to make in the morning, but it lets me get the balance between having the pleasurable caffeine, but cooking it just long enough to not let it get very caffeinated at all so I don't get tmj).   So, its really low caffeine, and I like it too much to give it up!  I guess that's why the answers to our problems are so slow in coming, so many of us have problems with so many different things.  Good luck with your journey, I'm glad things are looking up healthwise for you!

Oh, and I did learn something about the urine test....I think your urine is supposed to be about 6.0, and if its more alkaline than that it may mean that your kidneys are putting out ammonia in response to your body being too acid (I'm not sure why it works that way though).  If your urine is more acid, that would probably be okay since eating stuff like vit. C and cranberries can supposedly make it more acid to help prevent UTIs.  I don't have any direct experience with testing urine, so I don't know how true it is, but it sounds reasonable.  (I always did the saliva test for pH).

digitaldiva -.  What toxins does red wine have?  I hadn't heard it had toxins, but I know it has way more tannins, and if you are prone to migraines (which it sounds like you are since you said red gives you headaches and white doesn't), tannins are definitely no good.  They are supposedly good for helping cleanse toxins from your body, which is why they say drink tea and red wine, and even caffeinated coffee, but for those of us with migraines, its not worth it, all those things cause them.  (I drink a half gallon of water a day just so I can get away with my turkish coffee without getting a migraine...drinking lots of water does help wash out the tannins, but even a ton of water is not enough to prevent a migraine for me after red wine, or anything with cherries in it).

Alisa06 wrote: Wow, what a great subject. I love anything that has to do with nutrition and your skin,nails, hair,etc.   I am a self proclaimed wine-o! I love wine.Depending on what we have for dinner, I may ( not every night, maybe 3 nights a week) have a glass of wine. I have noticed that red wines will make me brake out it drink it to Manny nights in a row. White wine does night. interesting thought. I don't drink any other alcohol but maybe 2x a year. When I started the Atkins, I had to stay away from wine, (which I did not like) because of the sugar.   I had a friend of mine tell me once that she wondered if I had celiac SP? disease. Which is a wheat allergy. I don't have enough of the symptoms to promp any tests, but I obviously respond to wheat.   Karen, have you tried goats protein? I know Garden of Life is a really good company. I have tried quite a few of their products. I have not tried the protein shake, but everything else is really good.

Red wine has more toxins than white. Red gives me a headache if I drink more than 2 glasses. White doesn't do this.

Update on the "no grains" for acne diet:

I've been off the wheat for a few weeks straight now, it really does help to just not eat it most of the time, even if I cheat on occasion.  (I guess that makes sense since if its an allergy it would still be sitting in your intestines making you allergic otherwise).  I'm still utterly impressed with how great my skin feels, and even managed to get off the proactiv for a week.  (Then I hit my hormonal week and got one zit so I switched back to it, and still use both it and the neutrogena scrub). 

Whenever I cheat and eat a little bread, that is definitely what makes my face and neck itch.  This may be the whole reason it makes me break out (since I scratch and get hand dirt on my face), or maybe its just a side effect. 

Its not as hard as I thought it would be, after not eating wheat for a month, I've noticed I can cheat once or twice a week and sometimes not even get a zit.  I love being without congestion so much that I really hardly even miss it.  Since I know I can cheat once or twice a week, I don't feel like I'm hurtin' for it or anything, so this diet didn't turn out to be as hard as I thought it would be, even as a vegetarian.

Oh, and I still do eat as much sugar as I want, and drink a low-caf coffee in the morning.  Neither seems to cause acne at all for me.

I do ok with splenda. I only really have it in the ice cream, and in flavored water. I don't bake or anything of tht sort that would require suger/ sugar substitute

Susan W wrote: I have always eaten mushrooms.  I have heard also that they are bad, but I think that's just because they are fungus so people think "how can fungus be good for fungus?"  But I never had any problem with them or with the spirulina drink (which is algae). You can't eliminate eating any new yeasts from your diet.  I have learned this, that like bacteria yeasts are everywhere and it won't do you any good to peel and scrub every fruit you eat just so you don't eat any more.  Changing the environment of your body is the best way just to keep any you eat from taking over.  I love, eat and drink lots of dairy.  Even at the point when I gave up ice cream because of the sugar, I never gave up milk (or its sugars).  I can imagine there that someone may think its bad for yeast because there can be a lot of antibiotics in it if you don't buy organic (because they were fed to the cows and chickens and they excrete it).  For this reason, I do always buy organic.  For the Ph diet, dairy is fine though.  Milk, cheese and eggs are all almost neutral as far as what it does for your Ph.

I have always eaten mushrooms.  I have heard also that they are bad, but I think that's just because they are fungus so people think "how can fungus be good for fungus?"  But I never had any problem with them or with the spirulina drink (which is algae).

You can't eliminate eating any new yeasts from your diet.  I have learned this, that like bacteria yeasts are everywhere and it won't do you any good to peel and scrub every fruit you eat just so you don't eat any more.  Changing the environment of your body is the best way just to keep any you eat from taking over. 

I love, eat and drink lots of dairy.  Even at the point when I gave up ice cream because of the sugar, I never gave up milk (or its sugars).  I can imagine there that someone may think its bad for yeast because there can be a lot of antibiotics in it if you don't buy organic (because they were fed to the cows and chickens and they excrete it).  For this reason, I do always buy organic.  For the Ph diet, dairy is fine though.  Milk, cheese and eggs are all almost neutral as far as what it does for your Ph. 

Did one of you say that candida will make you shed more? I believe that this is what I read. I was just going to post about this on the long hair care forum. All winter I have been sheding really badly. I mean REALLY bad. I know you are supposed to loose quite alot of hair daily, but I loose a huge hunk in the shower, and whenever I comb. It is not coming from any one spot, just all over like regular sheding.I am starting to get nervous. I have alot of hair, so it has taken me a while to get nervous,now, I am. I know this is not skin care related, and I am sorry, but do any of you have any suggestions?  

Susan W wrote:   Karen, Wow, that is terrible!  This is the first time I have heard of penicillin causing acne, but wow, ...terrible!  I wasn't going to bring up the yeast issue, but since it is also a problem for others we may as well talk about it!    I had a big problem with that for years and years, and I was eating lots of meat and no sugar for years (and was very depressed about giving up chocolate and ice cream for years).  I think I gave up sugar around 1996 and was on one of those No Yeast diets which was eating only veggies and meat, and some bread, and drinking only water until about 2001.  In 2001 my problems were so bad, I realized it wasn't working.  (I mostly avoided bread, but not entirely, I did eat plenty of pasta).  All it did was get worse and worse until I was having recurrent yeast infections every TWO WEEKS!  As soon as I cured one, I'd just get another one.  Thank GOD I fixed it, I was getting seriously mentally stressed out and I felt miserable.   I learned that body ph being too acid is what caused the yeast overgrowth.  The things that make your body the most acid are meats (especially fish), sugar, flour, alcohol, tea and coffee.  Not only had I already tried giving up sugar, coffee and tea, and almost all alcohol.  Even without those, I was still getting way too acid eating big'ol steaks and pork chops everyday.  I was also on birth control pills.     My Ph is now 6.0.  It would probably be better if I quit the sugar, but not getting any infections was the goal for me, so this is good.  (You are supposed to be around 7.2 they say).   If anyone is interested in the Ph diet, you can find charts online that list what different foods do to your body, whether they acidify it or alkalize it.  For the most part fruits and veggies all balance each other out, because most of those don't swing you too far either way.      Oh, and Karen, I do drink Spirutein on occasion, but not that much since I can't get the banana flavor locally anymore (I don't really like any of the other flavors).  That spirulina does seem to help my skin, though I haven't checked the label so see if there are any breads in it yet.  You could check it at the GNC store, they usually sell some flavors.