I know there are many factors that play into each individual’s skin health, so YMMV. I’ve tried everything over the years, including two rounds of Accutane. I cut out animal products 18 months ago and my skin has been consistently clearer than ever before. I believe eggs and dairy were the main dietary triggers for me.
by sober_sally2022
18 Comments
I feel happy for you and the results look very good. I too can relate and am sure that it helped my skin as well. But also stress factors in a lot (which gets less if you realize that a plant based diet is..indeed..awesome 🫶).
You look great! Such improvement!
Same. I struggled with painful body/back acne since the age of 13, until adulthood. It is about 90% better eating plant based.
Are you also avoiding processed foods? You look gorge!
Actor Woody Harrelson has a story about how he struggled with acne until someone told him to cut dairy and go plant based. He basically said he wouldn’t have made it in Hollywood otherwise.
Lookin good!
Amazing.
Yes I firmly believe a lot of people can’t assimilate animal protein. It wreaks havok on their immune system.
Yes! My acne was the worst when I was eating yogurt every day 😭
I wish I was you. You look abslutely amazing. Sadly veganism has not cured my acne but maybe that’s because I still eat oil 🥲 it’s so difficult to give up
Oh wow! Congratulations!!! Cystic acne is so painful. It’s so wonderful to see your progress.
Incredible results, congratulations, you might like to read this:
> **The “Acne Plague” is Found Only Where Rich Food is Eaten**
> …Multiple studies of people living on their traditional native diets – almost all of which are low fat-diets, based on starches, vegetables, and fruits – have found these people have little or no acne. When these healthy people learn the Western diet, acne becomes an epidemic – as do the other diseases of modern civilization (obesity, heart disease, diabetes, prostate and breast cancer). Examples of well-studied populations include the Kitavan Islanders of Papua New Guinea who live on a diet of 70% carbohydrate from plant foods, and the Ache’ of Eastern Paraguay with a diet of about 70% of the calories coming from manioc (cassava – a root vegetable).4 Acne is completely absent – not a single sufferer – in these two populations living primarily on unprocessed, low-fat plant-foods.
> People living in Africa on plant-food-based diets show similar freedom from acne. Southern African Bantu adolescents have an incidence of acne of 16%, compared to the whites in Africa with a 45% incidence.4 Zulu have been reported to develop acne only after they move from the villages to the cities and learn a Western diet.5 People in both Kenya and Zambia have far less acne than do blacks in the USA.5 People from Malaysia living on rice-based diets have been reported to have no acne problems.6 A rice-centered diet is also the reason people in rural Japan have very few skin troubles. Even those Europeans on lower-fat diets (Crete, Southern Italy) have less acne compared to those in Western Europe on higher fat diets.6 The Yemenite Jews following a healthier, lower-fat diet than European Jews report less acne, too.6 The picture is clear to me: switch from a plant-based-diet to a high fat Western diet centered on meat and dairy, and your face lights up.
> https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2003nl/nov/acne.htm
There are literally papers called [Acne vulgaris: a disease of Western civilization](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12472346/) talking about [An island without acne — what we can learn](https://www.mdacne.com/article/an-island-without-acne-what-we-can-learn) from the Kitavians whose diet is mainly [yams, sweet potatoes, and taro (all part of a group known as tubers), local fruits (namely coconut), fish, and vegetables](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/02/142424/kitava-diet-skin-no-acne-study)…
Obviously the [causes of acne are complicated](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd4BQu0-5FE), but on a basic level
> Acne develops when the pores in the skin (sebaceous follicles) become blocked with dead skin (hyperkeratinization); then fatty materials (sebum) accumulate within the blocked pore. This overstuffed pore then becomes infected by bacteria, resulting in inflammation – the pimple. The bacteria eat the sebum and thrive. Prevention and treatment are now directed at unblocking the pore, reducing the accumulation of the sebum, lessening inflammation, and killing the bacteria, by various pharmaceuticals sold over-the counter and by prescription. As with all Western diseases, there is a better way – and that is attacking the cause and invoking the cure with a healthy diet.
where diet can effect it via:
> **Ways Diet Causes Acne**
> 1) A high-fat diet increases the amounts of fats in and on the skin (sebum). With extreme changes in food intake such as almost total avoidance of fat (like the McDougall diet) or inclusion of fat as the sole source of food the amount of sebum production has been found to be greatly altered.3 Please note that it does not take much fat on the skin to plug the pores, feed the bacteria, and cause acne in susceptible people. Also note the bacteria eat vegetable oil as well as animal fats.
> 2) The rich Western diet increases sex hormones causing precocious puberty (girls mature at 12 rather than 16 – boys mature earlier too). Earlier maturation of women is known to be associated with more severe acne.7 Excess male hormones (androgens) in men and women are well known to cause acne and increase production of sebum.
> 3) Growth hormones adversely affect the sebaceous glands causing them to become easily plugged. Insulin-like growth hormone-1 (IGF-1) is known to be increased by dietary protein (meat, poultry, etc.), and especially by dairy products. Research shows elevated IGF-1 levels are associated with more acne.4
> Other factors that may play a lesser role are:
> 4) Acne is promoted by lack of antioxidants and other plant-derived nutrients that keep the skin healthy.8
> 5) Poor circulation to the skin from a high-fat diet allows the skin to be more susceptible to acne.9,10
> 6) Fat and oils, brought to the skin by hands picking up greasy French fries and burgers, cause acne – this directly-applied grease plugs the pores and feeds the bacteria.
Some examples of people like [these](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qdwn2itsgg) who cleared their acne up on the [abov](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkku_mEcf-c)e a[dvice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ruli7d270U). Obviously eating like the populations with virtually no acne is not a guarantee things will improve e.g. irreversible damage may already be done, but its conceivable that it may at least prevent further damage in such a situation…
The low/no acne populations eat roughly 90% of their meals as the [starches](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5wfMNNr3ak) in [this color picture book](https://www.drmcdougall.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Dr-McDougall-Color-Picture-Book.pdf) (explained more in [this lecture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E58pqWHxAjI)), by prioritizing rice, corn, potatoes, beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, burritos, oil-free bread/pizza/pasta, soups etc… doing this one is eating like the populations with [virtually no heart disease, diabetes, etc…](https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2013nl/feb/pritikinpdf3.pdf) who all have total cholesterol [below 150](https://thankful2plants.com/heart-disease/total-cholesterol-150-ldl-70/index.html) or so on average, populations that may [eat animal products](https://watchdominion.org/) at most [a dozen times a year](https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2013nl/feb/pritikinpdf3.pdf#page=8) or whatever the case may be…
So happy for you. ❤️
Didn’t you just post a salad with egg last month lol
I’ve been lazy about being 100% plant based but this is the push I needed. I’ve struggled with my skin my entire life and it deeply affects my confidence. Do you have any scarring from the acne? I’m worried that even if my face clears up I’ll be covered in scars and giant pores
30m. Also became vegan wfpb about 20 months ago
I noticed the biggest changes starting this spring. I was also on Accutane as a teen, also had cystic acne my entire life. I’m currently spotless as far as acne goes. I smell much better too.
Great that this worked for you! However, that was definitely not the case for me.
I didn’t have really bad acne, but I had been consistently getting annoying pimples on my forehead prior to eating WFPB. This post made me realize that I haven’t had a single blemish in months.
Going veggie didn’t help my acne but it did help my kp!