Like many other people in this world, I have always struggled with my skin. Ever since I went through puberty at 11 (yes, it was as awful as it sounds), my skin was consistently broken out – rashes, cysts, break-outs: you name it, I had it. It has been a source of embarrassment, frustration, and sadness for a long time, partly attributed to the way in which society demonizes those with bad skin, even though no one asks for it. Unfortunately, this is something I will have to keep in mind as I continue into adulthood, as I am on birth control to help combat it. However, I decided to do some more research into why it is that my skin went through break-outs.
For a while, I had always been under the impression that acne could only be treated by medicine and pills – well, at least that is what I was always given to attempt to alleviate it. Up until taking birth control, nothing had been able to combat my bad skin in an effective manner. Now, my skin is much better than it used to be, which is most definitely an improvement, but recently I’ve been wanting to further improve it. I decided to think about diet as a way to help improve my skin, and discovered that certain foods are inflammatory, meaning that ingesting them could affect the digestion system in a way that could manifest through acne on one’s skin. So, starting last Sunday, I began the first week of an elimination diet to try and see what was inflaming my gut which, in turn, was negatively affecting my skin.
I first chose to cut out sugar and eggs from my diet. I did this for an entire week, solely focusing on not eating or drinking anything that has processed sugar or eggs in it. Granted, my diet is kind of limited from the jump, so cutting out even more foods was definitely something I was upset and scared about. Giving up coffee was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do, but I kept pushing through, eating tons of vegetables and exercising regularly like normal. By the end of this week, the results were very much apparent – my skin has improved a lot in a week, and I hope for the progress to continue.
I highly recommend trying an elimination diet not only for acne-related issues, but also problems associated with digestion, mental clarity, and all-around fatigue/not feeling good. Now that I know what the problem is, I know what foods to avoid, like eggs, and what things to eat sparsely in moderation, like things with processed/refined sugar. I have become much happier with the condition of my skin, as I was provided with a sense of hope that things can be improved, and I feel as though I am doing something great for my body by eating healthier, whole plant foods. Even though it may seem scary at first, making a game plan and doing research through multiple sources allowed me to feel better about what foods to include and avoid. Excluding things from my diet was not fun at first, as I felt as though I was going to “miss” those kinds of foods, but once I did it, I’ll truly never look back.
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