Unlike many of the people on this and the previous Wai Says bulletin board, I didn’t find this diet because of acne, but because of constipation. For more than two decades I have had severe constipation, normally going 2 to 5 times a month and at it’s worst only once a month when menstrual cramps were severe enough to induce bowel movement. The constant advice given by doctors, nutritionists, and even in my own research online and in medical books was to drink lots of water, eat lots of fiber, and get more exercise. It didn’t seem to matter that at the time I was running 10 to 15 miles per day, consuming about 45 grams of fiber day (from natural sources like beans, popcorn, carrots, etc.), and drinking about a gallon of water a day. The answer was always more, more, more.
But, my symptoms got worse. Bowel movements were so taxing that I’d break out about six hours ahead of time in a rash like acne all over my face and neck, chest, and sometimes small patches on other parts of my body. A couple of hours later I would pass out from exhaustion in narcoleptic fashion. I fell asleep driving, in lectures at school, standing up and leaning against a wall, anywhere, anytime. Then when I woke up I’d finally have a very painful bowel movement. I tried laxatives twice only because the gas pain was making me cry. The first time they worked, the second time they didn’t and I didn’t try again. Olive oil and lemon juice didn’t help, heating pads (to relax the belly muscles), fiber, water, or anything else. Although, I almost always felt bloated, tired, and exhausted, was convinced that a big factor in my constant acne was the constipation, and knew I was not getting all the nutrients I needed, had dangerously low vitals, depression that worsened as my constipation did, and a myriad of other problems that very directly correlated with the constipation, I was convinced it was something I couldn’t help.
But, one night about three weeks ago, after suffering from gas pain for several days, I decided to do some more online research and after hours of getting more of the same advice I stumbled on http://www.freeacnebook.com/constipation.htm. Some of what I read made sense, some of it seemed a bit extreme. But, the line that got me was: “A watermelon only contains 0.2% fiber. But even if you ate only watermelons, you definitely would not be constipated….Beans contain so much fiber that they always cause gas, but do not necessarily make your bowels move.” This rang true with my own experience. High fiber foods always intensified my constipation. I decided to try the diet despite my reservations. I’ve certainly done less healthy things than eat fruit and nuts for a few days. (A brief summary of my diet is below.)
The first day I did not have any relief of constipation symptoms or acne, but my skin seemed to change texture overnight. By day three I had a bowel movement and my family actually noticed a change in my face. Since then I have had relatively gentle bowel movements every 2 to 3 days ( a vast improvement from violent ones every 2 to 3 weeks), have had very little bloating, have had steady improvement in my acne and skin tone (it’s about 70% clearer), don’t need to use any moisturizers (except on my hands due to frequent washing), am showing less cellulite, have noticed burn scars I’ve had for years starting to fade, have more energy, normalized sleep patterns, and am less moody and irritable. I haven’t noticed any side effects that some others have mentioned such as irritability, energy spikes or lows, weight loss, extreme hunger, disrupted sleep etc.
I’ve been astounded with the results of this diet and very pleased with how easy it is to follow. My most hated foods are fish, egg, and avocado. I don’t like fruit either because to me it tastes old when most people would consider it just getting ripe so there is an extremely short window between green and overripe for me. But, seeing the remarkable results with no apparent side effects thus far is very motivating. I don’t hunger for other foods as much as I have on other nutrition regimens. Following what is considered healthy by Western medicine and nutrition standards I was always hungry. My hunger pains would wake me up at night sometimes. Not on this diet.
My biggest challenge is making myself eat the eggs, oil, and avocado. After years of consuming ultra low-fat diets these foods make my stomach turn. But, one day when I skipped the olive oil, it showed in my skin the following day. That’s motivation enough for me.
Thanks again Wai for the great information. I wish it had been available to me 10 years ago. But, these three weeks have corrected a lot of damage done from the past several decades of eating ‘healthily’ according to conventional Western wisdom. I intend to continue for some time and would definitely recommend the diet to anyone I know with complaints of acne or chronic constipation. It’s done wonders for me so far.
