I grew up on the typical American teenager diet of meat,
canned foods and juice, PB&J, cereal, pizza, lots of junk food, candy and some healthy dinners my Mom made. As a young kid I used to get stomach aches almost every day. My mom and I could never figure out why I would always have these stomach aches followed of course by some time with “Jon,” the toilet, if you know what I mean. We finally narrowed it down after some time that it was related to the cheeseburgers I kept eating at school. Cheese, was giving me diarrhea and serious stomach aches even though I would
never complain because I was young so, I just would shrug it off so I could keep playing outside! Ah ha! I was lactose intolerant and with the exclusion of dairy products, except eggs and butter, I was stomach ache free for the most part. That was my first wake up call to how food directly affects your health. Throughout my teenager years I tried my best to stay away from dairy, but continued to eat junk foods and candy like it was
going out of style. In fact, I was always blamed whenever the cookies or brownies were gone because I used to be able to eat a whole box in one sitting without even noticing. It tasted good and nobody on TV or doctors ever warned me they could be potentially bad past a few cavities. I used to wonder why I was so susceptible to colds, post-nasal drips, headaches, digestive problems, and sore throats, but it was always blamed on germs or cold season. I started getting acne as a freshman in high school. Of course, the saying goes, “everyone gets a little bit of acne” and mine wasn’t so bad that it was unbearable, but it was enough to make one a bit self conscious. Of course, no one likes acne, so I made an appointment with a dermatologist to see what they could do for me. This was my first encounter with a dermatologist and she came highly recommended for her work and acne treatment success. As probably most of you know it was a typical visit in which she assured me of my skin clearing up in 3-6 months! I was so happy to just have someone say that to me that it didn’t sink in. Three to
six months is a long time to do something, let alone take a health sapping antibiotic, like tetracycline. She affirmed that if you stay the course and put the cream on once after you washed your face in the morning before school, and once at night before you go to bed, as well as take daily dose of antibiotic you’d have beautiful, clear skin. The plan was that the antibiotic would fight the acne from the
“inside” and the creams would dry up and fight the oils and
bacteria from the outside. Seemed simple enough! So I set out optimistically and diligently staying with the plan and hoping it would work. As more than a reasonable percentage of you know, it didn’t work! Not only did it not work, it was very embarrassing as my skin was ALWAYS raw, and dried up. My face had constant white, dead skin after a cream application, especially in the dry winter months. Nonetheless, they did warn you of this and I kept
to it until about 9 months out where I started to become distraught. She again reassured me with anything that actually works it takes time; there are no “quick fixes” for acne treatment. The dermatologist method was just not working for me. With no real sign of my skin getting better, I decided to try a different dermatologist at the end of my sophomore year and through my junior year in high school. My mom had said she had poor skin growing up and she never understood why it would never go away even when she would wash her face every night and put on acne cream every day. I used to wonder the same thing and was hoping that this dermatologist had a better game plan at
combating my acne. At the visit, he checked out my skin and
described the same thing as the other dermatologist with the only difference coming with a stronger antibiotic, minocycline, than my former unsuccessful bout with tetracycline. He alleged that he wasn’t able to give me the best antibiotic because my HMO wouldn’t cover it. He was able to up the antibiotic to the next level because the tetracycline wasn’t effective and the “acne bacteria”
developed a resistance. Once again I was optimistic as he gave me slightly different creams, Retin-A Micro and Benzaclin. These were commonly prescribed acne medicines at the time and my friends used the same ones as I did. The dermatologist this time said that my skin would actually get worse after about the fourth week and then start
to clear up after the fifth or sixth. This was manageable to me because my skin didn’t look good to begin with, so what’s a little worse to get clear in the long run? Once again I was excited at the new, but somewhat similar plan. To my complete frustration and distress the “new” plan didn’t work. I made sure that I did everything that he asked me with very similar results to the other dermatologist. Now, I was very confused and I had wasted a lot of time and money on skin care products and antibiotics that gave no results.
Meanwhile, my stubborn dad (who never had acne as a kid
so he couldn’t empathize) had been commenting that it was merely adolescence and that my hormones were going crazy and that was just part of life that teenagers get acne. As vulnerable as I was and in need of a good explanation, I took his advice and merely just waited for puberty to be done with and then hope my skin would clear up; run its course. I stopped the dermatologist creams and antibiotics and presumably waited it out using Cetaphil to at least
wash my face. A year or so went by and my growth spurts were
almost over. I headed into senior year and still had acne. Many of my friends did too. Some had cases of acne similar to mine and they all shared the same stories as I did. Each trying dermatologist after dermatologist and each prescribed a different cream with the same results: dry skin and marginally better acne but no permanently clearer skin. As you’re probably wondering, when does the alternative medicine come into the picture? Well, I was introduced to Chiropractic by my mom when I hurt my back at the end of my junior year hockey season. I was involved in a strange hit in which I went into the boards distorted and I wrecked my lower back. More accurately, I injured my tailbone (coccyx) and sacroiliac ligament. For the non-anatomists, the sacroiliac ligaments attach the spinal cord to the pelvis. As you can imagine this an extremely
tight joint and the ligaments don’t like to move. So after that collision, I wasn’t walking (or sitting!) particularly well. My sports medicine doctor recommended physical therapy. I underwent treatment for a couple weeks and found though my back was stronger it still hurt to walk and was uncomfortable to sit. My mom decided to make an appointment with Dr. Jennifer Belesi, her chiropractor. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how much help she could be other than just icing my back and staying off it for a bit. How wrong I was! She assessed my back with palpation and decided that electric muscle stimulation would be great to get some
deep tissue relief and to help loosen up my back. After that she adjusted me by manipulating my spine back to normal (as I was quite out of alignment at the time). The next day I woke up I felt 80 percent better, and after three visits over a mere week I was back to skating, pain free. I was ecstatic and amazed by the holistic medicine approach. I just couldn’t believe that I had gone from
pain to the ice in about a week. My teammates were amazed after seeing me watch from the sidelines and then all of a sudden participating in full speed drills in practice.
Seniors at my high school were entitled to a wonderful
opportunity to engage in an internship instead of going to school those last couple of unproductive and useless weeks of senior-slide, I mean year. I decided to take them up on the opportunity and work for Dr. Jen as a Chiropractic Intern. Working in the office was awesome. I got a sweet title of chiropractic assistant and got to perform modalities and sit in on patient visits and treatments. I got a taste of everything, even acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and Craniosacral therapy! Much of what people know of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine is badly portrayed on television as a pseudoscience where practitioners
merely fill the patient’s body with needles and needles. This is quite the opposite. They are amazing practitioners who assess the entire body using a number of things from tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis to patient complaints and symptoms. At the Wellness Center, the office Dr. Jen worked, were two incredible people, Dr. Geoff and Eileen DePaula. They are both licensed acupuncturists and Geoff is also a licensed Chinese herbalist. They taught me a lot of amazing and helpful things about how they go about treating the body and how much of it is supporting and aiding the body’s own innate ability to heal itself. I fell in love with this philosophy of natural medicine. The project was a complete success, in fact, Dr. Belesi hired me to work the summer at the practice, and I knew now that helping people was my purpose in life. My skin at the end of this project still hadn’t gotten any better, and worse, it even looked a bit worse. ProActiv was starting to be marketed heavily at this time. This “new acne fad” as I called it seemed simple and logical. It featured three great steps of proven creams and facial cleansers that were guaranteed to make one’s skin beautiful and clear. I signed up for a free month trial
offer during my freshman year in college. At first skeptical, I began to think that it was working, since my skin did look a little bit better. A solution? Hardly, my skin made small progress, but I still got occurring flare ups and the acne as a whole never went away. My desperation carried me as far as purchasing a book called The
Acne Cure, a great book proclaiming outside the box techniques. It was close, but as usual my skin never fully cleared up no matter how long I did the techniques. The common theme among all “conventional wisdom” and treatment is the utter negligence that one’s poor dieting impacts their skin in any real manor. I was feeling as if my skin was never going to clear up. I was utterly confused that modern medicine could not cure a seemingly simple thing like acne. Why did I have bad skin and others didn’t?
Why didn’t the antibiotics work? Why did washing my face
continually and applying topical creams work with such minimal results? Those treatments made sense according to how acne was supposed to develop. Everyone has heard it, clean your face to prevent oil build up and then you won’t develop black heads and your skin will clear up. Sometimes you might need extra help to get things moving, and in this case dermatologists prescribe antibiotics to help fight the bacteria from the inside out. If the process was so
well understood, why weren’t they working? These were all
questions I continually pondered for some time.
Discouraged, I once again set out for another dermatologist, my third, all the while hoping for a successful treatment. This time I asked them to take a skin sample in case I had a bacterial infection or something in my skin that was preventing it from clearing up. They ran the tests and got back to me in the spring of freshman year. The sample was positive for some type of bacterial infection and they once again prescribed an antibiotic and a different cream (sound familiar?!). I was so excited,
finally I thought, it was a simply infection that was causing my skin to never clear up. I gave this process a chance well past the grace period of 6 weeks when you are supposed to start clearing up. Again my skin felt raw, looked awful, and I was utterly distraught…..AGAIN. I had had enough. I was crushed. I decided right then that I should just quit the dermatology treatments and
accept acne for what it was. My freshman semester of college ended and funny enough, a couple days passed and my mom was getting acupuncture treatment. Dr. Geoff DePaula, by this time a great friend, asked my mother about how my skin was fairing and she replied that I had no success and just couldn’t get rid of it. Geoff offered that he could fix my acne quite easily if I would agree to do a few things. When my mom got home she immediately told me of what Geoff explained. HA! I laughed out loud. An acupuncturist is surely not going to clear my skin if a dermatologist couldn’t. Though skeptical by nature, I was also quite curious to learn how this would work. I
made an appointment with Geoff. He told me to stick out my
tongue, revealing a thick white coating. He asked what my food choices were and I also explained I was lactose intolerant. He diagnosed with Candida, or as Chinese medicine refers to it, “Dampness.” I can tell you the initial changes he gave were the underpinnings of the finalized cure I put together for you. His guidance pointed me towards the information I needed to clear my skin and for that, I am eternally grateful. I completed many trial
and error experiments on my own skin in order to finalize the whole thing into something that could be shared with other acne sufferers. I spent the majority of sophomore and junior year in college doing this. Tons of experiments were conducted proving the validity of this books’ teaching. So if you’re worried that acne is incurable, don’t be!
I still will never forget the first thing Geoff said to me that made me a believer and made me realize how important my
mission to get a finalized cure into all acne sufferers’ hands was. He proclaimed, “Acne is common, but not normal!” I couldn’t believe he said that with SO MANY people in our country fighting annoying acne and a variety of other skin problems. My curiosity took hold and I looked at other countries that weren’t industrialized and subject to eating foods that are highly processed, denatured, and don’t spoil. What I found was virtually no acne on the faces of any of the inhabitants. It’s quite an amazing thing to
think that eating better could cure so many things that our country faces. Just think acne is a small problem compared to heart disease! When you find something that truly works, you run with it. When I followed the phases of the cure my skin cleared in about 10 days! I mean the redness had already faded, no new breakouts were forming underneath the skin, and my acne as a whole was gone. My skin, once oily, had drastically reduced and looked normal. Just an observation, but many people with acne seem to have skin that looks red “underneath” the top layer of red
blemishes. That too was gone and I was shocked. Even more
incredible to me was that Dr. Depaula wasn’t surprised at all! He knew it was going to work because that’s just the natural process of the body healing itself. It wants to heal and get better, you just have to give it a chance by not “feeding” the dampness, (displayed as acne in my case) and let the body do what it wants to do! If you feel overwhelmed at all during your acne treatment, remember, I had terrible skin and cured it while attending college!
1. Anti-Candida Diet
2. Colon Cleansing
3. Liver Flushing
4. Clay masks/
5. aloe and essential oils mixed
6. Hydration
7. Exercise
8. Positive Attitude
9. Supplements
10. Acupuncture worked really well but can be expensive after a while
The TOP 3 THINGS ARE THE BIGGEST. And the rest are all done in combination as you get better at being healthy and incorporating different things.
Many people have success using Colloidal Silver and Zapping In addition to the top 3. But I haven't done enough research on these to recommmend them to people yet
A few quick questions for you and I'd like some advice on my situation.
1) How long were you on the anti-candida diet for?
2) Did you do any other cleansing aside from colon and liver flushing? No parasite or kidney cleansing?
3) Are you able to re-introduce most foods good/bad into your diet without getting massive breakouts now?
------------------------------
I've been on an anti-candida diet specifically for sudden acne and food intolerances to wheat and grains I developed. I have been on the diet for just over 3 months and it has completely cleared my skin 100%.
I'm still sticking to the diet, but now I'm also doing a colon cleanse and will follow that up with some liver flushing since that seems to be very beneficial to the skin.
However I was thinking about doing a parasite cleanse since I've heard that candida and parasites go hand in hand. BUT.... I'm scared that I'll break out on the parasite cleanse... any thoughts on that?
Lastly do you use any acne medication now just as a preventative measure to keep you clear?
1) How long were you on the anti-candida diet for?
--- Well I would say about 2-3 months. But I at the beginning I was eating really well m-f and then the weekend I was leaving up to college festives (ie not on the candida diet lol) So I was experimenting and trying to enjoy college at the same time and try to find a balance to help younger people. So I don't know if thats an answer but I still eat a half anti-candida diet now.
2) Did you do any other cleansing aside from colon and liver flushing? No parasite or kidney cleansing?
--- I actually forgot to mention I have done a parasite and kidney cleanse. I liked the Paranil from Dr. Natura the best. I tried the wormwood, black walnut, and cloves one from Dr. Clark and thought it was ok but the paranil was better. Although I did a higher dose with the Paranil than the package describes to really kill them with guidance from an herbalist. ( I did 7 capsules everyday for 28 days = 2 bottles. Go to amazon they are the cheapest if you want to try this)
---I thought it was beneficial for my skin too.
---Kidney cleanse was great for the skin too and will help get out even more toxins and really any cleanse does run the small risk of making you break out a little especially because thats been an established detox pathway for your body but after it heals in 2-7 days your skin will be better and break out less often and not as easily if you stray from healthy eating.
3) Are you able to re-introduce most foods good/bad into your diet without getting massive breakouts now?
---- After finishing liver flushing and making sure my colon is continually eliminating twice a day I find that I can go out and party with my friends for a weekend and try to make somewhat smart choices on my foods and only get a pimple or two which I am okay with because I know what caused it and I know it will go away as soon as I smarten up again for the next week. I hate pimples but you gota live your younger huh? I don't really drink that much and I was going to give it up forever but I haven't yet
4. Lastly do you use any acne medication now just as a preventative measure to keep you clear?
----No. no medication or OTC topicals.. I actually use a homemade formula of natural ingredients I blend aloe vera gel with essential oils of lavender tea tree neem and a few others. I also use 3% hydrogen peroxide on my face its a little known fact but oxygen kills bacteria = good for acne and it heals lesions faster.
HOPE THIS HELPS!! If anyone else has acne and they need some questions don't hesitate to ask :)
What helped you get rid of your white coated tongue? I have heard this is one of the last symptoms to go with candida? I have also heard this has more to do with poor liver and/or bowel function? What was your situation and what are your thoughts on this?
Also I know this is kinda gross but I haven't gone to the dentist for a general clean up in nearly 2 years. I quit my job due to the stress and although I have insurance now, I don't have dental coverage. I'm wondering if the white coating on my tongue could simply be from bacteria clumping up on my tongue? Also its only white in the middle and the outer back edges. The mid-back and front are completely pink.
I use to always use Listerine mouthwash but stopped once I realized I have a yeast over-growth. Is regular old Listerine okay to use? I know Humaworm on the parasite board recommends this...
Secondly, did you have any food sensitivities when you were battling your candida issue? I know this is common and was curious about your situation. I've read that most people that have candida over-growth are sensitive to gluten.
Thanks for your help, I'm dying to start eating some carbs again and being able to have a drink every now and then. I haven't drank in 8 months.
What helped you get rid of your white coated tongue? I have heard this is one of the last symptoms to go with candida? I have also heard this has more to do with poor liver and/or bowel function? What was your situation and what are your thoughts on this?
---: your tongue is a picture of what is going on in the inside. I would recommend taking probiotics and eating fermented vegetables. Watch a video on youtube on how to make kimchi or google it. Its a new taste but its loaded with lactobacili and they will help repopulate your gut. Other than that you have to take a hard look at your diet and make sure its still anti candida and then maybe even upgrade a few ingredients to organic or something if thats still not working. The coating in different parts means different things and although you gave me a description I am no expert other than if your body is sensitive to that food your tongue will be white. In chinese medicine they call that dampness = their word for candida or mucous. You'll notice the redder your tongue gets the better your skin gets. Also the last part is almost impossible to get pure pink. I can't seem to get it all pink all the way back. I took antibiotics on and off for 4 years so I think its taken me a loooooonnnnggg time of replenishing the colon to get it balanced again (80% good bacteria/ 20% bad)..Also immune system boosting like exercise and some vita C = 3-10g is a good idea because that will battle the candida.
--Its not really from gum or tooth bacteria. Its straight from the gut even thou its far away from your mouth thats where it shows up because ur body is really good at giving your "warning signs" because you obviously can't see your gut.
I use to always use Listerine mouthwash but stopped once I realized I have a yeast over-growth. Is regular old Listerine okay to use? I know Humaworm on the parasite board recommends this...
--Huma has great advice. I don't really have experience for that one.
Secondly, did you have any food sensitivities when you were battling your candida issue? I know this is common and was curious about your situation. I've read that most people that have candida over-growth are sensitive to gluten.
--sensitive to alot: gluten, grains, nuts, yams, and lactose intolerant, and fruits (could be something to look at for you because they are too sugary for candida at the start)
Thanks for your help, I'm dying to start eating some carbs again and being able to have a drink every now and then. I haven't drank in 8 months.
--- Haha yea i feel ya. I would say this. If your gonna cheat when you get your level of comfortableness with your skin..I hate to say it but it is kind of a on going battle so you should do the following when you cheat
1. Eat probiotics/ fermented vegetables right before or with the cheat and ideally with all your meals to ensure good digestion and no partially digested foods for the candida to feed on.
2. Take vita C till bowel tolerance ( 10g) You may have loose stools but it is a powerful antioxidant and kills molds which can "halt" ur immune system enough to let candida multiply
Thanks for getting back to me and answering all my questions, I know I have a lot and I'm still learning.
As mentioned I'm in the middle of a bowel cleanse with P&B shakes and plan on making cultured veggies in a couple weeks after I've been on the bowel cleanse for a month. I'm working my way up slowly, only doing 1 shake a day at this point and will go up to two. I've definitely become very regular 1-3 bowel movements a day with just one shake so that's a good start.
Yeah my diet is pristine! Everything I eat is organic, I buy almost all my stuff from farmer's markets and local farms. I only cook with extra virgin coconut oil and use olive oil every now and then as a dressing.
I've also been taking 4 grams of Vitamin C for about two months now and have been regularly exercising for the past two months as well.
Interesting that you also had a lot of food sensitivities; the weird thing for me as far as acne is concerned, I never had an issue with gluten, grains or wheat and acne prior to the whole severe stress that I believe caused this whole mess to get this severe. But I here you on that, when I re-introduce foods I plan on only eating non-gluten grains and a few fruits only. I also plan on getting a food sensitivity panel done to be sure to stay away from triggers.
Couple more questions for you bro:
1) Is it okay to take probiotics forever? Or does the body build up a resistance to them? I also had taken years and years and years of antibiotics ever since I was a little kid, always sick, allergies etc. I really feel like I have a lot of good bacteria I need to replenish.
2) Did you or do you have any issues with itchy skin and or scalp? I have mildly itchy skin, nothing severe and a mildly itchy scalp. My derm has told me I do not have dandruff, but I can't help but think the itching is related to all this somehow.
Thanks again for all your help, I will keep you posted on my progress and let you know how the cultured veggies go.
1) Is it okay to take probiotics forever? Or does the body build up a resistance to them? I also had taken years and years and years of antibiotics ever since I was a little kid, always sick, allergies etc. I really feel like I have a lot of good bacteria I need to replenish.
---OF COURSE! Your body can't become "resistant". Everytime you pass a stool you exit some good and bad bacteria so its always good to have a constant replenishment of good bacteria in either your food or a probiotic. You can take them forever if your budget allows. It really should be taken by everyone like a multi-vit but I think is more powerful. Remember 75% of your immune system is in your gut. It takes a while to fully replenish the colonies of lactobacili.
2) Did you or do you have any issues with itchy skin and or scalp? I have mildly itchy skin, nothing severe and a mildly itchy scalp. My derm has told me I do not have dandruff, but I can't help but think the itching is related to all this somehow.
---I used to have dandruff. I got rid of it with cleaner eating and when my candida went away. It came back but then I switched to a burt's bee natural shampoo and it went away I think the toxins in the commercial ones were getting into my scalp and causing the itchy flakes. Also I would recommend a good parasite cleanse. That could definately be from parasites..I think ascaris but I'm not sure. Many people report that cured after a thorough para cleanse.
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my story..my acne journey and my journey into holistic medicine 
