Today I had a very interesting discussion with a celebrated Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner about a treatment protocol for Acne. This is the kind of Acne that is chronic as I have suffered from it for over 5 years. She asked me if I had a sensitivity or intolerance to wheat and gluten.
In all the years that I have tried to treat my acne, I have never considered this to be a potential missing link. So begins my journey of discovery. After all, it’s important to consider this as a cause and rule it out if it is not. Unless you are able discover what is triggering the inflammatory response that causes acne it can become a life long battle. We use creams and lotions and endless amounts of products hoping they will help, however, this does not make logical sense. So stop looking for the “right” skin care, it’s a band-aid and we all know that holistically speaking, you must treat the cause and not the symptom.
This is why it is important to discover whether you suffer from gluten sensitivity especially if you have also battled with Acne over a long period of time. If so, it may be standing in your way of clear skin as many of those who suffer from gluten intolerance or sensitivities also struggle with acne.
Please keep in mind that gluten can only cause acne if you have an intolerance or allergy to it!
What is gluten?
It is a protein that is found in wheat, barley, rye, kamut, barley, triticale and barley. It is not only found in grains and cereals. It can also be found in food additives and most products on a super market shelf. Many processed foods, which contain vegetable starches and other additives that may contain gluten. For e.g. today I reached for a protein bar and alas… gluten.
How does gluten cause Acne?
If you are intolerant, your body will not break down gluten as a normal person does. This leads to the body absorbing incompletely digested protein molecules, which the immune system treats as an invader. What do we do with invaders? Our body attacks them with histamine, which then in-turn increases the inflammatory response. Imagine this happening several times a day as your expose your body to gluten, a viscous cycle begins. You are now pro-inflammatory and your immune system is in over-drive.
Over time this is going to damage your gut and cause digestive issues. Gluten not only damages the small intestine but also leads to leaky gut syndrome which and increase in toxins in the blood. Your body will now push the toxins out any way it can and of course skin is the last resort. Alas a pimple! Acne is a result of not only inflammation, but also blood sugar dis-regulation, which leads to an increase in sebum production, blocked pores, and overgrowth of acne-causing bacteria.
There are different levels of gluten sensitivity. A lot of those with gluten sensitivity do not show any signs so even though it is one of the most common allergies up to 40% of the population are unaware that they are sensitive to gluten.
Treatment
The first thing you have to do is ensure that you actually do have a sensitivity to gluten. I would suggest either a blood test, an allergy test or cutting out Gluten from your diet for a month.
Once you do, the treatment should begin.
First and foremost, avoiding gluten-containing foods. To begin with it may be difficult as we are a culture who loves carbohydrate, but over time, this will bring your body back to a state where it does not react to gluten. So this is not a life long battle, you need to heal your digestion and once you do you will find that you are able to re-introduce gluten containing foods into your diet.
Supplementation with a pro-biotic will help to restore the gut flora to healthy levels and accelerate healing. Pro-biotics digest gluten into peptides and in doing so makes them less harmless.
I would also suggest supplementation with a formula for the gut which will be anti-inflammatory and healing.
Reduce processed food, sugar and animal products, which promote unhealthy bacteria.
So here begins my journey, I am going to cut out gluten and hopefully figure out whether this may be leading to my Acne. Please stay tuned for my next blog which will go into more detail about gluten insensitivities.
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Fascinating article, thanks for sharing!
Very interesting article. Thanks for posting.
I have been suffering from adult acne for about two years, since stopping my birthcontrol. I have tried numerous face washes, creams, etc, and have also tried eliminating things like dairy, chocolate, and coffee, with no result. In the past three weeks, since cutting gluten out of my diet, I have seen the most amazing result in my skin. I still get a small zit every couple of days, but from ymreading it can take several months to truly cleanse our bodies front gluten, so I am not freaking out about the small breakouts, as I think it’s probably just my body cleansing itself. I can’t speak for anyone else, but if you are like me, and feel like the acne battle has beat you time and time again, I would totally suggest going gluten free for a while and seeing if you notice a change. No cheating, it won’t work if you cheat…. Completely gluten free…. That includes beer! I wish you luck and hope this post helps someone or many someones!