I noticed reoccurring breakouts that honestly did not make since given my lifestyle. I eat well, drink water and workout. Frankly, I was quite over my skin. Inflammation, blackheads, and cystic acne, which was sometimes super painful. After eating, a bloated belly, a headache, grogginess, sluggishness, breakouts, and exhausted. I love food and the experience of eating, so you can understand why solving this issue is an absolute priority.
I felt so ugly with all that acne and marks on my face. No matter how many messages I saw on body and skin positivity, all I could think was “well that’s easy for you to say.” I really wanted to internalize that fearless self love and unrelenting, shameless sense of self regardless of the marks on my face. It was difficult though.
After trying every skincare product possible, I tried every “diet style”: keto, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, etc. When nutritionists tell you to keep a food diary, they’re not being condescending by suggesting the most simple solution possible. They are recommending it because it WORKS. Every time I ate anything, I logged how I felt. I knew something was wrong when I realized that every time I ate Brussel sprouts, I burped profusely. Now, to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, this is what I cut out:
- Gluten
- Nightshades: tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, Brussel sprouts (baby cabbages), all peppers, chilli peppers and spices, curry, potatoes, hot sauce, ketchup, and the list continues.
The list of nightshades are very long, and this was brand new information to me. I read more about it on this healing autoimmune website that talks more about how these foods/spices/sauces cause gas, bloating, and inflammation in the body.
Here is my thing though, me avoiding that LONG LIST of foods/ingredients is so unrealistic. Sudden diet changes with restrictions are especially hard to stick to. I’m not suggesting cutting everything out of your diet, but I am suggesting keeping a food journal and if any one of those foods is something you eat often, maybe considering going on a week-long “detox”. Just one week. Even 3 days. If you are that committed to your health, happiness, and internal wealth then it won’t be an issue for you. I know that’s harsh, but when you WANT something, you want it. Things I learned with my diet change?
Vietnamese Pancake 
Pollo Al Horno with Rice 
Burger on GF Bun
- Chic-fil-a has a gluten-free bun.
- You can eat tacos with corn tortillas (not flour) to be gluten free.
- You can make chicken cutlets with almond flour instead and in an AIR-FRYER.
- More restrictions = fewer eating out options = more cooking for yourself = saving money = getting healthier = being stronger.
- Gluten-free waffles still slap.
- Sweet potatoes are not a nightshade and do not cause inflammation!
- Rice flour (which is what the Vietnamese pancake is made from) is an amazing alternative
- Rice noodles (PAD THAI????) is a great alternative to gluten. *note: made with soy sauce, which is not always GF. There are GF soy sauces though.
- Chicken & rice is a great GF meal. Dominican rotisserie chicken is AMAZING.
If you’re trying 100000 and 1 products and not seeing progress, and you don’t want to to try Accutane or the other aggressive acne treatments, this is a great solution to attempt. Track how you feel internally, how many breakouts you see post diet change, are you bloated? It never hurts to try, and it’s a free solution.
