I've been completely vegan for about a month now...and I am loving it. I feel better than ever and have really slimmed down. The only problem is, my face has COMPLETELY broken out since I went vegan. :eek: I'm 32, and haven't had complexion problems since I was a teen. I am wondering if my body is releasing all those old toxins through my skin.:confused:

The same thing happened to me. It mostly subsided once my body got used to my new way of eating. I still break out sometimes, but I eat too much soy and fat in general. I was on a low fat Vegan diet for ahwile, and my skin was very clear during that period.

I never had that problem when I went vegan, but going back to dairy definitely made my face breakout.

I've heard so many people rave about how great their skin looked after going vegan. I'm completely stumped as to why my skin is going haywire. It's very, VERY discouraging. I didn't go vegan in order to have great skin, but, I wasn't expecting to look like the "before" picture of a ProActive ad either.*sigh*

I've heard so many people rave about how great their skin looked after going vegan. I'm completely stumped as to why my skin is going haywire. It's very, VERY discouraging. I didn't go vegan in order to have great skin, but, I wasn't expecting to look like the "before" picture of a ProActive ad either.*sigh*


It will probably only last a short while until your body gets use to what you're eating...don't feel discouraged.

If this doesn't subside in a couple of weeks, I might suggest taking a lysine supplement, maybe 500mgs every day or every other day. Also, do you drink plenty of water?

Lysine is great. I would say also that you can take up too a thousand mgs daily. I think it says it on the bottle, but could be wrong.

Yep, a gram a day is fine, and I do that at times when I know that my diet isn't getting me as much as it is at other times. The veg lysines out there are spendy, so I figure starting out with less makes sense to see if it helps.

i use lysine for fever blisters, it works wonderfully.

Interesting, but I had a break-out period as well. I think it might have been a coincidence, however. I'm also menopausal so I think it was a combination of hormones and diet change. It's fine now.

I don't know if this would help, but when I was a teen I had a friend with an acne problem and she swore by Brewer's Yeast (drinking it mixed in water). I think though, that acne problems when you are an adult are usually caused by a hormonal imbalance?? Plus, like you say, it might be your body releasing toxins.

Hi Toshia,

I've heard similar 'detox' symptoms with people when they really get their diet clean, so perhaps it's a phase. If it continues, though, you may want to look at whether there is something you are eating a lot of that you may be sensitive to... like wheat or soy (it's easy to consume a lot of both of these foods when going vegan). It might be worthwhile seeing a naturopath if it goes on, just to see if there is a sensitivity, or if you need to balance out something else in your diet.

Do you get a lot of variety of veg/fruit/grains/legumes, etc.? If it helps, you can visit my vegan cooking blog (http://vivelevegan.blogspot.com) for some examples of variety in vegan foods. Most of them are not wheat or soy based either, if that's an issue.

Hope this helps! -Dreena :)

Thanks for the input! I've been eating TONZ of fruits, veggies, whole-grain bread and pasta. I drink about a cup of soy or rice milk per day. I have been eating a lot of avacado and using olive oil. I'm going to cut back on the fatty oils this week, up my H2O intake, and see what happens.
If it weren't for the support and encouragement of this board, I'd be lost!
(There were some Cheese Nips in the kitchen calling my name today, but, alas, I drank some carrot juice instead!:vebo: )

Avocados are good stuff :lick: but sure are high in fat.

Guacavore, are your ears burning? :)

i LOVE LOVE LOVE avocados!

My face has been more sensitive since I went to a veg diet. If I don't use a moisturizer right after washing it or after a shower it tends to get oily and breakout now.

Make sur eyou drink plenty of water to flush the system. Also, you might try tea tree oil to kill the bacteria on your skin that make breakouts worse. I used to have very bad skin up through my 30s (due to other health problems) but after using tea tree oil for several months it cleared up and the problem has not recurred.

to throw in my two cents... i swear by benzoyl peroxide. i used a 5% bp cream in the morning and retin-a micro at night for a year or two, but that was working as well as i`d like. since i`ve been using an 8% bp cream twice a day, i`ve had little to no problems. i`ve been going to a dermatologist since i was 14 and i`m now 21.

acne.org is a good website. the guy who made the sight really seems to believe in his own specific regimine, but even if you don`t like his recommendations, it`s also a good way to get simple info on different acne meds and it has active message boards.

I don't know about a detox, but it is quite possible that a dramatic change in diet is causing your body to be stressed. Acne is a common reaction to stress. I don't have big issues with acne, but I do usually break out a bit before/during my period. It's also possible that you're having an adverse reaction to something new that you've added to your diet.

If it doesn't go away soon, you could do that old food allergy test. Restrict foods, then add them back in one at a time. If the acne comes back when you add in a certain food, you know what's doing it.

Keep track of your diet, maybe write things down for a couple weeks and see when you tend to break out the most - it might be an allergy or sensitivity to a food you're now eating more of... nuts, corn, soy, wheat are all likely suspects.

I've been having more issues with acne-type breakouts and such, since going vegan as well, I'm not old enough for menopause and too old for teen acne... but I think, after eliminating several possible items from my diet, I've finally narrowed it down to a sensitivity to soy :cry:...

As far as I can tell, I'm fine with a little bit of soy every two or three days, but if I eat (or drink) soy-based items every day the skin problems and rash start to come back... obviously this isn't anything confirmed by a Dr. or allergist, just my personal experimenting with what works for my body... but it seems to be what causes problems for me... and it's a SUCH A BUMMER because I LOVE soy!!