Forcing your body to produce more oil?

[fictor]

Ok, the Wai diet has cleared up like 97% of my acne. I only have small, non-inflamed white/black heads and they seem to increase in numbers as I continue to eat like this, and keep fine-tuning my diet.

Another problem has occurred though. Dry skin. My skin used to be oily, and sometimes my forehead still is, but the area around the root of my nose, my jawline, chin and cheeks are flaky, itchy and dry.

If I use only a fingertip of oil, I get more and more dry, so I use more like a palm-sized portion of oil every time after I shower. This keeps the problem at bay, but not 100% fixes it.

I am thinking of doing an experiment. What if I washed my face very carefully (not too hot water, no soap, no rubbing, just shower it with lukewarm water, once a day) and use no oil at all? Will this cause my skin to balance? Will my body start to produce more oil?

I wonder if such an experiment, lasting 1-4 weeks for example, would cause any lasting damage to my skin? Like massive pre-mature aging, dehydration so serious that it would be a lasting problem even if I go back to using oil or something like this?

Anyone?

[RRM]

I only have small, non-inflamed white/black heads and they seem to increase in numbers as I continue to eat like this

Thats probably too much protein (elevated sebum production), as it is obviously not retaining too much water (as that would have cuased those whiteheads to be trapped, becoming real pimples).
How much fish / egg yolks do you eat?

Another problem has occurred though. Dry skin. My skin used to be oily, and sometimes my forehead still is, but the area around the root of my nose, my jawline, chin and cheeks are flaky, itchy and dry.

I think that your skin has not yet adapted to this new situation yet. As with any sudden response, there may have been an overreaction to the sudden decrease in need for oil that was required to counteract dehydration. That production of oil will go up again, as your skin will adapt.
In the meantime you can apply oil to the skin.

If I use only a fingertip of oil, I get more and more dry, so I use more like a palm-sized portion of oil every time after I shower. This keeps the problem at bay, but not 100% fixes it.

Good, now give your skin a little time to adapt.

I am thinking of doing an experiment.

Please let your skin adapt first. It doesnt need you to trigger a response, it will adapt anyway. Just give it some time.

[fictor]

Ok RRM, I will give it some more time. But in the meantime, while I wait for my skin to balance itself, is it OK to apply as much oil as I do? As I said, I dont use a fingertid, but more like 1-2 table spoons (and I still get flaky skin)

[RRM]

Yes, its ok. Your skin tells you if it likes that, or not.

[Oscar]

Any updates?

In the end you could try not washing at all, or very sparingly...works well for me.

[fictor]

My skin is still flaking off like crazy.

I discovered though, that the oil I have been using (sweet almond oil)
is rather high in vitamin e.

I changed to coconut oil 3 days ago, but I have not seen any improvement
yet. Also, in a book about fats and oils, I read that coconut oil has a
vitamin e content like 3 times that of olive oil, so I am a little confused,
since RRM earlier said coconut oil was ok to use on the skin.

I really feel like I have to wash some, or I would feel really "dirty"
but I only wash once a day, with no soap.

Would it be a good idea to use less hot water?

[Iris]

Yes, I think it would be better for your skin if you'd use hand warm or cold water. At least, that's my experience.... Like you I also have a very dry flaky skin at he moment, and with red blemishes and stuff.
Do you apply the oil to a wet face or with wet hands? If not, then this might also help. It feels like then a lot of moist is also absorbed by the skin. I gives a sort of lighter feeling than when you apply the oil just by itself.
About what oil is best, I wouldn't know for sure. Like you, I also read that coconut oil was lowest in vit. E so I thought that was perfect. But every now and then I change oils, and use oo a couple of days. I have the feeling this helps sometimes as well. Oo is much oilier on the skin, where coconut oil is less visible and more/faster absorbed I guess (again, this is just my experience) So if I do, I olnly use olive oil when I'm at home all day.....
But I must admit... I did buy some special creme which helps a lot with the red dry blemishes (with me, they're eczema-like, so I bought a creme especially for that) because with just the oil, I wasn't getting any better. In fact, it rather got worse.... So now at least it stays pretty much the same after improving significantly. It's less visible now.


To be sure one isn't getting the wrong idea: I don't suffer from dry, flaky, red skin when following 100% Wai for a while!

[Oscar]

Interestingly enough I noticed that feeling "dirty" tends to happen in the beginning, when the body has to (over)compensate for the loss of natural skin protection because of the washing. The same goes for hair, which will be more oily as a result.

[halfgaar]

A comment about the flakey skin. I have been following the raw diet since last march without such problems. However, lately, my skin is getting somewhat flakey. Perhaps it's due to the season (winter).

I indeed also used (deluded) sweet almond oil for my skin. Today I started an experiment with virgin coconut oil. I too kind of figured that the high contents of vitamin E in almond oil might be a problem.

BTW. I believe it was said here on Wai that for the skin, it doesn't matter if you use refined (coconut) oil, but this says otherwise:

Conventional body care products that are made with refined vegetable oils which have all the antioxidants stripped from them are highly prone to free-radical generation both in and outside the body. That is why eating processed vegetable oils can cause a deficiency in vitamin E and other antioxidants. The antioxidants are used up fighting off free radicals causing permanent damage to connective tissues. This is also the reason why you should be careful about the type of oils you use on your skin, and in your lotions, creams and lip balms. If you use a lotion, or cream with a refined oil in it you are in fact causing your skin to age faster.

A final question: people now and again report getting breakouts from putting certain oils on their skin. How much of a rule is that; how much of a direct relation is there between things you do externally to your skin and acne? It would seem to be there is little you can do from the outside to influence acne, for better or worse.

[RRM]

people now and again report getting breakouts from putting certain oils on their skin.

What people?
Are they on this diet?
If you are not on this diet, you are ingesting so many different acne-causing ingredients that its impossible to be sure about any correlation; as it might be the food that sometimes gives you acne, and sometimes not (depending on the level of sebum production).

how much of a direct relation is there between things you do externally to your skin and acne?

little. There is 'mineworkers-acne' in which acne is caused by extreme clogging of the skin by extremely thick and dense mine-dust, but thats an exception.
And there is a connection between dehydration of the skin and sebum production, so that ill-treatment of the skin may produce acne.

It would seem to be there is little you can do from the outside to influence acne, for better or worse.

indeed, unless you destroy / damage sebaceous glands.

[halfgaar]

What people?
Are they on this diet?

I found it here on the forums from people on Wai, yes. But, I can't say how strict they adhered to it, of course...

One thing I do know, is that using petroleum based oils on my skin, does seem to give me acne. Lip balms are a good example. Only the ones based on non-mineral oils do not give me acne around my mouth.

[RRM]

using petroleum based oils on my skin, does seem to give me acne. Lip balms are a good example.

Ah, you mean things like "vaseline". Yes, if you put that on the skin where it contains much' sebum canals', that may clog those pores, and thus cause acne, but thats because its thick and sticky and not an oil.