This post is very long, and I tried to be as concise as possible, because if I do get rid of my Keratosis Pilaris, and/or acne successfully, I want all of this information available to anyone that it could possibly help, who may be suffering from problems similar to my own. I will answer any and all questions any of you may have. Thanks for reading.

Well, I dropped $150 on an appointment to see what appeared to be the best Nutritionist in my State (RI). He's also a Holistic Practitioner, and a certified Chiropractic. Before my initial first visit, he sent me a packet through the mail, with about 5 pages of information I had to fill out that all related to my life-style, symptoms, mental health, physical health, everything. There were also a slew of tests included that he wanted me to have done at the Blood Center nearby. These tests were all tests he normally does, plus many that could possibly relate to my skin problems, because I told him what I was experiencing over the phone. About 2 weeks ago, I saw him, and this is how the meeting went.

After giving me a typical Western Medicine style exam (height, weight, blood pressure, body-mass indicator, etc, we discussed every single little thing I filled out on every one of the papers. We came to the conclusion that not only did I have skin problems (acne/and what I would call "mild, full body KP), but I also have serious digestive problems. I am not absorbing nutrients efficiently, I am not breaking down and absorbing fat AT ALL, so I am becoming nutritionally lacking, under-weight, and sickly. We talked about how when I was younger I was treated with antibiotics over 8 times a year over a course of 7-10 years, for sinus infections, as well as being treated with a few other drugs for depression, an oral and topical antibiotic for my acne, as well as Retin-A topically (which used to work, but stopped working over time, I think somehow my skin built up a resistance to it, I stopped using it about a week ago after having 4 months of pimples appearing and taking forever to go away). We discussed how my digestive problems all started about 3 months ago after I initially "got sick". 3 months ago I discontinued eating anything processed, all red meats, I weaned down dairy and coffee to a halt, and recently cut out wheat and gluten. My diet now consists of all fruits,veges, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fish, and herbal teas. After I got off coffee was when I got "sick". I experienced many days of constipation, then would take a laxetive (usually Castor Oil or something similar) and experience 1-2 days of HORRIBLE gas/bloating/uncontrollable diarrhea. This cycle of constipation/sickness has continued ever since I started eating healthy. He mentioned I was under-weight, and the machine that measures my body-fat kept showing "error" because I was so skinny. He basically said that I have developed what is known as "Irritable Bowel Syndrome". We talked about all of the medical tests that he did. He even mentioned that all this inflammation in my gut is affecting my whole body, making my acne and KP appear worse. He is a complete expert when it comes to nutrition. He found that almost every nutrient that is normally absorbed by proper digestion is low. He showed me how my protein levels were unbalanced. My good cholesterol levels were unbalanced. I am also slightly hypo-glycemic, as well as lacking in Essential Fatty Acids, Vitamin D, and many others that I honestly can't remember. Unfortunately, the Blood Lab F'd up on my Vitamin A Test, so he wasn't able to get the results on that one, but he was still able to say, based on everything he has, that I do indeed have IBS, and that nothing can really be accomplished until that is straightened out, because right now my body isn't digesting right, and it won't absorb much of anything. He prescribed a lot of Natural and Medical/Pharmaceutical strength vitamins/minerals/herbs/natural substances that all work together to give my body "what it needs". There are soothing herbs for my inflamed GI Tract, Protein from Soy and other Natural sources to get my protein up to healthy levels, beneficial bacteria to restore what years of antibiotics destroyed, as well as a slew of vits./minerals, herbs, etc;

I am doing about 3 days on a "Detox Diet" which I found in a book by the famous Nutritionist Gillian McKeith before I start using the Supplements, and once I finish, I will begin my journey. I sure as hell hopes it works, because all of the Vitamins and stuff ran up a bill of $290. That's a lot of money to me, hell, that's a lot to anyone. And this Saturday I'm having 2 more Tests done that the doctor wanted done, that must relate to my problems somehow. I think he's doing tests that will make sure this problem is simply IBS, and not something more serious.

Now I know what you're all thinking, I'm a sucker, right? Well I've been studying Nutrition on my own time for at least 3 months now, and this Doctor blows me away. He must have degrees in Advanced Nutrition from a very good school or something, because he knew things about my body that I didn't even know what they meant, and they were all scientifically grounded in blood tests that he had right in front of my face. My mom is a minister, a MINISTER, and she called him with all of the questions she had, and just like I felt when I called him, she said he sounded very caring. Its like he wants to talk to you because he cares about you. He listens to all of your concerns, and makes sure you hear everything from him that you want to hear before he hangs up. He discussed with her the cost issue, saying that he makes sure his patients get the best quality ingredients, and gives them only what their body needs. Many, if not all of the formulas available through his office aren't even available online, never mind at your local Vitamin Shoppe. Trust me, I looked. I studied the bottles and everything, and I'm convinced that as long as I follow his eating plan, continue doing moderate exercise daily, and take his vitamins/supplements, as well as cut down on stress and get enough sleep, this will, at the very least, cure my IBS. My mom and I both feel that this Doctor cares about me, his patients, the quality of the Products he prescribes, the effectiveness, affordability, and quality of his treatments, and treating everyone body as a whole, "holistically". He strongly believes in treating causes of diseases before and after they happen, and not simply treating symptoms.

I believe after years of depending on coffee to be my diuretic, I grew defendant on it to make bowel-movements, and never noticed my digestive problems, but I've noticed, and this may sound gross, but my stool always looks shredded and mucusy. This means that what I'm eating isn't digesting right, and its light brown, not dark, so my body isn't really absorbing much of what I eat. Over-indulgence on high-fat, high sugar, low nutrient foods, lacking nutrients, having an explosion of unfriendly, and not enough friendly bacteria in your digestive system, can cause a slew of symptoms, and hopefully, in my case, acne and KP are just "symptoms".

Tonight I will take pictures of my acne and Keratosis Pilaris, so hopefully in 3 months, from what my doctor says, I'll be able to show pictures of the improvement. He feels that by the end of summer, we can beat this, but the first thing on my plate to get back in order is my GI Tract/Digestive system. Wish me luck. I'll keep this post updated throughout my appointments. I'm starting the Items he prescribed probably Monday, and I'll have my next follow-up appointment with him probably 2 Fridays from next. Usually his appointments are much ****her spread out, but my problem could be quite serious if it is something other than IBS, so he's having a check up appointment then.

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Hopefully the improved diet will have a positive affect for you.

I've been a vegan for over 13 years. No animal products (including eggs, dairy or fish) and mostly organic produce. I gave up caffeine 7 years ago too, have never smoked, and rarely drink. Yet my KP is the same as it was when I was a teen.

So, while such a diet is very healthy and does help other conditions, my experience is that KP is not affected much by diet.

I should note that I had acne too (which is also commonly misattributed to diet). It wouldn't improve until I was finally put on Isotretoin (Accutane), the only clinically proven cure. I've now been completely blemish free for almost a year, without using any skin products whatsoever. You really should ask your dermatologist about it.

I would rather give this Natural a Doctor a go than try Accutain, Hell, with those types of side effects, I'd rather have acne until puberty is over than risk going bald, blind, etc; And I did ask a dermatologist about Accutane about 4 months ago, and he told me that the "courts were really cracking down on it because of its side effects" and he can't prescribe it to me. He said his hands were tied. Whatever.

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And I should also note that my mom told me that with her conversation with the doctor, she mentioned to him about my eating well, and he said that the 7 day diet I came in was the best diet he's seen in a long time, and that he wished most of his patients ate like I did, but he said that he would suggest that diet to people to help them lose weight. He said even though I was eating healthy, I wasn't giving my body what it needed.

And you can't say acne is mis-attributed to diet. On the BBC show "You Are What You Eat", that doctor has treated hundreds of cases of acne by change of diet and exercise alone. I don't think they're all coincidences. Thousands of years of actual medical research, not western, but Chinese, Indian, and others attribute many skin problems to problems inside the GI Tract/Digestive system. I talked to a GI Doctor who was only taught western medicine, and he told me that in college he did a paper about the connection between all of the organs and the skin. Your skin is your largest Organ, and to say it isn't affected by the fuel you put in your body is absurd. I'm not saying every case of acne, or any skin condition, can be solved with diet alone, I'm just saying that diet, inner body situations, nutrition, etc; can all have some impact on your outer appearance.

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Good Luck, Chris - sounds like you found a solid Doctor there. I bet many of us KPers could benefit from that kind of expertise. When I was a vegan, I definitely was "eating healthy" but not getting what I needed at least for my skin. When I ate more meat and drank a bit, went out to clubs, my skin got better. that doesn't mean my lifestyle was particularly healthy however. I think it was a combo of getting EFAs that had previously lacked in my vegan diet and at that time, smoking was allowed in clubs and I recently found out that smoking (or second-hand in my case) can _mask_ celiac and gluten intolerance.
I think veterinary med is way ahead on this one for some reason (except for a few of these wholistic Drs.). It is known that a horse's diet will affect its hooves, a very important horse feature. Toxins (yes, the vet books use the word _toxins_) build up in the gut or other major organs from overgrowth of the wrong bacteria or whatever (esp from high carb diets), and then either themselves damage hooves or cause chem reactions in the body that cause inflammation and damage. This is a short explanation but my jaw dropped when I realized they have followed that thru on horses of all things but very few human Drs think of that follow thru in humans to their skin unless it's makor like bad eczema. ok, enough of those musings, I'm going to poke my nose into the paleo diet thread. - bd

well keep us updated. even if you dont make any progress. Its important that we get the facts.

thanks chris.

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Chris, since you are the type to investigate and do some research and keep yourself informed; I am going to tell you about what I think may be the cause of your Gi problems. You are going to have to look it up though and see if you see yourself.

Google or search on Yahoo "symptoms of low hydrochloric acid"

causes candida, acne, skin problems, auto immune diseases, digestion problems, IBS, and the list just keeps going.

IF you can't find the easy test to do, I will tell you how you can test for yourself that is non invasive.

There is an easy remedy to fix this problems, and the healh problems go away VERy quickly. They are also foods that have natural sources of HCL, and you can purchase digestive enzymes with HIgh amounts of betaine HCL.

I know you have spent a lot of money already, but the test is very simple, and you could see relief immediately.

This was the fix for my GI problems, and none of my doctors realized it, I found it through my own research. It is very very common for people to have low HCL and not relate the symptoms.

Good luck.

Hi, when you were a vegan, were you also off sugar, wheat, processed food, and other sweets?