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Adult Acne Blog - 2003: March 2003
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, herbalist, or otherwise medically trained person.
I am an ordinary person who has suffered from adult acne since 1995 and have found no solution to my acne through conventional medicine.
March 26, 2003
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
2:40 PM (Pacific)
Well it's definite...there is something in the brewer's yeast, that is not in the B vitamin pill, that works against acne.
I stopped taking the brewer's yeast and went with just the B vitamin pill...at first there didn't seem to be much difference. After about a week I'd say, my skin started getting more clogged pores. When I resumed the brewer's yeast, taking 2 tablespoons of it along with the B vitamin, my skin immediately got better.
I would say...taking the B vitamin alone, is better than taking the brewer's yeast alone. But the B vitamin cannot be used as a replacement for the brewer's yeast.
I would still like to isolate what is in the brewer's yeast that is not in the B vitamin pill. I suspect it's chromium. I can take a chromium pill...200 mcg...along with the B vitamin and find out.
It is also possible that it's not chromium or else it's actually a combination of elements.
Oh yeah, I was reading this old (1976) Rodale book on vitamins...it mentioned that you should never take only 1 B vitamin in large amounts. You have to take other B vitamins at the same time. Even on the acnemiracle.com site, they had a small mention of that...I suppose it's tempting to try being simplistic, to see vitamin B-5 as some sort of a miracle cure for acne. But it isn't. The B vitamin pill I'm taking has a super sized dose of B-5 yet without the brewer's yeast (which hardly has any B-5 iirc) it doesn't work as well.
March 7, 2003
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
9:55 AM (Pacific)
Hummm...I skipped my brewer's yeast last night...I really was too tired to get up and fix it. My skin looks OK today though. It's entirely possible that it's the B vitamin complex, rather than the chromium, that is the acne-preventing factor.
My skin is definitely getting better, day by day. Better with the Stress-B than with yeast alone. It remains to be seen...I can try out just using the Stress-B by itself for a few days...how terrifying, yet how else am I going to find out? :)
I think the key is this: take a B vitamin complex tablet. I don't advise taking megadoses of the stuff, I just don't. I just went to acnemiracle.com...imo, they're selling basically what I'm taking, for $$$ more? how can you profiteer over vitamins, doesn't every manufacturer from Costco on down make vitamins? is there something different about those vitamins? Look for vitamin B-5 (pantothenic acid), B-6 and B-12.
The Stress-B's I'm taking are "time released" so-called, they're supposed to disperse in your system over a 6-to-8 hour period. I don't see anything wrong in taking smaller doses, twice a day, that would seem to be the same thing.
It's possible that smaller doses than what I'm taking would also work. What I'd like to do...finish out the Stress-B bottle, taking one tablet per day. I am going to try it alone, without the yeast, and see if anything's different.
If everything flies, I'll look into reducing the amount of the vitamin...if less works, then so be it.
March 5, 2003
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
1:21 PM (Pacific)
Okay...I have now taken 4 of the Stress-B's, starting from March 2 through today.
I've reduced the amount of brewer's yeast so now it's 2 tablespoons. I take the Stress-B in the morning and the brewer's yeast at night. The logic of this is to spread out the nutrients...ultimately I want to do pills only, rather than brewer's yeast (which is good, but expensive and clumsy to take). When the yeast is finished, I'm going to try adding in a chromium supplement (approximately the same amount as the yeast, around 200 mcg).
I am *not* going to do anything that requires taking 5 tablets of anything per day. To me that is not practical.
I'm going to start out, after the yeast is finished, taking a B-vitamin tablet and a chromium tablet, once per day. (Unless of course I can find a single tablet that combines the two and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.) If that doesn't fly, I'll try taking a smaller dose of the B-vitamin, twice per day. It may not be necessary though.
I can say that my skin is noticeably smoother and better. Fewer clogged pores, overall a much better appearance. I would go so far as to say it's worth trying even if you don't have acne. I'm not much of a pill junkie, I don't believe in miracles, etc., but this amount of B vitamins...I am not sure if it's the B-5, the B-6, or the B-12, but who cares, you can always find a B-complex vitamin to take...is good for skin.
In fact, the next logical step might be to check out Costco and see what sort of B-complex pills they have. I know they have chromium, I saw it there last time I checked. The real key is moderation. Taking too much even of vitamins, will have a reverse, if not dangerous, effect. I know chromium is not something to monkey around with. I'm not interested in taking more than the 200 mcg.
March 3, 2003
posted by Colleen Shirazi at
9:42 AM (Pacific)
I've started taking a B vitamin supplement as well. I haven't stopped doing the brewer's yeast...all the the supplements I saw at the store (health food store) that had vitamin B-5, B-6, B-12 and chromium, all cost a bum--$20+ per bottle--and said to take 5 tablets per day. Hello? It's cheaper to have a cocaine habit?
What I got was the health food store brand, The Natural Grocery Company, Stress-B 100 with vitamin C - 500 mg. It has 100 mg. vitamin B-6, 100 mcg. vitamin B-12, 100 mg. vitamin B-5. It doesn't mention chromium at all, but then it might be simpler and cheaper to find a separate chromium supplement. The regular price was $10.69 for 60 tablets, on sale for $9. You are to take 1 per day.
I just took one last night...my skin does feel smoother today...fewer of those jawline clogged pores. Of course that doesn't mean a whole lot right now; I will need to try it out for a month...and figure out the chromium aspect.
I am a little bit excited...what if most of the adult acne you see today, is really caused by something as simple as not getting enough B vitamins or other nutrients? It's entirely possible. Poor women...everyone sees us as this massive consumption machine. If they can sell us hundreds of dollars of useless acne treatments, rather than sit down and figure out what has changed in our diets over the past ten years...then, that is what will happen. It has already happened.
Yeah (I'm running my hand over my face)...definitely smoother.
I'll write more as I find out.
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