dry skin

I have bad skin that I’ve trying to resolve ever since I was a teenager I have dry flaky skin on the inside of my face and scalp with acne covering the outside. On my health journey I started from a relatively healthy omni diet. I had very bad digestion with constant stomach aches. I would also get very sick with sinus headaches a few months out of every year. Both of those problems cleared up when I went to a vegan diet. I was getting about half of my calories from “raw” nuts because I didn’t know what else would satisfy me. My skin got a little better but it was still very bad after a year as a vegan.

After lots of reading about ways to cure acne I added in 1-2 egg yolks a day and salmon once a week. I ate only a handful of nuts a day, cut out starches and ate tons of vegetables. I did this for a few weeks but it didn’t help my skin.

Then I did 80/10/10 for a year and my skin is better but still quite bad. I have to put oil on my dry skin to keep it from looking scaly. Maybe it will eventually get better.

I’m still doing 811 and everything is better than ever except a few things. I have bad case of melon belly where I get mild discomfort to severe pain around my stomach that last 15 minutes. I get this from too much fruit or juice. The strange thing is the longer I stay raw the harder it is to digest fruit. I can barely eat a mono meal now. I eat my big meals with a head of lettuce which helps immensely. There seems to be a fine line between not having enough energy and digestive problems. I’ve ate rice dinners on and off and I have no problem digesting that. I’m considering adding in starch and steamed veggie dinners for more variety.

It seems teeth are doomed on 811. My teeth are a bit sensitive at times. I eat my 2 pounds of greens a day. I brush, floss, and use standard mouthwash

I like 811 and do well on it except for the melon belly. I also do very well as a vegan but I want to make sure I don’t run into teeth issues.

1. Does anyone know what might help my skin? Do you think it will clear if I wait it out? The acne is improving but what about the dryness?

2. Has anyone here had problems with melon belly?

3. Have any of you stayed on the diet and solved teeth issues? What do you recommend? Why does 811 decay teeth? Is it lack of k 2?

Hey everyone, I thought I’d share my story here too. I have been a raw vegan for two years, the second year following 80 10 10 down to the letter. Anyone who knows me will know I don’t do anything by halves so any accusations that might have been fielded at me on the 30 Bad site about sneaking in cooked food, big macs and the like will not hold water. I’m a keen runner (run between 20 and 40 miles a week, lots of big hills, depending on whether I’m training for a race), and commute to work on my bike (about 100 miles per week).

I stumbled across 80 10 10 looking for a way of boosting my energy and running/cycling performance as well as addressing the insulin resistance that lies at the root of my PCOS condition. I have to admit, I definitely felt my performance improved on the diet - dates and bananas are great fuel for running and cycling. But at the same time, I experienced severe digestive issues which kept getting worse and worse to the point that I was finding it difficult to run/cycle owing to extreme bloating and pain. That in itself should have set the alarm bells ringing but I kept going in the belief that this was all ‘detox’ and would eventually subside. Not only this, but my weight was creeping up slowly and was losing muscle definition in my arms and legs.

The first turning point came when the hospital I have been going to for treatment for my PCOS for the last year told me that the medication that I had been taking (which had previously been successful) was no longer working for me. The only thing I had changed was my diet, so i have to assume that 80 10 10 played some role in this. At the time, I stubbornly refused to believe that such a ‘perfect’ diet could set me back in this way and continued with it until about a month ago when I noticed the skin on my hands becoming incredibly dry. I have never needed to moisturise my hands before, but was having to buy hand cream and apply it 5 or 6 times a day. The skin between my fingers was white and flaky and I also noticed that the skin beneath my eyes was beginning to look a bit crepey.

It then dawned on me that my fat intake must have been so low that my body was unable to lubricate itself properly anymore. That really was the last straw and since then I’ve upped my fat intake with avocados (whole ones!!) each day, lots of nuts and seeds and a fish oil supplement. I’ve also upped my protein (spirulina + sun warrior protein powder) and massively reduced the amount of fruit I’m eating, sticking to mainly berries. I’m still big on the veggies though and eat huge salads daily – now with added oil and nuts/seeds. Already, the skin on my hands is vastly improved (no need to moisturise like a maniac any longer). My belly is now settled and no longer bloated, thank goodness!!

I’m hoping that in turn, this will all have a positive effect on my hormones and insulin resistance and hopefully I can resume my hospital treatment for PCOS successfully.

I have definitely taken away some positives from 80 10 10 - namely an appreciation for improved sleep, increased water intake and eating greater quantities of of raw vegetables and greens. But in other areas, particularly the huge fruit carb consumption at the expense of essential fats, it has been a dangerous experiment and I’m glad that I’ve managed to come to this realisation before my health started to deteriorate further.

Skin problems, Melon Belly, and Teeth

A Dangerous Experiment…