Success Story: How Lola improved her cystic acne through Nutritional Therapy
Meet Lola
Lola managed to improve her acne using nutritional therapy after 6 years of trying different medications and skin care routines without success.
Find out the steps Lola took to uncover the route cause of her acne which improved her skin no end!
Lola had been struggling with acne for the last 6 years. She had been prescribed antibiotics and the pill by her GP, but neither of these options worked. In fact, the pill actually made her back acne worse.
Lola was also experiencing irregular periods so was tested for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but when her results came back normal, Lola was left confused and frustrated around how to support her skin. Lola decided she wanted to try a holistic approach to get to the root cause of her acne.
Where Lola’s skin journey began
Throughout our discovery call, Lola felt the 6 month programme was right for her. There were also other symptoms Lola was experiencing including poor sleep, puffiness on her face, cravings and bloating which she wanted to address and really wanted the support and accountability from myself to implement some new daily healthy habits.
After our initial consultation, I created a protocol to support Lola’s body systems under stress which were driving her symptom. These included her digestive system, endocrine and nervous system.
Lola was a busy student, balancing a heavy workload with extracurricular activities and social commitments which I needed to factor in so I created a protocol which was effective, but simple enough to fit into her daily life and give her some consistency.
Lola’s Initial Protocol
For 6 months we focussed on both dietary and lifestyle changes including:
Balancing blood sugars to support hormonal balance. Helping Lola to understand how to build a balanced plate, rich in protein, essential fatty acids and fibre can help stabilise blood sugars throughout the day which can help reduce cravings and support sleep as well as her acne.
Anti inflammatory foods - We worked on adding in a variety of different plant foods, rich in antioxidants which can support inflammation and improve skin health and bloating.
Removing non fermented dairy - Which can trigger inflammation in some people, contributing to acne.
Adding in essential fatty acids including oily fish and seeds to help reduce inflammation in the skin.
Dry Brushing - which can support lymphatic drainage and help with inflammation and in particular Lola’s puffy face.
Mindful eating - Lola was sometimes an emotional eater and would reach for the fridge in times of stress. We worked on Lola’s behaviours and thoughts around her emotional eating, helping to make better choices during periods of stress.
Sleep routine - We worked on creating a night time routine that helped Lola to wind down and feel ready for a restful nights sleep as Lola often struggled to get off to sleep.
Skin care routine - Replacing skin care and make up which contained parabens and other hormone disrupting chemicals to more clean brands that cause less disruption to hormones and her skin barrier.
Tailored supplements- Nutrient deficiencies can contribute to stress, poor sleep and energy. I arranged for Lola to have some routine GP blood tests which came back showing low vitamin D, B12 and iron. I added in supplements to support her deficiencies as well as a few additional formulations to help with Lola’s gut health, nervous system and hormones.
Rather than throw everything at Lola at once, we had frequent follow ups which meant that we had the time to slowly implement these dietary and lifestyle changes which helps with consistency.
Having too many things to focus on at once can lead to resentment and overwhelm so we added in the changes that were manageable for Lola.
6 months on
From the beginning, Lola was incredibly compliant. Always full of positivity, Lola embraced the change and enjoyed eating a more balanced plate. Lola developed some great habits of prioritising protein, adding nuts and seeds to her meals and including different vegetables into her diet.
As with any change, Lola did experience challenges along the way. Student life lacks routine and she still wanted to enjoy going out with friends and have a drink as well as the odd sweet snack and takeaway.
We integrated the 80/20 approach where 80 % of the time, Lola would follow her protocol and 20% of the time she had that flexibility to be more indulgent. This worked well for Lola and helped improve her relationship with food.
Lola would sometimes feel a sense of guilt around eating ‘bad’ food but it’s important to find the balance and understand that a little bit of what you fancy is fine and something I encourage. Restriction and avoidance often leads to over consumption and a negative relationship with food which can become an added stressor; and who needs more stress in their life?!
Improving Lola’s sleep habits was also a challenge and lacked consistency over the 6 months so we still needed to work on this area and supporting her nervous system overall.
Despite the challenges, by the end of the 6 months, Lola had noticed some amazing change including:
Significant improvement in acne where the redness and inflammation was greatly reduced
Her back acne had completely gone
A more even skin tone on her face
A reduction in bloating
So much more energy
