This Diet Finally Cleared My Cystic Acne—When Nothing Else Worked

In 2014, I was a 20-year-old girl with a burgeoning career in the entertainment industry struggling with suicidal depression. Why? The answer was written all over my face.

Sudden cystic acne breakouts brought my acting career to a screeching halt, destroyed my self-confidence, and turned me into a hermit. I consulted with dermatologists and other experts, tried a variety of medicines and treatments, but nothing worked for long. My acne always came back with a vengeance.

While desperately trying to find information about acne, I discovered there are cultures of people in the world who never get acne. These lucky people lived in places like Okinawa, Japan; Papua New Guinea; Eastern Paraguay; and certain parts of Africa.

What these disparate cultures had in common were low-fat, unprocessed, starch-based, plant-centered diets.1 The research was very intriguing, so I decided to switch up my game. What did I have to lose?

When I find a meal I like, I eat it over and over again! If I enjoy it, I know I can stick with it. I actually love rice and beans. Really! I not only could eat them every day, but I actually do.

But even though I might eat rice and beans each day, there’s still variety. I vary the type of beans cooked—one day might be lentils, another black or pinto beans, cannellini or limas. Of course, there are also many different types of rice—basmati, jasmine, long grain, and short grain. Even when you are eating the "same thing," it’s still different. I found that keeping the base the same made it easier to cook everything, prevented decision fatigue, and increased the chances of success.

After my skin had been clear for a while, it seemed like I was onto something, so I wrote my book, The Clear Skin Diet with my sister to help other people suffering in the same way. I would have never thought that a devastating skin breakout would lead to being able to help people also suffering with debilitating acne. What looked like a curse actually ended up being a blessing.