paleo diet Archives • Holistic Dermatology

Should You Go Paleo? ~ Natural Skincare and the Paleo Diet

Posted on September 22, 2016 at 9:48 am.

Should You Go Paleo?

Paleo has become a real popular diet. How does it relate to natural skincare?

One good thing about a Paleo diet is that it avoids a lot of the kinds of prepared foods and chemicals that bring things into us that our bodies may not be able to deal with.

Another good thing about the Paleo diet is that it tends to be one which avoids grains as there are a number of people who are sensitive to not only gluten, but to a lesser extent whole grains. Avoiding that can be very helpful for those people.

Eating a lot of vegetables is a very healthy thing. For many people having a Paleo diet with meat and vegetables is a healthy way to go. But it’s not the only answer and for each individual there are usually specific sensitivities that also have to be addressed. If simplifying your diet by taking away many of the major aggregators makes a difference, if going Paleo takes the sugar out of your diet and makes a difference that way, you’re going to do better.

But if there are also other allergens, you need to have a closer look at that. Either watch what’s going on once you’ve gone to the Paleo diet and see what else is causing you to react or you need to go further in terms of finding out what your specific sensitivities are that are related to the problems that you’re having.

Should You Go Gluten-Free? ~ Natural Skincare Advice

Posted on September 10, 2016 at 8:52 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Should You Go Gluten-Free?

Looking for natural skincare support? Gluten has a number of different activities including as a lectin punching holes in cell membranes and enabling things to get into cells or enabling things to escape from the intestinal track that shouldn’t be escaping. Since it’s so high on the list of likely allergens, it is one of the things that can make a difference in people’s health or having various kinds of manifestations of allergic or unknown conditions.

On the other hand, going gluten-free makes it very difficult to eat in restaurants or to eat anything that you don’t prepare yourself from scratch. If you truly have a gluten sensitivity or you truly are celiac, which is a gluten sensitivity plus certain genetic markers. Then it may also be worth identifying that before you go gluten free because it’s easier to do so while you’re still eating gluten and if you really are a celiac, even a tiny, tiny bit of gluten can set you back significantly and it’s good to know that. So going gluten free is a reasonable experiment to do.

Going gluten-free may be helpful, but it may not be sufficient. Furthermore, there are a number of people who have multiple allergies. Just stopping one thing is not going to make them all better any more than if you’re sitting on three thumbtacks, removing one of them is going to solve all the pain you’re having in your bottom.

Did you know Hidradenitis Suppuritiva is connected with metabolic syndrome?

Posted on April 13, 2015 at 11:37 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Embarrassing? Maybe. Common? Perhaps more than you think.

Hidradenitis Suppuritiva is an acne related condition involving recurrent boils and cysts in the apocrine areas. These especially include under the arms around the breasts, in the groin and buttock areas. It may be confined to just to just a few small cysts, or develop into large cysts with multiple training points. At its worst, they can be painful and make it difficult to carry out ordinary activities.

This condition is sometimes treated with injected steroids, topical or oral antibiotics, and surgical drainage. More radical treatment includes cutting out the entire affected area into the deeper fat or down to the fascia. That kind of surgery can require a long recovery time.

More recently, powerful immunosuppressants known as Biologics have been used with some success. Unfortunately, these carry a very large price tag both an actual dollar cost, and in the possibility of leading to development of infections like tuberculosis, or cancers like lymphoma.

I’ve been successful in improving the condition the patients with Hidradenitis using a similar approach to that which I use in acne. That involves correcting digestive and hormonal imbalances, and removing toxins from the skin. My report of success met with considerable resistance at the Second International Meeting of the Hidradenitis Suppuritiva Foundation in San Francisco some years ago.

Consequently, I was very happy to see an article that was published last year linking Hidradenitis Suppuritiva to metabolic syndrome. One of the most important inclusions of the article was that Hidradenitis Suppuritiva appears to be a systemic condition rather than just to localized skin condition. This further supports my approach and results in treating this condition as a systemic inflammatory disorder with supplements and nutritional changes.

If you need help with this condition, please contact my office. I work in New York and also via Skype, so if you live far away, I can still be of help.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

The problem with quick-fixes for acne. Part 4

Posted on April 2, 2015 at 11:47 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Another unintended consequence of acne blogs and information you may find on the Internet on acne related sharing sites, is that you will not have enough information about the individuals who report either success or failure with various treatments they suggest to understand whether those treatments will be successful for you.

Although there are many common features of various illnesses such as acne, there are also many individual variations in both genetics and exposure history. As a result, Even if the report of the success after a particular novel acne treatment is accurate, it still may be impossible to know whether you have the same conditions are such that the same remedy will work for you. As a result of this individual variation, what will work for another person may not be effective for you.

Furthermore, it may take a lot more depth of understanding of the physiology of the acne to be able to even ask the right questions of the person who benefited from a new remedy, to know if that remedy would be of any use to you. This is why it's worth seeing a holistic doctor who can really ferret out your particular issue and finally help you get to the bottom of it.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

The problem with quick-fixes for acne. Part 3

Posted on March 31, 2015 at 11:46 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Another unintended consequence of acne blogs is that it may give you an excuse to delay definitive treatment of your condition. For people with progressive acne, and especially those with cystic acne, the possibility exists that they will have significant increase scarring the longer they hold off getting their condition under control.

It's important to prevent deep of scarring, by making sure that you have more severe acne treated promptly if it is severe and you are not making progress with the suggestions that you find in the blogs and online.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

The problem with quick-fixes for acne. Part 2

Posted on February 23, 2015 at 12:37 pm.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

See a physician like Dr. Dattner if your skin lesions become exacerbated.

Another unintended danger of reading acne blogs is that you may fail to get examined by a dermatologist or other physician when lesions arise that you interpret as acne may perhaps be due to some other, more serious cause. This could include Staphlococcus or Strep infections which have the danger of spreading externally or worse, internally.

These lesions could also include skin syndromes that you do not recognize that require further diagnosis and treatment. If there is anything unusual about your acne, or if you feel otherwise ill when you develop it, it is best to get it checked out by a dermatologist or other doctor. It is really important to know if something else is going on instead of what you interpreted to be acne, and make sure that condition gets treated properly.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

The problem with quick-fixes for acne. Part 1

Posted on February 19, 2015 at 12:30 pm.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

One unintended danger of reading acne blogs is that you will see the suggestions given as all that is necessary to clear up your skin.

For many people, there are a variety of different habits and conditions that are leading to their acne, and a variety leading to the acne cure. Fixing only one or two factors may not be sufficient to give you a good improvement. Several different changes may be necessary in the right order or all together in order to clear up acne naturally.

So besides not getting better from following a specific suggestion in a blog, danger exists that you will decide if that a particular diet or lifestyle change does not clear you up, it is of no use at all. As a result, you may believe that it is useless for you as part of a more comprehensive program, and disregard it.

Indeed, it may be a crucial step when put together with a more complete series of therapeutic changes. It is important not to "write off" various lifestyle changes suggested as useless because they were ineffective when applied without comprehensive health care support.

If you need more support for a skin condition than you are getting online, contact me.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

Natural acne treatment: to clear up your face, draw the line.

Posted on February 16, 2015 at 12:23 pm.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

At some point, if you really want to clear up your face, you have to draw the line between doing things that are likely to aggravate your acne and those that are not.

If that means not touching your face repeatedly and squeezing lesions you got to give that a try and draw the line on doing those harmful activities. If eating various kinds of foods like sugar and dairy and junk food are likely to be aggravating your problem, at some point you have got to draw the line, and just stop eating them.

Your body needs a consistent message, so stay with better eating and avoid going back to old bad habits. Drawing the line on harmful behaviors for your skin and giving a real trial to healthier habits and eating can make a big difference. Even if this is not sufficient to clear your skin, it makes it a lot easier for a knowledgeable doctor to clear you up and help cure your acne using natural treatments and methods.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

Natural acne treatment: to clear up your face, draw the line.

Posted on February 12, 2015 at 12:12 pm.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

One line that you must literally draw is the line in front of the mirror: no squeezing, no picking. Some people even have to go so far as to put a piece of tape on the floor in front of the sink in the mirror, where they would stand when they are up close and looking at their face. Once you cross this line, it is important to remember not to touch your face or squeeze any pimples or other lesions there. Although some may appear slightly smaller after squeezing, inflammation will usually restore their size.

Even worse, if the pimples or cysts break under the skin from squeezing, the material emerging will act like a foreign body to often create even more inflammation and larger cysts. Those cysts can then become the ones that go on to enlarge, and cause even more inflammation. And when they eventually calm down, cause depressed scars (and sometimes depressed people). A lot of the visible red scars and depressed scars on some people with acne are more due to the squeezing and trauma then the acne itself. Do yourself and your face a favor and don't touch or squeeze your face, once you cross that line in front of the sink or the mirror.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

3 Secrets for Curing Acne on Your Lunch Break, Naturally

Posted on February 9, 2015 at 12:02 pm.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Replacing acne-causing foods with skin friendly foods can make a big difference in your appearance, over time. A clean diet makes for a clean face. A diet filled with vegetables is a great natural acne cure.

1. Salad! At lunch, have a delicious salad topped with grilled chicken or fish instead of a pizza. If you are vegetarian, consider a rice and bean dish with celery or red pepper chopped in. If you need a real pick me up, consider juicing vegetables to make a green smoothie. Throwing in a little bit of protein powder can make this work as a meal.

2. Protein! If nuts work for you, almonds or almond butter can be the protein source in your lunch. A sandwich on yeast-free bread, with a thin slice of banana on top, may be just the thing you need for a quick lunch. For some people, a little tofu can be added to soups salads or rice for extra protein.

3. Vegetables! Be sure to fire up the steamer pot and steam some fresh broccoli cauliflower, zucchini or other quick cooking vegetable for lunch, and if possible for every meal. Tossing that vegetable with a little bit of oil and lemon juice and a touch of salt can make it a pleasure to eat rather than a chore. If you prepare vegetables in that way, they can be put aside in the refrigerator and heated up as part of your lunch in the next day or two after you made it in. This way, lunch can be both quick to prepare, and healthy, and your face will grow clearer and more free of acne.

To your health,

Dr. Dattner,

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

Board Certified Dermatologist

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

Should You Go Paleo?

Should You Go Gluten-Free?