Going Vegan Cured My Cystic Acne | BRAND NEW ME
A young bodybuilder has revealed how a move to a strict vegan diet ended his painful battle with cystic acne. Brian Turner, from California, transformed from a lanky, skinny, teenager to a buffed bodybuilder, but this impressive transformation included a long battle with cystic acne and severe depression. At 15 years old Brian started weightlifting and, in order to gain weight, would consume large amounts of dairy products. Within six months blackheads appeared on his previously clear skin, and within a year this turned into severe cystic acne. After years of trying different types of supposed remedies, Brian was eventually advised to lay off dairy products. Seeing the benefits to his skin and his bodybuilding, he eventually cut out all animal products and turned completely vegan. And his acne disappeared. With his Team Acne channel on YouTube, Brian wants to help others with their skin problems and insecurities. 27-year old Brian told Truly; “I have changed the way I look at my skin, even if I still have some blemishes or some marks, I feel confident and I love myself. Don’t let acne hold you back from living your life”.
Follow Brian here: https://www.youtube.com/TeamAcne
Follow Brian here: https://www.youtube.com/TeamAcne
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00I was always homeschooled until I got to high school,
00:02so I didn't have any friends.
00:04People were making fun of me, so I started lifting,
00:06just to get a little bit of confidence.
00:08I used to drink a gallon of milk every single day,
00:11along with the mass gainers and proteins.
00:13The more calories I ate from dairy,
00:15the more my acne got worse.
00:17My acne, in the beginning, it was just a lot of redness.
00:20Over time, I was getting a couple pimples,
00:23and that turned into a couple cystic boils on my face.
00:25I would never have less than three or four cysts
00:28on my face at any time.
00:29So then I thought about it, and I was like,
00:30so maybe dairy is the cause of my acne?
00:37I was always the skinny kid.
00:38I was always kind of like the nerdy kid.
00:40I was always homeschooled until I got to high school.
00:42I didn't have any friends.
00:43People were making fun of me, so I started lifting,
00:45and just to get a little bit of confidence.
00:47I really found out fitness is my passion.
00:49It's something that makes me happy
00:51without anybody else needing to approve of it.
00:53I needed to eat a lot of calories,
00:55and the easiest way to gain weight at that time
00:57was just getting mass gainers and milk.
01:00There was something called the gallon of milk a day diet.
01:03You would drink a gallon of milk throughout the day,
01:05along with the regular foods you were having,
01:07along with the mass gainers and proteins
01:09and stuff that you were eating.
01:10That was just like an extra 1,500 calories.
01:13The more I gained weight, the more calories I had to eat.
01:15The more calories I ate from dairy,
01:17the more my acne got worse.
01:22I first started struggling with acne
01:23when I was probably about 16.
01:26Couple whiteheads here and there.
01:27When I was struggling with my acne,
01:29a girl at school came up to me and said,
01:30I would never date you because you're ugly.
01:34As soon as I got to school,
01:35the people immediately pointed out my acne and said,
01:37look at that big one on your nose, Rudolph.
01:39I remember I just got through that day,
01:41and I just was like, man, I can't wait to get home,
01:42and as soon as I got back into my car
01:44at the end of the day, I just broke down in tears.
01:47It was just overwhelming.
01:48Over time, I was getting a couple pimples,
01:51and that turned into a couple cystic boils on my face.
01:54I would never have less than three or four
01:56or five cysts on my face at any time.
01:59I went to a dermatologist.
02:00They started me on Accutane,
02:02and it didn't do anything for the first,
02:04I think it was like five or six months.
02:06They said a lot of the people who are doing Accutane
02:09have taken whey protein powders
02:10and sports supplements out, and they've seen improvements.
02:13So then I thought about it, and I was like,
02:14well, whey protein powder is literally derived from dairy,
02:17so maybe dairy is the cause of my acne?
02:21So I went vegan, and I did see some improvements.
02:24I took the Dairy Knot, and that helped my acne,
02:25but I then decided like, okay,
02:26maybe I'm gonna actually seriously approach
02:29veganism for a longer-term diet.
02:33A vegan diet has changed my life
02:34because I've been lifting for 11 years now,
02:37almost 12 years, and I've been vegan for five years of that.
02:40So I've been able to see the difference
02:41in my performance from before veganism and after.
02:46I lift Monday through Saturday, so six days a week,
02:49and I usually lift for about an hour and a half
02:51to two hours a day.
02:5321, 22, 23, 24, 25, 81, 82, 83.
03:08You got this, babe, come on.
03:1355, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200.
03:20Yay!
03:24That was hard.
03:27So this is a smoothie I do every single day
03:28after my workout.
03:30I do two frozen bananas that are like, chopped up,
03:33and then I do a cup of like, any assorted fruit.
03:35So like, right now I'm gonna do a cup of mangoes.
03:38Then I do about three cups of Ripple,
03:40which is a plant-based, it's pea protein milk.
03:44I do a scoop of vegan protein.
03:46And then just to get some extra greens,
03:47I put however much kale or spinach in there,
03:51so just like a big handful of kale.
03:53I remember I would have at least four chicken thighs a day.
03:56I would have a steak every single day as well.
04:03How long have you been a vegan?
04:04I have been vegan for almost the same amount of time
04:06that Brian has, so almost five years.
04:11I actually had cystic acne as well as Brian,
04:14and he actually inspired me to go vegan as well.
04:18After going vegan, I've literally like,
04:20I don't remember the last time I've gotten a cyst,
04:23and before all this, I was getting three or four,
04:26like, every single week.
04:28It feels like completely clear
04:29compared to where I was before this.
04:34Acne's a really important, you know, part of my life.
04:37It's also really important for me to just make people
04:39not feel like they're less than anyone else
04:41because they have their acne.
04:42So about a year and a half ago,
04:43I started my YouTube channel called Team Acne.
04:45I basically just talk through my journey.
04:47Now my side effects have stayed
04:48just about the same as always.
04:50I give, like, little stories about what I've been through,
04:53aspects of my own acne journey,
04:55and try to encourage people through that.
04:57When I started having acne,
04:59there was literally, at the time, there was nobody,
05:01and especially there was no, like, males talking about it.
05:03Sometimes I'll shoot food videos,
05:05sometimes I'll film, like, reaction videos.
05:07Today, I kind of just want to record
05:09a little bit of, like, some positive vibes
05:11and some, like, encouraging words.
05:14About a year ago, I started working on this thing
05:16called the Acne Program, and it's just basically, like,
05:19I took everything you could possibly need
05:21to learn about acne from, like,
05:23what you can do naturally to cure it,
05:24from, like, what you're gonna experience
05:26when you go to a dermatologist,
05:27to put it into a course that people will be able to get.
05:30A vegan diet isn't necessarily a cure-all
05:33for everybody's acne.
05:34There's so many different factors,
05:35but it's also important to keep in your mind
05:37that having acne isn't the end of the world,
05:39and it's okay to have acne.
05:44So a lot of people will ask me if I think veganism
05:47is the reason that my acne was able to clear up entirely,
05:50and I think it's hard.
05:51I think everybody has a different reason
05:53that their acne is happening.
05:54Sometimes it's hormonal and genetic,
05:55and sometimes it's, like, a food, like mine.
05:57Am I stressed more?
05:58Am I not sleeping?
05:59Am I using a different detergent?
06:01There's a lot of different things.
06:02I don't think there's any one factor
06:04that's gonna improve someone's acne 100%
06:06without having to focus on anything else in their lifestyle.
06:09I've changed the way that I even look at my skin,
06:11so even if I still have some blemishes or some marks,
06:14I feel confident, I love myself,
06:16and I don't feel like I'm any less than anybody else.
06:18Don't let acne hold you back from living your life.