April 16 2017 by Amanda Åkesson | medical review by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD

Can a ketogenic diet alleviate some skin conditions, like acne and other similar conditions? It was the case for Sailor, who has not had flare ups of her Hidradenitis Suppurativa after becoming keto adapted.

The email

I suffered with Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) for over 20 years. Essentially a network of boils in the sweat glands (for me, the arm pits) that don’t drain, last for months and form connection of a network of boils.

Within three months of starting a well-formulated ketogenic diet, all flares were gone! Yes gone! I have been free of hidradenitis suppurativa for over six months now.

I choose a high-fiber and low-carb ketogenic diet – tracking net carbs. I make sure I have lots of fiber-rich keto approved veggies and greens and keto-approved chia puddings and other foods where the carbs are essentially almost negated by fiber – as I count ‘net carbs’ using cronometer for free.
Some suffering with HS are offered surgery and told there is no cure. I started keto to manage my pre-diabetes and PCOS, and whilst both of these are now treated, eg. good blood sugar and regular period, the unexpected side-effect of keto has been to cure my previously thought to be incurable skin/endocrine/autoimmune disease hidradenitis suppurativa.
Try keto – what do you have to lose – think about it. What do you have to lose. Go keto. Fat is where it is at.

Sailor