In 2018 I was diagnosed with rosacea. My dermatologist didn’t offer any solutions. He just suggested I watch what I eat and avoid foods that can cause inflammation.

I started excluding tomatoes from my diet. Then dairy. Then red wine. In a years time, my diet had shrunk to exclude eggs, any red fruits and any red vegetables as well. This still wasn’t enough as I continued to have obvious signs of inflammation all over my face.

That’s when I started to do my own research. I just couldn’t accept that rosacea was not curable and that traditional medicine simply didn’t have an answer. I started to read book after book written by medical doctors, and ultimately stumbled upon Ann Mayer’s book. This would help me understand that rosacea is more than just a “skin” disorder. Rather, it is a complex autoimmune disease.

With all the research I was doing and all the connections I was seeing between autoimmune conditions and the microbiome, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a clear correlation between the two.

My journey began with the exclusion diet and trying to repair my gut. I stuck to my plan and the effect was certainly noticeable. Though, no matter how much I managed to repair my gut (through fasting + bone broth, , probiotics, prebiotics, and tons of supplements), and no matter how long I avoided eating my “trigger” foods, as soon as I consumed even a little – my rosacea would come right back. In full force and blooming. I never had a full remission. This treatment was not sustainable for me, and I kept searching for a solution…