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My boyfriend and I are in very different places in the paleo journey. He has been following the lifestyle for years and I only started a few months ago. We have been fussing with macro nutrient ratios lately. He is always low carb but has more protein than fat where as I am low carb trying to do high fat mod protein.

He always seems to have a rash of sorts that is tons of little bumps on the back of his arms. I cant figure out what is causing it! He eats ground beef, raw kale, chicken soup (made the right way with TONS of minerals etc) and thats about it. I eat a much more varied diet. Now, I have only gotten the bumps a few times but I also get them on my legs! There doesnt seem to be any particular food that causes it.

Now I lets just say thanksgiving was an epic failure for me in all ways. I ate things that I cant even bring myself to write. Moving on, but I am really really breaking out into the "bump rash" right now. All over my body it seems! ARgggg

So here are my questions:

  1. What are these bumps?????

  2. Why does he have them and what does it mean? It seems like inflammation of some kind but from what?

  3. Am I having them right now because I am "detoxing" from my thanksgiving binge? It is the first time in months I had eaten such.. crap. Think store bought pie, fudge, stuffing made with fake butter ugh the list goes on.

Bf did not eat anything bad for the holiday- he was smartly at home and did not go to either of our mothers feasts. I am back on track - and pretty strict.

Thanks=)

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 This is most likely a vit. A difficiency. He doesn't eat liver? I have these bumps when my thyroid medication is too low (hypothyroid causes the inability to convert beta carotenes into vitamin A) or I am not eating enough foods with vitamin A. Vitamin A is found in organ meats, cod liver oil,butterfat from grass fed cows. The beta carotene in vegitables is difficult for some to convert so is not a good source. – Terry Nov 27 2011 at 13:59
Hmm. he was adding organ meats into his ground beef for awhile but I cant recall if that affected the skin. I will have to add some vit A in there somewhere. We do however eat pastured grass fed butter. I tried eating regular butter a few nights back- Blech!! – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:13
has your iodine (or iodide) intake increased on paleo. from food or supplements? – daz Nov 28 2011 at 3:07
Actually yes- I make a big batch of chicken soup once a week (to be eaten over the week) and I put about 1/6 a cup of seaweed into the pot. So we do consume more. – ancestral_stars Nov 28 2011 at 5:51
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 you may want to investigate 'bromide acne'. Iodine may result in a bromide/bromine detox. Seaweed is also high in bromine compounds & often contains other contaminants (i believe kelp may be the worst). Anyway worth looking into. here's some links to start with; perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=3650 (mentions seaweed) & breastcancerchoices.org/… (Iodine-related bromide symptoms) – daz Nov 28 2011 at 7:16
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11 Answers

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Keratosis Pilaris perhaps?

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 If it's this, you could try taking cold showers. – Korion Nov 27 2011 at 12:55
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 Here's a previous thread about keratosis pilaris: paleohacks.com/questions/3397/… – Ed♦ Nov 27 2011 at 13:13
Hmm quite possible. His doctor told him it was "harmless" (He has had it forever) I do recall now bf saying that it happens during winter more... – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:14
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 side note I kinda hate it when doctors say something is perfectly harmless just because its common and doesnt seem to kill. I see the skin as a very big sign of how a persons health is and something to pay attention to! – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:19
Thanks for this answer, I looked it up and it looks spot-on. – panteleimon Nov 28 2011 at 13:28
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Shifting away from nutrition here - could this be something more in your environment that's affecting you both? New washing detergent / soaps / cleaning products? Something in your water supply? Air borne particles from nearby traffic or industrial works?

Or, dare I say it. Fleas from pets or bedbugs?

Just a thought...

h

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 seconded on the bedbugs. – raydawg Nov 27 2011 at 15:25
Ugh I hope its not bedbugs. Hmm no pets that can harbor flees. Ill look into our environment. – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:14
it's not bedbugs - bedbugs don't leave tiny little bumps all over, they leave big red itchy welts, often in a string of two or three in a row. Bedbug bites are like really bad mosquito bites. – Jack Mac Nov 27 2011 at 23:56
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Keratosis Pilaris is a definite possibility. Up your vitamin A with a some organ meat (liver being the best), or vit a supplement, and also check your vit d levels as you may need to address these also.

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Ill have to look into that- especially the vit D not much sun around these parts at the moment. Plus he had it WAY less in the summer! – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:15
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Is it itchy? If it is itchy then I personally assume it might be because of the toxic load at the liver. I get itchy little bumps whenever I'm not eliminating bad things from my body, like after eating high carbs, sugar, dairy, gluten etc. It comes out of skin. The itchy bumps go on for 1-2 weeks after ingesting the bad stuff. Especially since you say that you get break-outs after eating "something you can't bring yourself to speak of".....

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Good answer. Keratosis pilaris doesn't itch. If it's itchy, it's likely food allergies or detox. – gilliebean♦ Nov 27 2011 at 17:37
nope not itchy- but good thing to keep in mind. – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 21:35
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I agree with Nudge. I had the same problem for a long time after spending a year traveling in Australia. Not only was I massively fat-soluble vitamin deficient, but I was getting a ton of sun, so I was probably having way too much vitamin D, which is known to result in a consequential vitamin A deficiency (see Chris Masterjohn's work: http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/2009/04/tufts-university-confirms-that-vitamin.html)

Hyperkeratosis pillaris is a common sign of vitamin A deficiency. It may be possible that the deficiency might be in vitamin K2 as well, since K2 is required for vitamins A and D to function correctly.

I only recently was able to heal my KP with a combination of diet and good exfoliation. But it can be done. It's not a detox reaction, it's a fundamental problem of disordered keratin production in the skin. The bumps are simply a buildup of keratin around the hair follicle.

I would add cod liver oil and high vitamin butter oil to your supplement routine if you have one. As far as products go, I like KP Duty by Dermadoctor (http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P147925&om_mmc=GoogleBase&_requestid=42976&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=934539&sbanner=us_search)for exfoliation in the shower, and Amlactin XL (http://www.dermadoctor.com/product_AmLactin-XL-Moisturizing-Lotion-with-Ultraplex_1018.html?AID=5210&src=cse&ecamp=froogle) as a lotion.

Combining good diet, fat-soluble vitamins, and an aggressive exfoliation routine has completely cured my hyperkeratosis pillaris, so I really recommend that protocol for you and your boyfriend!

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Hmm seems like fat soluble vits and vit A/D are a common theme. Easy enough to try out I like answers like that!=) – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:16
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I get this every time I eat dairy. You don't seem to be, so it may not be a problem- or perhaps it was included in your Thanksgiving binge...?

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I have been drinking whole organic omega milk lately. Which probably upped my vit d intake.. hmm.. maybe exposing underlying fat soluble vit deficiency (as per suggested above) – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:22
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I had keratosis for years. My chiropractor told me to take flaxseed oil when my DS was little - it cleared it up!

It's definitely to do with fats... Whether its ratios (omega 3:6:9 etc.) or fat soluble vitamins (vitamin a etc.), I'm not sure. I know that supplementing with flaxseed oil worked for me.

That was SWD eating & before low carb/paleo. I have scars from having it for so long, but it doesn't flare like it used to.

I think I also read that it's something to do with not being efficient at converting beta-carotene to retinol.

Knowing what the condition is should help find what works to relieve it though!

And, FWIW, I see a lot of overweight people with it in the UK.

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Just a sidenote, Robb Wolf spoke about flaxseed on one of his very early podcasts (< 10th) in relation to Omega 3 enriched eggs. The question was why eat the eggs rather than flaxseed directly, and the point was that due to the strain it puts on the liver, it is much better that we let the chickens eat the flaxseed and we benefit from their eggs. – AlohaSpeck Nov 27 2011 at 14:35
We do eat omega eggs and we take fish oil when we remember to. Perhaps more? – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:16
I specifically stated that I took flaxseed oil prior to knowing about low carb and paleo. It worked - I was probably very deficient in EFAs or Vitamin A:D:E:K ratio as it was... I take CLO instead of flaxseed oil now. – Efaitch Nov 28 2011 at 21:08
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I got a similar outcome from overdosing on omega 3s. If you are high dosing on fish oil you may consider cutting back. Shot in the dark though.

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Def not high dosing- but it does fit with the theme of fat soluble vits being all screwy! – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 16:25
Too much vitamin D, not enough A and K2. – Laura Nov 27 2011 at 17:57
can you really get too much vit d from drinking whole milk? – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 20:14
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Definitely sounds like KP [ie, chicken skin]. I had this for 25+ yrs, mostly on back of arms, and on torso. I had a ton of other skin issues [plaque psoriasis and celiac HP], so this was something I never paid much attention. I did try a number of lotions with limited success [eucerin, glycolic acid [AHA], lactic acid cream, and others].

And then I started paleo and it just went away.

It seems like there is an inflammation component, so you might try something like cortizone 10. Also, mine was always much worse in the winter, so maybe either low vit D, or just the dryness. You might try more moisturizing [I use coconut oil after a shower].

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 Thanks for the suggestions=) We will try them. I just think its odd that I only got it once I started paleo not before. So thats why I was wondering if Im doing something wrong=) – ancestral_stars Nov 28 2011 at 6:46
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Sounds like hives to me. Do they disappear after an hour or so?

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Hives tend to migrate to different parts of the body, though. At least mine did. I would consider it weird if they kept popping up in the same place. – Huey Nov 27 2011 at 18:24
Hmm I very much doubt they are hives- I think they are the keratosis stuff – ancestral_stars Nov 27 2011 at 20:13
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The boyfriends sound like KP but if you are getting all over body more like hives. When you just had on legs that is probably KP little red raised bumps.

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