Are you suffering with a skin condition like acne?
Many people are quick to pick up the latest greatest topical acne product and will spend plenty of money without enjoying the results they seek.
Truth: Acne and other skin conditions are healed from the inside out.
In this article I will share several ideas for natural acne care.
Food and beverages to avoid and those to add to benefit skin health.
Hormone balance
Supplements
Skincare products
Hormones and acne
The causes of acne are many, but often it is linked to hormonal imbalance.
This is why teenagers are prone to acne but adults may suffer too.
Acne may flare up with PMS, PCOS or with the use of oral contraceptives.
When the diet is out of balance this can lead to hormonal imbalance, so diet is an important basic step.
Eating foods that are high in sugar and refined carbs (bread, cookies, crackers, pasta, candy) and unhealthy fats harm hormonal balance.
Other causes of acne include food sensitivities and allergies, stress, reaction to medication and yeast infections.
Food and Beverages to Help Heal
Focus on building a healthy digestive system with a good balance of friendly bacteria (probiotics) and top notch whole food nutrition.
Beverages
One of the best things you can do for your skin and health in general is drinking plenty of purified water.
Divide your body weight in pounds by 2. This is the number of ounces to drink each day. (For example, if you weigh 120 pounds, then drink 60 ounces of water a day.)
Avoid soda, fruit juice, energy drinks, coffee and most caffeinated tea.
Green tea and herbal tea are fine to drink.
Fermented kombucha, about 4 to 8 oz a day (like the Synergy brand) provide beneficial probiotics.
Drink Raw Apple Cider Vinegar in water, see more below.
Best foods for clear skin
Eat a lot of non-starchy vegetables! Enjoy plenty of dark green leafy vegetables.
Eat Real Food – Unprocessed fresh nourishing food!
Avoid Factory Foods and Fast Foods
Eating food that comes from a factory or out of a fast food window often has artificial chemicals, dyes, MSG, preservatives, trans fats and other additives that damage all cells in our body.
This damage is sometimes called oxidative stress.
Other things that cause oxidative stress are sugar, processed junk food, soft drinks, caffeine and even stress, lack of sleep and chemicals in our environment.
Quick List – Foods to Avoid
Sugar is the worst food to consume but any food that quickly turns to sugar in the body causes harm too. This includes bread, pasta, boxed cereal, bagels, donuts, cake, candy, cookies and crackers.
Deep fried foods and breaded foods.
All fast food.
Processed foods with artificial ingredients.
Watch out of artificial sweeteners like aspartame and Splenda/Sucralose which can cause acne.
Pasteurized milk and milk products may cause acne. Try eliminating all dairy for a period of three weeks to see if dairy is a contributing factor.
1,000 IU per for children and 2,000 IU – 10,000 IU per day for adults. Please get your Vitamin D3 levels tested and make sure you are above 50 ng/mL. D3 Dosage information.
Register to get 15% off professional grade supplements that I recommend.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3s improve brain and body health to counter Omega 6 inflammatory fats.
Omega-3s are beneficial for heart, brain, vision, joint, and immune health, and since our body can’t make them, we must obtain them through our diet or a supplement.
When it comes to Omega 3 Fatty Acids, invest in quality fish oil gel capsules or cod liver oil.
Promotes cardiovascular, cognitive, and joint function
1,100 mg of omega-3s per teaspoonful + vitamins A and D3
Available in lemon, green apple, fruit splash, or natural flavor
Lab tested for freshness, potency, and purity
2000 mg EPA+DHA per serving
Highest-concentration triglyceride-form omega oil
Unmatched support for heart, brain, immune health, and more
ProOmega 2000 features a breakthrough omega-3 oil. Ultra-concentrated EPA+DHA in the highly absorbable, triglyceride molecular form. In a slightly larger soft gel, this powerful concentrate is ideal for patients’ requiring the highest levels EPA+DHA.
Take Active B Complex or Methyl B Complex Daily
The B Vitamins are important for skin health. If acne is persistent, it is a good idea to add a comprehensive B Complex like Active B Complex or Methyl B Complex.
These supplements provide the methylated form of the B Vitamins. There is a connection between inability to detox and MTHFR and acne. Read my post here and here.
Vitamin E
The best and easiest sources of Vitamin E foods are olive oil and palm oil. Additionally you can eat sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, avocados, spinach and broccoli.
Supplement with a soy-free gel cap with 400 IU daily (268mg as d-alpha tocopherol)
Acts as an antioxidant and helps repair skin tissue
Symptoms of Zinc deficiency include immune deficiencies, acne, anemia, anorexia, brittle nails, craving for sugary foods, dandruff, decreased ability to taste, decreased desire for protein-rich foods, decreased sense of smell, decreased sexual function, eczema, fatigue, hair loss, impaired wound healing, impotence, infertility, low sperm count, night blindness, poor appetite, white spots on nails and more.
Take a comprehensive, trace mineral supplement, like LDA Trace Mineral Complex or Multi-Mineral Complex w/o Iron.
LDA Trace Mineral Complex
30 mg Zinc (as TRAACS® zinc bisglycinate chelate) along with 200 mcg selenium, manganese, copper, 200 mcg chromium, molybdenum, potassium, vanadium, silica and boron.
Multi-Mineral Complex w/o Iron
15 mg Zinc (as zinc citrate) along with calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, 100 mcg selenium, copper, manganese, 120 mcg chromium, molybdenum, potassium.
Zinc Recommended Dosage – 15 to 50 milligrams.
MSM
MSM is a naturally-derived sulfur formula that helps support joint functionality and comfort, specifically connective tissue health.
MSM (methylsulfonylmethane or dimethylsulfone) is a source of organic sulfur found naturally in the human body. While sulfur supports many functions, it is well known for maintaining connective tissue health. Sulfur also supports tissue containing significant amounts of collagen and keratin, including hair, skin, and nails. Sulfur is essential in methionine, cysteine and serum protein metabolism.
Take 1–2 scoops daily, with meals.
Healthy, nutrient-dense food and targeted supplements can help restore the body and help achieve clear skin. We can fight off cellular damage and help our skin cells and other cells be healthy by choosing unprocessed food like meat, fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit, healthy fats, nuts and seeds.
Get my book, The Reclaim Diet, to learn how to move away from a health-damaging way of eating to a health-building, nutrient-dense way of eating.
Collagen is one of the largest factors of keeping your skin healthy.
Collagen is the main protein found in the connective tissues, which includes the skin.
Collagen helps keep the skin soft, elastic, supple and smooth, but our natural production of collagen begins to start declining around age 25.
Increase Your Intake of Antioxidants – Fight free radicals
Antioxidants from many foods and plants stop dangerous free radicals that damage skin cells.
Foods like berries, broccoli, spinach, and kale are high in antioxidants. Vitamins like E and C are antioxidants and NingXia Red is a fantastic antioxidant drink.
Adding 1 – 2 oz of NingXia Red super antioxidant puree of the wolfberry, is a delicious way to ramp up antioxidants to fight the bad free radicals.
Inflammation
Sebum is the natural oil produced by the skin that keeps the skin hydrated and healthy.
Sometimes, too much sebum is produced due to inflammation.
Inflammation is the normal process that the body uses to heal from injury. The problem comes from having chronic inflammation.
Chronic inflammation results from things like eating the wrong foods, not getting enough sleep, being stressed out, not drinking enough pure water, exposing ourselves to too many environmental chemicals and pollution.
Eat an anti-inflammatory diet and include antioxidant-rich foods like NingXia Red discussed above.
What about prescriptions like Accutane? Magic skincare products?
Don’t Waste Your Money on Expensive Harsh Acne Products and Drugs. When choosing topical skincare products, ingredients matter. Avoid petroleum-based ingredients and harmful chemicals. Opt for natural skincare products to cleanse, tone and moisturize. I recommend the Balance line of products, discussed below.
When it comes to skin care, it’s hard to tune out all of the noise, ads, and endless online tutorials and just get down to a straightforward solution that works for your skin. That’s why we created BALANCE: to simplify skin care. The BALANCE Collection includes BALANCE Cleanser, BALANCE Dual-Phase Toner, and BALANCE Mattifying Lotion to make skin care simple and effective enough that it will stop being a nightly chore and become a treasured moment of clarity.
Young Living’s Maximum-Strength Acne Treatment penetrates pores for the treatment of acne and to prevent the development of new blemishes, pimples, and blackheads while keeping skin soft, smooth, and moisturized.
Naturally derived, maximum-strength salicylic acid from Wintergreen to help clear acne, blemishes, pimples, and blackheads.
It is formulated with Tea Tree premium essential oil to help cleanse skin and Manuka oil to reduce the appearance of blemishes.
Some acne treatments leave skin feeling tight and dry, but with the addition of aloe and chamomile extracts, this exclusive treatment fights blemishes while keeping skin soft, smooth, and moisturized.
These essential oils are gentle for the skin. Dab the essential oil on the affected areas at bedtime and in the morning. I only recommend using Young Living essential oils for purity and potency, get them here.
Coconut Oil, Babassu Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar
Raw Unrefined Coconut Oil is moisturizing, antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory. It is a great natural remedy for all kinds of skin problems. You can cook with coconut oil and keep a jar in the bathroom. Apply to the face at night after treating the acne with essential oils like tea tree oil. Consume coconut oil daily.
Alternatively, I also recommend Babassu Oil. Babassu oil is similar to coconut oil in consistency, but with a mild, barely noticeable fragrance.
Use for irritated skin and to improve the elasticity of skin
Benefits for minor wounds, shallow cuts and scars, burns or rashes
Raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar is cloudy not clear. When the bottle is allowed to sit undisturbed the “mother” will be seen on the bottom of the bottle. Shake before using
ACV has beneficial bacteria and beneficial yeast that fights the unwanted yeast like candida and unhealthy bacteria
Useful for skin – apply topically to helps with bug bites, sunburn, poison ivy.
Apple cider vinegar helps reduce acne. It balances skin pH and reduces bacteria.
Raw Apple Cider Vinegar can also be taken internally to help balance pH. Take 1-3 tsp in a glass of water (rinse your mouth after drinking) before meals.
Topically, dilute the vinegar 50:50 with purified water. Put the vinegar on a cotton ball and use as an astringent, leaving on the skin 10 minutes. Rinse. If the 50:50 solution irritates the skin, try a more diluted solution.
Where to Begin: Start your acne-healing program by eating clean for a week.
Eating clean, and following my plan for a real food way of eating is the fastest way to move the needle. The Reclaim Diet. In this book I walk you through the elimination diet, the gold standard to determine the foods that may be causing acne and health-related problems. Go as far as eliminating all grains, sugar, and dairy for one week focusing on vegetables (6-9 servings per day), clean protein, some low-sugar fruit, seeds, nuts and healthy fats (avocado, olives, olive oil, ghee, unrefined coconut oil).
Follow my plan in The Reclaim Diet
By following the food and beverage recommendations above and adding quality supplements you will be on your way to repairing your gut.
Beautiful skin can be yours!NOW
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