posted April 01, 2016 09:04 AM
As acne is a multifaceted problem, it requires a holistic approach.
The root causes of acne are hormonal imbalance, a build up of congesting toxins in the blood and lymph and in most, if not all cases, a gut microflora imbalance.Is your monthly cycle regular and normal or irregular, or too heavy?
Did you ever try to treat your problem with either antibiotics, be it oral or topical, oral contraceptive / birth control pills, accutane?
Or if you are currently using any of these, you should try to come off them gradually.
It's even more important to restore your health after such "treatments".
In order to balance your hormones you need to fix and regulate your glands functions. Your liver needs cleansing through foods and herbs in order to deactivate and flush out excess hormones and improve digestion.
First and foremost you would like to correct your diet to be consisting of only whole, highly nutritious foods.
I hope you are eating meat, otherwise if you are vegetarian then different adjustments with your diet might be needed.
Starting with the most problematic substances - sugar and gluten foods.
I don't know if you eat sugary and sweet things, but if you do you should gradually take them out of your diet. If you feel like you need to compensate by eating more fruits, then chances are you are not helping your acne.
Reduce your fruits... you can always have lemons and limes and in some cases grapefruits. Blueberries are also extremely valuable. Just don't over-do them. Excess fructose is very heavy on the liver and you are still wreaking havoc with all of that sugar. Eating sugar causes an insulin response in your pancreas, the more sweets you eat regularly the more and more insulin needs to be secreted which in turn signals your other glands to produce excess androgenic hormones.
Also, if you are drinking coffee you might want to reduce that to a minimum as well.
Gluten - i swear this is everywhere now, just like sugar. It is a very irritating protein, creating inflammation, irritability, digestive problems, damaging the gut.
Also, it's found in many high-carb foods so it is best to avoid gluten foods altogether.
Which brings me to the next point - high-carb foods. If your diet must include carbohydrates and grains then you should choose to have the whole ones.
Black/brown rice, red potatoes, yams, even sweet potatoes are ok. Gluten-free grains - amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat. And the traditional beans and lentils. Just try not to eat large amounts of these as they may also cause insulin response.
You should stay away from pre-packaged and processed foods.
Consume as much as you can from the green and leafy vegetables - either raw or you can steam the leafy ones. Lots of spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, red and green chards, peppers, rucola, radishes... anything green and leafy you must have in abundance. 
Vegetable sprouts are also a very nutritious addition - sprouted broccoli, cabbage...
Fats - these are so important to proper gland function and hormonal balance.
Avoid all rancid, refined, and hydrogenated fats as they cause a lot of inflammation and hormonal dysregulation.
Healthy fats carry very important fatty soluble vitamins that are so important for healthy skin.
- Coconut oil - extra virgin or even fermented - is extremely beneficial. You can take 1-2 tablespoons per day on an empty stomach or cook with it and incorporate it in to recipies. It is so beneficial to the skin, gut and metabolism!
- Avocados - this is a very nutritious fatty vegetable with lots of potassium. Include it in your salad or eat guacamole.
Avocados are a bit high on omega 6 fats though, so do not eat too much of them.
- Butter - grass-fed butter is very good and important too. It is mostly a saturated MCT fat but since it's an animal, not a vegetable fat, it has a much better nutritional profile.
You can have many olives too.
If you eat meat and if you have access to organic and grass-fed then choose the more fatty meats. Fish is also great as long as it's not farm raised.
- Liver cod oil - you might want to add this to your diet as it will provide you with the necessary amount of Vitamin A and D, along with a great amount of omega 3 fats.
You can also include chia seeds and some flax seeds to increase your omega 3.
Omega 3 fats are anti-inflammatory and will greatly reduce your skin redness. They are also highly beneficial for a healthy hormone production.
- Eggs - if you can find free-range and organic ones then you'd better have some.
As for Magnesium - most people are deficient in it, and you know you are for certain if you crave chocolate...
Taking it in powder form should be a last resort... most magnesium types do not absorb at all and alkalise the stomach too much too quickly.
To get sufficient magnesium all you need is to get raw, organic cocoa paste/mass. Eat 20-40 grams per day as a "dessert" after your meal and you will have your magnesium balanced within 1-2 weeks. So much that you would not want to eat any more chocolate. :P
High quality mineral/himaliyan salt - half to 1 teaspoon in a glass of filtered water between meals - you can add some freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice in it too. It will help a long way.
Apple Cider Vinegar - if you can get it home-made then you can have a tablespoon in the morning or with your protein meals. It is great for helping you digest proteins, and has the ability to dissolve stones - kidney, gallbladder...
Do not drink alkaline water - your water pH should not exceed 7. Alkaline water reduces the stomach acid which creates problems down the road (quite literally).
Digestion starts in the mouth and through the senses - eat nicely seasoned food and chew it very well. By having a strong stomach acid your food should be well digested and assimilated. Low stomach acid leads to heartburn, ulcers, indigestion, gas and allows bacteria and what not to bypass your stomach acid defense.
Vegetable juices high in chlorophyll heal the stomach of any ulcers.
Wheatgrass juice powder is incredibly cleansing and nutritious - directly helps acne as it gently cleanses the liver.
Aloe vera gel/juice - can be very healing for the gut, as long as it's not the nasty bitter type - that one actually creates lots of irritation and inflammation - you would not be able to drink it for its horrible taste.
Liver cleansing herbs that you can take:
- dandelion root
- burdock root
- yellow dock
- red clover
- oregon grape
- chaparral
Liver building herbs (taken after a course of liver-cleansing herbs or just in general as liver/gallbladder rejuvenating):
- Artichoke
- Milk Thistle
- Astragalus
As long as your gallbladder is working quite well you should be able to digest fats and be regular.
Gut microflora imbalance - this is an individual topic but in general you may want to include fermented foods and maybe supplement with probiotics if you often bloat and have foul smelling gas with irregular and inconsistent in type bowel movements.
Some beneficial fermented foods that you can also make yourself or buy organic without any unnecessary ingredients or low-fat milk are: kefir, sauerkraut.
If you drink lots of store-bought milk you may be aggravating your acne.
Eating nuts or drinking nut milk may not help your acne... nuts are difficult on the liver and gallbladder - so for acne sufferers it's best to limit those greatly.
I hope this ridiculously long post doesn't scare anyone off as it aims to provide with the basic, but most important information in general. I hope it is of some help, it's not complete as i don't know how severe your acne is and what is specifically triggering it, but i have tried to cover most of the things. If you have questions or you want to ask me anything, just do so.
I hope the knowledge you gather here really helps in bringing you the positive changes that you need! You are still so young, you can heal your skin very efficiently!
Enough sounding like a teacher now...lol
Lindaland
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posted March 30, 2016 11:45 AM
posted March 31, 2016 11:48 AM