How to Get Rid of Acne

Cause

What Can You Do to Help?

Hormones

• Rebalance these by:
• Avoiding stress -- stress causes the over production of hormones
• Use relaxation techniques, such as Yoga, T'ai Chi and deep breathing
• Avoid caffeine -- caffeine stimulates hormone production
• Exercise -- exercise rebalances hormones and reduces stress
• Include the hormone balancing food maca in your diet

Include maca in your diet, or as a supplement.

Diet Factors

• Foods to avoid include:
• Dairy products (milk, cheese, cream, yogurt etc)
• Refined and cooked carbohydrates (flour, bread, rice, crisps and chips, sugar etc)
• Cooked fats (fried food, hydrogenated oils, roasted nuts)
• Meat (beef, pork, chicken, lamb etc)
• All the above foods are acid-forming in the body. If you really want to get rid of acne, you need to eat more alkaline-forming foods -- fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts (sparingly) and seeds. The foods to avoid listed above also cause a sluggish digestive system. If food travels too slowly through the body, toxins build up and aren't carried away by the usual processes and are expelled via the skin, causing acne.

A diet without some of the staples you have become used to may sound scary, but it doesn't have to be. Clear Skin contains over 70 delicious recipes that benefit those with acne.

Harsh Skin Care Products

People with acne are often advised to use harsh, drying products on the skin. These dry the skin out too much, causing the sebaceous glands to excrete more oil to compensate. Dry skin also leads to excess dead skin cells. More oil + excess dead skin cells = blocked pores and more acne!

• Ingredients to avoid:
• Alcohol, isopropyl myristate, lanolin, sodium lauryl sulphate, sodium laureth sulphate, propylene glycol, mineral oil and parabens
• Benzoyl peroxide
• Don't be afraid of using oil in products. This can be the best thing for those wanting to get rid of acne -- using oils that mimic the skin's natural oils (coconut and jojoba) will rebalance the oil production of your skin. These oils won't block your pores. Use more of the following (these can be found in natural products in health food stores):
• Tea tree oil -- antiseptic and antibacterial, great for existing infections
• Lavender oil -- soothing and healing, great for accelerating healing of scars
• Coconut oil -- look out for products that use this as a base. Can also be used on its own.
• Jojoba oil -- look out for products that use this as a base
• Exfoliate twice a week to get rid of dead skin cells

Did you know...?

Applying harsh chemicals (usually found in conventional acne products) to the skin can actually exacerbate the skin's natural oil production and make acne worse?

Dehydration

To get rid of acne, the skin needs to be hydrated from the inside to prevent blocked pores.

Drink plenty of water and eat plenty of water-rich foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables. This will also help speed up a sluggish digestive system.

The Yeast Link

People with acne often have a build-up of yeast in the body and are susceptible to yeast infections, such as thrush (Candida Albicans). This can also impact the digestive system bringing on problems such as constipation. Antibiotics and a diet high in yeast and sugar will aggravate this further.

• Avoid the following:
• Sugary foods
• Yeast products (bread, beer, yeast extract, soya sauce and mushrooms)

If you are taking antibiotics, or have taken them in the past, supplement with a good quality probiotic, such as Nature's Biotics.

Drink Aloe Vera Juice to heal your digestive system.

Antibiotics

Many people with acne are prescribed antibiotics, which may help destroy the bacteria that breed inside the blocked pores, but they also destroy the healthy bacteria that help support the activity of your intestines. If your intestines are not working efficiently, there will be a buildup of toxins in the digestive system which can aggravate acne. The body also builds up a tolerance to antibiotics, meaning you need larger and larger doses to get the same effect.

If you are taking antibiotics, or have taken them in the past, supplement with a good quality probiotic, such as Nature's Biotics. A high quality probiotic, such as Nature's Biotics, will restore the good bacteria in the gut. This will improve the health of your digestive system, enabling it to better absorb the vitamins and minerals from your food. Food will also pass through at the right speed, preventing constipation and/or diahorrea. A sluggish digestive system is often linked to acne because the toxins aren’t being eliminated correctly by the digestive system and so are eliminated via the skin.

Drink Aloe Vera Juice to heal your digestive system.