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I became interested in nutritional and natural skin care not, ironically 10 years ago when my husband and I added a certified esthetician and skin care line to our busy Health and Wellness Center but a year or so later when I got diagnosed with some hormone imbalances. On my first trip to a wonderful holistic Ob/Gyn she prescribed a bioidentical progesterone cream for me. When I questioned her about why the cream instead of a pill she explained that in pill form the hormone has to travel through your digestive system where some of it’s strength is lost. The cream applied to your skin is a direct route into your blood stream.

My light bulb moment happened later that evening when fresh out of a steamy shower with pores wide open I went to apply my favorite moisturizer to my body and I heard her words again that when applied to your body the cream/lotion has a direct route to your blood stream. I read the ingredients on my lotion. Most of them I had never really heard of and few of them I could even pronounce. The next day led me to my computer for research and what has become a 7 year quest to learn what I was really putting into my and my families bodies and the safest, most effective ways to do it otherwise.

Acne

According to the American Association of Dermatologists acne is one of the most common skin complaints and roughly 80% of all Americans between the ages of 12 and 45 will suffer to some degree from it. Acne is an inflammatory skin disorder that causes pimples, blackheads, whiteheads and the ever dreaded under grounders. Acne is also a message sent out by your body that something is off with your body chemistry, diet and or skin care routine. Good nutritional choices, natural supplementation and natural, gentle effective skin care products are all you need to be rid of the problem forever.

Diet

The foundation to any skin care regime is good nutrition. You’ve heard the old adage, “You are what you eat.” This principle applies in great degree to your skin as well. Think junk going in = junk coming out. Adopting a diet that is free from sugar, processed foods and hydrogenated oils will be the surest way to clear up your skin permanently. A diet that is high in vegetables, especially raw ones, low in processed grains, low in saturated fats, low in animal products and free from high sugar high fat processed foods has been shown in studies to permanently eliminate acne in as little as 12 weeks. Juicing raw vegetables is a great way to speed up this process and help quickly detoxify your skin. (See skin care juicing at the end of the article)

A primarily plant based diet is a great foundation for not only any skin care concerns you may have but most all other health care problems you may be suffering as well.

It may be particularly helpful to try to eliminate dairy from your diet for a few months to see if you if you could have possibly developed an allergy to dairy. Even if you do not have a dairy allergy the high fat content of milk can aggravate any acne condition. Today’s dairy products are also so loaded with hormones and steroids that can upset the body’s natural hormonal balance that it’s a good idea just to avoid them all together for yourself and your family. A good substitute is Almond milk. It comes in sweetened, unsweetened, vanilla and chocolate. Our family prefers the unsweetened, unflavored original and have come to find that we even prefer the taste over regular milk.

For acne suffers it is particularly important to try to avoid all forms of sugar. Sugar severely impairs the bodies immune function and makes it harder for the skin to rid itself of toxins and heal properly. Biopsies have shown that lots or acne lesions contain glucose. Researches have named this “skin diabetes” and found that many acne sufferers do not metabolize sugar correctly. Chromium which improves insulin sensitivity has been shown to help this condition. Magnesium may also help defeat insulin resistance.

It is very important for people with acne to drink at least 8-10 glasses of quality water every day. Some medical professionals have dubbed the skin “your third kidney.” Being the single largest organ of the body one of the skin’s primarily functions is to eliminate toxic waste through sweating. If the body contains too many toxins the liver and the kidneys can get over worked at which point the skin has to take over. As the toxins escape through the skin it’s once healthy appearance is disrupted. You can effectively continue to detox your body and skin by sweating through exercise and/or sauna treatments and replacing the lost fluids with clean quality water. A noteworthy skin care expert and make-up maven was quoted on a national talk show as saying, “An hour at the gym will do more for your skin then a day at the dermatologist.”

What should I take

• A good probiotic formula will help replenish essential bacteria and reduce outbreaks.
• Essential fatty acids (flaxseed oil and primrose oil are good choices) Correcting an this imbalance alone can have an impressive effect on acne.
• Potassium deficiency has been associated with acne.
• Full spectrum vitamin B the anti-stress vitamins improve blood flow to the skin, is important for healthy skin tone. Deficiencies have been associated with acne.
• Chromium Picolinate aids in reducing infections of the skin.
• Vitamin D3 promotes healing and tissue repair.
• Garlic destroys bacteria and enhances immune function. It is also rich in Selenium, B6, and zinc and aids in detoxification making it an all around winner.
• Vitamin C promotes immune response, reduces inflammation and is used for collagen repair of the skin. The buffered type is preferred.
• Milk thistle, red clover and dandelion leaves are all effective against acne. Milk thistle aids the liver in cleansing the blood. This is a great place to start with your acne program as a liver that is not supported can have a hard time breaking down and clearing out excess hormones from the body as it should and can worsen acne.
• Zinc is an antibacterial and needed for the oil producing glands of the skin to stay healthy. A diet low in zinc may promote flare ups. Foods rich in zinc include pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, garlic, sesame seeds, watermelon seeds, wheat germ, squash seeds and chickpeas.

How should I care for my skin?

• Try to stick with the most natural chemical free skin care cleansers.
• Look for all natural cleansers at your health food store with sulfur in it.
• Wash your skin throughly but gently and no more then twice a day.Over washing and vigorous scrubbing will make your acne worse by over stimulating the sebaceous glands causing them to over produce sebum.
• Use a natural good quality toner to maintain the skin’s pH balance or make your own using 10 parts water and 1 part apple cider vinegar.
• Resist the urge to pick or pop pimples. This can spread bacteria and cause permanent scars. This should only be done by a qualified esthetician.
• Tea tree oil is an excellent antibiotic and antiseptic. It can be dabbed full strength on blemishes up to three times a day.
• Lavender oil is another good antibiotic and antiseptic and can also be applied directly to pimples. It not only kills germs but also stimulates new cell growth.

Things to consider

• For severe acne following a juice fasting and detox program can be helpful for healing acne.
• Following an anti-candida diet and cleanse program since yeast over growth is one of the leading causes of acne especially in adults.
• Finding a spa in your area who utilizes high frequency treatments.The safe and gentle oscillating, oxygenating power of high frequency electrical current has been shown to enhance blood circulation, increase collagen and elastin production, eliminate toxins and acne-causing bacteria, encourage lymphatic drainage, exfoliate dead skin cells and improve skin care product absorption.
• Spending just a few minutes in the sun each day without sunscreen or make up can greatly improve acne.
• What to avoid
• Strong oral antibiotics can have serious side effects and cause an overgrowth of candida which can worsen acne in the long run.
• Benzoyl Peroxide containing products are not only loaded with harmful chemicals but are also extremely drying which can lead to excess oil production. Research has shown that a 5% solution of tee tree oil was just as effective as a 5% solution of benzoyl peroxide in treating acne.
• The drug Accutane is known to cause dry skin, nose bleeds, headaches, joint and muscle pain. It’s most dangerous side effect is that it can cause serious birth defects in children even after two months of discontinuing use. In some cases it has also been known to cause depression and other mental disorders. The Archives of Dermatology have recently found that it may also cause bone density loss.
• Avoid wearing make up as much as possible and when you have to opt instead of oil based make up for either mineral make up or water based natural products.

Juicing for Acne

Excess toxins in the body can cause your pores to be clogged up. One of the most effective ways to deal with this problems is by juicing fresh fruit and vegetable juices.

You would never be able to eat the amount of vegetables in a day that you are able to consume by juicing them. You are essentially extracting the vital vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes of fruit and vegetables and discarding the fiber. By removing fiber, the juice is able to be quickly absorbed into the body and be put to maximum use in the body.

When you eat whole fruit and vegetables, it can take up to several hours of digestion before beneficial nutrients enter the bloodstream. Many of the enzymes and other nutrients are also used up or destroyed by digestion. Juicing maximizes nutrient uptake and maximizes the health effect.

Carrot juice is an excellent blood cleanser and helps to clear and beautify the skin. Being an alkalizer, it helps to clear acidic conditions in the body. One of the toxic conditions that cause acne is known as acidosis. Acidosis is simply, an excess of acid in the body tissue and in the blood. One of the symptoms of acidosis is when the body tries to eliminate impurities through the skin.

Cucumber juice is known as a natural diuretic. It also assists carrot juice in getting rid of toxins, salt, and excess water. When your water tension is released, the pressure on the skin cells is also released which was causing pressure on your pores and making them close up.

Together, carrot and cucumber juice mixed and drunk several times a day are an excellent weapon against acne.

You can also try any of the other vegetables in any combination that you like and come up with your own favorite. I tend to use carrots as the base for most of my juices. They have a natural sweetness that balances some of the other root vegetables. They are also inexpensive to purchase in bulk and most all supermarkets sell organic juicing carrots. Try mixing them with

• Kale which is loaded with vitamins and nutrients and is also a leader in cancer prevention
• Spinach which is packed with vitamin A, vitamin K and iron makes excellent juice.
• Beets are one of my personal favorites because they are such an excellent detoxifier and blood cleanser. Be aware that juicing beets can cause your urine or stool to turn red the first few times. It is nothing to be alarmed about and as your body starts to retain iron better this should stop occurring.
• I also like to add lemons and a slice of fresh ginger to my juice. In addition to the health and cleansing benefits I like the fresh zing it adds to my morning juice.

Just remember to take it slowly at first when starting to juice. You will be filling your body with very powerful cleansers and detoxifiers. If you go to fast you will experience detox symptoms like headache, joint pain, nausea and flu like symptoms. While these symptoms are uncomfortable they are a great sign that your body has begun the detoxification process. You don’t, however, want to overload your system with a bunch of toxins that it is not able to eliminate quickly enough. If you do experience these symptoms and they are too uncomfortable just cut back on the amount of juice and slowly build it back up and again. It is very important while you are juicing to remember to keep up your water intake to help your body quickly eliminate the newly released toxins that are swirling around in your system.

Acne Masks to Make at Home

Many acne sufferers have had great success with these easy to make recipes.

Baking Soda Mask

Simply make a paste of baking soda (not baking powder) and apply a thin layer to your face. Let the mask sit for 10-15 minutes and rinse. Your face will be left soft and clean and redness will diminish just be sure to moisturize afterwards as this mask can be a bit drying.

Aspirin Mask

Aspirin is salicylic acid the main ingredient in most acne products and works wonders on acne for a fraction of the cost. This can be used as a whole face mask or a spot treatment. Simply crush up three or four aspirins and add water to form a paste. Leave on face for 10-15 minutes for a mask or as long as you like for a spot treatment.

Sea Salt Mask

Every time you spend a weekend at the beach your acne clears up significantly thanks to a combination of the sun and salt water. You can reap these same benefits in the comfort of your own home by dissolving some pure sea salt in water and either making it into a thicker mask or putting it in a spray bottle and spritzing it on. This works great for body acne as well.

Egg White Mask

Although this is my secret weapon for tightening my face for a big event or night out, many acne sufferers have reported amazing results from this as well and you get the added bonus of tightened skin. Separate an organic egg white from it’s yolk and discard the yolk. Whip the egg white until frothy. I suggest leaning over the sink to spread the egg white on you face and keeping a towel handy because it can be quite runny for the first few minute. Leave the egg white on until it dries completely. You will be able to feel it pulling the skin. Rinse with cool water.

Benonite Clay

Benonite clay can be found in most health food stores and works great for pulling toxins from the skin. It works best when mixed with apple cider vinegar and can be used as either a mask or spot treatment.

According to the American Association of Dermatologists acne is one of the most common skin complaints and roughly 80% of all Americans between the ages of 12 and 45 will suffer to some degree from it. Acne is an inflammatory skin disorder that causes pimples, blackheads, whiteheads and the ever dreaded under grounders. Acne is also a message sent out by your body that something is off with your body chemistry, diet and or skin care routine. Good nutritional choices, natural supplementation and natural, gentle effective skin care products are all you need to be rid of the problem forever.