No More Zits Newsletter

October, 2005

The No More Zits Monthly is a newsletter that provides featured articles on acne prevention, proper skin maintenance techniques, reviews of natural acne treatments, interviews with dermatologists, and information on both adult acne and teen acne treatment. The No More Zits Monthly is brought to you by Acne-Answers.org.

Getting Rid of Acne

by Karen Jessett

Do you really want to know how to get rid of acne?

You really can get rid of acne, naturally. How? By learning about the causes of acne and how to rebalance the body. By understanding that applying harsh chemicals to the skin can actually exacerbate the skin's natural oil production and make acne worse. Why is it that people who don't eat a Western diet don't have acne? You, too, can get rid of acne by understanding why it's predominantly a Western problem. In parts of the world where a Western diet is being adopted, they are now getting acne.

Our bodies are fine-tuned machines, continually creating new cells and getting rid of dead cells. There are three processes vital to human health; appropriation (taking in food, air, water etc), assimilation (absorbing nutrients to create new cells) and elimination (expelling waste/toxins). If any one of these is unbalanced, this can lead to less than vital health. We need to take in the right fuel, use it effectively and get rid of by-products and waste. For example, we get rid of waste via the digestive system, the lungs and the skin; if the digestive system is sluggish waste may have to be expelled via the skin as blocked pores and acne.

To really get rid of acne, you need to equip yourself with information about hormones, food, skin care products, dehydration, yeast and antibiotics.

By listening to your body you will find the long-term path to clearer skin.

What causes acne?

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

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 80 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

Use natural products, such as Green People's Fruit scrub (www.greenpeople.co.uk)

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.

Antibiotics/Probiotics

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 have been taking antibiotics for your acne, take a probiotic supplement and drink aloe vera juice every day to heal your intestines.

A high quality probiotic 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.

article syndicated from Acne-advice.com:
http://www.acne-advice.com/articles/get_rid_of_acne.shtml