How To Combat Acne With An ‘Inside-Out’ Approach
If you have acne, it’s not what you put on your face or your skin that matters, it’s what you put in your mouth. In this article we show you ways you can heal your skin by addressing imbalances in your hormones, your gut, and reducing toxin build-up in your system.
Address inflammation
Begin with eliminating pro-inflammatory foods like refined sugar, refined carbohydrates and dairy products. If you notice a significant improvement, you can continue with this new approach, or try reintroducing each of these categories one by one to figure out more specifically what's causing the acne.
Balance your blood sugar
Eat anti-inflammatory whole foods to balance your blood sugar. This includes plenty of unprocessed fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables, healthy fats. Nutrient-rich meals that combine protein, fat, and fibre are excellent for stabilising blood sugar levels and preventing insulin spikes that would normally trigger more testosterone to be released from the ovaries. You'll also get all the nutrients you need to keep your skin healthy with this pro-inflammatory diet.
Load up on antioxidant-rich super foods
During the oxidative process, your body produces free radicals - basically, cellular bad guys that do damage to your cells. But if you maintain healthy ‘antioxidant levels’ in your body they’ll do a wonderful job of neutralising free radicals, thereby preventing some of this cellular damage. Foods like turmeric, fish oil, ginger, green tea, nuts, dark purple, red and green vegetables are fantastic for maintaining healthy anti-oxidant levels. Supplements that support your body's toxin elimination pathways, such as Clear Skin Food, are also very effective. For top quality antioxidants you also want to get some anti-inflammatory essential fatty acids into your diet like gamma linolenic acid (GLA) or evening primrose oil.
Address gut imbalance
Eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha. A gut imbalance can lead to oestrogen dominance, which as we know is a precursor for acne. Therefore your skin will thank you for this extra dose of good bacteria.
De-stress
Mindfully de-stress. The more stressed we feel, the more cortisol releasing hormone (CRH) we have circulating in our bloodstream. So take a moment every day to mindfully pause, breathe deeply, reflect and meditate. Regularly centering yourself will keep stress levels down and reduce the amount of CRH your body produces, which can reduce stress-related acne.
Reduce your exposure to xenoestrogens
Xenoestrogens mimic the oestrogen hormone and disrupt the hormonal balance. Unfortunately endogenous oestrogen and harmful xenoestrogens can't be distinguished by our bodies. Because of this, xenoestrogens can set your body into a state of oestrogen dominance. Chemicals in your house, pesticides and herbicides in food, and some plastics all contain xenoestrogens.
For more on this topic stay tuned!