So if you’ve been following along, you know that I recently had a breakout, and decided to do the following things to treat it:
- Do a candida cleanse
- Quit the supplements I was taking and try some new ones just for kicks, namely berberine, zinc, and turmeric (aka curcumin)
Berberine already has its own great Love Vitamin article, I talked about zinc last week, and so now we talk about turmeric.
You may know turmeric best as that pungent yellow spice that they like to use in Indian food (in its fresh form, it looks like a root similar to ginger).
It also has an active ingredient in it called curcumin that has some very special properties.
Curcumin is Highly Anti-Inflammatory
There have been a a heck of a lot of studies done on curcumin… none specifically on acne… but the consensus seems to be that it is VERY anti-inflammatory.
Like effectiveness rivalling that of anti-inflammatory drugs (without the side effects), because it blocks more than 30 different inflammation pathways.
Since inflammation seems to play a big role in most of the “diseases of civilization”, it has a wide variety of uses. A lot of people take it for joint pain, arthritis, cancer, inflammatory digestive disorders like Chrohn’s, and for mental health.
And for acne… well, inflammation is the reason your acne gets big, red, and sticks around forever.
Anything anti-inflammatory that can help reduce that is going to make a difference to your skin. That’s a big reason that adopting a healthier diet and lifestyle is such a panacea to clear skin: it dramatically lowers inflammation.
Curcumin also has other benefits… namely it is a strong antioxidant, and also helps your liver stay healthy and functioning. Which means your body filters toxins and hormones more efficiently, which can also make a big difference in your skin.
In fact, curcumin is one of the ingredients in the Thorne SAT liver support supplement that I have been taking along with Estroblock for the last couple years.
But I decided to ditch SAT for now, just to see how curcumin does on its own. People in my Naturally Clear Skin Academy have been trying it lately and speaking quite highly of its effectiveness, which kind of inspired me.
How to Take Turmeric (Curcumin) For Acne
Well, to start getting the benefits of curcumin, you can start adding lots of turmeric to your food! It is certainly great in curries 🙂
Some people also claim they get results from mixing a teaspoon or so if it in water and knocking it back three times a day.
But, you know.. on its own, it tastes pretty bitter. And I don’t about you, but I know that I would never really commit to a ritual like that for very long. I must be honest with myself.
Also, the curcumin content of turmeric actually isn’t very high (like 3%). So it would be hard to get all the anti-inflammatory benefits just from eating a small bit of the spice here and there (although it won’t hurt!)
Essentially, you’re going to get the most targeted benefit from taking a concentrated curcumin supplement.
However, curcumin is famously hard to absorb.
If you just take a straight curcumin supplement, you’ll be lucky to absorb less than 10% of it into your bloodstream.
To enhance absorption, there are a few tricks. One is to take it with pepper (or take a supplement that includes pepper in it), as apparently one of the compounds in pepper increases absorption of curcumin by 2000%.
It is also fat soluble, so best to take it with a meal that contains some healthy fats.
Another is to take a form of it called theracurmin, which is what I’m taking.
Theracurmin is a curcumin that has been broken down into nanoparticles that become much, much more absorbable by the body. Apparently studies have shown that it is the best absorbed kind of curcumin available.
How Much Curcumin to Take for Acne
It was pretty hard to find any consensual recommendation on how much to take for acne (or to take for any purpose).
This is because there’s a lot of different forms in which to take it, with different percentages of active compounds and different absorption enhancers.
So I’m just taking what it says on the bottle, and advise you do the same!
And for me, that is 60 mg a day (taken in the form of two 30 mg pills, one with breakfast, one with dinner).
The theracurmin I’m taking is from Natural Factors… they also have a double strength one (ie. 60 mg) in one pill, but it may be more effective to spread out your dose.
Is Turmeric Effective Externally For Acne?
Yes, apparently turmeric can reduce acne inflammation from the outside as well, if applied topically.
But be warned… turmeric is VERY yellow. And stains everything. Including your face.
I tried it once a long time ago… and when I saw my yellow face, once was enough!
Have you tried turmeric – or curcumin – for acne, and what were your results?
10 Responses
Hey Tracy
I spent about a week drinking a turmeric tea that I made with turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, a little pepper, ginger and coconut oil. It was delicious and my skin was much less inflamed. However, my acupuncturist told me that for my particular body type according to Chinese medicine (I have “trapped heat”) and turmeric would just add to the heat in my body. She recommended food/herbs that were cooling. I’m going to try using reishi mushrooms next in a powder or capsule form.
I’m bummed I can’t use turmeric, because I really did see that it helped with a particularly bad breakout. For everyone who can use it, I highly recommend boiling a tea because it tasted quite good and was inexpensive.
Hi Joanna!
So is she saying that if you kept using it would be detrimental in the long run? Her advise to not use it seems contrary to your own results… I mean if you can see that it helps your skin and makes it less inflamed ……. then…….. isn’t that your goal?
This is a greatly timed post Tracy, I am currently writing this wth turmeric and honey on my face! You are not wrong about the yellowness, I tried this many years ago during high school and stopped as soon as someone commented I was yellow :O With exams coming up (next week) acne has been particularly aggressive and its made 100x worse with picking.
My mom has in the past few months commented every day how horrific my skin is which led me to retrying turmeric. About 1-2 weeks in shes actually said its looks better, spots healing and scars lightening and that its magic! I’ve been using this time round, hemp seed oil to OCM with a microfiber which takes most of the pigment away. There is tiny bit remaining but it looks more like a ‘glow’ and is hardly noticable. I will stick it out for a couple months at least this time and try to stop picking and report on further progress 🙂
Haha maybe I should give it a try again! I do already have a very yellow skin tone, so a tiny yellow “glow” wouldn’t be so bad. Glad it’s been working for you! And good luck on the picking habit, it makes a big difference to stop, but such a tough cookie to quit..
Great article!
Thanks! 🙂
I tried with clay mask! Mixed both and put in my face! At least it’s more smooth! I’ll keep trying it. Let’s see if is gonna work!
Hi Tracy! I have some acne scars in my face. Doing your ebook steps it helps to get rid of them too?
I have info in my book about scars yes 🙂 Although it’s more geared towards getting rid of active acne .. when you say scars, are you talking old indented scars? or just like red marks?
Just wanted to put in my two cents worth about Turmeric…I use it as much as possible. I have taken it in supplement form, but currently I just try to use some fresh or dried as often as possible. I make “bullet proof” style coffee in the am, blending it with coconut oil and collagen peptides. Many times I will add some powdered turmeric as well, knowing that the coconut oil helps with absorption. I sometimes brew a tea with fresh turmeric and ginger also. I cleared my skin by going grain and dairy free (mostly sugar free too) after 30 plus years of cystic acne. I added the turmeric after I was clear, but I definitely think it helps support healthy skin. The collagen peptides really help to keep my skin firm also (I’m almost 50.) I mention the coffee/collagen combo quite a bit on my happy, healthy and hot blog…it’s a very effective combo 🙂