What you probably want to know is… what do you actually have to do to get clear? Just get to the point! If you’ve already read my article about the cause of acne, you know that blood sugar problems and chronic inflammation are what bring acne to life. You also know that these are brought on from a trickle down effect from poor digestion and stress.
Since there is no one thing that caused these important functions to go out of whack, the only thing you can do is bring yourself back to an optimum state of health by improving all areas of your lifestyle. It’s in this way that all your body systems will begin to work together again to heal, the trickle down effect will stop, and your acne will clear up. It’s inevitable.
So what are you going to have to do?
- Improve your diet: This includes moving away from processed foods and towards whole foods, finding and eliminating food allergens, doing a bit of a cleanse to improve your digestion, and taking some broad spectrum supplements to support your overall health.
- Look at your emotional wellbeing: A lot of people trying to improve their acne holistically begin by stressing over every little nitty gritty detail of their diets. As much as you do not want to believe it (I certainly didn’t), stress and emotions are just as important, if not more important than diet. Do some serious work here, as difficult as it may be, and you will definitely see returns.
- Exercise: Moving our bodies is essential to it being healthy. If you’re a couch potato, time to get up and start running, dancing, biking – whatever is fun for you.
- Visit with the sandman: Sleep is the time for your body to refuel and do its janitorial duties. If you aren’t getting enough regular sleep, your body can’t do its detoxifying routine. This will catch up with you.
- Get outdoors: This includes getting a bit of sunshine each day if you can, breathing fresh air, and becoming at peace, as nature is the place where we can best become centered again.
- Stop abusing your face: Harsh creams, face washes, and your picky little fingers are all very detrimental to your skin healing. You wouldn’t want to be poked and prodded, doused in acid and dried out like leather, why would your epidermis?
It doesn’t have to be hard – it’s more like common sense advice that most people in this world should be following – and getting healthy can actually be a lot of fun. Most people stress over it much more than is needed, and that is counterproductive. If you can improve the areas of your lifestyle that need work and simply enjoy the journey of new ideas and self discovery, you will definitely start to see your acne improve. I promise.
Which area of your health could you improve on most? Leave a comment and let me know!
7 Responses
Ok so – my diet – i dont eat dairy or egg as ive sed. My typical daily intake:
Breakfast – cornflaks
and then some bacon which is free range and organic 🙂
toast
Lunch (packed lunch) – Beef sandwich again free range
Cellery
Raw carrots
Apple
Another piece of fruit (plum, banana, pear never oranges)
Some dried fruit, either raisons or apple.
Dinner, whatever my parents cook – spagetti bolognaise, roast dinners, occasionally we have ready meals, but they are waitroses, which is a posh supermarket,ect
As for my emotional wellbeing i fixate about my diet – its true. Im stressed at school, the work, the sociallising, having to be constantly on the ball. My acne always seems to improve in the holidays, i thought it was bc i got more sun but mayb this could also be. Im currently about to have GCSE exams, which is stressful.
My exercise to relieve my stress i play on computer games not exercise. I am a ocuch potato i guess.
This is a fab site – its really cheered me up – the bit about how this disfuntion shows in everyone differently,i.e. obesity, fatigue, diabetes ect. Because that makes me think that i havnt been singled out. Ty so much for keeping this information free. 🙂
Hi Claudio!
I’m really glad you’re enjoying the site.
Your diet looks pretty good… although you seem to be eating a lot of gluten, and many people with acne are quite sensitive to gluten. So consider that. Also, eggs are fine. I wouldn’t bother worrying about not eating eggs. And it’s good to hear you’re eating your meat free range and organic!
If you notice that your acne gets a lot better during holidays, there is a good chance then that you are having stress issues that could be contributing to your skin problem. Anyway! I’m really glad you’re getting so much out of the site… have you download the free ebook yet? Make sure you sign up on the right sidebar to get it if you haven’t.
It makes me so happy that you say eggs are ok to eat ..lol.. because I love eggs!
I have two babies. I am also 5’8″ 107lbs and breastfeeding. I eat a lot of carbs all day, everything high calorie and was eating copius amounts of cheese. I’ve cut out all of my diary, and I’m not sure it’s helping… But it made me lose even more weight 🙁 and I’m doing everything I can do to gain. This also means I get no excersice, other than housework.
I’ll 25 and I’ve suffered through more than 10 years of moderate cystic acne. I’ve started not washing my face (water only) 3 days ago, and I think it’s helping… But it’s too early to tell.
I’m seeing an allergist in a couple of weeks, but I don’t know what to do until then! We buy mostly organic and whole foods, but we’re on food stamps, so we can’t afford much. Any suggestions on diet?
Thanks, Tracy.
Hey Tracy! 🙂
So I am a college student, 22 years old, and I just stumbled across your fabulous blog! I have had mild to moderate acne acne on both face cheeks that are near my mouth for a couple years now and it is awful 🙁 I did some research and I have suspicions that I might have a Vitamin A deficiency or PCOS. But I really have no professional opinion about that. I started to exercise again, cut out refined sugar (for the most part) eat more dark leafy greens, and reduced my sodium intake. but now I have a question about vitamin A. I am not sure if I should purchase the dessicated liver capsules. I am hearing only good things about it. I know I should probably get bloodwork done just in case. Also I am wondering if Dickinsons 100 percent natural witch hazel is a good product to use to take the makeup off my face before I get into the shower. That is the only product I use now.
Thank you for your time 🙂
Hi Melissa, you can always try the liver and or fermented cod liver oil and see how it helps. But otherwise, I would suggest getting tested and confirmed whether you have PCOS or not, then you will know more about how to move forward. x
hey tracy. please reply to this comment please 🙁
I’m really having a bad break out. like I changed my diet. I eat healthy foods and I don’t eat greasy foods anymore and I go on a jog and exercise.like 3 times a week. but I still get pimples! 🙁 my pimples became small tho. but they were now many. I already lost my pimples last yr. and now it came back. 🙁