5 Supplements that Help Clear Stubborn Acne (plus one you should avoid!)

This is a guest post from Jessica Gremley of the Natural Acne Clinic

Are you well over your teen years and still struggling with stubborn acne? If so, you’re not alone. Millions of people still deal with pimples and breakouts well in to their 20s, 30s or even 40s. And if anything, adult acne is even more frustrating, more embarrassing – and more difficult to clear.

As someone who struggled with stubborn acne for years, I know how incredibly frustrating it can be. I tried everything to get clear — pills, lotions, antibiotics, skin care. They would work for a while, then my acne would come back. This went on for years! I missed out on a lot of fun because I hated how my skin looked. My confidence took a dive, too.

But after a lot of trial-and-error, research and persistence I finally discovered how to clear and control my acne. And I realized that I had one goal: to help other people finally get smooth, acne-free skin too.

If nothing has worked, it’s not your fault. Acne is largely a genetic condition. If one of your parents had severe acne, chances are you will too. It’s also triggered by hormones, stress, diet and other lifestyle factors.

Most people treat acne with a lotion, cleanser or topical medication. Dermatologists prescribe a regimen of antibiotics and other drugs that you continue to take for years.

However, if you have tried these treatments with little success, it’s not your fault. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to treating your acne. That’s why switching to a different acne medication or trying a new moisturizer rarely does the trick.

But don’t worry — it’s entirely possible to clear and control your adult acne. The good news is that it’s entirely possible to get clear even if nothing has worked before. [Read more…]

How to Avoid Acne After Quitting the Birth Control Pill

by Tracy Raftl 5 Comments

For many women with acne (especially hormonal acne), the birth control pill can be a total god-send.

What it does is completely override your natural hormones with the synthetic ones that it provides, forcing your cycle into a steady state. Without fluctuations, there is much less opportunity for hormonal acne to be triggered.

However, as we all know, the birth control pill can have a huge range of unpleasant side effects.

And for a good chunk of women, they are going to have to stop the pill at some point in their lives, either because they want to have a baby, they can’t stand the side effects any longer, or just because they feel like they’ve been on it a little too long.

But What Happens After Quitting the Pill?

Hello. More pills please.

Well, most women, if they were suffering with acne before, then the acne is going to come back, and often much worse than it ever was. After all, the pill is just a band-aid cover up, not an actual remedy that gets to the root cause of acne.

And for some women, coming off the pill can cause acne in itself. Women who never had a problem with acne are suddenly breaking out in droves after coming off the pill.

This is because your body got so used to the powerful synthetic hormones, that once those are suddenly withdrawn, your body just doesn’t know how to “listen” to its own natural rhythm anymore. This can cause crazy hormonal fluctuations and a stable full of spots.

For most women, the heightened breakouts will naturally subside within six months to a year and a half after stopping.

But for anyone who has ever suffered with acne, that’s an unacceptably long time, and understandably has a lot of women running back to the pill and feeling trapped!

So what to do? How do you get off the pill successfully, while avoiding a serious acne breakout after? [Read more…]

How to Reverse the Damage to Your Gut from Antibiotic Use & Get Clear Skin

by Tracy Raftl 11 Comments

Last week, we talked about antibiotics.

Specifically, how to prevent damage to your gut & health if you find yourself in a situation where you have to take them.

In other words, flood your body with probiotics and fermented foods during and after your course of antibiotics in order to prevent bad bacteria from proliferating and causing an imbalance.

But what about if you’ve already taken many rounds of antibiotics in your life, and never took these preventative measures?

I’m willing to bet this is most of us. And it used to be me as well.

The thing is, not having the proper bacterial balance in your gut can lead to all sorts of issues… including digestive problems, yeast infections, full body inflammation, allergies, and it all can trickle down into a lot of skin problems… including acne, as well as eczema and rashes.

So is all lost if you’ve taken lots of antibiotics?

Will your gut, digestion, and subsequently skin be doomed to forever sub-parness?

No, there are definitely things you can do to heal your gut and get your bacterial balance back in line, which is one big factor in leading to skin that is vibrant and acne free.

However, the more antibiotics you’ve been on, and the longer you’ve been on them, the more you may need to work on this.

So here’s my list of things to do to heal that gut:

[Read more…]

What to Do If You Have to Take Antibiotics

by Tracy Raftl 4 Comments

So, a few weeks ago, I got all four wisdom teeth yanked out of my head.

Normally people get them out when they’re teenagers, but I guess I was a late bloomer at 28, and so it was “complicated”. The longer you leave them, the more rooted they get in your jaw.

Actually, that was kind of a good thing because I got to be completely put under, and didn’t even know what happened.

Well until I got home and had to deal with the aftermath!

I spent a week feeling like poop, with a huge swollen face, eating nothing but green smoothies & soup.

Lookin good, baby, lookin good

Not the best end to an awesome summer, but what can you do! I survived, and luckily a couple weeks on, my face feels fine and I’m pretty much back to normal. Doc says I’m healing like a champ.

But Anyway…. The Antibiotics

Because my case was a little difficult, they said I was supposed to take antibiotics to make sure I didn’t get an infection after.

But I really don’t like antibiotics.

I mean, I LIKE that antibiotics exist. Antibiotics save lives. Not gonna say I wish penicillin was never discovered.

But they’re overused and overprescribed, and they have their consequences. They don’t discriminate between killing bad bacteria and killing the helpful, health protective bacteria in your body. [Read more…]

Probiotics and Acne: The Ultimate Guide

by Tracy Raftl 59 Comments

In many cases, acne can be at least partially traced back to problems in the gut, and taking probiotics to treat acne may be one of the most important things you can do.

You body is made up of hundreds of trillions of bacteria. Most of us think of bacteria as a bad thing, but your body (and particularly your gut) is also made up of good bacteria which is absolutely essential to your health and wellbeing.

The good bacteria in your gut help you digest your food and absorb nutrients, boost your immune system, and eat up bad bacteria. They also help you to avoid digestive issues like diarrhea, constipation, IBS, lactose intolerance, and leaky gut.

When your gut is in balance, the good bacteria should outnumber the bad guys about 5 to 1, but when this is not the case, the bad bacteria can cause a host of gut issues – and since our body is holistic, the issues can stem out from there to the rest of the body and wreak havoc.

The skin is particularly linked to the gut and a poor bacterial balance can heavily promote inflammation in the skin. For a lot of people with acne, fixing up this ratio in the gut can go a HUGE way to clearing your skin. [Read more…]

But What Happens After Quitting the Pill?

So here’s my list of things to do to heal that gut:

But Anyway…. The Antibiotics

Get my free report and learn: