It is a sad reality that for many adults acne is not something that went away along with those awkward teen years. It can plague skin for years after puberty and those hormonal years. Many adults find that acne returns when the hormones do, as with pregnancy. Others find that it may be less dramatic than when they were younger but it never went completely away. This condition can make you feel awful and can put a real dent in yourself esteem and social life. This is made even worse when you’re let down over and over again by yet another “miracle” product that you discovered on an infomercial or from a well meaning friend.
The “miracle” is usually all in the marketing… as in “its a miracle if they don’t fall for this!” The sad fact is that most mainstream acne treatments make the problem worse and can even be harmful to your overall health because they are packed with nasty chemicals.
Why not try something different and use natural options to help alleviate and even get rid of your acne once and for all?
Natural Solutions for Acne
A Healthy Diet: A healthy diet is the very best thing you can do for your acne. The skin is an organ so if an organ is unhealthy you need to consider what is making it unhealthy in the first place. Our skin is used to eliminate toxins from the body. What are those toxins doing to our skin and how are they getting there?
Sugar is catastrophic for acne sufferers. It has been proven to cause an inflammatory reaction in the skin which makes acne worse (or even helps it develop in the first instance). Reduce or better yet remove all sugar from your diet and you will see a HUGE difference in your skin.You also need to give up grains though…they convert to sugar inside the body. Once I went paleo I noticed that even the occasional breakouts I used to have, stopped completely.
In addition to getting rid of sugar, eat a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Opt for an array of colors so that you can get the most antioxidant power in these foods into your system. Raw foods, green juices, and green smoothies do wonders for healthy skin. Uh… just look at Sarma. Whenever I stop drinking green smoothies I notice it in my skin… it gets dull and dry. When I start drinking green smoothies again… my skin plumps like I got Botox or something.
Reducing dairy or even eliminating it can also make a huge difference in regards to acne. Many experts believe that a vegan diet is the best way to keep the skin clear from acne. Many vegans swear this is true and have healthy skin to prove it.
Eating fewer grains/carbs, little dairy, and no caffeine are great first steps. And although chocolate on its own may not cause acne, it contains caffeine which can make acne worse.
Natural Remedies for Acne
Green tea: You can drink green tea to help relieve your symptoms, but you can also apply the tea directly to you skin. There are green tea creams available over the counter, but if you’re looking for a cheaper, easier way, just brew tea bags, then apply them directly to your acne.
Egg Whites: Applying egg whites to the face as a masque is a great way to treat your acne and immediately close your pores. In addition, it also gets rid of redness caused by your acne and can reduce the appearance of scars from previous breakouts.
Tea Tree Oil: While many people disagree about the causes of acne, or how to treat it, pretty much everyone agrees that it’s an infection or inflammation. And tea tree oil has long been used as a natural way to kill bacteria and treat skin infections.
Zinc helps strengthen your immune system so you’re better able to heal and even prevent your acne. Good sources for vegetarians include dairy products, beans and lentils, yeast, nuts, seeds and wholegrain cereals. Pumpkin seeds provide one of the most concentrated vegetarian food sources of zinc. Vegans can just ignore the dairy sources.
The absolute best part about natural acne treatments is that they also improve the general quality of your skin without damaging it or drying it out like traditional products can and do. Many of them have few or no side effects and they are safe.
Avoiding makeup is another important step. Your skin needs to eliminate toxins as it was designed to do. When we clog our pores up with makeup and oils it can’t do its job and it will protest with flare-ups.
Lastly, stress can cause big acne flare ups. Why else does a bride breakout before her big day? Try meditation or yoga to keep your stress levels low. This will not only help your acne symptoms but your overall health as well. I like to listen to meditation CDs or natural sounds CDs like waterfalls and birds singing when i am stressed.
Acne can be devastating but by using the tips above and starting a plan of attack you can start to see improvement. Use diet as your first weapon, reduce stress and apply a few natural treatments as necessary and you’ll see a difference in the overall health of your skin very soon.
Recommended: The Green Beauty Guide: Your Essential Resource to Organic and Natural Skin Care, Hair Care, Makeup, and Fragrances
I think it is still best to stay away on too much using of cosmetic products, because as I believe, it may harm more on our skin. Washing your face regularly, sleeping early and eating the right food are ways to have an acne-free life.
I personally dont have Acne but I have friends that do and I must say it is something everyone should work hard everyday to avoid. I ocassionally get some acne spots when I am stressed and I will try these tips.
This is such a great post!! Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips. I am going to try out the tea tree oil for my occasional break outs. Now do I just apply a small amount to the prone area and that’s it? Just making sure I use it correctly before starting. Thanks in advance!
Julie, check out this link for how to apply the tea tree oil:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2295282_use-tea-tree-oil-acne.html
YAY for greens!!!!
> Zinc helps strengthen your immune system so you’re better able to heal and even prevent your acne. <
I've heard that zinc is harmful to health. Is it not true? Or the whole thing in an amount of taken zinc?
Nicolas, zinc is found in many foods and it is found in the tissues of the body to keep the immune system working properly, so it is beneficial. As far as getting too much I am not sure.
Too much zinc can actually depress your immune system. Check out Dr Weil’s website – http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02869/zinc.html
Also, I’m a newcomer to this blog. I’ve looked for the recipe for the green smoothies mentioned in this entry, but haven’t found it yet… I’ve tried just about everything listed here for my mild acne, except the smoothies!
Great blog, Tiffany; I’m enjoying it :)
Tanya, I sent you an email with a small e-book that has 10 of my green smoothie recipes!
While I do agree that there are many natural remedies for various ailments, what I do not agree with is the way you make a vegan diet sound like sound advice. Look at most European nations. They have no concept, no idea (I’ve been there, and when you tell them you’re vegan, they look at you like you’re from mars.) of what vegan-ism means. They maintain a healthy body and weight without sacrificing things like dairy and red meats. And they take very few, if any, OTC supplements like calcium. They get them from the foods they eat. Yes, they eat less of these things, but they do not exclude them from their diets. An amazing fact is: Yes, you CAN eat red meat and be healthy. *Gasp*
My point is not to flame you for being vegan: I totally think that’s your choice. I however, know that most dietitians and professionals do not voice the opinion that vegan is the way to go. You lack so many of the vital nutrients that you either cannot get, or cannot get enough of, any other way. Some nutrients just cannot be supplemented (meaning by another source of food or pill) in a way that actually is accepted by the body in a volume that actually matters. Most supplements cannot be absorbed in enough quantity to actually mirror the result of the food you are cutting out. The right thing to do here is to choose your foods in MODERATION. Do not cut out foods like dairy and red meat. Just use them less and substitute having them 5 nights a week with having them twice a week and having other nutrient rich foods on the other days.
Other than that very important issue, I do agree with what you have said. Veggies do tend to lend moisture to the body and more water is AMAZING!
Cheers,
Mission
Re: “most dietitians and professionals do not voice the opinion that vegan is the way to go”.
I disagree. There are numerous studies and a large number of health professionals that do support and endorse veggie based diets. If done right I think it is absolute best way to eat.
Thanks for this information! I have struggled with acne all my life and I was literally just at Whole Foods picking up som stuff and I left thinking I wonder if there are any natural remedies for acne? I am going to try the egg white mask andtree oil for sure:)
Thanks
Andrea
Iwould love the green smoothie recipes, too!
I’ve been off all dairy products for about 3 years now and my skin has completely cleared. I spent over 10 years in this struggle and unfortunately didn’t try this until about 6 months after my wedding. No dairy as well as a whole foods diet, lots of exercise and stress management definitely works particularly with a 2-year old in the picture now.
Hope this helps–
I have found that if I use a toner made with equal parts water and apple cider vinegar and apply it morning and night my acne has cleared up.
Oh I really do need to be making some green smoothies! I love smoothies and even bought a juicer but just could not follow through with it for some reason. I just did not know enough about how to prepare it all. I have not worn makeup in almost a year now and my skin does look better. I also only use pure olive oil for my moisturizer and I take my chewable Vidazorb OPC age defense probiotics. I really think all of these things are helping me for sure! Great post – must make smoothies LOL!
I have to tell you that when I started to eat healthier I started drinking apple cider vinegar (the kind with the “mother” in it) to help with digestion issues. It did seem to help but the “side effects” turned out to be a wonderful surprise. My skin was softer and I stopped breaking out on my face. I have a teenage boy and he was having problems. I told him to try it and a couple of weeks later he had clear skin too. Now he keeps up with it. I take about a tablespoon a day in some water. He likes to take that amount or more in juice. I will never be sorry I figured this one out for myself anyway.
I recently read a book called “The Clear Skin Diet” after i’d tried every natural remedy i came across, and it’s working. Seems my skin got REALLY bad once i switched from “non-dairy creamer” to raw milk in my coffee every morning. I switched to almond milk, and have seen an improvement. Now for lowering my sugar intake… That’s a hard one for me!