Healthy Bite 025 - Zap those Zits!

Super Simple Healthy Podcast

Do you or your loved ones suffer from acne? When I was just 8yrs old, my first pimple appeared on my chin. Little did I know, it was the beginning of a 20yr sentence of what my dermatologist dubbed “stubborn acne”. Today, I will be talking about how to get rid of those nasty little bumps, without medication! Growing up, most people have some experience with acne, usually during the teenage years. Mine was a bit different. I saw my first pimple at just 8yrs old and it continued to be an issue for me until I was almost 30. Now, when I tell people I had horrible skin for 20yrs, they are amazed. Today, I have a clear, healthy, glowing, complexion. So, this is a subject that is close to my heart. First, I’ll talk about what acne is, what causes it, what doesn’t, and my top 3 tips for zapping those zits! So what is acne? Medical terminology defines acne as: A chronic, inflammatory skin condition that results in whiteheads, blackheads, pimples, cysts, and nodules. While it is not dangerous, it can leave scars, certainly is annoying and can be embarrassing. Our skin has pores that connect to sebaceous glands under the skin. Sebaceous glands produce an oily liquid called sebum. Follicles connect the glands to the pores. Sebum carries dead skin cells through the follicles to the surface of the skin. Tiny hairs grow through the follicle out to the skin surface. Acne forms when these follicles become blocked and the oil from the sebaceous glands get trapped and built up under the skin. Acne is NOT the result of a lack of cleansing the skin. The pores do not get clogged from surface dirt. In fact, washing more frequently or scrubbing the skin can actually irritate pores and cause them to become clogged. As they used to say in Mary Kay: “your face is not a frying pan” so don’t scrub it. Be gentle, use your hands to wash and rinse your face 2x/day, and/or after workouts. Also, getting a sunburn does not help get rid of acne. I used to like a little sunburn in the summer when I had bad acne, because it momentarily dried up my skin a bit and the redness kind of helped to camouflage the blemishes. But, it didn’t take too long for the skin to react, trying to heal itself again. Dry, damaged skin causes sebaceous glands to produce even more oil and hence: more acne. The same reaction happens when you use a soap that leaves you with that tight, dry feeling. While it’s a nice reprieve from the excessive oil and shine that is often accompanied by acne prone skin, the dryness once again signals the sebaceous glands that it needs more oil - and here we go again. So what can you do? I will leave a more extensive list of treatments and tips on my website, supersimplehealthy.com/downloads. But here are my top 3 tips: 1) Drink a cup of "Skin Detox" tea (made by Yogi). It has awesome organic herbs that detox the liver like burdock, red clover and honeybush leaf. The liver is the major site where the body filters out toxins. This "Skin Detox" tea is caffeinated so better to drink in the morning than at night. Look for it in the natural or organic section of your grocery store. 2) Eat less dairy. Dairy products have been known to increase the production of sebum. The hormone IGF-1 found in milk has been linked to acne because it chronically stimulates sebaceous glands. So, try cutting dairy out for a month or two and see what happens. You can substitute almond or coconut milk products and get your recommended calcium through other nuts, seeds, and omega 3 rich fish like salmon. I hope that was helpful. Look for the more extensive list on my website at www.supersimplehealthy.com/downloads. And feel free to comment and share this episode or others the first place.with your friends and family.