Natural Skin Detox: Clear acne prone skin

Natural Skin Detox: Clear acne prone skin

Acne prone skin can be a nightmare. Have you ever felt so frustrated that no matter how well you eat, what you use and what you take, it seems to have a mind of its own? This is because the skin is a unique organ, which requires simplicity and consistency of action to get it to finally clear. Many articles and books have been written and many lotions and potions have been created to address this issue. I’m here to teach you how to truly clear your skin once and for all.

Skin Anatomy

This is an important first step to know before making any changes. The basic anatomy of the skin that you need to know at his point is that it has many, many layers (epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue) and to create any real or lasting change you need to be consistent. The deeper layers of the dermis take around 4 to 6 weeks to surface to the exterior epidermal layer. This means any dietary or supplementation change you make takes at least that long to show signs of healing. For healing a skin condition, this requires around 3 to 6 months of consistent skin specific eating and supplementation.

Step 1. Detoxify and Clear

Omit congesting and heating foods from your diet

Skin congestion

Acne is caused by an over stimulated oil gland that has become infected. What over stimulates the oil glands? And why do they become infected? Excessive oil production can be caused by hormones, adrenal function, liver and digestive function and diet. The skin will only use the oils you eat in your diet. It is important that you only eat lighter, plant-based oils so they flow freely though the oil glands and decongest what is blocking them.

Congesting foods:

  • Animal fats (especially red meats and pork)
  • Dairy products (cheese, yoghurt, butter)
  • Chocolate
  • Commercial sweets (anything baked, bought, with refined sugars, white flours and hidden fats)

When the adrenal glands are stimulated it creates a stress response in the body. This causes the oil glands to flow excessively and also warm up the body temperature, irritating sensitive skin. Any redness, spots or blemishes suggest a sensitive skin type and a ‘hot’ condition according to traditional Chinese medicine.

Stimulating foods and substances for the skin:

  • Chili, curry, spicy dishes
  • Alcohol
  • Caffeine
  • Nicotine
  • Oranges and strawberries

You need to stay away from these foods and substances for at least 95% of the time for as long as it takes for your cells to turn over. This process is lengthy and you won’t see results immediately but if you are patient, your skin will become clearer and clearer.

Step 2. Rebuild skin cells

Include skin healing foods and supplements

Omitting the congesting and stimulating foods and substances from your diet is detoxifying for your system. It encourages better digestion, elimination and the skin will become clearer. Now we need to include foods and supplements that are encouraging for healing the skin.

Skin healing foods:

You will need to include a daily salad with fresh baby greens and any combination of vegetables with your preferred vegetarian protein source and a skin healing salad dressing*. We need one raw salad a day for the living enzymes to improve digestion, nutrient uptake and elimination. The best vegetarian protein sources are organic free-range eggs, tofu, quinoa, amaranth, chia seeds or lentils.

Essential fatty acids need to be included daily; the best one for skin healing is cold-pressed sunflower oil to be made in a salad dressing. Sunflower oil is lighter oil for the skin and will encourage a smoother flow. Essential fatty acids will moisturize the skin from the inside out. This step is a must. Do not swap sunflower oil to olive oil, fish oil or hemp seed oil. Other ideal essential fatty acid sources for skin healing are; raw almonds, walnuts, avocado, sunflower seed, pepitas, sesame seeds, and tahini. Also, aim to use organic wherever possible.

Skin healing salad dressing

  • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • Pinch of Himalayan salt, pepper, mixed herbs (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon raw honey (optional)

Water

The body needs plenty of water to hydrate and support bodily function and metabolism. However, to clear the skin you only need 6 to 8 glasses on average a day. When too much water is consumed it places a burden on the kidneys and flushes out the much needed water soluble vitamins, namely the B group and vitamin C.

An important step in the skin detox program is to include lemon water first thing every morning to stimulate liver function and hydrate the body.

Useful supplementation

Zinc- hormonal health, skin repair, immunity

B complex- nervous system, digestive system, skin and metabolism

Herbal liver tonic- to improve the digestion and elimination of fats

Example: Daily menu for skin clearing

On rising

  • ½ lemon squeezed in water

Breakfast

  • Muesli mix with fruit
  • Eggs and rye toast with tomato and avocado
  • Green smoothie with vegan protein powder (chia seeds, sprouted rice protein powder)

Snack

  • Fresh fruit and/or nuts and seeds (see essential fatty acids)

Lunch

  • Salad with your preferred vegetarian protein and *skin healing dressing with brown rice
  • Salad and egg whole meal sandwich or wrap with dressing

Snack

  • Fresh fruit and/or nuts and seeds (see essential fatty acids)
  • Low fat yoghurt with honey
  • Veggie sticks and avocado and/ or hummus dip

Dinner

  • Brown rice, lentils, quinoa, with your choice of protein (see ideal sources) with salad and/ or steamed vegetables
  • Vegetable soup
  • Stir fry with plenty of green vegetables with honey and soy sauce, brown rice, rice noodles
  • Spelt pasta and lentils with tomato based sauce (once or twice a week)

Dessert (optional) dessert

  • Fresh fruit, low fat yoghurt with honey

Step 3. Heal from the outside

Use the correct skin care products

Treat your skin carefully and avoid all harsh soaps, foaming cleanser, peels and scrubs. Choose a natural and light, pH balanced skin care line and avoid moisturizing at night. Just let your skin breath and stabilize its own moisture secretions and avoid excessive sun baking and swimming in chlorinated water.

Remember, the skin needs consistent care though diet and lifestyle. Commit yourself to a skin clearing regime like this one for a minimum of 12 weeks and you will notice acne clear and blemishes soften, revealing a clearer and healthier complexion.



Dr. Jack Kruse Explains the Importance of Sunlight Vitamin D for Health

Dr. Jack Kruse Explains the Importance of Sunlight Vitamin D for Health

Of all the health secrets, one of the most sought-after is how to optimize our health, and a common question is why health and healing have to be so complicated. But perhaps it doesn’t.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Jack Kruse carries a simple message to think about how exposure to sunlight has gotten a bad rap over the past few decades and how our relationship to the sun is the key to staying well and energized.

Dr. Kruse says we seem to have forgotten that the sunlight’s system of photosynthesis supports most of the food chain on this planet. And, since our skin is derived from neuroectoderm (cellular structures associated with the brain and nervous system) we rely on the sun for photosynthesis to make vitamin D to protect our health. Vitamin D is too often overlooked by modern medicine in its role to keep us alive and healthy. Maybe, suggests Kruse, we need to rethink our position on Vitamin D and how we produce it.

Let There Be Light

In a recent interview, Dr. Kruse tells Regina Meredith that too many of us are continually exposed to artificial indoor light, causing us to miss out on vital factors required to boost the immune system and allow it to work optimally. Our bodies require the full spectrum of the sun’s rays to produce vitamin D, a hormone naturally created in our skin cells and used for myriad biochemical processes.

The Mayo Clinic explains that vitamin D is needed to regulate many cellular functions in the body and acts to support anti-inflammatory responses, antioxidant activity, nerve cells, the immune system, muscle function, and brain cell activity. Beyond this, explains Dr. Kruse, vitamin D is helpful in warding off viruses and bacteria, and helping the cells efficiently create and use energy.

Vitamin D is an overlooked nutrient, especially in northern climates where sunlight can be scarce for months at a time. Kruse links a number of health issues with vitamin D deficiency, including obesity, bone malformation, psoriasis, heart failure in the newly born, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, mental illness, diabetes, and even cancer, as well as most autoimmune diseases. Much of these health issues may be attributed to what Dr. Kruse calls a “quantum-biological problem,” meaning that it’s a story about sunlight and our relationship to it. 

A fact of nature is that skin color, as well as other personal health factors, influences how much sunlight we need, which determines our state of health, the efficiency of the immune system, and the production of energy in our cells. People with darker skin need more sunlight than those with lighter skin to produce vitamin D. It’s not a racial problem, says Kruse, but rather a biological issue, despite how media may misinterpret it and how some physicians can misunderstand or overlook this fact. We have to be aware of our skin type and gauge our exposure to the sun accordingly, to glean the benefits of good health and to ward off a host of illnesses.

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