Mike Walden
Ask
any medical doctor if there is a connection between diet and acne and
almost all of them will claim there is none. Quoting from the Journal of
the American Medical Association: "Diet plays no role in acne treatment
in most patients…even large amounts of certain foods have not
clinically exacerbated acne".
With years of medical education and clinical experience behind these
claims, how can we the simple folks who suffer from acne challenge these
statements and think otherwise? The answer is: doubt. Doubt, if its
stays in the borders of reason, can open many doors otherwise will stay
forever shut. Believe it or not, doubt can change reality. Doubt can
cure your acne and doubt can even save your life.
Fact is, countless of acne sufferers have reported that their acne
seemed to get worse when they consumed certain foods and saw dramatic
positive change over their acne condition when they eliminated the same
foods from their diet and when certain foods with specific nutritional
value were incorporated into their diet.
So why do dermatologists so stubbornly insist that diet does not cause
acne? The answer: you can't make a profit promoting a healthy diet. At
least not as much money as you could make by selling drugs and over the
counters. There is a huge pressure upon doctors coming from the drug and
pharmaceutical companies to prescribe expensive medications and lotions
that create dependency. The truth is, that your doctor is in a way, a
hostage by the trillion dollar drug companies. Did you know that the
drug companies, who have no interest in producing something that they
cannot control financially, sponsor most medical schools?
The right diet, although not a solution by itself, can, in many cases,
dramatically reduce inflammation and even completely clear one's acne
(if you're one of the lucky ones who's acne is triggered by allergic
response to food). Promoting a clear skin diet simply means less profits
for the drug and pharmaceutical companies.
The truth is that conventional medications will never cure your acne,
simply because they are pre-designed NOT to fix the internal cause of
acne. They are pre-designed to deal with the external symptoms of a
disease as they create more and more dependency and more dependency
means making more money all at our expense and ignorance.
The Theory That Diet Doesn’t Cause Acne Is A Myth
The dogmatic theory that diet does not cause acne and that acne is
merely an incurable genetic disorder was based upon two dated researches
published in 1969 and 1971 that were aimed at studying the connection
between diet and acne.
These studies were the foundation of the ‘acne symptoms treatment
strategy’, meaning, because acne is a genetic disease that cannot be
prevented, the only way to deal with acne would be to tackle its
symptoms (bacteria, inflammation, puss, redness, greasiness), by
applying creams, antibiotics, taking prescription drugs and over the
counters.
Surprisingly enough, years after the above studies were published,
clinical trials and in depth researches experimenting the acne diet link
have found that the studies from 1969 and 1971 had came to the wrong
conclusions and were in fact seriously flawed.
Recent studies have clearly found a significant connection between diet
and acne. It appears that the wrong diet is now thought to be one of the
leading acne contributing factors that can negatively affect hormonal
regulation and the natural process of toxic elimination, which can
seriously aggravate one’s existing acne.
Diet Shapes Who You Are (Including Your Acne)
In the same way that crashing waves shape beach cliffs and just like the
wind shapes the canyon walls, slowly and methodically over time, so
does eating shapes and effects our physic, our internal system, our
physical and mental being, from the organ down to the cellular level.
The idea that an object foreign to our body that is inserted by the food
that we eat, has no effect on us, or has no impact on chronic
conditions such as acne is absurd. Diet is the primary thing that
affects and shapes who we are.
Diet has cumulative effect on our bodies, and that includes our skin
condition and acne, which is a manifestation of a chronic internal
problem slowly shaped and built by the wrong daily dietary choices over
the years.
Acne Diet and The Kitavan Islanders
While in the U.S, more than 80% of teenagers between 16 and 18 have acne
and more than 17 million Americans suffer from some form of acne, there
is an interesting evidence that native people that live and eat in
traditional ways, have significantly lower to no occurrences of acne.
In 2002, Dr. Cordain and his colleagues published a landmark study that
examined 300 people living in the Kitavan Islands off the coast of Papua
New Guinea that showed that none of the islanders had even one blemish
on his or her face. Similar to the Kitavans, no case of acne had been
observed when the same experiment had been conducted upon the South
American Indians called the Ache, living in a remote jungle in eastern
Paraguay.
The natives of Kitavan and the South American Indians had no access to
the latest over the counters, topical creams or conventional acne
medications and they had no dermatologist to consult with. The only vast
difference between them and American or European citizens is their
diet.
Acne Diet and Sugar: The Sweet Poison
Aside from the fact that sugar is a 100% pure chemical with zero
nutritional value, recent studies have clearly shown a connection
between the consumption of sugar and the aggravation of acne.
When you consume any form of refined carbohydrates (white sugar, white
flour, white rice) here's what happens: right after you insert that
'sweet poison' into your body, it rapidly spikes up your blood sugar
levels. Your body needs to bring those levels down so it secrets a surge
of insulin, other male hormones and an insulin-like growth factor
called IGF-1. The excretion of these hormones overwhelms your liver and
your internal system in general. The excess of male hormones encourages
the skin to excrete large amounts of sebum oil: The greasy substance
that encourages the p.acne bacteria to grow, resulting in the
aggravation of your acne.
Acne Diet and Dairy Products: Got Milk? Got Acne
If you thought sugar can aggravate your acne, here's another major
nutritional player in the formation of acne: behold the miracles of
milk. Milk (all dairy products included) is the most harmful, mucus
forming, allergenic and acne aggravating food you can find. Surprised? I
thought so. After years of constant brainwashing by the media, who can
blame us for thinking milk is good for strong bones and healthy teeth?
The truth is: every sip of milk contains 59 different raging hormones,
(which trigger the hyper-production of sebum oil resulting in more
acne), saturated animal fat, steroid hormones, dead white blood cells,
and cow pus in abundance!
Did you know that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows 750
million pus cells in every liter of milk (about two pounds) produced in
America? Think about it, the next time you pop a pimple.
Scientific studies already point the finger at milk as one of the worst
acne aggravating foods: "As pointed out by Dr. Jerome Fisher, 'About 80
percent of cows that are giving milk are pregnant and are throwing off
hormones continuously.' Progesterone breaks down into androgens, which
have been implicated as a factor in the development of acne...Dr. Fisher
observed that his teenage acne patients improved as soon as the milk
drinking stopped."
If there's one element you should remove from your diet in the quest for
clear skin make it this one. Not only will you see an immediate
improvement over your acne, you'll feel a huge weight has been lifted
from your body. If you worry about calcium intake, don’t! Milk being
acidic forming food creates a leeching effect where calcium is taken
from your bones to balance the acidity. Milk actually deprives your body
from its calcium resources. Green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds are
not only excellent sources of calcium they also have the powers to help
you fight your acne symptoms.
Diet Is Only One of The Factors That Cause Acne
Dairy products and sugar are not the only acne aggravating foods. The
two above cannot sum up the list of western made acne triggering foods.
There are several other foods you should clearly stay away from if you
ever wish to clear your acne. The good new is that there are tons of
other foods such as essential fatty acids that are not only excellent
for your skin, they can actually help you clear your acne, by
re-balancing your body and promoting to an acne-free environment.
The right nutrition plays an important part in the complex process of
acne formation. When doctors claim there is no link between diet and
acne because certain individuals can eat specific foods and get acne
while others eat the same foods and don't, these doctors have failed to
realize that there are several factors involved in the formation and
aggravation of acne and diet is only ONE of them.
The Final Verdict On The Acne Diet Connection: How To Finally Overcome Your Acne Challenge
Acne is a complex condition that is triggered by several underlying
factors. The only way to neutralize your acne condition is to tackle all
these acne-contributing factors-holistically. Since the wrong diet is
only one of these acne-triggering factors, in most cases no special diet
can cure acne.
There is a however, a tight connection between diet and acne formation.
Dietary factors can trigger and aggravate your existing acne. Avoiding
the wrong foods such as milk, sugar and hydrogenated oils, and eating
cleansing and hormonal balancing foods such as green leafy vegetables
and essential fatty acids, can help your skin heal itself from the
inside out and dramatically reduce your acne symptoms.
There are also several important dietary principals that you must
understand and follow if you ever want to cure your acne for good.
Taking responsibility over your body and adhering to these dietary
principals along with taking the necessary steps to tackle all acne
contributing factors, holistically, will not only cure your acne
permanently and give you the flawless acne free skin you deserve,
following these principals will also significantly improve your overall
health, mental well-being, look and feel.
Mike Walden is a certified nutritionist, independent medical researcher,
natural health consultant and author of the #1 best-selling e-book,
"Acne No More- Open The Door To An Acne Free Life." Mike has written
dozens of holistic health articles and has been featured in ezines and
print magazines, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For
information on Mike's Holistic Clear Skin program, visit: Acne No More
