How to get rid of your acne.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

I am pretty sure that I covered all of the aspects of acne control in here. I hope this answers a few questions.


How to get rid of acne.


One cause of acne is oily skin, and can be worsened by making that skin dry for too long. Your body initially creates pimples because it has a surplus of oils in its system and must excrete waste through the pores in order to dispose of it. When you dry your skin out and leave it that way, your body realizes that it has dry skin and responds by sending more oils to the skin, thus creating more pimples. This is the exact reason proactive, Benzaclin, and other pharmaceutical acne treatments will work in waves and are only temporary solutions. Your acne will get better for about a week and you will say to yourself ?WOW this is really working!? Then the next week your acne will be bad again because your body reacted to its skin being so dry. The solution to this problem is this: take your showers at night, dry the skin out in the shower with some soap or face wash, then when you get out of the shower apply a moisturizer of some sort. You can get any good moisturizer at King Soopers, Safeway, Krogers, any supermarket really. Feel free to put on as much moisturizer as you need. You can not over do it with the moisturizer. What you are essentially doing is replacing the bad oils in your skin with good ones so that you body doesn?t create pimples.

The primary cause of acne is hormones within your body. When you are young, and going through puberty your testosterone is at its peak(for men); your on the best steroids you can get. Lifting weights and eating in a calorie surplus will raise testosterone levels, consequently making your acne worse. If you have plans to get big and you are still young you just need to get your priorities in order. Would you rather have bad acne, and be huge, or moderate acne and be small? Either way, if you work out or not you will have acne, it just depends on the seriousness of it. Lifting weights also makes you sweat, and if you do not take a shower directly after sweating, that sweat will clog your pores and make your acne worse.

I have been told by doctors and dermatologists both that nutrition has next to nothing to do with acne. This is the biggest myth I have ever heard surrounding acne. If you eat the right foods, and stay away from bad foods you can almost clear up your acne entirely. Nutrition is the most important aspect in acne production next to hormones. Usually if you had a bad day and cheated on your diet and ate a ton of crap food you will see more pimples arise around your jaw line near your lymph nodes, and on your forehead. The reason being is that these are some of the major locations in the body for detoxification. When your body is not detoxifying correctly it will react to sugary, and fatty foods by excreting the waste of the foods through your skin. The jaw line and the forehead just tend to be the primary spots for this type of detoxification. Certain supplements can help your body become more efficient at detoxification. Most health food stores will have decent products for detoxification, just follow the directions on the bottle. I have tried numerous ones and they all seem to work the same. Now on to the nutritional aspect of acne. Like I said before there are foods that you can eat that will make your acne worse, or make it better. Healthy fats such as DHA, EFA, and Omegas will help your skin. Alpha Lipoic acid will help your skin while also aiding in the muscular absorption of creatine. Supplementing with these healthy fats is the same concept as moisturizing, but internally. Foods can be categorized as either anti inflammatory, or inflammatory. Inflammatory foods tend to make most peoples acne redder and create more pimples, while anti inflammatory foods tend to make peoples acne less irritated, and reduce the amount of pimples. A well rounded bodybuilding diet can easily be created off of foods on the anti inflammatory foods list



Inflammatory
Bagels
Bread, rolls, baked goods
Candy
Cake
Cookies
Cereals (except oatmeal)
Cornstarch
Corn products
Crackers
Croissants
Doughnuts
Egg Rolls
Fast food
French fries
Fruit Juice- eat the fruit instead
Fried Foods(the WORST)
Flour
Granola
Honey
Hot Dogs
Ice cream, (Frozen Yogurt, Italian Ices)
Jams, jellies and preserves
Margarine
Molasses
Muffins
noodles
Pancakes
Pastry
Pie
Pita bread
Pizza
Pasta
Popcorn
Potatoes
Pudding
Relish
Rice
Sherbet
Shortening
Chips, Pretzels, rice and corn cakes
Soda
Sugar
Tacos
Tortillas
Waffles
Milk


Anti Inlammatory
Sea Food- All fish products
Chicken- preferably skinless
Plain Yogurt
Eggs
Kefir
Cottage Cheese
Tofu
Oatmeal
Lentils
Chickpeas
Beans
Buckwheat
Barley
Fruits and Vegetables
Almonds
Walnuts
Hazlenuts
Pecans
Macadamia Nuts
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Sesamee
Flax seed
herbs and spices
Green tea
Water
Acai
Pomegranite juice
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salsa
Cayenne pepper
Meats
Whey



The list of non acceptable foods seems long and very difficult seeing as it has a lot of foods that are staple bodybuilding foods(potatoes, rice, etc), but those are foods to stay away from, at least for now. A few foods that work wonders on your acne above all others are foods rich in antioxidants. Pomegranate juice, blueberries and prunes are some of the best foods for your acne, if you don?t believe me try it. Eat a few cups of blueberries and you will see a noticeably difference in your acne in the morning. Now remember since there are numerous causes to acne you must combine numerous strategies to get rid of it. Think of your acne like a chess game. Although I do not play chess often, I know that it is a game that is won by small advantages. As you build more advantages up on your side you begin to win the game. As long as your diet consists mostly of the foods on the acceptable anti inflammatory foods list your acne will be under control. I would recommend eating only foods from the anti inflammatory list for about a month, then you can begin adding in foods from the inflammatory foods list. If your acne gets worse from a food that you added, then you know that food is inflammatory for you. Some of the foods on the inflammatory foods list will not affect your acne and in that case they are fine to eat, but you will never know what foods are the problem unless you have ruled them out for sure.

I am sure that people who suffer from bad acne have tried antibiotics and some have gone to the extreme of trying Accutane. Antibiotics will work temporarily, but your body will adjust to them in about a month or two and then your acne will return with the same intensity and sometimes even worse. Accutane is probably the riskiest product you could ever take for controlling your acne. Side affects include: Birth defects, mental problems, suicide, (for women there is an extreme risk that your baby will die or be deformed) brain problems, hearing problems, bone and MUSCLE problems, and allergic reactions. Some of the more milder side affects can include color blindness, and oil gland problems. In my opinion no matter how bad your acne is I would never want to risk it to end up with life long problems.

Post any questions you have and I will answer them to the best of my abilities.
Swimming ina chloronated hot tub or pool will kill the bacteria on your skin and dry it out thus helping your acne, just remember to moisturize.

[NuttingToIt]

your right about the inflamitary and anti-inflamitary...

everyone who has acne, should try Omega 3 fish oil. i stumbled upon it, i just took omega 3 for other reasons, but then within a week, my skin has been its best for many many years.

propecia/proscar also helps. its a drug to prevent hair loss. i tried it and it also helps alot. it converts testosterone to dht. best google it to get a technical answer. my chemist friend put me onto it.

proscar and omega 3 keeps the acne away.

[NuttingToIt]

oh one more thing, sex/masturbation does cause outbreaks for some people. its not a myth. related to changing hormone levels when u have a wank....

[Gr3g_Lycan]

I'm on accutane, and have talked to others on this board and elsewhere about side effects. Nobody I have talked to has symptoms more serious than cracked lips. My dermatologist says has never taken anybody off it because of side effects (including regular liver tests) and he has treated hundreds.

The side effects of accutane is a massive internet beatup.

[NuttingToIt]

no its not an internet beat up. prescribed poperly it is safe. but even then, how does your doctor tell from a 5 minute visit that you have depression or suicidal. u cant. also can lead to hair loss. and many other side effects that are not immediatly apparent.

its so dangerous drug that before the dermo pescribes it he needs to phone up the drug authority to authorise it.... i know this cause when i was on it, he phone up and gave them a special code and then he could write the script.

they dont do that lightly.

[NuttingToIt]

p.s i was on accutane 3 times, each time after 6 months it came back. i was only trying to find a band aid to the problem, rather than address the cause. which essentially was my diet.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

Originally Posted by GregT

I'm on accutane, and have talked to others on this board and elsewhere about side effects. Nobody I have talked to has symptoms more serious than cracked lips. My dermatologist says has never taken anybody off it because of side effects (including regular liver tests) and he has treated hundreds.

The side effects of accutane is a massive internet beatup.

For one thing I doubt that your doctor has treated HUNDREDS of patients with Accutane, and just because no one he has treated had side affects doesnt mean you couldnt. They are all on the list of side affects your doctor gave you because they happened to someone, or numerous people.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

I realized that I forgot to post my sources.

The majority of this article is written from personal experience, and from talking to numerous skin doctors, spas, dermatologists and regular doctors. Also the majority of this information on Inflammatory and Anti inflammatory foods comes from Dr. Perricones clear skin diet book. Just google him if you want to know more.

[get serious]

about the moisterisers after the shower--- you can use too much and in turn clog your pores. most moisterisers will do this, but some are advertised saying they will not clog pores, i personally just use a moderate amount to lightly coat the skin.
im sure it is person specific, maybe you can use as much as you want, but some people will clog their pores and get pimples if they use too much moisteriser on the face.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

Originally Posted by get serious

about the moisterisers after the shower--- you can use too much and in turn clog your pores. most moisterisers will do this, but some are advertised saying they will not clog pores, i personally just use a moderate amount to lightly coat the skin.
im sure it is person specific, maybe you can use as much as you want, but some people will clog their pores and get pimples if they use too much moisteriser on the face.

Good point. There are mositurizers that will not do this tho, so look for the ones that says they do not clog your pores. Forgot to mention that.

[JDOutlook]

This Perricone guy is definitely not the best source to be getting your facts from. He seems like a real swindler. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Perricone


From "criticisms"

Dr. Perricone's critics accuse him of making outlandish, unrealistic promises in order to sell books and products. His claims, they say, are backed by very little scientific research, and any research he has done himself has never been published in medical journals, where it would be subject to scrupulous review.

Dr. Perricone's recommended diet has come under particular scrutiny. Although the specifics vary in his books, all of the recommendations focus on the regulation of blood sugar levels. Specifically, he recommends preventing rapid increases in blood sugar by eating only foods with a low glycemic index. This eliminates most breads and fruit juices, both of which are strongly recommended for consumption by mainstream diet organizations such as the USDA, which makes grains (including bread and cereal) the base of their food pyramid.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

Originally Posted by JDOutlook

This Perricone guy is definitely not the best source to be getting your facts from. He seems like a real swindler. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Perricone


From "criticisms"

regardless of how Dr.Perricon markets his products his information has plenty if scientifical basis. He does not reccomend grains because they have high levels of gluten in them, which has been shown to make acne worse in teens. Along with simple sugars(fruit Juice). And since when does the USDA know what we should be eating. Are you ONLY eating 3 servings of meat a day, I know im not. eating 11 servings of grains a day causes the body to use carbohydrates for energy instead of fat, and it says to eat fat sparingly. Seing as 40% of america is obese, shouldnt Americans be cutting back on their carb intake, and maybe up their healthy fats and protein. If you ever want to loose fat on a USDA approved diet then good luck loosing it on 11 servings of carbs a day. It doesnt matter how extreme he is in marketing his products, it just matters if the information he is selling aligns with proven research. I have talked to a number of doctors reccomending diets low in gluten products.

[JDOutlook]

He does not reccomend grains because they have high levels of gluten in them, which has been shown to make acne worse in teens.

Can you give me a reference?

And since when does the USDA know what we should be eating. Are you ONLY eating 3 servings of meat a day, I know im not. eating 11 servings of grains a day causes the body to use carbohydrates for energy instead of fat, and it says to eat fat sparingly. Seing as 40% of america is obese, shouldnt Americans be cutting back on their carb intake, and maybe up their healthy fats and protein. If you ever want to loose fat on a USDA approved diet then good luck loosing it on 11 servings of carbs a day.

The USDA recommended diet is for normal people (no weight problem and sedentary) so it's not going to be contructed as a fat person diet. Nor is it meant to be the ideal diet to get joe average lean and muscular at 8% bf.

It doesnt matter how extreme he is in marketing his products, it just matters if the information he is selling aligns with proven research.

It's not an issue of extremity, rather legitimacy which this person does not seem to have. I'm sorry but this guy is not the rogue dermatologist putting together all the right studies to find out the truth as you believe. Instead he's pointing to some legitimate stuff and probably citing his own studies (which no one has reviewed or even seen) and bam suddenly diet is a critical factor in controlling acne, regardless of what the rest of the medical community has said

[UncleMixer]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the following so let me chime in. This is the same exact stuff dermatologists have in their so-called magical formulas. These are proven to help eliminate acne and are found in almost every pricy-over the counter acne treatment. Save yourself some money.

Benzoyle Peroxide 5% Cream (Nutrogena)
Salicylic Acid 2% Lotion
Jojoba oil
Vitamin B5
Vitamin E
Foaming Face Scrub Oil Free Soap

Steps:

1. Wash face off with the foaming face scrub
2. At night before bed, apply a quarter size Benzoyle Peroxide mixed in your palm with 3-5 drops of jojoba oil. Rub this into your trouble areas and over any pimples/red spots
3. In the morning, wash your face again with foaming scrub and then apply the salicyclic acid 2% daytime lotion. This helps prevent acne from showing up all day long.

Take the above mentioned vitamins.

In 3-5 weeks your acne will be considerably reduced.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

Originally Posted by JDOutlook

It's not an issue of extremity, rather legitimacy which this person does not seem to have. I'm sorry but this guy is not the rogue dermatologist putting together all the right studies to find out the truth as you believe. Instead he's pointing to some legitimate stuff and probably citing his own studies (which no one has reviewed or even seen) and bam suddenly diet is a critical factor in controlling acne, regardless of what the rest of the medical community has said

Im not going to bother searching throgh the internet to prove what Im saying and find my sources. Im not saying that they dont exist, im just saying that it will be a waste of time in the end. If you dont believe me then thats fine, but to still say that diet has nothing to do with acne is ridiculous. Doctors and dermatologists go with fact from studies to cure problems. They say that diet has nothing to do with acne because it is on a case by case basis with them. Diet is an impossible variable, and it can never be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that diet has a link to acne. You can not get a controlled group of people to do a study on whether or not this dietary plan helps acne, because each person has a different level of acne, and no person would be disciplined enough to stay exactly on the diet. Your dealing with the average teenager here. Why not just prove it yourself if you dont believe that nutrition has anything to do with acne. I dare you to eat only foods from the inflammatory list and I guarantee you that your acne will get worse.

[llee10789]

How funny.

back when i used to eat bad food, my acne appeared one or two here and there all over the face.

now, for like the past 3 weeks, although i have been eating clean for about 2 months...i binge hard, and NOW i get acne along my jawline!?! and THEY WON'T LEAVE!?! (or burst...eww, i know)

.....i thought my protein powder was the culprit of this dilemma....but what is wrong with my hormones. i am a female btw.

sigh....i'm getting pretty desperate. it's about 7-8 pimples on one side of the jawline...and i think i just got 2-3 on the other side...grrrrrrrrrr

i'm going to buy some benzoyl peroxide cream, i've brought down my exfoliating to 2x/week versus 4x/week...and i moisturize day and night with "oil-free" stuff.

WHAAAT. is going on.

[dumac]

wash your face everyday and don't eat alot of chocolate. i did that and i went from having a lot of acne to only having a few pimples that were small.

[llee10789]

^

i'm just coming back from a "fall-off-the-wagon" 10 day marathon.

soooo...we'll see if i see some improvement~

gooood luck to the rest of ya'lll

[gfundaro]

I don't really care if I have a bump or two haha...I mean, I workout for at least an hour a day, gimme a break. :-P But what works wonders for me is using a gentle cleanser and exfoliant at the same time (Dove cleanser and apricot scrub), using a non-oily moisturizer, and putting tea tree oil on blemishes. Tea Tree oil will kill your bump in 1-3 days, depending on how bad it is. It's great stuff.

[pharaoh7]

Originally Posted by NuttingToIt

your right about the inflamitary and anti-inflamitary...

everyone who has acne, should try Omega 3 fish oil. i stumbled upon it, i just took omega 3 for other reasons, but then within a week, my skin has been its best for many many years.

propecia/proscar also helps. its a drug to prevent hair loss. i tried it and it also helps alot. it converts testosterone to dht. best google it to get a technical answer. my chemist friend put me onto it.

proscar and omega 3 keeps the acne away.

Very true about the omega 3's.

I think you mean it prevents testosterone from converting to dht. Dht is what causes a lot of sides like hair loss and acne. Saw Palmetto does that too.

[kingofdeadlift]

Benzoyl Peroxide is pretty close to miracle cream. I follow the clear skin regimen at acne.org. I broke out hard last summer, and have been extremely careful ever since. I don't use some supplements that just ravage my face, because I'm sure the extra stress of acne hurts my gains more than the supplement helps.

Omega-3s help with inflammation, which is exactly what acne is. So, omega-3s are great

I would always get frustrated with the people who would eat nothing but candy and fast food and had perfect skin, while I was eating salads and chicken breast and had a pizza face.

[viper2510]

this is coming from personal experience only, but when i stopped drinking crazy amounts of milk, the difference was night and day. i went from around 3 gallons of skim per week to just under 1 and its amazing how good my skin looks now.

[TheGr8Babu]

I second the plan at acne.org it worked amazing for me too.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

Originally Posted by llee10789

How funny.

back when i used to eat bad food, my acne appeared one or two here and there all over the face.

now, for like the past 3 weeks, although i have been eating clean for about 2 months...i binge hard, and NOW i get acne along my jawline!?! and THEY WON'T LEAVE!?! (or burst...eww, i know)

.....i thought my protein powder was the culprit of this dilemma....but what is wrong with my hormones. i am a female btw.

sigh....i'm getting pretty desperate. it's about 7-8 pimples on one side of the jawline...and i think i just got 2-3 on the other side...grrrrrrrrrr

i'm going to buy some benzoyl peroxide cream, i've brought down my exfoliating to 2x/week versus 4x/week...and i moisturize day and night with "oil-free" stuff.

WHAAAT. is going on.

Dry it out and use moisturizer, and then start eating clean again, over time as you build up your ability to detoxify better, you will recover from these binges in a shorter time, and the acne will go away in say 3 days instead of 2 weeks.

[LiFtHaTiRoN]

Originally Posted by viper2510

this is coming from personal experience only, but when i stopped drinking crazy amounts of milk, the difference was night and day. i went from around 3 gallons of skim per week to just under 1 and its amazing how good my skin looks now.

Yea, milk should be on the inflammatory list, but it really only affects some people. Milk will usually make acne worse.

[bravo03]

Originally Posted by NuttingToIt

p.s i was on accutane 3 times, each time after 6 months it came back. i was only trying to find a band aid to the problem, rather than address the cause. which essentially was my diet.

been on tane for 21 days, face look best in my life almost, seriously great stuff.

[NuttingToIt]

thats great bro, as usually when on accutane the first month or two it gets worse before it gets better... also awatch out for the depression. you know best if it hits you... like short temper, want to sleep alot, dont feel like doing anything, etc....

[alexclark]

Originally Posted by UncleMixer

Benzoyle Peroxide 5% Cream (Nutrogena)
Salicylic Acid 2% Lotion
Jojoba oil
Vitamin B5
Vitamin E
Foaming Face Scrub Oil Free Soap

Benzoyl Peroxide works wonders. It has helped me out quite a bit. I highly recommend buying a facewash that has from 2.5%-10% of it.

Sunlight also helps A LOT. It kills the bacteria and you'll look much better. After a couple hours at the beach saturday, my skin has been better all weekend.

[Wowstrongcut]

one giant ignorant post


TRUTH = acne is caused bu overactive sebaceous glands producing too much sebum.

closest thing to a cure is ACCUTANE.

hygeine and nutrition have zero to do with acne you jack@$$

[onemorerobot]

Really? Then why does my face clear up when I stop eating certain foods, and then break out when I eat them again?