In last week’s blog, we went over common skin issues and how foods can be helpful.  One skin-related area that I have had many questions about recently is teen acne.  Note: the same solutions can also be applied to adult acne. 

As a parent watching their kid's confidence and self esteem be affected by this, this is an important topic on its own. 

There can be a number of reasons why this skin irritation occurs, including hormones, food triggers, cleansing properly, toxins and liver overwhelm and stress.  With many possible causes, let’s go over a few changes that can correct the issue at its root cause.  Often the go-to solution is putting something ON the skin to fix it, but if the underlying issue is a food trigger or toxins, it is not going to fix it nor create the best results.

So, where do you start?  With refined and processed sugars and foods being one of the main triggers, it’s a great place to start the changes.  Dairy as well can be a possible source of the irritation.  It is very helpful to take the time to write out a list foods eaten, and swaps being made, and if the skin starts to improve or change at all.  Swap refined foods with their whole food version.  Examples are whole grain breads instead of white flour, and more veggies and real foods instead of fried and processed foods.

Also making sure the liver is being supported with water (add half fresh squeezed lemon for the first glass in the morning), beets, and sulphur rich veggies like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and garlic.  Supporting the liver also helps to remove excess hormones from the body, so you get benefits at 2 levels when the liver is happy via toxins and hormones.

Next, adding good fats like avocados, fish, nuts and seeds (not roasted), coconut oil and unheated olive oil.  Making your own salad dressing to improve the quality of fats in the diet as well as adding good fats like coconut oil and/or avocados to smoothies are helpful ways to add more healthy fats to benefit skin health at the cellular level.

Additional ideas - to help reduce the irritation on the surface, try making a baking soda paste (1 tsp baking soda plus a few drops of water) and apply to the face and let dry about 20 minutes and gently wash off.  Also using coconut oil as a face cream at night after washing helps skin from getting dry and over-producing oil and it is also anti-bacterial to help heal existing breakouts.

Summary - reduce refined sugars and foods by adding more whole (clean) foods and healthy fats.  Drink water with lemon to support the liver and use tools like baking soda paste and coconut oil to help heal the skin topically at the same time.

Have a lovely week!