Can toxins affect acne?

Detox is one of the those buzzwords that is connected with a very long list of ails, and it’s no different with acne skin treatment. The theory goes that the human body is overburdened with toxins. These toxins interrupt natural processes in the body and cause health problems, among them acne.

The internet is littered with myths, quackery and utter nonsense in many areas.

So what’s true?

For good skin health you need good overall health. Living in a toxic environment and eating lots of toxins is not good for your health and it is not good for your skin.

Therefore, where possible avoid eating chemicals in your food, drink plenty of water and eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetable to help your body eliminate that which it does not need.

Although I’m a firm believer in “healthy body, healthy skin” i.e. that good skin health starts from the inside out, I can’t completely ignore the bacteria argument.

If I ever get a breakout, from whatever cause, one of the first things I do is reach for Betadine to help keep the affected area nice and clean. I use that one because it’s cheap and readily available and it doesn’t dry my skin out.

Night time routine

All I do is use it after my face wash at night by wiping the area with a cotton wool pad that has Betadine on it. then I’ll use my normal moisturiser.

Extraction routine

I also use it after I have extracted a pimple, either with cotton wool or just a cotton bud with betadine on it.

Betadine Warning

Careful with your silver jewelry though! It tarnishes on contact so be sure to remove any before you start!

Technorati Tags: Acne and Bacteri, Betadine, Extraction, good skin health, Minimise a Breakout, skin Night time routine

Does Eating Fatty Foods Cause Acne?

While there’s no evidence to prove or disprove the idea that eating fatty, greasy foods will cause acne, I think we can all agree that such foods are bad for us.

They damage overall health so therefore you skin will undoubtedly suffer.

We’re in one of those common sense areas. Eating fried burgers, or potato chips, or creamy cakes is something that we all know is bad for us. One of the side effects of such a diet is undoubtedly, worse skin.

If you are busy perusing the Internet in search of some anecdotal evidence that “eating greasy foods has no effect on your skin” then keep searching. I’m quite sure that you will find a page of “real life testimonials” that will give you the good news you’re looking for, and you can get back to eating junk food.

On the other hand, if you’re sick of pseudo-science then just try dumping the fatty junk foods.

Dump them out of your diet completely for six weeks and follow a strict whole-foods diet.

See what your skin looks like after that time. If it works and if you can make it work then I guess you’ll have your answer! And an acne skin treatment that works…

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Since clear, healthy skin and good overall health go hand in hand then since excessive sugar consumption causes problems for your body in general then YES, ABSOLUTELY, sugar does provoke skin problems.

And what I mean by excessive is eating candies, sugary soda, cakes, cookies and other junk food with hidden sugars.

Hidden Sugars

You could be eating a lot more sugar than you realise. Just about all prepackaged meals and other junk foods contain sugar to make them more palatable. And because these food companies want to hide the truth from you they often dress it up as something else. Here are the trickier ones to spot (i.e. the ones that don’t have “sugar” in the name):

Bottom line

Technorati Tags: Corn, corn syrup solids, ethyl maltol, excessive sugar consumption, Florida, hidden sugars, sugar, sugar causes acne, syrup

Squeeze It or Leave It?

Squeezing Spots is probably not something you like to think about, but it happens and I for one have heard a lifetime’s worth of advice on this one, both in real life and the web.

As I see it there are two camps: the don’t squeeze people and the squeeze carefully people.

The don’t squeeze people say that the white head that comes is a good thing, it means the spot is healing and that if you squeeze it you will

1. interrupt this lovely, natural process and
2. risk spread bacteria

Hmm, well although I did physics and chemistry in favor of biology, I seem to remember something about white blood cells dying and turning into pus. And that’s what we see when a spot goes from red and headless to having a white head.

Don’t know about you, but that’s not something I want hanging around on my face!

My opinion on the subject is that it reduces overall “visitation” time of the spot if you squeeze it. But, if you try it too early then you will lengthen the length of its stay and make it bigger.

SO squeeze, but only provided that you:

1. Do it when it’s ready. i.e. not while it’s still headless red, you must wait for a white head to appear.
2. Do it Gently i.e. wrap you fingers in toilet paper and give a gentle squeeze. If it’s ready then there will be very little resistance. If you have to fight, or hurt yourself then it’s not ready. Do not use metal/pointy things on your face!
3. Do it Cleanly i.e. clean face, clean hands to start with and dab the area afterwards with some kind of an antiseptic or toner.

Of course, the best acne skin treatment is prevention, but good skin health, just like overall good health is something that you cannot achieve instantly.

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Does Coffee/Cause Acne?

The jury is still out on this one.

Although there’s a huge pile of anecdotal “evidence” to support the idea that drinking coffee has a detrimental effect on skin health, there is not actually any real evidence to support it. By real evidence I mean the results of numerous, independent, rigorous studies.
However, having said all that there are a few good common sense principles to remember on this subject.

1. For Good skin health you need good overall health.
2. Good overall health is not compatible with drinking coffee excessively (and this includes decaff) because of the many compounds found in coffee (e.g. stimulants).
3. Water is the best drink for your body and for your skin.
4. If you need to drink coffee every day then you are probably addicted and so you should take steps to break your addiction.

So while there may be varying opinions on the subjects with the pro coffee people pointing to coffee’s antioxidants and the anti coffee people pointing to the stimulants, in the end, with the lack of hard evidence to support either side you just have to use a bit of common sense and be self-aware enough to know how coffee affects you.

• No undesirable side effects? Great, have up to one cup per day.
• Undesirable side effects? Don’t drink coffee!

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Water DOES Help Acne!

Drinking enough water is vital to your overall health. This simple advice can give you tremendous health benefits, from relief from headaches and migraine to clearer skin. Let’s take a look at the role of water in the human body:

The human body is anywhere from 60% to 70% water.

Did you know that your tissues and organs like

• muscle,
• brain,
• blood,
• skin and even
• bone

all contain large amounts of water?

Water participates in a number of vital functions:

• Transports nutrients and oxygen into cells
• Moisturizes the air in lungs
• Helps with metabolism
• Protect vital organ
• Helps organs absorb nutrients better
• Regulates body temperature
• Detoxifies
• Protect and moisturizes joints

The biggest organ in the human body

Every cell in your body needs water and your skin is no exception. It’s the body’s biggest organ and it needs all the support it can get from water. It’s something that a lot of people overlook but if you can get into the habit of drinking a lot of water then your body, and your skin will thank you for it.

How to drink more water

Drink water- that means bottles mineral water or filtered tap water, or just tap water! And just to clarify- this does not include fizzy or sugary drinks.

I know water can get a bit boring, especially if you’re not used to it so drink herbal teas- either hot in a cup or cold as an iced tea- makes a great cooler in the summer.

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