Issue 4: How To Get Clear: Summary of Important Steps

Perhaps you are one of the many acne victims who are completely at lost on what to do about their skin. If so, this is for you. In this issue of Clear Skin Tips I summarize the most important things you can do for your skin. I wanted to share these with you because every so often I get an email from people who have almost lost hope because it seems like nothing is working for them.

You should attack acne from two sides. Intelligent diet and lifestyle changes are your primary weapon against acne. You can complement these with strategic use of supplements and topical treatments. So let’s look at both of these in more detail.

Diet and lifestyle changes for clear skin

The primary aim of diet and lifestyle changes is to reduce insulin levels and systematic inflammation in the body. You can’t achieve this by focusing on any single lifestyle area alone (such as diet). That’s because these areas affect each other, and weakness in one area can hold you back.

So let’s look some of the most important lifestyle areas to make sure you have all your ducks in row.

Diet

Most people pay far too much attention on diet at the expense of other areas. Eating healthy is important, but it shouldn’t be your sole focus.

You should minimize consumption of foods that lead to excessively high insulin levels and inflammation and to eat more foods that reduce inflammation. Minimize wheat and grains, dairy, processed food (especially processed vegetable oils) and soy. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and healthy fats.

Emotional health

Most people completely ignore the effect of stress and emotional problems on acne. This is tragic as emotional issues can affect your skin as much as what you eat does. Furthermore addressing this area can improve the quality of your life more than anything else.

Some important things to do. Manage stress and take time to relax frequently. Spend time with friends and family; do not isolate yourself into your room, prolonged isolation and loneliness is bad for you physically and mentally.

Exercise

Be active and exercise. But keep in mind that too much exercise causes more harm than good, especially keep in mind that too much cardiovascular exercise (such as running) increases stress and inflammation levels in the body.

Other important areas

• Get adequate sleep
• Spend time outdoors and get some sunlight regularly. Moderation is the key. You need some unprotected sun exposure, but you should never burn your skin.
• Pay attention to your breathing. Slow down and remind yourself to breathe deeply. You also need fresh air regularly. As much as possible spend some time in nature. And keep in mind that outdoor air even in a city is healthier than indoor air.

That’s it for diet and lifestyle changes. Now let’s briefly look at supplementation and topical treatments and how they can support you in getting clear.

Supportive treatments

While diet and lifestyle changes are your primary weapon against acne you can help them with intelligent use of topical treatments and supplements.

Unfortunately most acne victims make the mistake of using creams and lotions excessively harsh chemicals. These irritate the skin and can make it harder for you to get clear.

Studies have shown that people with acne have significantly lower levels of antioxidants and certain vitamins than people with healthy skin have. Lower levels of vitamin E make sebum more prone to damage, or oxidation. Researchers are now speculating that this oxidation of sebum is what really triggers acne. This is why taking a Vitamin E supplement and applying cream with Vitamin E could help your skin.

Other supplements that show promise are:

• Zinc
• Niacin/nicotinamine (Vitamin B3)
• Omega 3

Sebum production is another way acne victims differ from people with healthy skin. This is partly because our skin glands convert testosterone and other androgen hormones into more potent form of DHT more actively. DHT then kicks sebum production into high gear.

Certain substances can inhibit this conversion of androgens to DHT. Examples are Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and green tea catechins. GLA are found in evening primrose and borage oils. I’m not sure about GLA but you can drink green tea or use cream with green tea extracts – or both.  

So there you have it. In a nutshell the most important things you can do for your skin. This is by no means a comprehensive list and I know there are also other things that have helped some people. But what I have listed here are things with reasonably good scientific backing. So it’s likely that these work better for a larger number of people than some hearsay found online.

Finally, keep in mind that patience is a virtue. It can take 1 to 2 months for many things listed here to take effect. So please don’t get discouraged if you don’t see quick results.

Updates

I recently started a new website about Exposed Acne Treatment. My goal is to make that site the go-to source for people looking for honest information about Exposed.

If you have tried Exposed or have any experience with it, could you please share what you know with others? It’s really simple. Just visit the website and leave your feedback as a comment on a relevant page. Here’s the link to the site:

http://www.exposedacnetreatmentinfo.com/

That’s it for this week’s issue of Clear Skin Tips. I hope you enjoyed this. If you need help with getting clear feel free to come to the forums and I’ll be happy to guide you.

http://www.clear-for-life.com/community/

Tagged as: clear skin tips, cure acne, emotional health, green tea, inflammation, insulin, loneliness

Did you like this? Then you will also love these products:

Clear for Life: Lifestyle for Health, Happiness and Clear Skin

Clear for Life Meditations: Melt Away the Stress of Acne and Finally Be Free

Emotional Healing for Clear Skin: Simple system for healing the emotional pain acne causes