Acne

Acne and stress

Believe it or not, stress can actually be your cause for acne. A study at a German university has proven the stress theory. Another study found that acne worsened in students that were under stress from exams. They discovered that when you are under stress, your body releases a chemical called CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone.) 
During times of stress, CRH is released from the hypothalamus to create a hormone called cortisol that is responsible for creating enough energy for the brain amongst other things. 
The problem with CRH is that it also causes the oil glands in the skin to produce more oil (sembum). When there is excess oil in the skin, the pores are prone to getting clogged. 

When the oil is combined with bacteria, dirt, dead skin cells, and cell waste it creates the condition of acne. 

Dr Jerome Litt, A German dermatologist, believes stress also increases production of androgens. Androgens are the male growth hormone that regulate skin oil production and is produced in large quantities during puberty which is why the most severe acne sufferers are teenagers. 

Any type of stress can cause the above problems. Stress is defined as mental or physical tension that results from physical, emotional, or chemical causes. Things such as worry, anxiety, fear and anger are all different types of stress and should be avoided where possible.

 
There are many great ways to reduce and relieve stress. One of the easiest and most effective ways is through exercise. 
When you exercise, your body begins to release chemicals called endorphins. Endorphines make you 'feel good' as they are a natural pain-killer and are very effective in combating stress. 
Even simple laughter is known to release endorphins into the body. There have been studies that have shown that the body also releases at least 4 hormones that are all related to stress. 

Diet is also important for emotional and psychological well-being which is important for avoiding stress. Stress arises when you are out-of-sorts and depressed. When you are happy you are less likely to be bothered or stressed out by certain happenings. 
Vitamins are required by the body when under stress. Vitamin B is essential for mental health and deficiencies can lead to depression, lack of concentration and tiredness, all perfect conditions for stress from normal everyday problems. 

Other practices such as meditation, yoga, aromatherapy, massage, use of herbs, incense, aromatherapy and bath salts are also excellent ways to reduce stress and all help you to relax.

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Natural acne control

Acne control doesn't have to be a hugely complex affair. You don't have to sort through all of the available commercial acne control products either. There are several natural ways to alleviate acne and control the situation to stop future acne breakouts.

First of all, cleansing is really the only completely necessary part of an effective acne control regimen. Cleansing is important because most acne is caused by bacteria that flourish underneath the surface layers of skin. When this bacterial growth gets out of hand, the body responds by enclosing the infected pore. This is how a pimple is formed.
So, acne control starts with an effective cleanser. Now, 'effective' doesn't mean harsh, and it doesn't have to be a specially formulated acne cleansing solution either. In fact, the simpler the cleanser, the better the results will be. Commercially prepared skin cleansers are nearly always filled with all kinds of extra ingredients that will only dry out skin and exacerbate the situation. People suffering from acne breakouts can tolerate these ingredients even less, though these products take a toll on even healthy skin.
So let's keep things simple. Nature has already provided all of the necessary components to keeping skin healthy and acne free. In fact, the body is completely capable of cleansing and healing itself if given only the most basic support. These support factors include drinking enough water, getting adequate rest, basic cleansing and eating clean foods.

Begin by cleaning the skin with a very simple and gentle cleanser, such as borax or all-natural body wash that is unscented. The simpler the cleanser used the better. After all, all we're trying to accomplish here is breaking up the oil deposits in order to rid the skin of bacteria that causes acne.
It is also a good idea to incorporate some type of exfoliation in order to get at the oil trapped below the dead surface skin cells. By combining exfoliation with cleansing, you'll be able to really impact the underlying causes of acne breakouts.

For improved acne control, in addition to a simple cleansing and exfoliation regimen, try applying undiluted lavender essential oil. Lavender essential oil is safe to apply undiluted to even the most broken or irritated skin. It has powerful antibacterial properties, as well as pain relieving capabilities. At first, lavender applied to broken skin may cause stinging, but this is mild to moderate and is quickly replaced with a pleasant numbness.

Another critical component to acne control is drinking adequate amounts of water. The body needs water in order to perform its own natural cleansing processes. On a cellular level, wastes can only be carried away if the body and blood are properly hydrated. Without adequate hydration, the body simply isn't able to carry away the various toxins and wastes that the cells dutifully remove from the interior of the cells. The only way to improve this is to drink more water. So how much water is enough? For men, shoot for three to four liters (or quarts) a day. Women should drink between two and three liters (or quarts) each day to maintain optimal hydration levels.

Acne Program 

Fruits You Should Eat

Eating fruits that are red or orange in color will help improve you skin health and help to prevent acne. Here are the fruits you should be eating.

* Apples – eat 3 – 4 apples a day while working to clearing your acne. Apples are good for skin health. Eat at least 2 a day. Eat organic apples because you can eat the skins and most pectin is in the skin, which helps with constipation. Apples contain ascorbic acid, bioflavonoids, fiber, pectin, quercetin, minerals, and vitamins
* Apricots – eat as many as you like. Apricots are a high source of minerals, fiber, and beta-carotene and will help control acne. (A precursor to vitamin A) They help to relieve or prevent constipation.
* Bananas – eat only one banana a day. Bananas have the phytochemcial fructoOligosaccharides, which feeds the good bacterial in your colon. By feeding the good bacteria, you prevent the bad bacteria from overtaking the colon and producing toxic acids that get to the skin and create acne.
* Blackberries – help cleanse the blood and are good for constipation. They help a weak kidney and are good for creating good skin on your face.
* Blueberries are a good blood cleanser. They are also good for constipation and various skin disorders – eczema, acne, psoraisis
* Cantaloupes – are high in vitamin A, C, and have many other minerals. This makes them good for any type of skin problems
* Cherries – are good blood cleansers and help the liver and kidney. They promote regular bowel movements.
* Figs – are high in fiber and help to reduce constipation.
* Grapefruits – helps to dissolve and eliminate poisons from drugs thus improving the liver function
* Grapes – help cleanse the body, build blood, and build the body. It is good for constipation, skin, and liver disorders.
* Mango – is good for kidney inflammation. It contains a lot of minerals, which helps to neutralize acid waste.
* Strawberries – have been shown to have strong anti-acne activity. They are high in pectin content, which helps to keep your bowels moving.
* Pineapples – contains many vitamins and minerals. It contains Papain, which helps to digest protein. They are useful in of excess mucus, digestive problems, intestinal worms, and constipation.

These fruits below are useful for acne 

since they have an antibiotic effect,

* Grapes
* Plums
* Figs
* Raspberries
* Blueberries
* Honey
* Apple juice
* Grape juice

Use as many of these fruits in your diet. If you do, you will start to see improvement in your skin and your acne will start to clear up.

  
5 Reasons Little White Bumps Are On Your Face  and How to Get Rid Of Them

Are you making these mistakes each time you spot a little white little bump on your face? Fixing those little white bumps starts with a small dose of education and ends with a big dose of prevention. After understanding the five reasons below, your little bumps should give way to clearer skin.

Reason #1: You have no clue what those little white bumps 

                    are anyway.

Little white bumps, or milia, are keratin-filled cysts, or simply little globs of protein under the skin. There are generally two types of milia. Primary milia may result from oil glands that have not fully or properly developed. Secondary milia result from trauma to the skin.

Reason #2: You think all little white bumps are acne, 

                    and treat them that way. 

Just because you have little white bumps on your face does not necessarily mean that you have acne. Milia, are little balls of protein beneath the skin that do not have a pore, or hole in the skin through which to escape.
Comedones or whiteheads are excess fats and wastes that are trapped in a hair follicle and so they clog up the pore. In short, milia are proteins trapped within the skin, while comedones are fats and skin debris trapped within the pore. Exfoliating the skin, or removing the dead skin cells from your skin with an abrasive product or chemical, is beneficial. But brutally scrubbing your face with soaps and chemicals too frequently may actually create milia. To avoid this, remember that gentle exfoliation helps prevent excess dead skin cell build-up that could clog your pores and cause whiteheads, or milia.

This gentle exfoliation helps make eventual removal of the milia easier because the skin layer around the milia becomes thinner, with frequent, yet gentle exfoliation. In short, Exfoliate your skin to prevent milia, not to cure them.

Reason # 3: You have no idea what causes those 

                    little white bumps anyway. 

When you were a baby, you were probably covered with milia that disappear after a few days. Or, you may have inherited milia from your parents.
On the other hand, you may develop milia after excessive exposure to the sun. The reasons for developing milia after sun exposure are debatable. According to some studies, the active ingredients sunscreens like Parsol 1789 may cause sun allergies and later lead to a milia breakout. Other studies blame the sun itself for “damaging” the skin can thus causing little white bumps.
Some people experience milia around the mouth. This could be the result of fluoride irritation from toothpaste.

Reason # 4: No one ever told you how to prevent milia. 

The best way to prevent milia is to avoid treating your skin with excessively harsh chemicals and to limit sun exposure.
To reduce creating milia around the eyes, use eye creams with the least amount of ingredients possible to avoid irritating the delicately thin eye area. Also, gently touch the eyes and avoid rubbing the eyes vigorously so as not to damage the skin.
When brushing you teeth, try to keep the pasty foam from staying around your mouth too long. This limits possible fluoride irritation to the skin.
Use a sunscreen with the least amount of ingredients. Extraneous ingredients like fragrances may irritate your skin. Additionally, purchase sunscreens that offer physical sun blockage that contain active ingredients like titanium oxide or zinc oxide.

Reason #5: You still want to know what you can do right now 

                    to get rid of milia. 

The key to getting rid of milia is realizing that they have no escape route, those little bumps are trapped under the skin. So, to get them out, you’ll need to have a professional like a dermatologist or aesthetician extract them. 

Now, you have no reason to walk around with little white bumps on your face. If you still think you do, please consider the possibility that you’re just telling yourself little white bumpy lies.

Water and Sunlight Helps to Clear Acne

The skin stores around 12% water. It is important to maintain this amount with the correct amount of good fat to keep your skin from getting acne. You need to drink around 2 quarts of distilled water every day. If you are not drinking this amount, just start increasing the amount that you do drink.
Drinking water helps you get rid of toxins in the blood. By drinking water, you will urinate more and more toxins will be eliminated. The cleaner your blood the healthier your skin will be and your will not have a problem with acne.
Use glass containers when buying distilled or reverse osmosis water. Try to avoid using plastic containers for water since plastic containers contain chemicals, left in the container walls during manufacturing, which leaches out into the water.
If you are drinking fresh juices, you will also be getting water from these juices. Drinking sodas is not drinking water.
Here’s a few things you do to help you drink more water or to make the water healthier. Find a 16 or 32 oz glass container and add distilled water. Then add one of the following nutrients:

* Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the water. Do not add sugar. A few drops of honey may be ok.
* Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the water and add up to one teaspoon of powdered MSM. MSM is excellent for the skin disorders such as acne. It makes the skin cells more flexible, allowing more nutrients to go into and out of the cells, and its anti-inflammatory. MSM is also excellent in activating peristaltic action and will prevent constipation.
* Put 2 oz of mangosteen into the water. Mangosteen is an over all body tonic. It works on all parts of the body and will help keep you regular.
You can also choose to add your favorite nutritional flavor to give water an additional value.
Chose one of these natural additives for your water and drink this water little by little all day long. This is one more thing you can do to get rid of acne, improve your skin texture or to keep the nice skin you already have.

Get Some Sunshine

One more thing you can do for your skin is to get more natural light.
Expose your face to plenty of sun and air. This helps your skin to heal faster. But don’t purposely place your face in the sun, but remaining in the shade and open outdoors gives you plenty of sun and air.
At least 20 – 40 minutes a day in the outdoors is necessary for you to get sufficient vitamin D for you daily

 needs

Acne Program- Adding Essential Fatty Acids To Your Diet

Getting sufficient essential fatty acids is importance in clearing acne. It’s these fatty acids that help control the production of androgens – the hormones that surge during the teen-age times, which causes excess sebum oil to clog your hair follicle and contribute to creating your acne.
The three fatty acids you need daily are omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9. You need more omega 6, olive oil, than omega 3.

When you are deficient in the essential fatty acids, you will have,

* A weaken immune system
* Inflammatory disorders
* Poor skin
* Skin eruptions that won’t heal
* Increase sebum production causing acne
* Sebaceous glands size increase

Eating essential oils is necessary to provide the right oils that are used in the sebaceous glands. These oils can come from straight vegetable oils or from oils in specific foods such as nuts and seeds.
Use flax seed oil (omega-3 oil) and olive oil (omega-6 oil) in your salad. These are the best oils to eat and are called polyunsaturated fatty acids. The other oil that is even better for you is called monounsaturated fatty acid, omega-9. This oil is found in avocados.
Most diets people have contain an excess of omega-6 oils, so mostly likely you need to concentrate on getting more omega-3 oils into your diet.

You can get omega-3 oil from,

* avocados
* sesame seeds
* pumpkin seeds
* walnuts
* dark leafy green vegetables (spinach, mustard greens, kale)
* wheat germ oil
* salmon
* sardines
* albacore tuna

Or, you can take one to 4 tablespoon of flax seed oil, omega-3 oil, each day. This will give you the amount of omega-3 oil that your body needs to reduce or eliminate acne blemishes. You can add this oil to your morning cereal, soups, smoothies, salads and other liquid foods. Each tablespoon of flax seed oil contains about 100 calories.

You can get omega-6 oil from,

* Flaxseed oil
* Flaxseeds
* grape seed oil
* pistachio nuts
* olives
* olive oil
* sunflower seeds
* evening primrose oil
* pumpkin seeds

Taking 2-3 tablespoons of omega-6 oil a day will give you the amount of this oil that you body needs. You can add olive oil and other oils into your salad with the flax seed oil.

You can get omega-9 oil from,

* Olive oil
* Avocados
* Cashews
* Almonds
* Olives
* sesame oil
* pecans
* pistachio nuts

Taking around 1 ½ tablespoon of olive oil per day will give you the omega-9 oil that your body needs.

Fish Oils

In addition to supplying your diet with omega-3 and omega-6 oils, you need to supplement your diet with fish oils. Fish oil contains EPA and DHA fatty acids.
Normally, enzymes in your body break down omega-6 into EPA and DHA fatty acids.

* Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA)
* Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA)

These two fatty acids eventually change into prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins are chemical hormones that come from omega-3 and omega-6 oils and that help,
regulate every function in your cells and organs.
Postaglandins also keep androgen hormones in control so that excess sebum is not produce in the hair follicle, which results in acne.
However, eating plenty essential fatty acids may not insure that you produce enough EPA and DHA, which produce the essential prostaglandins.
It is critical for acne and more importantly for your health that you get enough EPA and DHA in your cells and organs so they can produce the required prostaglandins.
To increase the prostaglandins in your cell walls, it is necessary for you to take a fish supplement, which contains both the EPA and DHA.
Of course eating salmon, halibut, and mackerel twice a week will be a plus in providing your body with more EPA and DHA.
Include at least 20% of your diet calories as good fats – omega oils and fish oil. This is essential for controlling the excess activity of your hormones and reducing the inflammation of your acne.

Disclaimer: In no way is this information meant to replace the advice and care from your doctor, or any other medical professional. Patients should inform their doctor/allergist/dermatologist if they are pursuing one of these treatment routes.