It’s one thing to have acne while you’re going through puberty, but what do you do when you’re dealing with it in your mid-twenties? I’ve dealt with adult acne for many years and know how difficult it is to cope with what seems to be a relentless thief of joy.
There’s hardly ever a one-answer remedy to deal with it (if you find one of these – BEWARE – it’s probably fake) and the journey of figuring out why your skin is breaking out can take the joy out of life. It’s important to realize that your skin is the largest and fastest-growing organ of your body. Therefore, if it’s having breakouts there is something going astray in your body and your skin is trying to convey this to you.
If you see breakouts as a red flag that something is wrong in your body, it’s much easier to travel the journey to figure out what that “something wrong” is and become acne free.
My journey was tough. It included a lot of tears, a lot of cover-up and most of all – prayer. After much prayer and guidance, I came to find 5 things that greatly improved my skin and gave me back the pimple-free skin I know I was created to do life in.
The following are 5 things I began doing to get rid of my adult acne:
(1) Saying “No” to Processed Sugar
While many people would tell me I had acne because of the greasy foods I was eating, it turns out that the foods I should have been avoiding were those full of processed sugar. How was I supposed to know? After all, I had nobody to tell me. Until, recently.
There’s a lot of talk about sugar going on and this is a good thing. We need to let it be brought to the forefront of our attention how much sugar is in our everyday diet and even go as far as to begin understanding how it’s affecting not only our skin, but our lives.
Back in the 70’s the average amount of processed sugar an American would eat in a week was about 50 grams. Today in 2015, it’s more than 700 grams! If you don’t believe me, Forbes Magazine wrote about it in a “sweet”infographic. That’s a lot of sugar!
When we eat processed sugar in excess like our culture is provoking us to it can wreck the inside of our bodies, especially are hormones which when out of balance can cause acne. Therefore, cutting out processed sugar and all things that act as sugar as soon as they enter into your body (like bread, rice, potatoes, and most starches) is a great way to gain the clear skin you’ve always wanted.
Warning: it’s not easy to cut sugar out of your diet or to see results with your skin quickly from doing it. It’s not easy because sugar is a highly addictive substance. Oh yes, it’s been labeled even more addictive than the drug cocaine. Results don’t come quickly, either, sometimes because depending on the “sugar trauma” your body has been through, the detoxing can take time… even months.
So, I encourage you to be patient and keep the faith if this is something you decide to pursue. It’s worked well for me, but I did it alongside these 4 other things listed in this blog and allowed a few months before I saw tremendous progress.
(2) Exercising Again
When I graduated from college in 2011 I was absolutely exhausted. The program of study I was in was tremendously hard and I was ready to lie on a raft in the middle of the Caribbean ocean for 5 months. With my fatigue, I also lost my desire to exercise and you know what that decision affected? My skin.
So, 3 years later when I began exercising regularly again I realized how much my skin was benefiting from it. If you didn’t know, exercise helps with reducing insulin intolerance (which can lead to acne) and reduces the hormones called Androgens that can produce oily skin and pimples if in abundance. If you want to read more on this, check out one of my favorite doctors, Sara Gottfried, to follow regarding the subject.
(3) Cutting Back On Dairy
I was one of those people that didn’t believe that dairy products had any effect on my skin. That was, until I tried cutting it out of my diet. Let’s just say that without dairy my skin is in better condition.
Here’s why: Milk, cheese and even eggs have been shown to increase something called matrix metalloproteinase (MMK) which creates inflammation that eventually leads to acne. While some people might suggest antibiotics to overcome this issue, the safest and healthiest route is to just cut it out or if you’re like me and can’t stand the thought of losing your cheese just yet, cut back until you are able to cut it out. Plain and simple.
(4) Taking Vitamin Supplements
Doing this was absolutely crucial to overcoming my skin battle with acne. Like I said earlier, acne is your body throwing up a red flag for help with a problem and sometimes it can’t solve that problem by itself. Yes, sometimes your body needs help and nutrients from supplements or vitamins.
You can look all over the net to find different vitamins and supplements to help with acne and you’ll probably get more than a million complex answers, but I always recommend that you keep it simple. If you want to know the 7 supplements that I used to help kick my acne to the curb, you can click here to find out.
(5) Sleeping More
People like to say pompous comments when referring to themselves like, “Who needs sleep? Not me!” or “I will sleep when I’m dead.” Let’s get one thing straight: sleep is the answer to a lot of our problems. It can cure a lot of things. It can sometimes cure a cold before it becomes full-blown. It can bring clarity to our lives when we allow our bodies to rest properly. It can even help to do away with our acne.
Now that I have the understanding to look back and see with right perspective, I know that sleep deprivation was the number one cause of my major breakouts. When I started to realize this and give my body the rest it was asking for, I began to see clearer skin.
Try it for yourself. Get some sleep.
There you have them: 5 Things I Began Doing To Get Rid of My Adult Acne. I hope that they shed light on where you’re at and help you get past your skin battle.
Just remember: like I always tell my friends who stick around me, seeing positive changes that last can be a challenge to implement. They often take time and hard work. Be encouraged if you’re still struggling with acne today.
It’s not always easy and it’s quite possible that it’s going to take much time, but nothing worth having ever comes in a drive-through or a one time cure-all.
-G
*DISCLOSURE: Not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader. The Acne Lie may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this website.
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