Acne and its root cause
HELLO again! Welcome back and thank you for hanging around for my second blog on… drum roll… ACNE! Well not really drum roll worthy, it is a big topic though that I will attempt to condense into, yep you guessed it a bitesize snippet.
Okay, so I will first paint the picture with saying, ‘Our skin is a tell-tale sign of what is happening internally in our body’.
So, with that said, to be able to control acne you need to determine what the root cause is. Topical treatments will get you so far without finding the underlying problem. This could be any number of factors; hormones, poor diet and stress are just three of the biggest contributors!
Let’s do a quick rundown on these factors…
1. HORMONES- Hormones can wreak havoc when they are out of balance. Acne is often triggered by excess androgens, caused by too much insulin. What causes too much insulin? A high GI diet, in other words too much flour-based products and sugar containing products. 1, 2, 3 Which leads us into the next factor- of course diet…
2. POOR DIET- As we know a well-balanced diet is essential for health 5 and again…our skin is no different. Our skin requires some important basics, Vitamin A, D, E, Zinc, Essential fatty acids and antioxidants. Additionally, a diet high in dairy, sugar and low in fibre and vegetables will fuel acne! 4
3. STRESS- Stress is one of those big factors that can be linked with almost any medical problem you are having, and acne is no exception. Stress promotes inflammation and affects our hormone balance; cortisol rises and progesterone drops, which means hello acne! 6
Now, you can probably see this is a complex condition. There are many other contributing factors like the liver, the bowel and microbiome, toxins, inflammation, menstruation cycle… the list goes on! 1, 2
We are all UNIQUE in what is triggering our acne to flare up, so talk to a practitioner about getting to your root cause. Lastly don't neglect your skin, find an amazing beauty therapist to support your skin.
Okay, that sums up this bite size talk on acne. Let me know your thoughts on the blog. Hopefully you enjoyed this piece, I will be writing my next blog on…you guessed it: hormones, as a follow on from this blog.
Remember, nothing can replace a well-balanced diet and lifestyle.
Love, nourish and care for your body.
Morgan x
References:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20338665
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21916275
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28606553
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30096883
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2836431/
6. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/479409