Acne was described to us at College as …. “an inflammatory papulopustular skin eruption commonly occurring in or near the sebaceous glands in the face, neck, shoulders and upper back”
What can you do to help lessen the effects?
Firstly acne mainly occurs when puberty begins, basically when a hormonal imbalance of the sex hormones i.e. testosterone and estrogen occur. This is where the liver comes in. The liver is our body’s primary detoxifier and keeping it healthy is critical for our overall health, including metabolism and function of our hormones. Our liver makes our bodies supply of testosterone and oestrogen hormones, so when there is disruption to our liver there can be disruption to the normal cycle of reproductive hormones. This can be shown outwardly through our skin as acne.
Health problems generally arise when the things we put into our body, both consciously and unconsciously that are toxic or build up an excess of toxicity over time, such as:
• excess processed/junk food
• man made preservatives, pesticides, lead paints, gasoline, make-up & other beauty products & more
• alcohol, drugs
Health problems also occur if the nutrients that our liver needs to process toxins &/or excesses are in limited supply. A limited supply means your liver can’t process/function as quickly as it should normally and it becomes overburdened. So the toxins/waste build up can go back into our body and start the dis-ease process.
So to help our health, in particular this time reduce the occurrence of acne, we need to reduce the stress on our liver. What can we do?
1. Supply adequate nutrients through a balanced diet i.e. enough protein, fats & fibre (vegetables & fruits), and a healthy supplemental choice, we recommend Cellfood (click on Cellfood to read more), we also recommend Organic vegetables/fruits due to the lack of pesticides and herbicides used (which lessens the load on your liver) & if you live in Canterbury/Christchurch head out to Tuahiwi Market Gardens.
2. Avoid synthetically produced foods (fake foods) and foods containing synthetic preservatives, colourings, flavourings.
3. Exercise at least 30minutes 3 x per week & get at least 30minutes of sun for vitamin D exposure.
4. Lessen alcohol/tobacco/drug consumption, do talk to your practitioner to talk through the best way of weaning off for you.
5. Lessen exposure to chemicals, such as herbicides, pesticides, paints, makeup, hair dye, household cleaners etc, adopt more natural options.
6. Start the day with a glass of water with a slice of lemon within. Lemons have constituents within that help with phase 1 & phase 2 stage of detox with the liver.
Herbs that can help with liver function & skin health:
• Calendula
• Red Clover
• Dandelion Root
• Nettle leaf
• Cleavers
• Schizandra
• Burdock
• Pau d’Arco
Naturalus: Skin/Complexion Tea
Liver/Detox Tea
Roasted Dandelion Root
Green Tea
For optimum effects always have 1 cup of any of the above in the evening, as your liver is cleansing throughout the night, but do take throughout the day as well, up to 3 cups daily of any individual or combination of the above. If tea is not your thing then check out Malcolm Harker LiverNurse.
Topical treatments:
Naturalus: Bye Acne Soap
Wound Balm
Manuka or Tea Tree Essential Oil
Superfruit Facial Serum
The above topical treatments are fantastic for cleansing and healing. The BYE ACNE SOAP has the cleansing Bamboo Charcoal & specific to healing acne Green Clay to deep cleanse the skin, while the Rosehip & Calendula Oil will help with healing acne scarring. WOUND BALM is for those who would like a cream but find their usual moisturiser is too oily. It contains healing Calendula with the antibacterial actions from not only Calendula but Manuka Extract, Lavender & Frankincense. Just apply very sparingly, rub between fingers first before applying to your face, back, (is beeswax based so goes much further when used this way) use as often as needed. Organic MANUKA or TEA TREE (if you click on this link scroll down slightly below) Essential Oil, either of these can be used as a spot treatment, just dab on any breakouts with a cotton bud morning and night, as easy as that! For that extra special treatment at night time I would use our SUPERFRUIT FACIAL SERUM…an oil on an oily face you say??!! Believe it or not but facial oils such as ours will help to balance an oily skin…often with an oily skin we will dry it out too much and we find that we start getting even more acne when we’ve been trying so hard…I designed the Superfruit Serum to help balance & heal an oily skin as well as maintain the health of all skin types, so massage a few drops through your fingers first and then apply to your skin evenly before going to bed. If you wear makeup, it’s the best to help remove.
