What is the Best Natural Acne Treatment Program?

The first thing to understand is that the best natural acne treatment program is one that is tailored for your own situation. Also note that it is a program, because there is no one best natural treatment for acne.

By using a combined approach that improves your health on many different levels, your overall health will dramatically improve. You will be doing your best to create an environment where having acne is virtually impossible.

Some of the steps you must take in order to improve your health will be more important or harder to achieve than others. This depends on what your weakest link is, and at this point you may not even know what your weakest link is. I recommend applying the steps below to the best of your current ability, as well as tracking the results, and making adjustments along the way.

This is the best natural acne treatment program I could come up with after many hundreds of hours of research and experimentation. The following steps are subject to an individuals interpretation. By your own experimentation you can find out how to most effectively implement these steps such that they fulfill your unique needs. They can be molded into a personal approach to health as opposed to other strict "cookie cutter" regimes offered elsewhere.

Best Natural Acne Treatment #1: Healthy Diet

An optimal diet for achieving clear skin is one that is of low GI (Glycemic Index) with no toxins. This means primarily centering your diet around organic and raw:

• fruits
• vegetables
• nuts
• seeds

Some would suggest avoiding meat entirely but I believe small quantities of grass-fed beef or free-range chicken is fine.

By eating organic you are minimizing the toxins you ingest and maximizing the nutrient density of the food you eat. Don't let the typically smaller size of organic food get to you, it's actually got more in it to nourish you.

Eating as much of your food raw as possible is also important. Cooking foods makes them lose their naturally occurring nutrients, and by eating too much cooked food your body will actually begin to respond to cooked foods as a toxin through a process called digestive leukocytosis. This happens because the food you have cooked no longer "resembles" what the body expects the food to be.

The key foods that I've implied to avoid are grains, dairy, and processed sugar. They are foods that are not only bad for your health in general, but are also foods that cause acne.

Processed sugar and grains both spike your blood sugar levels which can cause acne through a complex series of chemical reactions. In addition, many people are allergic to the gluten in most grains without even knowing it.

Dairy may not have a high GI, but strangely enough has a high insulin index. In terms of impacts to your skin this basically means that high GI and high insulin index are considered to have the same impact. In addition, dairy these days (unless it is raw) is heavily processed and filled with extra hormones to a point where it is criticized as to whether it is still a health food. Don't let those milk mustache commercials fool you.

Instead, be sure to drink plenty of water. This will hydrate your skin and help flush out toxins.

Best Natural Acne Treatment #2: Supplementation

In theory, if you ate an optimal diet then you wouldn't need any supplements. That being said there are very few people that are at that level of health. And indeed, if you have acne, you can be sure you're not one of them!

Due to your life circumstances you may not be able to, or you may not want to give up some of the unhealthy foods you eat. That's ok, as long as you are aware you are making that choice consciously. To compensate, there are some supplements you can take to help make up for it.

Or you may realize that adjusting to a healthy diet is going to take a long time with a lot of hard work before you will see results. Getting some quicker positive feedback through the use of various supplements may be a great motivational boost to help keep you going on this healthier path. That is why I have included supplementation as part of the best natural acne treatment program.

Here are some of the supplements you can take to help get rid of your acne:

Multivitamins

It has been shown that vitamins A, B, C, and E all play a role in having healthy skin. In fact, a deficiency in even just one of them can actually cause acne. Vitamin A is particularly important because it can help regulate sebum production in your oil glands.

I have seen posts on various acne related forums where someone starts a thread saying that taking a Vitamin X supplement cured their acne, touting it as best natural acne treatment. Other people get excited and give the idea a try. Most who end up taking Vitamin X don't see any results and bash the thread by giving a negative response. The thread dies and all the acne sufferers go on to the next promising idea.

The reason why Vitamin X worked for the original person was because he/she was very deficient in that vitamin. That vitamin was that particular person's weakest link, and was the best natural acne treatment for that person. Once the deficiency was rectified, all of the other pieces of the puzzle came together for the skin cells to be healthy.

You might be deficient in a vitamin and not even know it. This is especially true if you eat a poor diet, such as the Standard American Diet (SAD).

The best way to make sure you have all your bases covered is by supplementing your diet with a high quality multivitamin. The best one I've found at the best price is Nature's Way, Alive! Multi-Vitamin. Be sure to use coupon code SAG347 for $5 off your order.

Don't be silly and try to overdose on the vitamins by yourself to see faster results. Many people have hurt themselves doing this. Follow the instructions on the label for the proper dosage.

Omega 3 Oils

Essential fatty acids cannot be manufactured by your body and are very important for your health. The problem is that our modern diets have an Omega 3 to Omega 6 ratio that is out of balance.

Ideally the ratio should be somewhere around 1:2. The exact optimal ratio is debated but the average person's ratio is somewhere around 1:20, which is clearly not ideal. This imbalance can create numerous health problems, including acne.

What's so good about omega-3 fats? They create chemical hormones called prostaglandins which are anti-inflammatory, while omega-6 fats create prostaglandins that are inflammatory. Since acne is an inflammatory disease, this is huge.

The prostaglandins created by omega-3 fats also help regulate the androgen hormones in your body and improve insulin sensitivity. This further helps regulate oil production (not to mention the quality of the oil) and skin cell regeneration.

With all the good things omega-3 fatty acids do for our bodies, I believe it is one of the best natural acne treatment supplement you can take. We just simply don't get enough omega-3 fat in our diets.

I personally take the brand Natural Factors, RxOmega-3, which is a fish oil. Please note that getting a high-quality fish oil is very important, because you don't want it to be rancid or full of mercury.

A vegetarian alternative, which I also use for my salads and smoothies, is Udo's Oil. It contains a rich blend of essential fatty acids like GLA that further help improve your health and get you clear.

Be sure to use coupon code SAG347 for $5 off your order from iHerb.

Zinc

Zinc is another one of the best natural acne treatment mineral, and it's great for colds too. Zinc helps regulate about 200 hormones in the body, including the androgens which are indirectly responsible for acne.

Zinc is also involved in protein synthesis and collagen formation, which is essential for healthy skin and sebum.

While taking a Zinc supplement probably won't get you clear, it's a relatively cheap and easy way of reducing the severity of your acne quite significantly. It was the first supplement I tried and it reduced my acne by about 40%, and I found my skin did not get as oily. There is very limited amount of scientific research with this though.

I recommend Zinc Picolinate as it the easiest form of Zinc to absorb (be sure to use coupon code SAG347 for $5 off your order).

The multivitamin I recommended above also has some Zinc in it, but adding additional Zinc will help even more. Be sure to not take more than 100 mg a day though, as too much Zinc can cause a copper deficiency (Source: Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, January 2006, pages 3-18).It's best to take supplements under the supervision of a health care professional.

Probiotics

If you have been doing one or more of the following:

• Consuming prescription or over-the-counter drugs regularly
• Eating a diet rich in sugar and processed foods
• Consuming lots of alcohol
• Been under excessive amounts of stress for a prolonged period of time

You may have poor intestinal health or leaky gut syndrome. This hurts your bodies ability to extract nutrients, neutralize hormones, and expel toxins. This lowers your overall level of health and can lead to acne or other problems.

Improving your diet, reducing stress, and minimizing drug intake can reverse this situation over time. If you would like to speed up this process or give your gut some help because you need antibiotics, Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics are fantastic for helping to create healthy intestinal flora.

Many people have claimed that supplementing with probiotics alone had cleared their cystic acne. So it's no surprise that some people claim that this is the best natural acne treatment. At the very least it's another tool to add to your best natural acne treatment toolbox. :)

Best Natural Acne Treatment #3: Detoxification

Detoxing is one of the most controversial topic in natural health today. I'll try to keep this short and sweet based on my own research and personal experience.

Your body detoxes by itself just fine. The liver, kidneys, intestines, and skin all do their best to get rid of toxins. The problem is that these organs can only get rid of toxins so fast, so the rate of toxin intake is very important.

Acne is one of the symptoms of too much toxins in your body. Reducing your toxin intake is necessary to give you body a chance to expel more toxins than are coming in. This way your overall level of toxins in your body is reduced, and health is improved.

So how do you go about detoxifying your body? There are many options.

Fasting

The best natural acne treatment for detoxifying is a water fast. A water fast is where you don't eat any food - you're only allowed to drink water. Typically the fast is done over the course of 3 days to 1 week.

By not eating any food, your cells aren't so busy assimilating the nutrients that are normally provided. Instead, they have plenty of time to switch gears and focus on eliminating the toxins from inside their cell walls.

You don't need to do any sort of liver flush or use some sort of colon cleanse product. They may help, but they also have been known to do more harm than good. There isn't really anything "natural" about doing a colon cleanse, despite the fact that they're sold at health stores.

Why not keep things simple and just let your body take care of itself? That's what natural healing and holistic health is all about.

Going from the Standard American Diet to a water fast may be too intense for some people. An easier type of fast is an apple fast. Yup, you guessed it, this fast is when you only eat apples for 3-7 days.

The digestive load isn't as low as a water fast, but it is still light enough to allow for significant detoxing to take effect. The pectin fiber inside the apple is great for helping to clean the colon, which is why apples are chosen for this mono-fast. You'll also have an easier time doing it because you'll still be able to eat something.

I recommend looking into doing a fast, because it is one of the best natural acne treatments available to everyone. Many other cultures incorporate fasting as a normal practice - and for good reason. Fasting is a great way to kick start your best natural acne treatment program.

Organic Food and Natural Skin Care/Cleaning Products

Non-organic food that you get from the supermarket is generally a lower quality than organic food. Even though the "normal" food looks bigger, that doesn't mean it's better. Organic food is usually grown in much more mineral-rich soil and is not sprayed with pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc.

These two facts help your skin in two ways. The organic food you eat nourishes you more and reduces the toxin burden on your body.

Also, the cleaning products you use are absorbed by your skin. Some people tend to forget this. Naturally then, almost any skin care or house hold cleaning product that has man-made chemicals in it will be treated as a toxin by the body. Therefore, natural products with healthy ingredients are going to not be treated as a toxin and will actually work with the body to create healthy skin.

Reducing your toxic load via organic food and natural products may not be the best natural treatment option available, but every little step you take helps.

Air and Water Purification

Getting good quality water and air purifiers can be another way to reduce the toxic stress you put on your body. There are many different "levels" of purification for both, and as with many things, you get what you pay for.

As far as acne goes this isn't as important as the other steps but it is still a step you should take - even though doing the other steps will likely get you clear. The air we breathe (even indoors) and the water we drink are definitely not optimal for your health.

Best Natural Acne Treatment #4: Adequate Sleep

Getting enough sleep is absolutely essential for the rest of the best acne treatment program steps to work. Your body repairs itself and detoxifies the most at night while in a deep sleep. So, if you're not getting enough sleep or a deep enough sleep - you're missing out!

As your eyes detect darkness a signal is sent to your pineal gland to reduce a hormone called Melatonin. Melatonin is one of the most powerful anti-oxidants out there and it also triggers cells to repair themselves. It is because of this fact that making sure you sleep in total darkness is very important.

Melatonin is available as a supplement, but I don't recommend taking it regularly if you don't have to. It can be useful for people who:

• do shift work. Getting your body into a deep sleep after a night shift can be difficult, if not impossible.
• are suffering from jet lag. Taking a boost of Melatonin can help you get back on a regular sleep schedule.
• have a real difficulty getting to sleep at night. Melatonin can help you get back into a normal sleeping routine.

The best Melatonin supplement I have found is Dr. Mercola's Melatonin Sleep Spray.

By simply getting your 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, you will greatly amplify all your other health-building efforts which will ultimately get rid of your acne faster.

Best Natural Acne Treatment #5: Stress Reduction

Stress is tightly linked to acne. When your body is stressed, one of the things it does is release a hormone called cortisol which can disrupt your body's functions. While useful for short periods of time, having lots of cortisol go through your body for prolonged periods of time is very destructive.

Cortisol has a synergistic effect with glucagon and adrenaline, which amplifies how much your blood sugar goes up. This is bad for you health and can lead to acne. Being stressed causes increased sebum (oil) production, hormonal imbalance, and oxidative stress.

This was the last step that I was able to get right. For a long time I had been doing the other steps but I'd occasionally have a very stressful day and get breakouts. This was the best natural acne treatment step for me. :)

So how do you reduce stress? Well again, there are many options.

Exercise is huge. Not only does it reduce (mental) stress but it does a world of good for your overall health as well, because it helps move the oxygen and blood around. This is great for your skin!

Find a type of exercise that you like, it doesn't have to be boring. There is something out there for everyone. Even a walk in the park counts.

A cheap and easy method to reduce stress is meditation. All you have to do is sit there and not think about anything in particular. It's harder than it sounds. :)

Or you can even combine the two ideas and practice yoga. For some people this may seem weird that yoga can be one of the best natural acne treatments, but it's true. I go into greater detail at the stress and acne page.

I really recommend exercise and meditation because they can be great at helping you keep your stress levels low throughout the day.

The Best Natural Acne Treatment Guide

All of the tactics listed above are the best natural acne treatments you will find. If you apply all of the steps you will get clear.

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