Today’s tip is an addition to last week’s Q&A (if you missed the Q&A, you can watch the recording here!). In this Q&A @biancachalfoun asked Bernadette for tips on how to deal with acne.
Do you want to choose the best remedies that work together?
The secret is in understanding how acne works first. Here is a simplified explanation and some tips on how to choose remedies that work in synergy.
What causes acne?
The perfect storm for acne has 4 steps. Here they are described in a simplified way:
Step 1: Acne always starts with oil production.
Oil production is mediated by hormones or more specifically androgens like testosterone. When you go through puberty, testosterone & other androgens act on little cells (sebaceousglands) that are in your skin and then cause increased oil production. Increased oil production or sebum is the first step in the cause of acne. Acne caused by puberty or caused by Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), it doesn’t matter.
Step 2: Increased skin cell stickiness
If you have increased oil production, your keratinocytes (a fancy way of saying ‘skin cells’) become more ‘sticky’. This can lead to obstruction of your pores. But skin cells can also get more sticky if they thicken for example in the presence of an abnormal amount of keratin. This can happen for example with a vitamin A deficiency.
Step 3: Bacterial Overgrowth
Yes, the skin is just like your gut: it has its own microbiome! But with increased oil production & obstruction in the pores, now some of these bacteria (Cutibacterium acnes to be exactly) can start to overgrow and cause problems.
Step 4: Inflammation!
In the final step, the immune system starts to fight the bacteria. This war between your immune system and the overgrowth of bacteria on the skin leads to inflammation.
How to choose remedies that work together.
This tip isn’t a complete list of remedies, but more a way to think about how to choose remedies strategically. We do have an excellent summary of remedies in the symptom dictionary (click here).
The trick is now to choose stuff that influences the 4 steps. I have divided these into 2 categories:
- Remedies
- Things to avoid.
Remedies:
Here are some remedies backed up by literature. Where possible I provided you with a link to where to find them in fullscript. For the ones who didn’t discover this yet: fullscript & The Swell Score are spaces where you can order supplements (with discounts😉 – click here).
- Vitamin A & Topical Retinoids (Vitamin A creams).
Vitamin A has some solid research behind it (click here). Vitamin A can decrease oil production (step 1), unclog the pores, keep your skin cells from sticking together (step 2), and can decrease inflammation (step 4). If there is a nutrient insufficiency oral vitamin A can help. The topical form can be applied to the skin. A topical formulation you can find here.
- Tea tree oil.
Tea tree oil has some decent research behind it that it can support acne (Look herefor a 2015 review for example). It has antibacterial properties, anti-yeast properties and anti-inflammatory properties. So it intervenes in steps 3 & 4. It does however have a strong scent. And it can irritate the skin in some people, so start with a low dose first. You can buy tea tree oil in fullscript by the way. Just click hereor here.
- Azelaic acid.
Azelaic acid is found in wheat, barley and rye. It has antimicrobial properties which make it effective for treating acne. Depending on the dose it can cause some skin burning, dryness and peeling. It has also been found effective in preventing future outbreaks. Also Azelaic Acid intervenes in step 3 & 4
- Omega 3.
Or specifically DHA & EPA. Doses of 2000 to 4000 mg have been shown to resolve inflammation leading to lesser acne lesions. (So it resolves step 4)
- Zinc.
Oral zinc sulphate and zinc gluconate supplements yield better results in treating acne than the topical zinc alternatives according to this review. You can find both forms of zinc in fullscript. Just click hereif you are looking for zinc sulphate and here you can find zinc gluconate.
Things to avoid
- Coconut oil – if you have oily skin.
Coconut oil on your skin can clog pores (this will support step 2). Consequently, it can help because it has antimicrobial properties, but it may make acne worse for some people. If you have an oily skin, just choose some other anti-microbial.
- High glycemic or high Sugar diet
With PCOS testosterone can be elevated because of insulin resistance. High glycemic foods stimulate step 1. For lean boys/men eating lower in calories can decrease testosterone as well.
- Dairy-inclusive whey products
Breakfast drinks, cottage cheese, cream cheese… they all are positively associated with developing acne. Skim milk seems to be the worst. Scientists think this can be caused by the growth hormones that are in milk (so milk supports step 1).
- Rubbing alcohol on your skin.
Acne isn’t caused by dirty skin. It can however irritate the skin and make acne worse. It causes additional inflammation (contributes to step 4).
- Rubbing hydrogen peroxide on your skin.
According to some people, hydrogen peroxide also has amazing acne-fighting capabilities. Unfortunately, it is not the miracle cure you’ve been searching for (contributes to step 4).
- Chronic exposure to heavy metals like arsenic
Obviously, people don’t go to the store to buy arsenic for skin care since it is a heavy metal. But they used to do this long ago because arsenic gave this ‘beautiful’ pale skin. The American Cancer Society has a list of arsenic-containing foods & items. If you want to learn more click here. By the way, arsenic stimulates keratin production and therefore contributes to step 2.
This list isn’t complete! Again, take a look in the symptom dictionary (click here) for more ideas. But I hope I gave you some good ideas on how to choose your remedies by intervening in steps 1 to 4.I hope this helps!
