Acne is widely known as a hormonal problem. Our hormones get out of balance and a chain reaction is set in place. This chain reaction ultimately manifests itself as breakouts, and until we are able to get our hormones under control, we simply cannot expect the acne to disappear. The obvious question at this point is “How the heck can we control our hormones?” Stay with me, we’re about to answer that.
First, it is important to understand how our hormones become imbalanced to begin with. Quite simply, for most of us this occurs through our overconsumption of meat and dairy products. Why? Well, when we eat animal products, we’re essentially taking that animal’s hormones into our body. As a result, our body becomes confused and overwhelmed by hormones. This leads to a whole host of health problems, but for our purposes here, it leads to significant amounts of acne.
Fortunately, it is pretty easy for today’s human to consume fewer animal products. There are healthy, all-natural meat alternatives, as well as dairy alternatives. These are a bit more expensive than the “real thing,” but they can potentially save you a lot of money in doctor’s visits and medicated creams. It may be worth trying out for a little while to see if your acne clears up.
Stress leads to breakouts, pure and simple. The more we stress, the more out-of-whack our hormones become. Managing our stress levels is essential to leading an overall healthier, longer life. People with less stress tend to age more slowly, too. Thankfully, there are some very real ways to reduce our stress, the most powerful of which are exercise and meditation.
When we get in a nice workout, our endorphins become active and we start feeling really good. Through inactivity, lactic acid builds up in our joints and muscles, which cause us to become stiff, tight, and physiologically stressed out. Exercise frees these trapped acids and allows us to feel vibrant, alive, and refreshed. Similarly, meditation can have a similar effect on the mind. We get too many recurring thoughts trapped in our brains, which start to overwhelm and stress us out psychologically. Meditation allows us to set these thoughts free and get back to our true selves.
We touched on the meat and dairy topic a bit, but what about the rest of your diet? Ideally, everyone would be eating fresh, raw, organic produce and drinking purified water exclusively. Raw veggies, fruits, herbs, sprouts, whole grains, cold-pressed oils, seeds, and nuts should make up the majority of our diet. The closer we can get to consuming only these things, the better. But at a bare minimum, you want to reduce your sugar and salt intake, avoid fast food and prepackaged meals, and reduce or even eliminate any consumption of alcohol, caffeine, and soda.
