Boy, acne can really affect someone’s self-esteem. Throughout junior high and high school, I suffered from severe acne. and it really affected my self-esteem.
So I would like to share with you something that I wish I knew back when I had acne because it’s so simple to get rid of this if you understand the mechanism, and out of all the things that can create acne, there’s one really big vitamin deficiency that you need to know about.
But I first want to give you an idea of the kind of mechanism involved.
What is acne?
Well, it’s a situation where you have multiple things going on at once. You have this gland, this oil gland. It’s called a sebaceous gland. and it makes oil, and that oil is called sebum. and there’s usually a combination of an inflamed sebaceous gland. The gland is now enlarged, and it’s also producing too much oil.
so you usually have some oily skin. and there’s usually also bacteria involved, which affects the immune system and causes more inflammation. and that’s what makes up this redness that forms the pimple.
and there’s also sometimes something associated, like these blackheads or whiteheads, which are part of the tissue. part of this whole problem.
What causes acne?
Typically, what triggers acne is a shift in hormones. Like puberty, for example, you have this sudden spike of androgens. and also when women have something called PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome. They also get acne as one of the symptoms. simply because there’s a spike in androgens.
I’ve written a lot about acne before, so I’ve covered a lot of ground, but one important point to remember is that people with acne have high insulin levels. because usually when you’re eating too many carbs, the high carbs trigger high insulin, which will then increase androgens.
So, number one, we have the high-carb diet, but we also have something else that’s usually involved, and that’s the frequency of eating. that will also trigger insulin. how many times you eat, so that is called snacking. So the combination of a lot of snacking and carbs is deadly for acne.
So, if you want to get rid of acne, you should definitely go low carb.and you’re also going to have to do intermittent fasting. So you’re just going to cut out the snacks; it’ll make a big difference and be worth it. and you won’t be hungry if you do this. because you’re now burning fat as fuel. and you’re not dependent on the next meal. so that you may go lengthy amounts of time between meals. and just the fact that you’re fasting in general creates a lot of benefits for your skin. youthful-looking skin. anti-aging qualities. Not that you’re interested in that if you’re a teenager.
The vitamin deficiency that can cause acne
acne It’s a deficiency of one vitamin, and that vitamin is vitamin D. Let’s take a look at how vitamin D relates to this. First of all, vitamin D regulates the bacteria I mentioned that’s involved with acne. It regulates it. It inhibits it, and so when you’re deficient in this vitamin D, you’re not going to have control over this microbe. and so vitamin D is a very potent antibacterial when it relates to your skin.
Number two, when you take more vitamin D, you’ll have less of that oil. There is less sebum, inflammation, and swelling. and the enlargement of that sebaceous gland will now come down. and start shrinking. The cells that make up the sebaceous gland are also greatly influenced by vitamin D3. In addition, people with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) are usually vitamin D deficient. and so vitamin D is also involved in helping you regulate androgens. and then some people might think that they get enough vitamin D. The vast majority of the population, particularly teenagers, are vitamin D deficient.
It’s almost impossible to get vitamin D from your diet. It must be obtained from the sun. and many people just are not out in the sun often enough.
There are other things that block vitamin D2, such as a high-carb diet that gives you high sugar levels, which will deplete your vitamin D as well. This is why diabetics are almost always vitamin D-deficient.
We also have obesity, which is another factor. The more fat you have on your body, the less vitamin D you’re going to have.
Also, if you have gut issues, you’re going to be low in vitamin D.
If your skin is darker, you’re going to have a harder time converting the sun’s energy into vitamin D.
And so there are many factors that cause this vitamin D deficiency, and taking vitamin D in larger amounts can be just what you need to completely get rid of your acne.
How to get rid of acne
So number one, I would recommend taking roughly about 20 000 IUS of vitamin D3 every single day.
Number two, I would highly recommend going on a low-carb diet. The sugar that you eat or the refined carbs that turn into sugar in your bloodstream actually feed this bacteria that is involved in acne. So we’d like to go low carb.
The third thing is cutting out the snacks and doing intermittent fasting. beginning with three meals each day and no snacks. Just make those meals bigger and then eventually skip breakfast. and then you have two meals. that alone will greatly reduce your insulin. Then your androgens will perform better. and that might just handle your skin problem.
Fourth, you should stop scrubbing your skin in the hope that it is simply dirty skin. or the pores are dirty. So you have to scrub it,.I used to do that ( crazy) every morning. I’d be scrubbing, cleaning my skin with soap. and using all sorts of medication. Nothing actually worked; in fact, it always made it worse. because here I am rubbing off all the good bacteria, which is supposed to defend against the bad bacteria. not to mention, that I’m irritating all the inflammation. So, if you over-sterilize your skin, you’re doing a lot of harm to it. or scrub it too hard.
Number five, you want to start consuming foods that have some vitamin D in them. That would be cod liver oil. That’s a really good one. And the reason I like cod liver oil is because it not only has vitamin D but also has vitamin A, another important vitamin for acne. This is why medications like Accutane, which is a synthetic version of vitamin A, have been used in the past for acne. Of course, it causes some slight, minor complications. like an increased risk for suicide and liver failure. but other than that, it’s perfectly fine.
Nember six. Fatty fish, like salmon and halibut, would be really good to get some good vitamin D.