From the inside out...

I've been doing a little acne research for my summer internship and before I tell you what the experts say I want to tell you about my experience.

If you’ve known me for a while you know that skin problems are the BANE OF MY EXISTANCE! Since puberty struck me it’s been acne city!

Through years of treatment with antibiotics, retinoic acid, proactive, Oxy10, salicylic acid… I finally had my acne situation under control, livable, no longer embarrassing.

Then I started medical school last fall and HELLO, PIZZAH FACE! I’m not kidding. I was feeding my stress with Diet Coke, lots and lots of Diet Coke, and candy, lots and lots of candy. But the zits kept coming and I was MORTIFIED!

So I tagged along with my mom to her “Women’s Health Doctor” who said she could help.Apparently, the artificial sweeteners (aspartame) in Diet Coke and the corn syrup & partial hydrogenated oils in the Laffy Taffy were feeding the normal flora in my intestine. The bad bacteria/yeasts were overgrowing the good bacteria in my gut and being absorbed into my blood stream… Well, who knows if that is true? It is still a theory of debate in the medical world because the organism of focus (Candida) is a yeast that typically only manifests symptoms in people would are severely immunocompromised (AIDS, cancer, & transplant patients). That being said, the following suggestions are not based on research (more to come on that) but rather my own personal experience.

I was desperate. I followed the doctors orders, got rid of the candy, chips, and diet coke (completely). I moved on to tea and water, lost the candy and a few lbs. She also told me to take 2 probiotic pills a day. Two weeks later I noticed a difference in my skin. After four weeks it was completely cleared up. Six weeks later I tapered myself off the probiotics and could have a diet coke every once in a while without any problem.

This past year I went back to drinking Diet Coke a lot more frequently and noticed the acne coming back (not as bad, Thank goodness!). Once again, I took probiotics and went back to drinking water… And my face is clear again!

Let me break it down for you…

1. DRINK LOTS OF WATER!

2. Stop Drinking Diet Drinks or anything with an artificial sweetener (including Splenda, Sweet’n’low, Equal, etc.)

3. Real Sugar is okay. (Sucrose, Dextrose, & Fructose in fruits)

4. No highly processed foods (chips, crackers, sugary-cereals, cookies, etc.)

5. No candy. Especially the fruity/sticky/gummy ones.

6. Dark chocolate is okay in moderation.

7. Choose the organic, natural and/or whole grain varieties of your breads, snacks, and cereals

8. If you think you might have a yeast allergy, consider cutting bread and beer out of your diet for a few weeks.

9. And probiotics, a couple capsules a day will keep the acne away!

So if you’ve tried everything and still can’t figure out your acne situation, try this. But you have to be serious to see results! Good Luck!