Getting Rid of Acne Naturally

Let's face it, acne sucks! No one likes to have it and yet for many people it is inevitable. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, acne affects about 80% of all Americans between the ages of 12-44. It's also the most commonly treated skin abnormality.

We know it can be embarrassing and make us feel insecure about the way we appear to others.

Acne can be caused by so many different factors, and still there are natural treatments and remedies that will help you get rid of it.

*For the sake of keeping this post simple, I will not be discussing Acne Rosacea or Acne Vulgaris.  

Let's dive in...

What is acne?

http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms

Acne is an inflammatory skin disorder that occurs when the natural oils in your skin begin to clog. When this occurs, bacteria is multiplied and the skin becomes inflamed. This characterizes itself in the form of blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, and sometimes cysts.


What causes acne?
Acne has several causes, but these are the main ones (you'll know which category you belong to):

• Hereditary
• Oily skin (FYI: this is NOT a bad thing and the more you try to remove the oil from your skin, the more your skin tries to replenish it, so don't. Appreciate this...you'll wrinkle slower than generational peers)
• Hormone imbalance 
• Monthly menstrual cycle
• Candidiasis (If you suffer from candida, which is basically a fungal infection that can happen anywhere in the body, one of the best natural treatments I've seen for this has been Candida Freedom. They have pills and a soap. The soap is good for topical candida or acne.)

Now, there are other more common factors that contribute to acne that are easier to treat:

• Nutritional deficiencies 
• Poor diet high on saturated fats, hydrogenated fats and oils, and/or animal products
• Drug use (e.g. steroids, lithium, oral contraceptives, and some anti-epileptic drugs)
• Exposure to industrial pollutants (such as machine oils, coal tar derivatives, and chlorinated hydrocarbons) 
• Stress - This one is a doozy. It's really the root of so many illnesses, so RELAX! =)

How can I get rid of acne naturally?
Depending on what the cause of your acne is from the two lists above, depends on the best solutions for treating it naturally.

When it comes to nutritional deficiencies and poor diet, that is something you have in your control.

Stay Away
Getting rid of nutrient-deficient foods, such as junk food, carbonated beverages, highly processed foods, sugar, enriched flour products, refined foods...etc, is the best way to start, even if you don't have acne. Here's a quick list of ingredients you should stay away from: Bad Ingredient List.

When it comes to drug use, just remember that your body absorbs everything you put inside and outside of it. Harmful chemicals that only add inflammation to your body, will not only cause acne, but other detrimental illnesses and diseases that are triggered by the same.

The skin is the largest organ in the body; you need to make sure you treat it as such and be methodical about how to care for it. I'm going to share with you the best nutrients and remedies to use if you do have acne.

Nutrients
According to Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, the top three nutrients to combat acne are the following:

• Acidophilus - replenishes essential bacteria to reduce outbreaks (taking it pure is better than yogurt, but if you don't want to purchase it, than yogurt is better than nothing at all. Make sure it's not sugar-induced yogurt or your defeating the purpose).
• Collodial silver - Take orally and apply topically with cotton. This is a natural antibiotic. (I personally use this anytime I feel I'm coming down with something. It's definitely always in my house)
• Vitamin A - 25,000 IU daily until healed then reduce to 5,000 IU daily. If you are pregnant, do not exceed 10,000 IU daily. This vitamin strengths the protective skin tissue.

Natural Remedies 

• Bentonite clay mask- This is one of my favorite things to do! Bentonite clay pulls toxins from the body and the clay mask really works wonderfully. I have hooked so many people on this mask for good reason. Click on the heading for the best way to use it. 
• Stay away from toxins - I blogged on this as well a while ago and there a few key ingredients that you should steer clear from in your beauty products. 
• Tea tree oil - this has been my go-to product for years the second I feel like a pimple is coming or once it has taken residence on my face. Tea tree oil is antimicrobial, which is why it's an amazing product for acne. I use the Tea Tree oil by Desert Essence. 
• Clean up your diet and eat healthy whole foods - increase consumption of greens (veggies) and fruits
• Drink lots of water - rule of thumb is to drink half your weight in ounces of water daily
• Eliminate junk food, fried food (that's just more oil), saturated fats, hydrogenated fats, carbonated drinks, shortening, trans-fatty acids, refined foods and concentrated sugars
• Limit alcohol intake - this contains lots of simple sugars that will only agitate acne
• Eat a high-fiber diet - this helps clean you out of toxins as well

Consider this!
All disorders, pains and illnesses you feel are your body's way of telling you something is wrong. Taking medication without knowing the true cause is just telling your body to shut-up for a short while. Meanwhile, whatever the main cause is could be progressing at an alarming rate and damaging or compromising other organs or functions in your body.

The natural solutions offered could be permanent or temporary solutions. That all has to do with the cause behind your acne. Unless you know, find out from a medical professional.



As with all health posts, it is important to consult your doctor before beginning any treatments, especially if you are currently taking any medications. None of these statements have been approved by the FDA (if they had, I wouldn't post them =p...jk, but not really). 

My first square foot garden

Our goal in purchasing our almost 5 acres was to start being a little more self-sustaining. The process took us a few months while getting settled into our home, but with the first spring arriving, we took advantage and started building the raised garden beds. I have never gardened before so this was definitely a first for me.

We wanted to start by trying the square foot gardening method. 

For the first season, I made two 4x6 square foot gardens that contain the following crops (ALL ORGANIC seeds):

• Roma Tomato
• Sweetie Tomato
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Green Beans
• Swiss Chard
• Kale
• Eggplant
• Baby Watermelon
• Cantaloupe
• Cucumber
• Red Pepper
• Pepper Mix
• Thyme
• Beets

The soil used contains:

• ⅓ vermiculite
• ⅓ peat moss
• ⅓ compost

This is the recipe from Mel's Mix, but instead of doing the math (it was giving us all major headaches), we purchased it pre made. We are not using ANY pesticides, herbicides or chemicals. Yes, I've lost a few bits to the insects, but we share land =).

Here's the process of how I completed it (with the help of a wonderful neighbor/friend):

Nailed the wood together (this wood is NOT treated because I did not want the chemicals on or near my crops)

Laid out the beds and stapled weed resistant tarp underneath to prevent weeds

Started laying out soil

Nailed twelve inches apart and wrapped in twine to show each square

The reasoning behind the layout of the crops was intentional. Certain crops garner good shade from others and some do really well near specific crops. After a few tweaks, this was the final layout for the two boxes:

Crops in each square in garden bed #1

Crops in each square in garden bed #2

Planted and watered the seeds 

Slowly the crops started rising within a week (some faster than others)

Week 2

Garden bed #1 

Spinach - Week 3

Green beans and swiss chard - Week 3

Garden bed #2

Garden bed #1

Kale

Week 5

We decided to fence it in, give the tomatoes their own trellis' and kill the grass and weeds with small river rocks

The location of our garden has between 8-9 hours of sun with the shaded part starting on the garden bed #1 where the tomatoes are located. It's been a fun and exciting process to see my garden grow from seeds to actual crops. They're not ready yet for harvest, but I'll be excited to eat it and juice it when it is!

Stop counting calories

Source: http://blogs.bu.edu

I know you've heard it a hundred times, but watching what we eat is really important. I know people who count calories, check carbs, monitor sugar grams or fat content. The main element to focus on are the ingredients.

Don't be so worried about how many calories you're intaking a day. Instead, focus on where your calories are coming from. The source of the calories are more important than you know. They affect your energy level, nutrition deficiencies, health and weight.

First, try to avoid the ingredients listed here: Ingredients to Avoid.

Those ingredients typically carry the highest carb load, sugar content, fat content and calories. I stumbled on a great article that showed the distribution of food and how important it is to watch what you eat.

10 Simple Cancer Remedies That Can Give You A Fighting Chance

Simple cancer remedies that can give you a fighting chance
By: Dr. Veronique Desaulniers

Though cancer can be seen as a very complex illness, it is important to understand that cancer is simply 
the "symptom" and the tip of the ice berg. For your body to allow cancer cells to take root and multiply, there had to be a weakened immune system, toxicity of many kinds and nutritional deficiencies.

Not a resolution...a way of life

I've been given several excuses for not eating organic or healthy: "it's too expensive"and "it doesn't taste good"are the two most frequent responses.

My reply:

1. "It's too expensive" =  Medical insurance and prescription drugs for heart medication, cholesterol, diabetes, colds, blood pressure (and the list can go on) are much more expensive on a monthly basis, especially considering the number of American's on medical drugs on a daily basis. This is not to mention that a healthy lifestyle and regiment can actually get rid of most of these.

2. "It doesn't taste good" = Well not after you're used to eating a starchy, high sodium and high sugar diet. Sugar can last on your tongue up to 10 days and anything you eat during that time needs to be as sweet or sweeter in order for you to think it tastes good. Try getting away from all sugars for a couple weeks then take a bite out of an apple. It will never have tasted better!

GMOs = Silent Killers

If rats get tumors and cancer when they eat the same GMO induced food we eat as a society, what is it doing to us? 

Let's start at the basics. What is GMO? GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms which is being used to create food, even though it has been proven through scientific research and tests that they are unfit for human consumption.

The uprise is that Monsanto (the enemy of our food and health and hence nicknamed MonSatan) has not only gone against family farms to put them out of business, but they are in cahoots with the government to

My 10 Day Juice Fast

About a week ago, I watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead after my sister recommended it. She started juicing and lost 8 lbs in 10 days.

Since I've been in a rut and this documentary was incredibly inspiring, I decided I would do the same. My husband researched juicers we finally decided on the masticating juicer: Omega 8006. We ordered it....and waited anxiously.

A note about juicing: many people prefer not to do juicing because of the mess and cleanup needed as well as how much money it costs in items in order to juice enough. Another main complaint is that you lose all the fiber in the fruits.

The Benefits

After juicing for 10 days, I've never loved and believed in it so much. The benefits of juicing are:

• Can reduce risk of cancer
• Serves as a great cleanse
• Boosts the immune system
• Losing weight (in a healthy way)
• Removes toxins from the body
• Aids in digestion through the natural enzymes
• Helps the body receive pure nutrients and minerals in an active state
• Helps you eat more fruits and vegetables that you probably would eat or could in a given serving