To be able to fully understand the explanantion of how exactly
acne is caused (in the following few chapters), you better have read the first 10 chapters of this book first.
15. Acne - In Short
Acne (vulgaris) affects between 40 to 50 million individuals in the United States alone. [24]
What is acne?
As leather needs to be oiled, our skin needs sebum / tallow to remain flexible. This sebum is produced in pockets in the true skin and transported to the surface of the outer skin through narrow tubes: sebum canals.
If these sebum canals are partially or completely blocked, sebum accumulates in these pockets, and inflammations are caused.
What causes acne?
Too much moisture in the skin pinching off sebum canals combined with a high sebum production.
If the skin does not contain excessive moisture, a high sebum production is not a problem at all. Sebum is essential to keep the skin flexible and young. The more sebum is produced, the more flexible and healthy the skin is. The less sebum is produced, the faster the outer skin cells dehydrate and age.
If your skin contains too much moisture but produces little sebum, you will not have acne, but you will have a swollen skin.
What causes water retention in the skin?
- Consumption of too much prepared proteinaceous food and/or salt/spicy foods, in particular.
- Consuming too little fat can cause too strong fluctuations in blood-sugar level, which can make you temporarily retain more water; see Ch. 7 en Ch. 10-H.
- Stress (for stress-hormones enhance decomposition of cells into smaller proteins, which hold more water)
- Alcohol
- Hormones in hormonal contraceptives, meat, cheese or milk.
- Fluctuation of hormone levels due to sterilization or removal of the womb, ovaries, or the oviducts.
- Naturally elevated levels of one or multiple hormones, which is rare.
- Many drugs and medicines
What causes a high sebum production?
By nature there are dominant and less dominant individuals; this ensures diversity within a population so that there are leaders and followers, for example.
Therefore, some individuals will produce more of specific hormones than others, and some will produce more sebum than others because hormones like testosterone and progesterone stimulate sebum production. Dominant individuals, in general, may produce more testosterone and / or progesterone (relative to estrogen), and therefore be more susceptible to acne. In some, their hormones may even cause a bit of acne if they consume only raw natural foods and no salt or spices at all, but in most acne patients (even in severe cystic acne) an adequate change in diet will totally eliminate their acne.
Besides hormones there also other factors that determine whether you produce much sebum or not. For example:
Exposing your skin to excessive sunlight or aggressive chemicals may stimulate the skin to produce more sebum to counteract their dehydrative effects. And in some patients acne can be decreased by taking supplementary (mega doses) vitamin B5 for example.
However, be aware that this can also have adverse effects, since the body also produces vitamin B5, and supplementary B5 can impair the system that regulates B5 production by the body. (Like administration of corticosteroids can impair the system that regulates secretion of cortisol by the body; see Ch. 17)
Isn't acne about poor hygiene?
Working in an extremely dusty environment can cause sebum canals to be blocked by dirt. Because of this, many still believe that common acne is due to poor hygiene, but that is rubbish. And inasmuch as poor hygiene is not the cause, you cannot fight common acne by using cleansing lotions. On the contrary; the disinfecting lotion for acne dehydrates the outer skin, and to counteract this effect, the skin increases sebum production to keep the skin flexible, which enhances acne.
But isn't acne about bacteria?
Yes, but these bacteria are not the cause.
Sebum is essential to keep the skin flexible. The propioni bacterium transforms the old skin glands into sebum in the sebum gland. When the skin is dry and irritated, this propioni bacterium produces more sebum to undo the dryness and irritation.
When sebum canals are blocked, the sebum accumulates, which also irritates the skin, thus further enhancing sebum production. Only if sebum canals are blocked can this propioni bacterium cause inflammations.
Many doctors prescribe antibiotics and even anti fungus creams to inhibit action of bacteria. By doing so they ignore the fact that this bacterium is not the cause of acne. The use of long-term rotational antibiotics is not only ineffective, but will also exacerbate antibiotic resistance. [25]
Moreover, they also ignore the fact that this bacterium is essential in keeping the skin flexible. Inhibiting the action of this bacterium speeds up the aging process of the skin.
Let's talk about cleansing your skin: rubbing your skin intensively will only increase propioni bacterium activity and spread the acne. So once again, do not clean your face too intensively, do strictly limit the use of facial peelings, and do not use scrubs on your face.
Acne and Age
Most people think acne is limited to puberty and is all about hormones going wild.
It is true that the opposing effects of different hormones regulate sebum production. Testosterone (an androgen) and progesterone increase and estrogens decrease sebum production.
Hormones regulate sebum production because the skin requires the right amount of sebum to stay flexible.
And yes, normally acne first appears in puberty due to a larger androgen-production. 36% of teenagers have acne. [26] 85% of adolescents have had acne at some time, [27] and 89% of women with acne have had it since the onset of menstruation. [28]
But not only adolescents have acne. An increasing number of adults are now affected, women in particular; 12% of middle-aged women still have facial acne. [29] Some people still have acne when they are 70 years old. [30]
Even infants can have acne, [31] even from the age of six months [32]. Since nowadays more and more infants get acne, doctors even have a name for it: "baby-acne"; they simply say that this is due to the hormones the babies receive from the mother (?!).
The current theory runs thus: in everybody with acne 'the hormones go wild' .….. but that is too easy an answer.
Androgens
If sebum canals are pinched off and much sebum is produced, you will have acne. Androgens increase sebum production so if your androgen levels are increased, you are more likely to have acne. [33]
But androgen production is certainly not excessive in all acne patients. [34] In 61% of women with acne the level of at least one androgen hormone (like testosterone) is slightly elevated, [35] which means that in 39% of women with acne the level of all androgens is either equal to, or even below, average.
Due to the menstrual cycle, progesterone level strongly fluctuates. But in only 30% of women with acne, is acne severity related to the menstrual cycle. In 39% of women with acne, the menstrual cycle is irregular. [28]
So what do all these numbers tell us?
Androgens and progesterone exacerbate acne, but are not the cause.
Suppressing excessive androgen production by oral contraceptive use [36] can decrease acne, but this still does not remove the cause.
Moreover, use of any hormonal contraceptive can cause breast cancer. [17]
Corticosteroids
Cortisol is a corticosteroid hormone produced by the body that facilitates decomposition of protein. Like Cortisone, cortisol has been (and is) applied to 'solve' stress injuries and unexplainable pains; administration of cortisol simply eliminates the pain by destroying the targeted tissue, eliminating inflammation and healthy cells as well.
In acne, the cortisol level is often elevated. [37]
Not everyone who consumes 'dirty' protein retains water because how effectively protein is decomposed and absorbed is individually different. If you absorb much un-decomposed ('dirty') protein, you are more likely to have acne. That is why in acne the cortisol level is often elevated; to fight the inflammations and to clean up that extra 'dirty' protein in the skin.
Because they lessen inflammations and clean up 'dirty' protein, corticosteroids can be successfully administrated to diminish acne. [38]
Unfortunately, administration of corticosteroids can also easily impair the system that regulates natural cortisol secretion by the body. Repeated or prolonged administration of corticosteroids can therefore make your body eventually produce too little cortisol to clean up 'dirty' protein.
Logically, one is more likely to have acne if natural cortisol-metabolism is impaired. [39]
Administration of cortisol can even cause acne directly [40]. The reason: Cortisol destroys tissue, which causes the release of small protein molecules from the destroyed cells. These remainders of cell-protein partly end up in the skin, causing water retention (and acne).
That is why stress can also aggravate skin conditions; Cortisol is a 'stress-hormone', released when triggered by stress.
Since it does not take away the cause of acne, and it can impair your natural cortisol metabolism, administration of corticosteroids to fight acne is a bad choice.
In acne, sebum canals are blocked. We now know that this is due to excessive moisture in the true skin, pinching off sebum canals, but some people think that in acne sebum canals are blocked on the outside. And they therefore reason that it might help to eliminate some outer skin. Chemical peelings and creams containing corticosteroids for example accelerate decomposition of skin-cells, thus thinning the skin. These are often combined with medication that decreases sebum secretion.
Because the number of skin cells is reduced, the remaining cells increase their multiplication rate. Thus the skin looks brand new, but the down side is that it also causes premature aging of the skin because of the increased multiplication rate. Paradoxically, this especially applies to creams designed to 'erase' wrinkles and 'anti-aging' creams and gels. And since these creams also make your skin fragile, they are usually applied in combination with powerful moisturizers to increase firmness of the skin (like a fully pumped up tire). That is why you can recognize people using these treatments and/or products by their shiny skin that is drooping, puffy and tight at the same time.
If you do not want your skin to age prematurely, avoid all 'anti-aging-', 'anti-wrinkle-' and 'super-hydrating' creams, and of course adapt your diet.
Anti-acne drugs can affect not just the skin, but also the organs below the skin. Using anti-acne drugs is like using a bazooka to kill mosquitoes. You can also buy a net.
Accutane use during pregnancy can cause multiple major malformations in offspring. [41] Tetracycline can cause benign hypertension in the head. [42] Retinoids can cause skeletal side effects [43] and often cause muscular damage. [44] Minocycline (a tetracycline), can cause hepatitis [45], persistent visual field loss, [46] and autoimmune disorders. [47] Application of benzoylperoxide may cause hyperpigmentation of the skin. [48]
But a regular peeling can clean my skin, can't it?
If you are not a mineworker or someone with a similar skin-clogging job, your acne is not due to dirt clogging your pores. Spots may look 'dirty' but they are actually inflammations inside the skin that are rising to the surface. Cleaning your skin in any way can never remove (or prevent) the effects of acne.
Your skin may be shinier and smoother after having a peel, but it will have no positive effect on acne what so ever; if anything, peeling will only make it worse. If you have acne, avoid any type of peeling for it can increase inflammations and leave you with nastier scars.
People with acne often think peeling can help because their skin looks so oily and scaly at the same time. It looks like the top layer is not intact anymore and should be peeled off to prevent clogging. Actually, the outer skin is scaly due to dehydration of the outer skin because the true skin contains too many water attracting substances.
The outer skin is also oily because sebum production is increased to compensate for the dehydration of the outer skin.
If you want your skin to look good, you need to dispose of the excessive protein in the true skin, and prevent the occasional use of too much salt. By doing so, you can be assured that your skin will be smooth and soft.
Note
Be aware that you will keep inflammations active by any skin care regime that is too intense. Every time you clean your face, small facial hairs are stirred. Sebum and growing hair use the same canals so stirring those facial hairs can keep inflammations active.
Peelings should only be used when the skin is free from inflammations.
Acne is caused by excessive moisture in the skin, but only if sebum production is high.
Since it is extremely unhealthy and unwise to mess with your natural sebum production and/or hormone metabolism, you had better prevent excessive water retention - by avoiding both the consumption of 'dirty' protein and the occasional salt/spices binge.
Extreme water retention is called edema.
In skin-edema the skin contains too much water - increasing the water-pressure in the skin. When water pressure is increased, sebum canals are pinched off. All persons with acne have at least mild facial edema, but not all persons with edema have acne, because if sebum production is low, pinching off sebum canals does not necessarily causes inflammations. If you have both facial edema and a high sebum production, you will definitely have acne. Many studies therefore found that facial edema is related to acne [49]; in fact, acne is very related to facial edema. [50]
So how to diminish acne?
Because all foods contain protein, all cooked foods can cause acne, and salt / spices can also cause acne. So, even if you stop consuming the worst foods, you may still get acne. Can you imagine; you are doing the best you can, cutting out lots of acne-causing foods and you still get new pimples! That is extremely discouraging and then you probably lose faith in this diet eventually. To prevent this from happening, we need to apply a specific approach. Don't think it does not apply to you; doubts eventually destroy your determination too. So how can we eliminate these doubts?
By seeing fast and clear results. And once you are 100% sure that this diet works for you too, you can start experimenting, since then nothing can make you lose faith in this diet anymore. You can then start experimenting with those foods that you love so much, to figure out how, and to what extend they can be included in your diet anyway.
But to be able to do so, you need a safe haven, where you can return to every time after you got a new pimple by trying to include some more goodies in your diet. And that safe haven is the 'sample-diet'; the 'sample diet' that you need to apply to totally clear your skin..
This 'sample diet' consists of foods that cannot cause acne. As long as you are on this 'sample diet', you will not get a single new spot after having been on this 'sample diet' for at least three days. (If you stick to ALL the rules of course) If you maintain the 'sample diet' for two weeks, the results will be very clear. The longer you are on the 'sample diet' the clearer your skin will get, until all the pimples have been totally eliminated.
Once your skin is totally clear, you can start adding the least-acne-causing 'munch'-foods to your diet (see Ch. 45 and 55), to the extend that you want your skin to be clear.
What foods are included in the 'sample diet'?
The fruits, salad and fresh raw animal food as described in Chapter 40 to 46, and NOTHING else. So, no tea, no juices bought in whatever shop, no vegetables, no canned foods, etc., etc. and certainly nothing spicy (spicy herbs) or salty (e.g. no raw oysters) either.
But there is more…
The 'Acne Sample Diet'-rules
The rules are there to exclude all other possible causes (except for stress of course). Breaking a rule is no disaster, but if only you break one rule during these two weeks, you need to start from day one again.
1) You should maximally consume 100 gram (3.5oz.) fresh raw fish /-egg yolk a day. This because redundant protein can easily increase the blood-protein level, since blood protein level can fluctuate very much; from 100% (alanine) up to 900% (cystine). A too high blood protein level can elevate the protein level in the true skin, making the skin temporarily retain more water, pinching off sebum canals. But if If you intensively work out, you can consume much more 'clean' protein, since then the body very effectively utilizes extra protein.
2) You should eat some raw Brazil nuts (only if shelled by hand), avocado or a few bites of the salad that is covered with sufficient olive oil after every time you have eaten some fruits / fresh juices. This to stabilize the blood sugar level.
3) If you want to eat the fruits, salad and sashimi in one meal; first eat the fruits, then the salad and finally the sashimi, to prevent cramps / gasses / bloating.
4) You should remain physically inactive for at least 1.5 hours after every time you have consumed some fresh raw fish or –egg yolk.
5) Juices from pressed fruits (like orange juice) or from the juice extractor are perfectly fine to consume, but not shakes that you make by the use of a blender / mixer (especially when mixing / blending banana).
This because the high rotation speed of the knives in the blender / mixer originates 'heat at a molecular level', due to friction. Somehow, this is originates acne- causing molecules in banana in particular.
6) While on this sample diet you cannot use any topical or hormonal treatment (no Murrad, no Differin etc.), because any of these can also aggravate acne. (Browse through the archives of on-line acne discussion boards)
You should be off all antibiotics during two weeks before you can start with the sample diet. This because antibiotics weaken your defense system, which can be dangerous when you are going to eat fresh raw egg yolks or fresh raw fish.
7) You cannot use any moisturizer. Moisturizers contain chemicals that are absorbed in your skin to attract water, which may lead to an increased water-pressure in the true skin, which pinches off sebum canals, causing acne if also much sebum is produced. To protect your outer skin from dehydration you instead should use a fingertip of oil (that is low in vitamin E, since vit. E accelerates shedding of the skin) and spread that all over your face (that is still a bit moist) after you have cleaned it with a mild cleansing lotion.
8) Don't clean your face with tap water, but with low-mineral bottled water. (like Volvic, el dorado or Montcalm) Chemicals in tap water can trigger allergic-like reactions that cause sebum canals to be pinched off. Excessive chloride and other minerals in tap water dehydrate the skin, thus causing dry flaky patches on the face. You don't need to buy a special water sprayer for your face; you can use a plant sprayer filled with low-mineral bottled water, of course.
9) You cannot take any supplement while on this diet, because all supplements contain ingredients that can cause acne (like gelatin). This diet abundantly supplies you with all required nutrients.
10) You need to keep in mind that it is easy to consume too little food while on this diet.
If you are experiencing a lack of energy, you need to consume more fresh juices (see rule 5) instead of whole fruits, and then you also better add some oil and sugar to these juices.
11)
You need to keep a journal during these two weeks, regarding what you eat and
the condition of your skin, so that an analysis can be made in case things are
not according to expectations.
You can view loads of questions and answers about this 'sample diet' (and results). If you, after having read the Q and A pages, still have questions about the diet, you can post your questions on our Acne Bulletin Board
Why is this 'sample diet' so strict?
Because it is your 'safe haven'. And to be your safe haven, it needs to be 100% reliable so that you can always trust on it. Therefore no compromises are allowed.
And because you need that safe haven, you first need to make sure that it really is 100% safe for you too, and that is why you need to start this "Fruit Diet" by first applying the "Sample Diet" for two weeks. Only after having applied the 'sample diet' for two weeks you will know for 100% sure that this diet really works, and on that basis you can start experimenting with how much 'munch foods' your skin can cope with, according to how clear you want your skin to be.
If you then get new pimples you know for 100% sure that it is caused by one or more of the 'munch foods' that you have consumed in the last couple of days. And then you also know exactly how to eliminate those pimples. Knowing that you are in control will boost your moral and supplie you with the determination to maintain the "Fruit Diet" (incl. munch-foods). And then it is totally up to you how clean you want your skin to be.
If you do it the other way around, by decreasing the intake of bad foods, you will be confused when you get new pimples, and you will be unsure whether this diet really works for you, or not. So, if you really want to succeed in eliminating your acne lastingly, start with investing two weeks of your life, by maintaining the 'sample diet' for two weeks.
Unfortunately, pimples are caused in a second. Cellulite is about a permanent excess of water in the skin, but pimples can be caused by one moment of retaining more water.
It can take days to deport 'dirty' protein from the skin and if you start having a pimple, also salt can remain in the skin quite long (because the body uses the salt to locally attract water to make the skin or other organ swell whenever there is a wound or inflammation). So occasionally consuming a bit more 'dirty' protein or salt than you normally do can easily cause pimples and keep them 'alive' for days. In some people even not consuming fat right after every high-sugar meal can cause acne.
Being physically active shortly after having consumed a proteinaceous meal can also easily cause acne. What kind of pimple is caused depends on whether the water-pressure in the skin remains high after the pimple has been caused; on whether you keep on absorbing some 'dirty' protein or salt after the pimple has been caused.
Blackheads
Blackheads do not cause acne. A blackhead can only originate if the sebum made it through the sebum canal; if the sebum canal was not blocked. Spots originate when sebum canals are pinched off.
Blackheads only originate if the passage of sebum is slow, but not blocked. If the sebum canal is not blocked, newly produced sebum 'pushes' the blackhead out of the skin. You should only stimulate this process if the sebum canals are not blocked; if not, then squeezing causes inflammations. If you have a zit somewhere, there definitely is some pinching off of sebum canals.
So only remove blackheads when you are sure the sebum canals are not pinched off. (your skin has to be totally free from acne) First take a shower or steam bath so you can either wash it off using a soft washing-glove or with the use of a Kleenex; remove with the use of soft pressure only - not by squeezing.
Small zits with yellow heads
Absorption of 'dirty' protein/salt causes excessive water retention, which pinches off sebum canals. This causes an accumulation of sebum, which enhances propioni bacterium activity and causes pus to originate.
If little 'dirty' protein/salt is absorbed later, water retention will decrease. Then some sebum can be excreted and the inflammation will not spread - or the spread will be minor. If water pressure has decreased sufficiently, pus and sebum can rise to the surface of the skin, and a 'yellow head' will appear.
Small zits without yellow heads
If the skin retains too much water but little sebum is produced, the skin is suffocated without causing real acne. The skin then is very irregular and raw with small zits, but no inflammations are caused because there simply is too little sebum to do so.
Your skin can also be raw and irregular if your skin does produce much sebum but you absorb not much, but just a little bit too much 'dirty' protein and/or salt.
Subcutaneous inflammations (comedonal acne)
Occasionally taken up salt or 'dirty' protein can sometimes remain in the skin quite long. If excessive water retention causes accumulation of sebum, and water retention is not decreased afterwards, sebum and pus cannot reach the surface of the skin. The accumulated sebum will cause irritation and increase propioni bacterium activity. The inflammation, therefore, will increase since no sebum or pus can be deported.
The inflammation will not expand endlessly because the body sends in 'troops' to clean up the mess (incl. cortisol). The larger the inflammation becomes, the more 'soldiers' will be sent in to fight it. If the water-pressure remains high, new pus originates all the time and the cleaning-soldiers can never clean it all up. While 'these soldiers' do their job, outer skin cells at the surface die and new ones originate from 'the bottom', thus moving the inflammation up towards the surface of the skin. Eventually the inflammation reaches the surface of the skin.
But if you do not consume any more salt or 'dirty' protein after the inflammation has originated, the water-pressure will be lower and thus hardly any new pus is formed, enabling the cleaning-soldiers' to clean it all up, and thus the inflammation never makes it to the surface - but simply slowly 'dissolves'.
It is crucial not to touch these inflammations; touching them increases activity of the bacteria, and the inflammation will spread - eventually leaving bigger scars.
Let the skin do its natural shedding and make sure you get enough sleep to enhance recovery. The more you sleep, the better your skin recovers from daily damage; that is why they call an extra nap "a beauty sleep". The older Hollywood actresses know this. Disturb their sleep and you make them really angry.
It is the same as when you are sick or have had surgery; sleep is essential for complete and swift recovery.
Pimples are caused in a second. Cellulite is not. It therefore is much easier to get rid of cellulite for the rest of your life than to get rid of acne forever.
If your skin is very susceptible to acne, and you want to save yourself from zits for the rest of your life, you will have to be very strict about your diet. You can have acne even when you are 40 or 70 years old!
How clean you want your skin to be determines how much you can permit yourself to eat prepared and salty/spicy foods.
If you have grown accustomed to a severe case of acne all over, and you don't mind an occasional zit once your skin is totally clean, you should eat mainly raw foods and you can have one or two munch-food items daily.
But if you are very susceptible to acne, and you never want a single zit again, you will have to eat only raw foods (which, incidentally, is most healthy) and no salt or spices whatsoever.
Why?
The less 'dirty' protein you consume, the less 'dirty' protein your blood, lymph and skin will contain. If the level of 'dirty' protein is very low, accidentally absorbed dirty protein can easily cause a shift in the location of water retention – much like a rebellious pupil gaining more attention in a class filled with silent cooperative students than in a class filled with rebels. The quieter the class, the easier it is to be heard. The less 'dirty' protein (or salt) the blood and lymph contain, the easier a little 'dirty' protein (or salt) in the skin can attract moisture from the blood and lymph and cause acne.
So, if you are extremely susceptible to acne, cutting down 'dirty' protein and salt consumption probably is not good enough, and you might have to go 100% raw.
Conclusion:
The less prepared and salty foods you consume, the less acne you will have, but even if you consume extremely little 'dirty' protein and salt, you can still get occasional spots by consuming a single prepared and/or salty food item.
Note-1
Just as cooking food changes its chemical structure for the worse, mechanical blending of foods in a blender or food processor harmfully changes its molecular structure. If you are very susceptible to acne, you can also get spots from consuming mechanically blended fruits, and certainly will from consuming blended egg yolk.
If you are not extremely susceptible to acne, you can blend the fruits but not the yolk; you can add the yolk to the blended fruits and stir with a fork.
Note-2
If you like olives, only consume those olives that have been soaked in pure water or oil (for months) without the use of salt.
Note-3
If you are susceptible to acne, you should not consume too much proteinaceous food in general (including both raw and prepared protein). Even consuming too much raw fish can cause acne. The reason: processing protein is not simple. Consuming too much protein, the body may not be able to process all the absorbed protein.
Besides the oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, protein also contains nitrogen, unlike fats and sugars. If more protein is absorbed than required, the energy that is contained in this redundant protein is utilized and the oxygen, hydrogen and carbon are converted into water and carbon dioxide. The nitrogen remains and is converted into toxic ammonium, which is subsequently transformed into less- toxic urea, which is eventually excreted.
So processing protein is not simple, and if not all redundant protein can be processed fast enough, the remaining protein is temporarily stored in the skin, what can make your skin raw and irregular, or even worse.
Through experimentation you can find out how much clean protein your body can process without getting a single spot. Start with one to two ounces fresh raw animal food a day (two to three ounces for men), and if you like you can then increase the proportions to see how much protein your body can efficiently cope with.
Note-4
No matter how clean your food, disrupted sleep, a hormonal imbalance and especially stress can still cause spots.
Every woman knows that menstruation is preceded by the munchies.
This is because appetite is partially regulated by serotonin, which is a hormone neurotransmitter. The sex hormones strongly influence appetite because they strongly influence the activity of serotonin receptors.
In the week prior to menstruation sex hormone levels strongly fluctuate, increasing the appetite for food. When menstrual cramps start to kick in, appetite decreases due to the release of oxytocin.
Oxytocin is an essential hormone that de-stresses the body and also inhibits appetite. See this site.
As long as women breastfeed, oxytocin is secreted to inhibit appetite, which makes it easier to regain your natural set-point weight. See chapter 56.
Clitoral orgasm momentarily triggers a large secretion of oxytocin. Since most women have 'the munchies' after having had an orgasm, this might be explained by a decreasing oxytocin level after a short elevation of oxytocin level due to orgasm. One thing is sure: after a good orgasm you definitely feel de-stressed.
When menstruating, oxytocin is secreted continuously, which diminishes your moodiness and appetite.
So in the week prior to menstruation you will crave tasty, fatty, and salty foods. Unfortunately, you will also retain more water in the week prior to menstruation. Furthermore, sebum secretion will be increased too, due to the half-time peak of progesterone level.
These factors, combined, are 'ideal' to give you zits
What can you do about that?
You should not interfere with your hormones, of course. So the only thing you can do is refrain from salty and proteinaceous prepared foods - particularly in that week.
To be able to do so, you have to make sure to eat sufficient sugars, fats, and clean cholesterol, which inhibit cravings. Especially clean cholesterol (from fresh raw egg yolks!) is extremely effective; by menstruating you lose loads of cholesterol, replenishing the cholesterol prevents the cravings. (and diminishes cramps and nausea!) Also see chapter 35.
And, of course, don't forget to drink plenty of water. The only way to deport 'dirty' protein and salt from your body is with water. When you drink enough water, it is absorbed into the blood and subsequently excreted into the urine along with the 'dirty' protein and salt in the blood. If you do not drink sufficient water, the body will hold on to this salt and 'dirty' protein in order to be able to retain as much water as possible. When the body contains abundant water, it gladly deports water. And with the water that is deported, 'dirty' protein and salt is deported too. Drinking much water, the body will contain less 'dirty' protein and salt to retain it.
So, no matter how paradoxical this may seem, you need to drink lots of water to keep your body from retaining too much water.
Don't be afraid to consume cholesterol; cholesterol from fresh raw egg yolk and sashimi is safe and very healthy. Clean cholesterol is essential for your mood, sleep, and (re)construction of brain cells. (See chapter 35)
Don't be afraid to eat fats and sugars; these do not cause weight gain. In fact, you need to absorb sufficient sugars to be able to utilize body-fat, to enable sleep and feelings of happiness. (See Part 4) You also need sufficient fat to enable proper functioning of the bowels. (See Appendix A)
The results depend upon how severe your inflammations are, and on how strictly you refrain from the foods that cause acne.
If you refrain from all prepared foods, spices and salt, avoid excessive stress, and sleep well, your acne will be totally gone within one month. Only the spots that are fading and the already existing scars will remind you that you had acne. The younger you are, the easier it is to get rid of your scars. Let nature do its work.
It takes about three months for your skin to be completely renewed.
Don't run for plastic surgery; wait about one year to give nature a chance before you even consider that; the years will automatically fade your scars away. Remember that scar you had from a cut or wound? At first it was huge and so obvious, but now there's only a shadow of it left. The scars will mostly fade away, especially if you are young. Of course, you must continue to consume as little 'dirty' protein and salt as possible to prevent new inflammations.
It is easy to get rid of your acne. Of course it takes much longer for the scars and localized darkening of your skin to fade away. But as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is the duration of time.
If you have spots on your back, neck and face, the first spots to disappear will be from the lower back, followed by the upper back, the neck, and finally the face.
Then you need to give your skin a month before you begin experimenting with how much 'dirty' protein and salt you can consume without getting acne again. Start very carefully. (If you are a woman, start, (preferably) right after you have had your period.)
Begin with consuming one munch food item, (see Part 3) and then wait for a few days. If your skin stays clean, you can eat another munch food item three days later. Again wait three days.
If everything is still fine, you can start eating one munch food item every other day. After another week, you may even be able to consume one munch food item every day.
If you are not susceptible to acne, you can eventually consume two munch food items a day. (or one munch food meal; see Part 3)
But if you have severe acne right now, you are probably so susceptible to 'dirty' protein and salt, that you may be able to eat only one munch food item every few days (or none at all).
Though you easily get confused this way, which may keep you from maintaining the diet, of course you can also do it the other way around, step by step, eliminating as many prepared foods from your diet as necessary to achieve the cleanness of skin you want;
- Start with diminishing all salt and spices and eliminating all prepared animal food, all dairy products, soy and other beans from your diet. (Eat sashimi / raw-fish sushi or fresh raw egg yolks instead)
- The next step is to eliminate all grains from your diet and to start eating at least 4 lb. (about 2 kg) different fruits a day. (See Part 3)
- The pre-final step is eliminating all vegetables that have to be cooked or steamed before consumption. Eat more fruits, including raw nuts, avocado, tomato, cucumber etc. Cut out all salt and spices.
- The final step, if necessary: eliminating remaining low protein munch foods.
Don't be too hard on yourself in the beginning. It is not a nice feeling to relapse from a food regime you laid out for yourself. It is much smarter to learn gradually how far you are willing to go. The opportunity 'to go a little more raw' will always be there. Don't be stricter than you can handle. This is very important because if you have been eating 'clean' for a certain period but then consume more 'dirty' protein/salt, the acne can be fierce.
The best part is that your body tends to want to have more raw food the longer you have been eating generous quantities of fruits and sashimi etc.
Why?
There are a couple of reasons:
Too much water in your skin does not feel good. It can make you feel itchy or claustrophobic. Heterocyclic amines originate when food is cooked or frozen. (See this site) Some of these are toxic and can, therefore, even damage brain cells. (See this site) Some (like beta-carbolines) can act as neurotransmitters, causing physical stress by impairing the metabolism of other neurotransmitters. (See this site)
Your body simply prefers not to cope with all this stress. If your body gets used to food that does not cause such stress, you will feel more comfortable eating raw foods. So you don't have to be afraid that it will remain a daily battle to refrain from prepared foods.
Beware that the longer you maintain this diet, your skin will not only be softer and smoother, but also much more sensitive to squeezing blackheads. This is simply because the more water your skin contains, the more this water is protective to the tissue below (like an airbag).
Do not try to squeeze anything and do not use peeling or scrubs. Do not touch pimples or blackheads until you are absolutely sure that it is 'ready'. First take a shower or steam bath so you can either wash it off using a soft washing-glove or with the use of a Kleenex; remove with the use of soft pressure only - not by squeezing.
If you have a swelling, do not touch it at all; leave it to slink and peel by it self. This can take up to two months, but be patient; otherwise such swellings can become nasty scars. This is especially true if you have dark skin, for the scar will be a black spot. Using bleaching creams will harm your skin more than you can imagine.
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