Almost everyone has suffered from acne at one time or another in his or her lives. It is primarily a disorder of the sebaceous gland (glands in the skin that secrete an oily substance) of the face, the neck and back. When the sebaceous glands become clogged with the oily substance they create, the accumulation results in pimples. There are several forms of acne, but the most common is acne vulgaris, found primarily in adolescents.

The exact cause of acne is not known, but factors that contribute to this condition include heredity, oily skin and androgens. Additional factors include allergies, stress, the use of certain drugs, nutritional deficiencies, liver dysfunction, exposure to industrial pollutants, cosmetics and the monthly menstrual cycle.

In addition, the skin functions to eliminate a portion of the body’s toxic waste by sweating. If the body contains more toxins than the kidneys or liver can effectively discharge, the skin takes over. In fact, some doctors call the skin the 3rd kidney. As toxins escape through the skin, they can disrupt the health and integrity of the skin, creating issues.

Recommendations for Wellness

Note: Some of these recommendations may take 2-4 weeks before any results or improvements are experienced.

Apply distilled white vinegar (can be diluted if too strong) to the face and affected areas. Allow this to sit for 5-10 minutes before rinsing off with cool water.

Lemon or any citric fruit works great as a natural exfoliate, removing dead skin cells that may clog the pours. As with the white vinegar, apply the juice of a lemon (or desired citric juice) to the face. Allow it to dry for about 10 minutes, then rinse with cool water. You may feel a mild sting or burn when the lemon juice is applied. If so, diluting the juice is acceptable.

Increase water consumption. Water helps flush toxin out and help transport nutrients in the body.

Eat a properly balanced diet to ensure proper nutrition. Take a high quality multiple vitamin and mineral supplement to make up for nutrients missing in today’s foods.

Echinacea or Oregon grape can be used to boost the immune system and fight acne-causing bacteria.

Dandelion, Burdock or red clover can help to keep the liver clear of toxic overload.

Herbal combinations such as Natures Sunshine’s Ayurvedic Skin Detox, and BP-X can also be used to cleanse and detoxify the liver and reduce acne.

Large quantities of vitamin A have been successfully used to treat severe acne. Large amounts, however, can be toxic and should only be used when working with your health care provider.

Consider adding additional zinc to your diet. Zinc aids in the healing of tissues and assists in preventing scarring. It is also important for the body in resisting infection and inflammation.

To clear and heal the skin, try a homeopathic Acne remedy. It can help to dry up pimples & prevent future outbreaks.

Flash_embedSWF(”http://www.vilantae.com/affiliates/firebanner.swf?i_link=http://www.vilantae.com/affiliate.php%3FBID=10479%26AID=35916″, “white”, 468, 60);

zinc is effective for countering the worst effects of acne, and that is perfectly true. However, that is not the full story, and there are other considerations that you need to be aware of.

Zinc is extremely important to your body because it plays a critical role in more than 300 enzymatic reactions that take place naturally.

It also is extremely important for the effective functioning of your immune system, because without the correct amounts of zinc in your system, several things can start to go wrong. For instance, your white blood cell count drops dramatically and the production of what are known as T-killer cells falls away drastically as well.

Both of these damage the immune system of your body, seriously reducing your ability to fight disease and sickness. That is why zinc can be used so effectively to reduce the duration and severity of several common sicknesses, including the common cold, as well as acne.

In an ideal world, all of the zinc that you need would be taken in as part of your normal daily diet from such apparently zinc-rich foods as fish, red meat, legumes, egg yolks, soy products and whole grains.

However, modern farming methods have managed to dramatically reduce the amount of zinc that is actually present in most of these things nowadays.

Zinc is a mineral that comes from the ground, and so for zinc to be present in your food, it must have been present in the ground where that food was grown (or, in the case of eggs and meat, in the feed that was given to the hens or the beef cattle).

Modern farming methods (or more correctly, the fact that most land is over-farmed nowadays) mean that this is not the case, so it is less and less likely that you can get all of the zinc that you need to help fight your acne from your daily diet.

However, you should not be discouraged from trying zinc as part of your anti-acne diet, as it is one of the most effective tools against acne, and supplementing your diet with additional zinc is pretty cheap too.

According to the majority of experts, the two types of zinc supplements that seem to be most effective in the battle against acne are Zinc gluconate and Zinc monomethionine (sometimes known as Opti-Zinc).

Of these, most recommend the latter over the former, as it seems to be the most effective form of zinc when it comes to strengthening your immune system in the way that it needs, if it is to help in your fight.

Flash_embedSWF(”http://www.vilantae.com/affiliates/firebanner.swf?i_link=http://www.vilantae.com/affiliate.php%3FBID=10479%26AID=35916″, “white”, 468, 60);