July 24, 2004 |
Aging Beautifully Acne? But I’m an Adult In the last two decades, I’ve had more and more women come to me for advice in treating adult acne. In addition to treatment options, many want to know why this teenage condition is plaguing them in their later years. The answer is simplefor the same reason you broke out in your teenshormones and stress. The cause of acne can be found deep in your hair follicles. Each hair follicle has a sebaceous gland connected to it. This gland secretes sebum, an oil and wax mixture that keeps your skin moist and lubricated. During hormonal changes (such as puberty, menstruation, and perimenopause) and times of stress, you experience an increase in male hormones (androgen). This causes changes in the pH of the skin and overstimulates the sebaceous gland, which responds by secreting excess sebum. This in turn creates the skin lesions we call acne. In order to treat adult acne, I often recommend that women try a variety of approaches: dietary, supplements, or topical treatments. I’d like to share my favorite solution from each category with you today. Do This The first thing I recommend you do is avoid refined sugar and foods high in sugar. Like androgens, sugary foods overstimulate your sebaceous glands and can trigger excess oil production. Refined sugar can also contribute to blood sugar imbalances, which can worsen symptoms of anxiety and stress. And, as I stated above, stress can lead to breakouts. Plus, sugar depletes your store of B-complex vitamins, which help balance your mood, energy, and anxiety level. B vitamins are also needed to help keep your level of androgens within the optimal range. While your ovaries and adrenals produce androgens, their levels are regulated, in part, by your liver. As your main organ of detoxification, your liver also relies on B vitamins in order to function efficiently. Take This Next, you should include vitamin A in your diet. Vitamin A not only helps to improve the overall health of your skin; it is especially helpful in suppressing oily skin and acne. In fact, one study found that high doses of vitamin A helped to clear up even the most severe cases of acne in 90 percent of the people treated with the vitamin. Since too much vitamin A can adversely affect liver function, I recommend that you take it’s water-soluble precursorbeta-carotene. Dosages between 15,000 and 25,000 IU daily should provide you with adequate skin protection. Use this Finally, you should treat any breakouts that do occur with tea tree oil. The antiseptic properties have been used for centuries to clean and treat wounds. Even the early settlers of Australia and metal workers during the Second World War used this camphorous-smelling essential oil to treat cuts and insect bites. After washing the infected area, I recommend placing one drop of Australian tea tree oil directly on blemishes. Read the product label carefully to be sure the oil contains 50 to 60 percent terpenes (preferably terpin-4-ol) and no more than 15 percent cineole.
Read More on Aging Beautifully: Getting Started Beautiful Skin: At What Price? Beyond Moisturizer and Sunscreen Keep it SIMPLE Beauty TipBanishing Wrinkles Nutritional Therapies EFAs = Extremely Flawless Appearances Complementary Therapies
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