Eat Well And Exercise
An effective home acne treatment is a combination of different behavioral changes. If you want to lower your chances of outbreak and improve the overall condition of your skin, you must eat a healthy diet. Before going into the types of foods you should and shouldn’t eat, it must be noted that you must do other things in conjunction with your new diet to improve your skin.
Getting in at least a half hour of exercise a day will improve your overall health, which will naturally get rid of acne as an additional benefit. Try to do cardiovascular workouts when you have the time as they are the best kinds of workouts for your health. In addition to getting into an exercise regimen, also make sure you’re getting the necessary amount of sleep. Sleep deprivation is a cause of acne because of the detrimental effects it has on your health. The same goes for high stress levels. By going to bed a little earlier and fighting stress with exercise, you’ll begin to see an improvement in your complexion.
So, now that you’ve decided to make these lifestyle changes, it’s time to discuss what to eat. But before that, you should take a quick inventory of what you drink. Proper hydration is integral to your skin’s health. Water is an important component of skin cell development. If you want to keep your pores clear and your skin looking brighter, make sure you’re drinking the standard eight glasses of water today. Sugary drinks like soda and alcohol have adverse effects on your complexion. Limit your sugar and alcohol intake.
Now that we’ve addressed beverages, it’s time to discuss your overall diet.
Fight Acne with Food
If you’re suffering from an outbreak, you want to focus on increasing your antioxidant intake. This means it’s time to hit the produce department at your local supermarket. Fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of antioxidants. The purpose of increasing your antioxidant intake is to flush toxins and repair cells. Improving your body’s healing potential will diminish the visibility of your acne faster. Remember, acne forms because bacteria are allowed to take root. If the skin is healing properly, it will keep the bacteria from getting a foothold.
When you’re trying to get rid of acne fast, it’s best to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible. Cooking fruits and vegetables causes them to lose much of their nutritional value. Also, when possible shop for organic foods. They will be free of additives that can contribute to a poor complexion.
An effective home acne treatment that correlates with your diet is an increase in your consumption of garlic. Raw garlic is one of nature’s great acne fighting foods. Eating raw garlic isn’t exactly tasty, so why not add raw garlic to some of your favorite dishes? Use it in pasta sauce (but don’t cook it in the sauce), put it in a burrito, or have it with a neutral vegetable like a cucumber to take the edge off. Many people have found that eating a few cloves of raw garlic in a day greatly improves the complexion of their skin and reduces the appearance of acne.
Foods to Avoid
While it’s true that studies are mixed about specific foods causing acne, your overall health dictates the condition of your skin. Therefore, you should still avoid foods that are bad for you because their effects will show in your complexion.
Consuming large amounts of fats is bad for both your heart and your acne. In fact, fats and carbohydrates are now believed to be the biggest culprits when it comes to foods that aggravate acne. High levels of fat can slow down your blood flow. Since proper circulation is integral to fighting acne, the more fat you consume, the harder you make it to heal. This is why you should avoid high fat food items like dairy products.
Not only do dairy products increase the fat levels in your blood, but they also contain hormones from the cow. These hormones are taken in by the human body in such a way that it increases the amount of sebum produced. Increased sebum production pretty much guarantees an acne outbreak.
Carbohydrates, especially from refined white flour, should be avoided as well. Since food items like pasta and white bread contain almost no nutrients on their own, you’re spiking your blood sugar levels and gaining no beneficial nutrients in return. Irregular blood sugar levels have been seen to have a negative effect on acne.
This advice applies to pretty much all processed foods. The more refined a food source is, the less nutritional value it will have. Basically, if your body has to expend more vitamins and nutrients to process the food than it actually gets from the food, it’s bad for your acne.
The last thing you should keep out of your diet is caffeine. Because acne outbreaks are tied to both increased stress levels and sleep deprivation, you should lower your caffeine intake. Caffeine triggers levels of excitement that do the same thing to your body that stress does. It also interrupts your sleep. These two side effects will catch up to you eventually and may aggravate your acne further.
Recipes
The best home acne treatment is a great meal. Eating something tasty and healthy is a fun way to gradually get rid of acne without feeling like you’re going through any trouble. Below are some popular recipes taken from various places around the web that are easy to make and beneficial for your skin.
Romaine and Smoked Salmon Salad
Ingredients
1 small head organic romaine lettuce
5 ounces smoked salmon, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
4 radishes, thinly sliced
1 organic carrot, diagonally sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 tbsp canola oil
Directions
Arrange romaine lettuce on two plates. Top with salmon, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, and cucumber.
Shake lemon juice, canola oil, and minced ginger in tightly covered jar. Pour over salad.
Zucchini Tart
Ingredients
600 g zucchini
3 eggs
10 cl soy cream
80 g semolina
Salt, pepper, herbs de Provence, basil.
Directions
Cut zucchini into slices or cubes, fry in a nonstick pan, seasoning well and adding a little water if needed (10-15 minutes).
Preheat oven to 180 ° C.
Cook the semolina in the volume of salt water required. Then mix with the zucchini.
In a bowl, beat eggs and cream. Add salt, pepper and herbs de Provence, basil and other spices to taste. Combine zucchini-couscous.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan and cook 30-40 minutes until top is golden brown.
Served cold or hot.
Broccoli and Barley Soup
Ingredients
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
1 rib organic celery, finely chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups small, organic broccoli florets
1/2 cup pearled barley, cooked
5 cups vegetable broth
1 can (14 1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
In a stock pot, cook onion in olive oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until soft.
Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add celery and carrots along with broccoli florets. Cover and let simmer until carrots and broccoli florets are tender.
Add cooked barley, canned tomatoes, garlic, marjoram, and thyme. Let simmer another minute or two.
Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm.
Oat and Buckwheat Muesli
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup puffed buckwheat
1/2 cup dried apples, chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup organic pears, diced
1 cup red grapes, halved
3 tbsp brown sugar
Rice milk to serve
Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C, gas 3).
Spread oats evenly onto a non-stick baking tray and toast in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch oats very closely when toasting as they can burn easily.
Remove from oven and let cool. Pour into a large ceramic or glass bowl and add water. Let soak in a refrigerator overnight.
Add puffed buckwheat, dried apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar to soaked oats. Stir well.
Divide mixture into serving bowls and top with pears and grapes. Serve with rice milk.
Maintain Your Clear Skin
Adjusting your lifestyle to get rid of acne can take time. Getting the proper amount of sleep and exercise may require you to shuffle your daily schedule. You may have to cut out some of your favorite foods, your second cup of coffee, and your nightly cocktail. But you’ll soon see your skin improving. Not only will your acne begin to clear, but you’ll feel better too, so keep with it.
