How badly do you want to have a clear face?
Some of us breeze through middle and high school without so much as a blemish. Then others of us are not so lucky.
Having a clear face is something you might take for granted if you've never had issues with acne. I know what it's like to not take this for granted because I've dealt with acne before and I've got the scars to prove it.
While adolescence is hard, don't even get me started on motherhood. Hormones spiking through the roof, sleepless nights and showerless days? Forget having a clear face. If the pimple count was low, I felt good about myself.
Now, I must say, I thought I had cheated the system. High school was relatively pimple-free for me. It wasn't until I got into my twenties and then had my first child when I was 24 that I really began to have problems with pimples and acne.
It wasn't just physically frustrating and irritating, it was also emotionally trying, too. Not having a clear face can really take its toll on your self-image – especially if you've just become a mum. You've got enough to deal with looking after a newborn and adjusting to all the things pregnancy has done to your body without having to think about having a clear face.
As predicted, the doctor prescribed me drugs. I tried them all, from antibiotics to Roaccutane – a common anti-acne drug that can actually do more harm than good.
I got on with life and waited patiently for something to happen as a result of being on prescriptions. While it would make my face a little clearer now and then, it never completely went away. I also found that I was having mood swings and other nasty side effects from these drugs that I was on just to get clear skin.
In my quest to have clear skin I literally tried everything. I changed the pillow cases every second night, washed the sheets as often as I could remember, and drank three litres of water a day. I even changed face washes probably ten or twenty times – but none of them seemed to be making a difference.
I was beginning to get really down about the whole thing. If the doctor couldn't help me and major lifestyle changes didn't make a difference, what was going to help? It really didn't seem like there was anything left for me to try, and my already average self-image was taking an absolute beating.
Then I started to think about how else my body might be affected by the environment around me. Our bodies are sensitive things that have different chemical reactions to everything that goes on, from what's in the air to the washing detergent we use on our clothes.
This led me to look at my diet. Apart from what I was putting on my skin, food was the biggest culprit when it came to my body coming into contact with outside elements. Could my diet be determining what my skin looked like?
I started to do my research, taking up long evenings where I'm pretty sure my husband started to resent me a bit. Any medical research that I did or studies I tracked down came up with nothing – no links between having a clear face and what I was putting into my body.
Then I came across a book. It is written by The Nelson Twins, Nina and Randa, from California. And they were saying some pretty radical things.
They were claiming that by eating a low-fat, plant-based diet, you could eradicate the pimples and acne on your skin and have the clear face you've been so desperately wanting.
What appealed to me is that they had come to this conclusion through their own experience, not medical research. Sometimes it helps to have someone who has gone through exactly what you've experienced and found a solution out of the same desperation you have.
In their book, The Clear Skin Diet, Nina and Randa say that changing their diet up and restricting how much fat they ate helped their skin to begin clearing up within six days. Within six months, they had completely clear faces.
I knew I had to try this. It was speaking to the naturalist in me, and I knew that there's a lot to be said for what you put into your body. So, I limited how much fat I had a beefed up the vegetable intake. They talk about how even the smallest amount of fat can be damaging, so I tried to make it minimal.
The results were amazing. Like they said, within a week or so my skin began to look clearer. I knew I had a long road ahead of me, though, and a lot of self-discipline ahead. Who doesn't like organic peanut butter?
By the time I had been following their diet for six months, I had a clear face again. I couldn't believe it. How can something so simple and natural possibly be so effective when it comes to aggressive, relentless skin conditions like acne?
They say to eat a lot of potatoes, beans, rice, pasta, oats, fruit and smoothies. All those things sound delicious to me, so it wasn't too hard to give up the fat.
While you shouldn't get rid of fat from your diet entirely, it's definitely the culprit according to the Nelson twins. I was at the end of my rope with my skin, and it did wonders for me, so there's no way I can't recommend it because I believe in the process wholeheartedly.
Now I know that I can control my skin based on the food that I eat. Sometimes I'll have cheat days and make my way through half a jar of peanut butter – and I'll get a flare up. But that's ok, because I know I can just as easily get rid of it again.
Check out The Clear Skin Diet for a revolutionary alternative to those nasty prescriptions the doctor will throw at you. It's much better to be in control of what's going into your body, anyway.
If you want more amazing natural skin products, check out my blog post on the benefits of almond oil. Don't forget to subscribe!
How long have you been suffering from acne? Let me know!
