Solutions for Skin Blemishes
Skin blemishes appear in myriad ways, some sudden and acute, others developing over time. But all bear the unsavory characteristic of being highly visible, more often than not on the face. They make us feel self-conscious, looking less than our best.
There’s a direct correlation between the condition of your skin and your interior health. Outside and inside are parts of the same whole. The skin is the largest and most visible organ of our bodies. It functions, among other crucial things, as a barrier and cover—insulating and protecting—and as an eliminative organ. This is important when dealing with blemishes, as they are a clue that something is compromised within the body: either what the skin is covering or what it is trying to eliminate.
Acne
The prevailing opinion is that acne, in various forms, arises because oils and dead skin cells become trapped in pores, often leading to inflammation. Beauty experts say: Excess oil, dirt and bacteria present on the skin will cause acne. Those with oily skin feel most accursed. The most commonly offered solution is cleansing. But over-cleansing or harsh cleansers (especially some of those formulated expressly to “fight acne”) can alter the skin’s pH balance, leading to excess oil production and irritation, and to dryness. This can create a vicious cycle that’s hard to break. Constant touching or picking only aggravates the problem. Yet switching to the raw diet that includes daily juicing always gives quick relief and complete elimination of acne within a few months.
Liver spots or age spots
These flat, brown spots, resembling large freckles, can appear anywhere on the body as it ages. Most appear on areas often exposed to the sun, such as the face, neck, and hands. But the fault is not with normal sunlight per se. When a diet contains too many toxins and not enough natural anti-oxidants, the body is unable to repair the damage. Your lymphatic system routes cellular wastes, along with excess and spent hormones, to your liver for detoxification. If the liver is overloaded, it will store these toxins in the cells of your organs, joints and skin. Age spots are extremely difficult to get rid of externally. Consider: If they are present on the skin, then the aging body also has them in every interior organ, especially the brain.
Your Right to Be Beautiful
The Miracle of Raw Foods
Internal cleansing
A clean colon is of utmost importance in keeping your skin in prime condition. Toxins which don’t exit the body, whether new or old, are bound to show up eventually in the skin. Proper elimination is a key component of good health, and it will show on the outside as well.
Though this is a personal choice you must make for yourself, colon hydrotherapy may be useful, especially in the beginning stages of a raw foods lifestyle transition. The purpose—essentially keep “up to date” on the surprisingly large amount of unattended waste that can be stored in a normal human colon over many years. Hydrotherapy can be a valuable tool in your arsenal for pristine health, inside and out.
Excess sugar consumption can throw your body off balance and add to your skin issues. Even a raw food diet—if you load it with too much sugar in the form of honey, agaves, dried fruits and desserts—can cause skin sensitivity and actually speed up aging. Feeding the skin properly by feeding the bloodstream goes a long way to keep up collagen production and keep capillaries strong and elastic. A raw food diet is automatically high in antioxidants, among your skin’s greatest allies, preventing free-radical damage.
Quantum Eating
The Ultimate Elixir of Youth!
Do be prepared that things might get (seemingly) a little worse before they get better. People moving to raw food diets may experience outbreaks and basic skin irritations as their bodies detoxify. During detox, what’s in your colon and bloodstream is circulating, trying to get out. Roughly one third of the body’s waste evacuates through the skin. If other eliminative organs can’t keep up with the demand, the skin is forced to do double time in removing toxins, bacteria and other undesirables, which manifest in all manner of breakouts, rashes and irritations. This is usually more of an issue in the earliest years of a raw foods transition. Your body may go through some “retracing” as you heal, so old issues may resurface temporarily before saying farewell for good.
On the flip side of the coin, once you have been eating a clean, pure diet for some time, slip-ups and compromises may in turn cause skin upsets, because the body reacts more unfavorably. It’s a balancing act. You have to know where you are on the map and adjust accordingly. After eating a highly pure diet for some years now, you’ll find even the slightest bit of cooked or processed food will lead to a skin eruption or reaction in some form or other.
Exfoliation
No one will drill you more on proper exfoliation than I will. This is one of the cornerstones of a flawless, blemish-free complexion.
Dry skin brushing, performed properly and consistently, minimizes blemishes because it increases cell turnover rate, keeps pores from becoming clogged, improves circulation, polishes the skin to a healthy glow, and unearths microbes that try to hide under the surface. For more information on skin brushing take a look at this article.
Facial Brush
For a glowing complexion.
A blemish by any other name ... is still a blemish. And yet, with a general overall health and beauty regimen addressing internal as well as external factors, you needn’t be plagued by a constant stream of skin upsets with no apparent cause or cure.
Facial Strigil
Exfoliate and stimulate!
People often say to me: “I haven’t seen anyone else get the level of skin results you’ve attained, even among health and beauty experts. I was wondering: Are you an exception?” If I am an exception, it’s only in my level of commitment to the principles I’ve presented here. Follow these faithfully and you’ll become your own proof!