There is so much healing in healthy, earth foods. Health is wealth! I think so. Every day I am grateful for my life and my health. 

I dealt with acne in my teenage years, during my second pregnancy in my thirties and a resurgence almost to the day I turned 40. I was a vegetarian, not under a lot of stress, ate fairly well, was pretty active and exercised. So to say I was not expecting it is an understatement. 

After the initial break out, I went to my long time dermatologist whose chair I spend literally five to ten minutes in. It’s important for me to keep my doctors in the know about my health, and sometimes I listen to their advice and sometimes I don’t. It depends on what they are advising.

Once our five to 10 minute session was over, she said she wanted to prescribe a medication, which according to her was very expensive. I asked how expensive? She said $1500, and even with insurance, It’ll cost me about $300-400 out of pocket.

I politely declined, because one, I’m not paying that kind of money for an acne medication and two, the ingredients were awful, at least for me. See, I already knew what was going on in my body. My hormones levels were all over the place. Too much estrogen, which is referred to as estrogen dominance (get your hormone levels checked in your annuals. Don’t let them tell you you don’t need it). Knowing your levels can help you better understand what’s happening in your body.

At no time did my dermatologist ever addressed an underlying issue for why this was happening. It was medication prescription right away. And I knew I wasn’t going to get that from her so there was not point in even bringing it up. Side note, she’s no longer my dermatologist.

Symptoms are simply the body’s way of letting us know that something deeper needs to be addressed. Acne is a symptom of something more going on within the body, and my symptoms included cystic acne, excessively oily skin due to overactive sebaceous/oil glands, clogged pores, etc. So the last thing I needed were products with ingredients that mimics estrogen in my body. The only thing left for me to do was amplify and optimize my gut support, starting with the liver.

This is the amazing thing about the body. It communicates with us. Through the acne and other symptoms, my body was letting me know that my hormones needed attention and the liver, which is responsible for the synthesis of some hormones and detoxification needed attention. 

That’s when I kicked my juice/smoothie drinking, vegetable consuming practices into overdrive. Simultaneously, I addressed my skin, externally with simple, gentle, efficacious topicals. And guess what? To this day, I’ve never had a problem with acne to this degree.

Every body is different. So the key is knowing your body and listening when it’s communicating with you. Listen to your primary care givers, but don’t always blindly do what you’re told. Be curious. Ask questions and do some of your own research. You should know your body better than anyone. Know what makes you feel good and what doesn’t, which means you should always be able to articulate your feelings to your caregivers.

Stay tuned for another post, in which I will document my exact steps for supporting my skin’s health inside and out!