How to clear acne naturally

The topic of how to clear acne naturally is one that is very real to me personally.

How to clear acne naturally

In my late teens and early twenties, I struggled with horrible cystic acne. I longed for the day when I could freely go without any makeup on my skin whatsoever, like I do today, shown in the picture above. The process of figuring out what I needed to do to heal acne took a while, but once I figured it out, the results were dramatic. Today I’m sharing my best tips on how to clear acne naturally.

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Look at it holistically

One of the things I learned was that it’s very important to look at the body as a whole. The key is to realize that health starts on the inside. Rather than just thinking about clearing up skin, we need to be figuring out what is going on under the surface. What is the underlying health issue that’s happening, causing the acne breakouts? Sure, acne shows up on our skin, but it’s highly possible that one or more lifestyle factors could be the culprit. I’m going to go over some crucial lifestyle areas to consider.

Sleep, wonderful sleep

It’s definitely not the most exciting thing ever, but getting to bed early on a regular basis, and making sure to get enough sleep every night does wonders for health. Our body regenerates and detoxifies itself during our sleeping hours. Sometimes addressing this alone will clear up a skin problem. Some tips for getting a good night’s sleep include making sure your room is completely dark, creating an evening routine and sticking to it, and avoiding screen time for an hour before bed.

Stressed out?

There’s no question about it: Chronic stress is one of the most detrimental things to our health. Sometimes we grow so used to it, that we don’t even realize how much stress we’re under. It’s important to take a step back and figure out if there are any sources of chronic stress in your life.

Here are some things to consider: Are there any stressful relationships in my life? How could I work toward healing those relationships? Am I too busy? Am I managing my time well, so that I have time to relax and spend time on the things that bring joy, or am I just running around, doing all the “urgent” things? Do I need to cut some activities out of my life, and learn to say “no” more often?

Making sure to exercise gently and consistently is a great way to boost health and combat stress at the same time. Spending time outdoors is also an amazingly effective way to lower stress levels. If you can drastically cut down on stress in your life, it’s highly possible that your health will improve by a lot.

I also accidentally stumbled up on a nifty ancestral nutrition hack that makes eating organ meats easy. I actually use this for natural migraine prevention, but it is helpful for other areas of health as well. Read all about it here.

What about food?

Another major lifestyle factor to consider when trying to heal acne is the food you’re eating. Or, more specifically, to figure out if your body is having a hard time processing certain foods.

There are a couple of ways to go about this. Often, people struggling with acne have a good deal of success by eliminating whatever food or foods seem to trigger acne breakouts. For some, this is a solution in itself. For me, this didn’t really help. I tried a variety of elimination diets, and tried avoiding certain, common food groups, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what made the acne flare up.

Also, I didn’t love the idea of avoiding one or more food groups for the rest of my life, just so I could enjoy clear skin. As I mentioned before, I tried a lot of different things to try to clear up my acne. These included various cleanses, different ways of eating, and different supplements. Nothing worked.

After giving vegetarianism a try, which only made things worse, I decided to make complete about turn, and do another healing protocol: the GAPS diet. The GAPS diet was a healing diet designed by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBridge, for the purpose of healing autism and other mental health disorders. She outlines it in her book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome.” Later, she published another book targeting the physical (rather than mental) side of health, using the same exact diet.

Health begins in the gut

The underlying principle of the GAPS diet is that the health (or illness) of our digestive system determines the health or illness of the rest of our body. By healing the gut, the rest of our body is able to heal, too.

Switching over to the GAPS diet from eating no animals fats was a big change. However, I was determined to find something that would help. I followed the introduction stages of the diet, and then stuck to the full GAPS diet for two years, before slowly transitioning to a Weston A Price style diet, where no foods are eliminated and all food groups are enjoyed as long as they are properly sourced and prepared.

I know what you’re probably thinking: “Two years on a restrictive diet?? That sounds so hard!” Well, it wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done. But let me tell you: it was SO worth it. It was by far one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life. The more time goes by, the more thankful I am that I did the GAPS diet. It completely cleared up all of my acne, and healed some other health issues that I had been dealing with, namely frequent headaches, low energy, and being too thin.

Also, anther thing worth mentioning, is that the GAPS diet is a wonderful way to eat. Basically, you’re just avoiding certain foods that can irritate an unhealthy gut, such as refined sweeteners, starches, and grains. There are so many delicious recipes that include the allowed foods, such as meat, organ meats, vegetables, fruit, and more. The challenge really only came when attempting to eat at other people’s houses, or traveling.

But in a nutshell, the GAPS diet is definitely something I would recommend to anyone who is serious about healing their acne. It’s really wonderful what it can do for skin conditions (not just acne!) and a myriad of other health issues.

What about products to use on the skin?

While lifestyle factors and diet are definitely the most important things to consider, what products to use on problem skin is also certainly worth looking into.

It’s important to make sure the skincare products you use are gentle and completely natural. Avoid anything harsh that will strip the skin of its natural oils, and stick to things that contain nutrients that heal skin. A honey face wash is ideal for cleansing. Organic, 100% gras fed tallow balm is an ideal moisturizer when dealing with acne, and it’s amazing when used in the oil cleansing method. I highly recommend the oil cleansing method at least a few times a week to help heal acne. Also, a skin mask, such as my French Green Clay Mask, can be great for helping to clear acne during the healing phase.

Since healing my cystic acne with diet, I don’t wear any foundation or any type of makeup on my face. I do like to wear eye makeup, though. Since I don’t want to add to my body’s toxic burden, I use only pure and natural makeup. Check out my 100% Pure makeup review here.