As a teenager I struggled with having bouts of severe acne on my face and after years of going to dermatologists and trying every drug out there (including Accutane), I never got any lasting results.
Having acne together with being skinny-fat, having man boobs and low testosterone destroyed my confidence.
Then around age 19 I found the solution to my acne problem.
At the time I got into optimizing my testosterone levels naturally through diet because I wanted to correct my low testosterone levels.
I learned that dairy products have a very bad effect on your hormonal balance because they raise the female hormone, Estrogen.
As a result I cut out whey protein, milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt from my diet.
Within a week my acne pretty much cleared up +90%.
In addition to that I found that my symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (Constipation) which I was also diagnosed with, decreased greatly.
I have since then tried to reimplement dairy into my diet and the result is always the same: acne and constipation always come back.
This goes for any type of dairy and even lactose and low fat dairy products.
Even at age 27 my acne will come back if I have any type of dairy.
I have since then recommended many of my friends and clients with acne to do the same, and in almost all cases it worked.
Now a lot of top GI doctors and dermatologists that are focused on a more natural solution are slowly transitioning into recommending their patients to remove dairy.
Therefore, if you have acne or digestive problems, try to replace dairy for a week and see the results on your skin and digestion.
You can replace milk with low sugar almond milk and whey protein with pea protein powder.
Another powerful thing I’ve found for improving skin health is to eat a big bowl of green leafy vegetables everyday with spinach being my main choice.
Why do green leafy vegetables work for improving skin? Because they’re high in vitamin A.
Vitamin A stimulates fibroblasts—the cells responsible for developing tissue that keeps skin firm and healthy—in the deep layers of your skin.
And guess what the most powerful acne medication Accutane is made of? It’s made of a high dose of retinoids which are related to vitamin A.
So here’s what dermatologists do to treat your acne: They either prescribe you an useless cream that at best works temporarily or a dangerous drug such as Accutane with a lot of serious side effects.
Instead they could simply tell you to get to the root core of the problem and cut out foods that disrupt your hormonal production (with dairy being the worst one) and adding in foods that are high in micronutrients (green leafy vegetables).
You have to take a step back and think about WHY you have acne.
Acne is similarly to indigestion a sign of inflammation or hormonal imbalances in your body.
Some inflammation presents itself in the digestive system primarily through constipation and some of it presents itself on the skin.
Therefore, if you have skin or digestive problems, you have to act on them and find the root cause, then attack it.
It’s a sign from your body that your balance is off.
This is why with my Online Transformation Program clients we track BioFeedback:
During the first 14-21 days I have my clients track 14 BioFeedback questions related to stress, sleep, digestion, energy levels and training.
By dialing in these things, we ensure that the body balances out and get’s the best results from training and diet.
I believe that in order to make a long-lasting physique transformation you have to take a holistic approach to fitness and improve your overall health.
This means that a well-designed fitness program should enhance your skin, vitality, digestion, sleep, metabolism and hormonal balance.
There’s no quick fix for this. For most people it requires a complete overhaul in lifestyle (eating habits, sleep habits, stress management) however the long-term result in physique, vitality and energy levels more than makes up for the initial effort you have to put up front.
Don’t make the mistake to take strong pharmaceutical drugs for your skin to quickly fix a problem.
According to the leaflet for Accutane it can irreversibly damage your internal organs.
When I took Accutane we found that my liver function was deteriorating so I had to go off after just 4 weeks.
Many people take Accutane without even checking their liver.
The same principles applies to most pharmaceutical drugs including those for anxiety, depression, ADHD and so on.
The more powerful the effect of a drug, the stronger the long-term side effects are.
Then you’ll need to take more drugs later to deal with the side effects too.
When you correct the root cause to your problem, you won’t need most of them and then you won’t have to deal with the long-term side effects of these drugs.
Be proud but stay hungry!
Oskar Faarkrog, ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
PS: If you found these tips helpful send me a message on instagram and let me know.
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