Your skin is constantly producing sebum – this is a good thing! The sebum produced on your skin should make it supple, protect from infection, and give it that healthy glow. The oils you consume become a part of the sebum that is excreted by your skin. If the oils you consume are unhealthy, your skin will suffer greatly. This is so important to your skins health, you cannot take it granted for one second!

The hydrogenation process used by the oils and fats industry produces trans-fats, which are more damaging than any other oils and fats because it employs: 1) high heat, 2) a metal catalyst such as nickel, zinc, copper, or other reactive metals, and 3) hydrogen gas.

This is a volatile combination designed to extract and process oils, but it results in an extremely toxic product that the body reacts to it like it does to other toxins and poisons.

You need to eliminate all fats and oils derived from plants such as canola (from rape seed), soy, safflower, sunflower, soybean, and corn.  This includes products that contain these fats, such as margarine, salad dressing, mayonnaise, cooking and baking oils and fats, and a myriad of foods that contain these fats and oils.

Other products that contain these plastic oils and fats are: breads, pastries, cake, cookies, muffins, buns, French fries, potato chips, snack foods, soups, canned meats, processed meats, cream substitutes and flavorings, ice cream, nuts, and so on and so on.

Plants from which vegetable fats and oils are produced have evolved a variety of toxins designed by nature to protect them from “predators” such as grazing animals, and their seeds contain a variety of toxins. The seed oils themselves block digestive enzymes that break down protein in the stomach. This is very bad for acne because if these toxins cannot be rid of through the bowels, your body will use your skin to get rid of them.

In The Skinny on Fats, Sally Fallon notes:

One reason the polyunsaturates [fats and oils] cause so many health problems is that they tend to become oxidized or rancid when subjected to heat, oxygen and moisture as in cooking and processing.

Most of the body’s cells need to be constructed with 50% saturated fats, except the lungs, which require 100% saturated fat. Written in Saturated Fats and the Lungs Mary G. Enig, PhD points out

When people consume a lot of partially hydrogenated fats and oils, the trans fatty acids are put into the phospholipids [fats] where the body normally wants to have saturated fatty acids and the lungs may not work effectively.”

This same concept goes for your skin. Skin that consists of 50% saturated fats, and void of fats from unhealthy vegetable oils is skin that is supple, glowing, and even. Any deviation from this would result in skin that is either dry, full of acne, inflamed, or all of the above!

When our body’s cells are constructed as nature intended, they do not allow harmful toxins to enter and they are better able to utilize nutrients and oxygen, and to get rid of waste. Oxygen is important for healthy skin. For this reason all unnatural fats and oils should not be consumed by anyone!

About the Author: George is a former acne sufferer who has cured his acne through dietary means. He is the head coach behind the scenes, in the Focus:Acne Members Area. He, along with it’s strong growing community have helped several people cure their acne through diet.

Sugar and too many carbohydrates are very non-essential to human health since meats, eggs and healthy fats contain all the necessary nutrients needed in order to be completely fit and healthy. Your body converts sugar, carbohydrates into glucose – glucose is necessary for healthy function. Your body also converts 60% of protein and 10% of fat into glucose, making sugar very non-essential! Too much sugar in your diet WILL cause problems with your skin.

• Sugar can suppress the immune system and it contributes to the reduction in the body's defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases) inside your body and on your skin. Scientists have proven that too much sugar is the death of the immune system.
• Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body. It also interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. All vitamins and minerals work together in the body and all contribute to the health of your skin.
• Sugar produces a low oxygen environment which leads to candida and acne.
• Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function making the skin less supple and healthy looking
• Sugar can cause and/or lead to a far range of health concerns beyond acne.
• Sugar causes indigestion and constipation. Sugar is the number one enemy of the bowel movement. Healthy bowel movements are necessary for healthy skin.
• Sugar can cause depression, the last thing an acne sufferer needs to deal with!
• Sugar feeds superfluous fungus and bad bacteria in the body and on the skin
• Sugar is an addictive substance, and it can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.

The fact that sugar greatly depresses the immune system has been known for many years, mainly because of Linus Pauling. He is the only person ever to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes — for Chemistry (1954) and for Peace (1962). He concluded that white blood cells need a high dose of vitamin C, and so he developed his theory that high doses of vitamin C were needed to combat the common cold, the flu, and even cancer.

Did you know that vitamin C and sugar have similar chemical structures so that means they compete with one another for entry into the cells? New research confirms Dr. John Ely's 30-year theory that sugar (glucose) competes with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) for insulin-mediated uptake into cells.

Vitamin C is directly related to skin elasticity and collagen. This is why there have been numerous studies showing sugar leading to premature aging. Sugar also allows for an inflammatory environment which is far from optimal for healthy, acne free skin.

Consuming sugar can effectively crowd out the ascorbate (vitamin C). The effect of the Pauling Therapy [high doses of vitamin C] is reportedly much more pronounced and immediate when sugar is eliminated. Your skin will heal and improve much faster when sugar is eliminated from the diet!

If there is more sugar around less vitamin C is allowed into the cell, and vice versa. It is interesting that taking vitamin C also helps curb cravings for sugar, alcohol and carbohydrates. Since our bodies cannot make vitamin C on its own, it must be obtained from foods or supplements on a daily basis.

In his book Sugar Blues, Bill Dufty points out numerous examples of physical diseases and psychological disorders, such as acne, that can be traced back to diets that are deficient in whole unprocessed foods, and dominated by highly processed fats and sugars.

The problem with sugar consumption is not just limited to refined table sugar. Other types of sugars are just as damaging, i.e. corn syrup and sweeteners, honey, maple syrup, molasses, glucose, fructose (fruits), and all artificial sugar substitutes and sweeteners, i.e. NutraSweet, aspartame, saccharin, etc.

Names for Sugars and Sweeteners (partial list)

George McCumiskey, ND