A proper search in Google should include the correct keywords – you don’t need superflous words like ‘and,’ ‘or,’ ‘with,’ etc. Google should be showing us the most relevant results when it comes to diet and acne when we query ‘acne diet.’ Now let’s dissect the results.

Google # 1 : EveryDiet.com says…

Foods with saturated fats and trans fats can contribute to oily skin. Saturated fats are found in most animal products – such as meats, dairy, and pulty. However the body does still require other essential fatty acids – such as from fish, flaxseed, or hempseed oil.

From the get go, this website is trying to claim that saturated fats from animal products can contribute to oily skin. Wrong. Saturated fats from animals (pork fat, e.g.) contain many necessary nutrients for health – our ancestors have been consuming these fats for thousands of years. In fact, the fat of the animals was considered sacred, and the most healthy part of the animal along with animal organs. The prevailing theme of this website has it completely wrong – lets scrap this one and move on.

Google Result # 2 – FreeAcneBook.com says…

Acne is cause by the combination of a high sebum production and pinched off sebum canals. If the pinching off of sebum canals is eliminated, you will get NO new pimples whatsoever. Most foods contain such substances that make the skin pinch.

The overall theme of this site scares me from the start. The domain name screams ‘i’m selling something!’ despite it claiming to be free. But maybe this free eBook is useful, let’s read their first statement:

Acne is caused by high sebum production. It’s true that acne is caused by superfluous sebum production but this isn’t the main cause. This site is implying that this is the true cause, which is wrong. This cause is only one step on the ladder of causes. They go on to talk about pinched off sebum canals – i’m not sure what they are trying to get at here (Accutane, perhaps?) but it’s obvious they are not getting at any true cause. Pinched off sebum canals are not natural. Our skin plays many natural functions – one of which is to create sebum to promote supple skin. Pinching off these canals is like saying, if your having erectile dysfunction, pinching your pee hole will solve all your problems! It isn’t natural.

Google Result # 3 – About.com says…

So, is diet alone going to clear your acne? Probably not. However, a health diet will certainly improve your overall health.

OK, we finally have a self touted authority in information. They have to know what’s up, right?

They start off by citing some references to studies showing some correlation between diet and acne. Good! But then I see what you see above: ‘is diet alone going to clear your acne? Probably not.’ Probably not? It’s a yes or no question. We aren’t politicians here trying to dance on a fence to make sure we don’t upset anyone. We want hard cold answers – and we want it now. We are suffering everyday! ‘Probably not.’ does not answer our questions. Here is your answer: Yes, your acne has everything to do with your diet, and diet alone will clear and cure your acne.

Google Result # 4 – Care2.com says…

Why is it that teens in New Guinea and Paraguay have no acne? Or in Kenya, rural Japan, or Malaisia, for that matter? The reason goes against the commonly held viewpoint of most dermatologists who think acne isn’t caused by diet.

A seminal study on acne published in the Archives of Dermatologs in 2002, reported that there was no one single case of acne–zero–in two non-Westernized populations studied for a diet-acne connection. One population was in New Guinea and the other Paraguay.

What do these two cultures have in common? They were eating the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Foods you could hunt, gather, plush or fisk, what Loren Cordain, Ph. D, author of the audy and book by the same name, calls The Paleo Diet.

Hmm, this seems interesting. They start with a question, ‘Why is it that teens in New Guinea and Paraguay have on acne?’ – I used to wonder this myself. Then they state ‘a seminal study…reported that there was not one single case.’ – Can’t argue with hard cold facts, right? Lasty they state ‘What do these two cultures have in common? They were eating the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.’

Let’s take a moment to step up from our computer chairs and give a round of applause. Bravo care2.com. You have it right! Our ancestors did not have acne because they were not plagued by the ill effects of processed foods. So you have the reasoning right, the only thing left is to figure out exactly what was the diet of our ancestors and what parts of their diet correlate to our skins health. NaturAcne answers that question in extreme detail.

Google Result # 5 – Acne.com says…

Sponsored by ProActiv

Sponsored by ProActiv? I wonder how much they paid to acquire such a straight forward domain name. This just goes to show that acne is a business. It’s not even worth our time to read the propaganda on this website.

All in all, i’m actually quite happy to have found at least one result out of the so called ‘top 5′ that has the true cause of acne correct. Now try to search some common terms such as ‘acne,’ ‘acne treatments,’ ‘acne medications,’ – you’ll be hard pressed to find any in the top 100 which can show anything promising. The fact is, most acne information on the web is useless.

• What Passes for Food In America by Cheeselave talks about how she recently traveled with her family to discover the turmoils of eating healthy while traveling. It’s tough not to be able to cook your own food using the ingredients of your choice. Maybe you’ve noticed your skin get worse even when you eat at someone else’s house – or when traveling to another country. Processed foods are everywhere you go – white flour, high fructose corn syrup, eggs which come from chickens cooped up in factories, etc. The strongest concept of this article which you should grasp is ‘there is no such thing as cheap food.’

• High Soy Diet Shatters Boyhood Dreams of Football Glory by Hartke is Online! talks about how diet effected the authors teen years. Low and behold, he makes a direct link between eating habits and skin problems. I’m glad there are other bloggers out there who share this same sentiment!

• Gluten Free Sourdough and Weston A. Price Principles by The New Homemaker tells about their experiences making healthy bread that does not cause constipation. The bread recipe follows the principles of Weston A. Price. Once you become more familiar with what foods are healing and what foods are damaging to your skin, you’ll want to create your own recipes for healthy eating.

• Healthy and Anti-inflammatory Fats by Nourishing Hope is a short excerpt which holds lots of weight in our hearts. They talk about how certain fats can cause inflammation on the skin.

I'm So Happy to Be Photoshopped!

Ah, now you remember. Whether or not this picture was photoshopped is not important. What’s important is realizing that acne is not something you can just destroy with an atom bomb. If you are 17, it’s taken 17 years of being unhealthy for the toxins in your body to manifest themselves as acne.  To cure your acne (and when I say cure, I mean permanently), it takes 1 month of natural healing for every year you’ve had it – you need to take things slow.

Honestly, i’m not surprised why so many people have bought this book. For one, it’s marketed well. It reaches the search engines and when the common acne sufferer searches for ways to cure themselves quickly for the prom next week, they find this shitty ebook. Secondly, it’s inherent that any product or service dealing with acne will sell well, because lets face it, we are desperate. We’d do everything in our power, empty our bank account if we had to, just to get rid of this stupid disease.

I’ve used it all, and the quickest way to ‘get rid of’ your acne would be antibiotics. But this is very temporary, very unhealthy, and it will come back worse then when it started. I don’t advise you ever take antibiotics for any reason whatsoever, but there’s my honest opinion on the matter. Antibiotics will work, the very first time you take them – only they will do more harm then good. It’s just not worth it, there are better options.

A more correct and better sales pitch would be, ‘heal your acne naturally by eating the right foods!’ – now that doesn’t sound as fun, or as easy – but shit, if it works, it works right? It does work. So please don’t buy into most of all this useless information on the web, and do things the right way – you will be forever thankful. I know I was.

Acne is a business, and business is flourishing.

There are thousands upon thousands of acne products, both prescription and over the counter, that cycle in and out of drugstore shelves. At any given time, there are hundreds of different products that are available to the acne sufferer. They all have similar formulas with the same major ingredients. There are only a few active ingredients ‘shown in studies’ to be effective in ‘managing’ acne – those are Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic acid.  In essence, mostly all OTC acne products are the same thing with a few different inactive ingredients.  Figuring out which one is best is overwhelming for the common acne sufferer. The fact is,  none of them are effective at curing your acne.

Greed, misconception, and its relationship with acne

To understand the acne business model, you must first understand that humans are greedy, and greed in the ecosystem of today’s society directly effects health in many ways.

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. – Mahatma Gandhi

In a system where people are rewarded through the accumulation of money, the health of the unsuspecting results. Enron is a classic example of humans greed to accumulate money at the expense of others.  The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are no different.

Every year, a dozen new acne companies are created. According to the American Acadaemy of Dermatology, 40-50 million people suffer from acne. and each year 85% of teenagers will have acne. [1] This creates a huge market with lots of opportunities for business men to make money.

Common sense will tell us that most of these business men don’t understand the true nature of acne – hell, most dermatologists don’t even understand it’s true nature. Their beliefs are based off of misconception.

The #1 Misconception: Acne is not curable, but treatable and manageable.

This is because the roots from which all acne treatments stems from is an effort in futility. All acne products treat the symptom (acne) and do not treat the true cause (health and nutrition). [3] (see Ladder of Causes)

The fact that the acne market today is based off an effort in futility happens to be very good for business. Understand the cycle of events that take place in an average acne sufferer consumer:

Big acne business and the many unknowns

The pinnacle of business in terms of the acne product market came at the advent of  ProActiv, a sister company of Gunthy Renker Corporation, a direct-response marketer known primarily for selling products in the United States via infomercials. [4]

Right now, we own acne. – Greg Renker, a chief executive of Guthy-Renker

The idea was quite genius, in business terms. Bring together the marketing powerhouse abilities of Gunthy Renker with the preconceived expertise of Dr. Katie P. Rodan and Dr. Kathy A. Fields, the two dermatologists who founded ProActiv. Now you have an image with the capability to market it effectively. From this point, there is no need to put more money into improving product effectiveness.

We are told very little about how these two dermatologists created their products. The FDA will tell us that topical products should be built and tested in a lab by capable human beings  doing their due diligence, who understand the function of each and every chemical used. Where is the line between dermatologist and chemist drawn? Bottom line, it isn’t – the consumer has no idea how these products were created and who they were created by. How are we able to surmise the effectiveness of a product we cannot understand completely? Are we to blatantly believe what we see on television infomercials and obliviously consume and apply drugs that are supposedly helpful for us?

Built in Consumer Advertising vs. Commercial Advertising

In most business models, built in consumer advertising is a huge part of the success of an advertising campaign. For instance, when someone buys a Honda Civic, and is happy with their purchase, they will tell their friends and family that they are having a good experience. Another example would be Apple. When someone is on the bus using their new iPhone, the apple logo stands out on the other side. Someone else who randomly looks sees this logo and is effectively advertised by the consumer.

The acne business model is inherently different. When someone is able to effectively improve their acne, it isn’t common for the sufferer to tell his friends and family that ‘Hey, this Murad acne cream is working pretty well!’ No one can see what type of acne medication/treatment you are using at the time. Acne is a sensitive subject that isn’t talked about publicly. Therefore, built in consumer advertising is not an important cornerstone of the acne advertising model.

What’s far more important is commercial advertising. Getting the idea out there that the product they are selling actually works and convince the consumer that it is proven to work. Jessica Simpson was paid six figures alone to appear in Pro Activ commercials to help convince the consumer.  The company spends about $125 million a year buying time for its infomercials on channels like VH1 and MTV as well as Web sites like Facebook. [2]

Millions of dollars are put into lobbying the government and FDA for approval of acne products.

The money doesn’t end in advertising. Most over the counter products and all prescription products must go through the FDA if companies want to access this multi-billion dollar industry. The FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, is a federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products. [5]

Wherever there is a billion dollar industry, there will be corruption. The acne market is no different. Every year, health care, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic companies alike put millions of dollars into lobbying the government for ‘ease of passage.’ This means, making the flow from lab to drugstore shelf as seamless and easy as possible. Despite the obvious fact that this goes against the very reason why the FDA exists in the first place, it just goes to show how important money is in the overall scheme of things as compared to the actual effectiveness of the product and whether it helps people or not.

Drawing conclusions from the fundamental concepts of the acne business model

ABM Concept #1: Acne is not curable, create products that succeed in managing acne as a disease.

The whole acne product scam is based off the misconception that acne is not curable but only manageable, yet they want to give the impression that there is a possibility of a cure with their products. The fact is, there is a cure for acne, and that is through health and nutrition, which is devoid of any need for any specific acne treatments.

ABM Concept # 2: Money spent on commercial advertising is much more important then drug effectiveness.

As stated earlier, commercial advertising yields far higher returns then would be product effectiveness, because built in consumer advertising does not exist with the acne business model.

ABM Concept #3: Health of sufferers comes secondary to product effectiveness and profit margins. The FDA is more of an obstacle then a safety.

Understand that acne drugs, whether it be Accutane, or topical acne treatments, are not healthy and can severely impair your health in many cases. This doesn’t matter to acne companies, as long as the product passes FDA regulations and the superficial symptoms are treated. This falls within the business model because acne sufferers are so desperate at fixing their skin that they are blinded by the ramifications of consuming man made drugs and applying man made topicals made from unnatural chemicals.

Understanding the greed and business model of acne products on the market today can open your eyes to many things. Be wary of any acne products or drugs on the market because they were not created with your health in mind.

References:

[1] http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/common_acne.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/fashion/18skin.html
[3] http://focusacne.com/ladder-of-causes/
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthy-Renker
[5] http://wordnet.princeton.edu/

With a disease as widespread as acne, it is given that there will be lots of misinformation published through all types of mediums including books, television, and the internet. Most of this stems from the greed of man attempting to profit on the suffering of others (see Acne is a Business.) The rest stems from the misinterpretation and misunderstanding of cause and effect. With the rise of the information age, the internet has become the #1 source of spreading knowledge today.

Understanding research fundamentals of acne information

You have acne. You want to know how to get rid of it. There are millions of pieces of information flying your way on what you should do to fix your skin. Only with proper understanding of why this information is available can you effectively sift through the right and the wrong. You must understand the three types of people producing acne information on the web.

Type 1: People who create acne websites to make money

Since the advent of processed food, so many people have acne now a days. Google is getting thousands of search queries for the keyword acne and similar, everyday. Web developers see this as an opportunity to produce eBooks, blogs, etc. dealing with acne to make money. The huge problem here is that most of these guys have never had to deal with persistent acne in their life. Their main intention is not to help people, but to make money. Can you really believe what someone says when they have their hand in your pocket?

Rule # 1: Never trust anyone with information regarding health if the proponent of the ideas did not have a true passion for the topic.

Type 2: People suffering from acne and spreading their experiences

The acne.org forums is the largest acne forum on the web. The forums are filled with acne sufferers, mostly in their teens, who can compare experiences with one another. This is great, in theory, but it isn’t an efficient solution. Stick a bunch of people who suffer from acne in a room(a stadium would be more suitable now a days) and lock the doors. It’ll take years for someone to figure out the cure (it took me years) and then it’ll take twice as many years to get the message across to everybody. While one smart person who has cured themselves is trying to spread the word, there are 100 naysayers who call BS, 100 people who don’t understand, and 100 people who didn’t get the message in the first place. Eventually the cured people will leave and 100 more sufferers will take his or her place.

Rule # 2: Acne can be a cyclic disease. Some may say one thing helped when after a few months it stops working. Take information from sufferers with a grain of salt unless they have permanently cured their acne.

Type 3: People who have cured it and want others to know

This is the golden egg in the basket. The ones who fall into this category inherently follow the two aforementioned rules – they have suffered so will have had a passion to cure themselves, and they have permanently cured it so you know they did it correctly.

The problem with type 3 is there aren’t many. Close to none.  Sure there are many who have cured their acne, but why in hell would they spend more of their time talking about acne when they just spent the last 5 years dwelling on it in the first place? Acne is a depressing subject. All the people who cured themselves are skipping and singing a happy tune. They are no longer reading studies, excerpts, forum posts about pimples, blackheads, pustules, and cysts.

Rule # 3: Be wary of all information regarding acne on the web. Mostly all of it is totally useless.

Beauty of the Internet Medium, Spreading and Gathering Knowledge

One of the beauties of the internet as a medium to express knowledge is that anyone can do it. I could write an e-book about how the sun will collide with the earth in 2012 and distribute this information amongst thousands of people who want to hear about it. This doesn’t mean I would know what I am talking about, because I wouldn’t.

The following video was posted on YouTube by someone who is clearly overweight and unhealthy. This should already be an indicator that this person doesn’t understand fully the concept of the health topic she is discussing. We can make an example of any piece of information on the web like this one regarding acne to further support our theory.

Another intrinsic beauty of the internet is the gathering of knowledge. With so many resources out there, it may be difficult to figure out what is correct and what is incorrect – but the ability to choose is available to everyone who wants to know, and this is what is important. Back in the day before the internet, there was the library – if you wanted to research a topic, you’d have hundreds of  different authors to choose from, and take from them what you need. Now a days, you have access to thousands of different authors with different views which makes it much more effective in figuring out what actually is right and wrong.

Let’s dissect this video:

Acne is caused by dirt getting into the pores of your skin: Wrong. I don’t see little Stevey who plays in the dirt everyday with pimples. What about John who works in the sewers cleaning clogged human feces from pipes? That’s gotta be a worse then dirt, right? I don’t see him with acne, either.

Caused by heredity: No. Genetics do not cause acne. You receive the nutritional health status of your parents upon conception, meaning if you parents are unhealthy with a weak immune system, then you will be too.

Hormones: Hormones do have a role in acne, but to simply say ‘hormones cause acne’ is pretty naive. The true cause of hormone imbalance is lack of proper nutrition and the accumulation of toxins which cause the glands and organs to function improperly.

Not ‘necessarily’ the type of food you eat:  Wrong again.  The fact is, your diet plays every role in acne and every other degenerative disease including obesity. The fact is, toxins from unhealthy foods cause different problems for different people. Some may have hormone problems which cause obesity, and some may have different hormone problems which cause acne. Depending on many different factors, everyone deals with toxins differently.

Avoid unnecessary touching of the face: This doesn’t matter. Acne is created within your body and comes from the inside out. You can aggravate your acne, but if your immune system is strong, touching your skin will in no way cause acne.

This woman clearly falls into Type 2. Although she is wearing makeup, it seems that she does not suffer from anything more then mild acne. It’s also clear that her health isn’t optimal. She is overweight, and is probably on different drugs that suppress one symptom but cause another. In the end, unless she takes her health into control with healthy eating habits, she will never fully cure her acne – it will come back!

Now don’t get me wrong – i’m sure many soon to be dermatologists had the thought ‘I want to help people.’ But for 99% of them, this thought came second to the money they could acquire, the status they could achieve, the opportunities they would have the rest of their life. Generally speaking, humans are selfish. Why are you here in the first place? It’s not because your brother has some pimples on his forehead and you want to help him get laid – it’s because you are dealing with this shit everyday and you want to help yourself. Everyone does.

The Road to Dermatology

So now this soon to be dermatologist makes it into a school of dermatology. He’s fed bullshit studies and textbook information that were written in the 80s. He’s convinced that this information is all true – because it’s backed by studies and proofs – because it’s written by knowledgeable professors and dermatologists alike. Now put yourself in his position. You’ve had some acne during your earlier years but it’s not as huge deal with you. Your skin is nice now and you know that your skin better be damn good or how could you ever make it in the field of dermatology? Now think to yourself, is acne, rosacea, boils, bumps, and scars very interesting to you? How about that rash on the back of some guys scalp that Gold-bond wont help? Fuck no. It’s downright depressing. Reading the obituaries everyday has more pleasantries.

So compare that to us. We deal with this shit everyday. We hate it. All we can think about is how can we get rid of it. We have a deep desire and passion to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix ourselves. We’ve studied more about acne then dermatologists. Dermatologists study about every skin disease – we specialize in one. We are one step ahead of the dermatologist.

After many years of study, the soon to be, has now become. He’s finally become that dermatologist he’s been working so hard at. He’s ready to prescribe that Benzamycin topical. When that doesn’t work he’s ready to prescribe that Erythromycin antibiotic . If that doesn’t work, and when things get worse, maybe he’ll be lucky enough to prescribe you Accutane!

Now back onto the subject of money. Remember, this was the main reason the derm became a derm in the first place. Now lets figure out how dermatologists make money:

1. When patients come in for checkups, treatments, and prescriptions.

2. Every time the patient fills his prescription

One of these was probably more apparent then the other. Let’s talk about number 2 for a bit. Can you figure out what the largest business industry in the world is? Not Microsoft, dummy, it’s the pharmaceutical industry! I could go on for hours about how the pharmaceutical industry tries to fuck us over, but that isn’t within the scope of our topic. Pharmaceutical companies make money by selling drugs. They are more devious, more notorious, more greedy then the heroin dealer on the street corner of the ghetto.

Now lets use antibiotics as our main example. There are literally several dozens types of antibiotics on the market. Not all of them come from the same company. The dermatologist has many poisons in his arsenal to mess you up with, but how does he choose? Money, of course. Pharmaceutical companies offer incentives in the form of green paper to prescribe their drugs over the others.

Now, you may be thinking i’m devils advocate. That i’m making out dermatologists to be evil gremlins with horns and the pharmaceutical companies are the devils themselves. Stop for a second and read over our dermatologists story. Two key points – he wanted to help people, and he’s convinced that the studies are true. The studies told him that clarithromycin worked on 67 out of the 93 patients studied. How would he know, he’s never taken it himself. So in his mind, this is a win win situation. Not only is he prescribing ‘proven to work’ drugs, but he’s making money at the same time. Wonderful.

Lets talk about number 1. Stop right here if you have a weak heart.  After years and years of work, dermatologists must have figured out that all these drugs only treat the symptoms, that they don’t provide a cure, and in some cases cause more harm then good (let us not forget all the patients who get messed up from the drugs they prescribe and say ‘Fuck this derm i’m never going back to him again!’)

Dermatologists understand this concept of ‘no cure’, and they greet it with open arms. Dermatologists would be out of business if there was a widespread known cure to acne. Whether it be in their subconscious, or conscious, dermatologists want more and more people to get acne so they have more patients to ‘help.’

Stay away from dermatologists. Your money and your time can be better spent elsewhere.

]]> http://focusacne.com/dermatologists-make-me-sick/feed 0 http://focusacne.com/congratulations-are-in-order http://focusacne.com/congratulations-are-in-order#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:11:18 +0000 George McCumiskey http://focusacne.com/?p=31

You’ve dealt with acne for a good part of your life and your sick of it. The physical and mental debilitation this disease has put upon you sparked the flame. The flame which has built inside of you – absolute hate for what this acne is doing to you. This flame has caused a passion – a passion to find out what the hell is wrong and what you can do to fix it.

It’s a good thing that you’ve suffered just enough to find me. I’m not a product, i’m not an infomercial i’m knowledge – i’m your gateway to the cure. Congratulations are in order. You’ve come half of the way. What do I mean? I mean you’ve figured out half of the puzzle – the enigma, you’ve made it half way through the labyrinth that is this disease – don’t look back now.

Step 1: Finding the correct knowledge and absorbing this information

Step 2: Enacting upon this information and committing fully to it.

Well it sure has taken you long enough. You’ve probably spent at least a couple of years battling acne – thinking you figured out how to get rid of it, only for it to come back. You’ve probably spent hours upon hours reading the acne.org forums, reading medical studies, trying to figure out how to kill it. You’ve probably spent lots of money on acne products, some laser treatment, and lets not forget those dermatologist appointments. Dermatologists make me sick, mentally and physically (puke).

Remember the past and remember how much bullshit you’ve gone through. Remember feeling you’d rather have some curable STD(lets say crabs, for dark laughter) then have to deal with these pimples. You can’t get laid with acne, anyways, right?

These feelings which are vivid in your memory will keep you committed. Remember that you’ve just come half the way. You’ve found the source of information that will cure your acne. Use the passion this flame has created and keep your goal in mind – Never having to worry about a stupid red spot on your face again. The rest is a piece of cake compared to the shit you’ve gone through. From this point on, life gets better.