Top 3 Common Root Causes of Acne

My skin in 2018

Believe it or not, this was the state of my skin just a few years ago. I had inflamed, persistent acne all throughout my cheeks and forehead. I always considered myself a pretty "holistic" and "natural" person, but always hit a dead end when I tried the newest trendy skincare product or gut tea. I tried many dermatologist prescription creams and cleansers but nothing worked; or it would help a little, but the minute I discontinued the products, my skin came back with vengeance.

When my acne first appeared, I vowed to myself to never get on any pill medication like birth control or spironolactone; but after 5 years of no sustainable progress, I started looking into Accutane. Around that time, I was also learning about Integrative Health and root cause healing, and decided to give holistic health one last try before getting on medication - and I'm so glad I did, because I finally resolved my acne!

As I was enrolled as student for the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute, I learned common root causes of acne. Now, I want to share it with you!

The first root cause to acne is gut dysbiosis. Gut dysbiosis, is an imbalanced gut microbiome, which can include a loss of diversity, an increase in harmful bacteria, or a decrease in beneficial bacteria. Our skin is a direct reflection of the status of our gut microbiome. This is because the skin and gut are connected through an interconnected relationship called the gut-skin axis. Therefore, supporting the gut will directly support skin health.

Here are my top 3 suggestions for supporting the gut microbiome:

#1 Do functional lab testing and work with an integrative health practitioner that does a 5R comprehensive gut protocol. It's important to know exactly how your gut dysbiosis is manifesting in your body, bio-individually. The 5R gut protocol stands for Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, Repair and Rebalance. Your targeted gut protocol should be unique based off your functional lab results and not a one-size-fits-all approach. It's important to do a 5R gut protocol to ensure you have rebalanced and healed the gut microbiome to prevent a relapse.

#2 Incorporate daily digestive support through functional nutrition. Functional foods for optimal digestion include arugula or Apple Cider Vinegar before your meals. It stimulates digestive enzyme production to support your digestion each meal. Bonus: Having warm salty lemon water first thing in the morning may help digestion because sodium is needed to produce HCL, which is stomach acid. Ensuring the salt is high-quality mineral salt, is ideal. #3 Support gut diversity through functional nutrition. As stated previously, lack of gut diversity can also cause gut dysbiosis. It's important to rotate your food types, and not eat the same meals daily for optimal gut diversity. Fermented foods like pickles, sauerkraut, and yogurt are great probiotic-rich sources of whole-foods for gut flora diversity.

The second common root cause to acne is poor metabolic health and poor blood sugar levels. In fact, in medicinal literature, acne is considered "diabetes of the skin" because of the interconnection of skin and the overproduction of insulin. You don't have to have high blood sugar to experience dysfunctional or non-optimal blood sugar.

Here are my top 3 suggestions for supporting the health blood sugar levels:

#1 Reduce frequent blood sugar spikes through daily "blood sugar hacks," such as a 10-15 minute post-meal walk or having protein and fiber before consuming starchy carbs or sugary foods.

#2 Stimulate your GLP-1 hormone production. GLP-1, which stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, is a hormone that regulates blood sugar as well as digestion, and appetite. Ways to support GLP-1 production include berberine, a GLP-1 probiotic with Akkermansia muciniphila, and a high protein diet, especially a high protein breakfast. A study found GLP-1 levels were highest after the high protein breakfast of 60% protein/20% fat/20% carbohydrates. #3 Do a functional lab test that tests your metabolic markers along with hormones like thyroid hormone and steroid hormones, such as cortisol. Our thyroid directly impacts our metabolism and affects our basal metabolic rate (BMR.) Our steroid hormones, like cortisol, also have an interconnected relationship with blood sugar levels. In fact, one cortisol goes up, blood sugar does as well- and vice versa.

my skin now, 2024

The third common cause of acne is a dysregulated nervous system. Our autonomic nervous system has two branches- the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is also known as the "fight-or-flight" mode that releases adrenaline and cortisol. The parasympathetic nervous is considered the "rest-and-digest" mode, which is preferred, because it's the calming and healing nervous system.. A dysregulated nervous system and being in the sympathetic nervous system causes a few different issues; it affects gut health, blood sugar levels and hormones- which all impact the skin! Here are my top 3 suggestions for nervous system support: #1 Remove stressors from your day-to-day life. This may look like toxic household products or even toxic people/relationships. Here's my favorite ingredient scanner for products on or around the body. #2 Do daily relaxants to get in the "rest-and-digest" mode. Ideally, dedicate a minimum of 5-10 minutes for relaxing activities in the morning, midday and in the evening. This can include EFT tapping, daily gratitude journaling, box breathing and more. #3 Stimulate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the main division of the parasympathetic nervous system and makes up 75% of the nerve fibers in the parasympathetic nervous system. Ways to stimulate the vagus nerve include humming/singing, cold exposure and pressure point therapy such as acupressure, acupuncture and/or reflexology.

I hope this helpful and insightful! An integrative health approach to healing has truly been so transformative for myself and my clients, and hope the same for you! If you want to work with, an Integrative Health Practitioner, contacts us today!

Ashlyn Tiara Xx

Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6548554/ https://www.rupahealth.com/post/5-reasons-you-should-be-stimulating-your-vagus-nerve?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20893116874&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwnei0BhB-EiwAA2xuBitJseFuo0qqI63Pe9PwGIxig7gE5lA6jWL572npS_OJMmogvRnoNhoCuIYQAvD_BwE

https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/5r-framework-gut-health/