So many women I work with in my program, The Clear Skin Solution, spent months (or years) visiting the dermatologist to get rid of their acne and got nowhere with the dozens of prescriptions they’ve tried.

Taking matters into their own hands, they started changing what they ate. They followed the latest diet trends and tried all of the things (celery juice anyone?).

They removed refined sugar.

They stopped eating dairy.

They broke up with gluten.

Which is great and goes a long way to bringing down inflammation in the body and balancing blood sugar (two big acne triggers)…but sometimes it’s just not enough.

The embarrassing acne is still hanging out all over their jawline, chin, and cheeks. When new clients come to see me with this story, I know we need to create a deeper protocol for the clear skin organs and address a number of problems.

Problem #1: What You’re Eating Still Needs Tweaking

First, if you’re only a few weeks into eating healthier…you need to give it some time. Getting rid of acne does not happen overnight. There is no quick fix or magic pill. Healing your skin takes time and commitment. If after three months of changing your diet you still haven’t seen any changes, it’s time to consider digging deeper into what’s going on.

Second, you need to go through your diet with a Registered Holistic Nutritionist that can pinpoint any possible triggers you may be missing. Most of the time, people are still unknowingly consuming things that anger the skin and lead to breakouts.

Problem #2: Your Gut Needs Some Help

Your skin is a window into the body. Acne is a telltale sign that your gut health needs to be addressed and unfortunately, healing it takes time and know-how. My clear skin clients are usually dealing with intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut), yeast/bacterial overgrowths, and/or hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid).

With leaky gut, undigested food particles sneak through the digestive lining and enter the bloodstream. This causes body-wide (and acne-triggering) inflammation to occur. Not to mention a compromised gut can lead to nutrient deficiencies which also contribute to breakouts.

When it comes to the overgrowths, Candida and SIBO are the most common ones we see. These require specific dietary/supplement protocols that must be done under the guidance of a qualified practitioner.

Tip: Try adding in my Homemade Bone Broth to your diet.

Problem #3: Your Liver Is Overwhelmed

Think of your liver like the gutters on your house. When they get clogged up with leaves and debris, they don’t drain the water away from the house efficiently. Water spills over the edge and a log jam effect happens.

The same with your liver. It’s responsible for 500 functions in the body — including the filtering of toxins and excess hormones that trigger acne. When it’s not functioning properly, the liver sends any overload to the skin (your body’s biggest detoxification organ).

Tip: Include more cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts.

Problem #4: Your Hormones Are Out of Whack

This is a biggie for my clients in The Clear Skin Solution. We focus a lot of time on hormonal health to help them get rid of acne for good.

Three things influence hormones: diet and lifestyle factors but also the health of the gut.

Eating a high-glycemic diet increases your blood sugar and insulin (a hormone). And let’s not forget about the birth control pill which floods your body with synthetic estrogen and sends your hormones on a joy ride. The excess estrogen in the body then gets stored in your liver (see problem #3).

The gut us responsible for manufacturing and regulating many of your hormones. When a dysbiosis occurs, so do hormonal imbalances.

Tip: Sweet potatoes are a great source of fibre to help flush excess hormones and toxins from your body.

Long story short, optimize your diet, heal your gut, detoxify your body, and balance your hormones to finally get the clear skin you want and gain your self-confidence back. If you need help with this and want a step-by-step process to easily and effectively do this, let’s chat.