Wednesday, August 8, 2007

I hate my Dermatologist!

When I was a kid I went to the dermatologist for what many teens struggle with, acne. I had a pretty severe case, and all the social ramifications that go with it. So who better to go see than a skin doctor to help me out. Well with little help aside from some prescription drugs, all kinds of cleansers, etc, all I can say is the acne kept on chugging along, and in some cases got worse. I noticed that when I cleaned up my diet a bit or as I used to "go on a diet" my acne would clear up. So I wondered if it was a food allergy maybe. I asked my Dermatologist if diet affected acne and he assured me there was no link. Well here I am today to say I told you so! A new study in the Clinical Journal of Nutrition shows that by eliminating high glycemic foods (the ones I'd get rid of when dieting, white breads, sodas, etc.) actually reduces acne lesions. See doc, I was onto something, and you didn't want to hear it.

So anyway, I continue my healthy eating and discover this other product called fish oil. I start taking it by the recommendations of my favorite nutritionist and low and behold my acne clears up even further. I'd say fixing my diet got me about 70% of the way there and just when I started taking fish oil, the remainder cleared up to the point where I'm at today. So I ask my dermatologist if fish oil, or any omega 3 fat could help with acne. Again he assures me that can't be true. Well it's time to wake up! Studies(not so new) show that omega-3 fatty acids (the stuff found in fish oils) helps give you healthy skin. Go figure. Maybe since they can't make any money off the prescription, the derms won't tell you anything about it.

Seems funny that all the facial cleansers are now taking a lot of heat for premature aging of skin. Who knew putting abrasive chemicals on your face 2x a day for 10 years could cause so much damage...actually I figured out that in less than a year. I stopped using the cleansers, etc. and my face looked better than it did before.

Just Say No

So in short, if you want better skin, clean up your diet, and take your fish oil and stop washing it with harsh chemicals(yeah that fancy soap you spent $8 on, throw it out!). I'll have more on this topic later, including a new book that just came out regarding real methods of skin care that work.

Article 1
Article 2

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Helloooo I'm not a Medscape member...email me that article por favor. So what are we just supposed to use Ivory soap and water? You must have gone mad.

Anonymous said...

One article from a poorly controlled study in a crappy scientific journal does not prove anything. If you look hard enough, I'm sure you can find that Martians cause Diabetes!