I often get emails from people with hormonal acne. They read how to cure acne page and my other material and say it doesn’t work for them because they have hormonal acne.

They assume that because their acne is caused by hormonal imbalance healthy diet and lifestyle would not help. Though this is a common assumption it’s wrong.

All acne is, at least partly, hormonal. Hormonal imbalances cause skin glands to produce more sebum and get blocked.

Unfortunately many people don’t make the connection between diet and lifestyle choices and hormonal acne. They assume that hormonal imbalances just happen. But in reality hormonal imbalances are often a result of diet and lifestyle choices. Chronic hormonal imbalance can result from:

• Problems with organs that produce and regulate hormones. For example thyroid problems affect the levels of thyroid hormones and deficiencies in pancreas may affect insulin levels.
• Disruptions caused by synthetic chemicals that mimic hormones.

Diet and lifestyle can play a role in both.

To produce and deactivate hormones your organs require minerals and nutrients. Deficiencies in these can lead to problems for the organs and the hormones they regulate. Additives and chemicals in foods can also cause problems for these organs. Chronic stress and sleep deprivation can also play a role.

Synthetic chemicals, heavy metals and other toxins also cause problems by mimicking hormones. They dock into the receptor sites for hormones and block the action of real hormones. This not only causes disruptions in the cells and organs affected by the chemicals but also in hormone levels.

The largest source of exposure is diet. These chemicals and heavy metals are found in the environment. As animals eat plants these chemicals and heavy metals accumulate into their tissues. Mercury in salmon in a good example of this.

These chemicals are also found in household and personal care products. Dentists even fill cavities with mercury (called silver fillings) that slowly leaks into the body.

As these chemicals are found in the environment there’s no way to avoid exposure. However the human body is equipped to deal with moderate exposure levels. Simply eating and living a healthy life and avoiding the most contaminated foods (factory farmed animal foods and sea food) is in most cases enough to correct the hormonal imbalance and help you to get clear.

See how to cure acne page for more information.