Acne and diet
why is it so complicated?

Everybody is telling the truth. What's going on here? How can four people with acne have completely different experiences? Are we that different? Is it true some cases of acne can be cured with diet but not all?

Or are we missing something important?

Let me tell you a story of a pirate named Scarface. Thus named because of his face was full of acne scars and badly disfigured by pimples. His crew thought the scars are from battle, but in reality he has seen as much battle as a Barbie doll.

So it happens that after a long day of fleeing from dolphins, turtles, chickens and other fiery enemies he stops at a tavern for a drink. In a dark corner sits a man with a wide brimmed hat that covers half his face. He looks at Scarface in the eyes and motions him to come over.

He says: "Have you heard of the famous pirate Jack Pigeon? He was the richest pirate ever to plow the seas and I have a map that marks his hidden treasure. Find the treasure and you'll be so rich, famous and respected every beautiful governor's daughter wants to marry you. I'm too old and weary to go after it. I sell you the map for 20 gold pieces"

Thinking he finally hit the jackpot our brave pirate buys the map and sets out to find the treasure. He quickly finds the spot and starts digging. After digging for a while he finds…

Nothing.

Maybe the treasure is buried deeper he thinks. So he keeps digging and digging. But again he turns out nothing. Strange he thinks. Maybe I'm reading the map wrong. So he turns it around. Looks for other similar islands. But no matter what he does there's no hint of the treasure.

What naïve Scarface doesn't know is the map is fake. The mysterious man makes copies of the map at the local Quickcopy (or whatever they had at a time) and sells them to every pirate fool enough to part from his gold.

Idea that you can cure acne with diet is a fake treasure map

That's nice. A fool pirate, but what does this story has to do with diet and my acne?

Good question. Let me explain.

Thinking diet can cure your acne is like buying a fake treasure map.

It leads you to look for answers in the wrong place, to unnecessary struggle and can lead you further from the truth.

But how can that be? I know diet affects my acne. And how can you say something like that? Aren't you the one who preaches the idea I can get clear by living a healthy life?

Yes, that's me. And I still say all those.

See, most people who try to get clear with natural methods obsess over diet and forget the other aspects of getting clear. I wrote this article because I don't want you to make the same mistake.

Diet accounts only about 30% of the total solution to clear skin and health. Diet is important, but it's only a part of the picture.

A 1000 piece puzzle with 700 pieces missing

Imagine the total solution to clear skin is a 1000 piece puzzle. Diet gives you 300 of those pieces.

Trying to get clear with diet alone is like trying to put together a 1000 piece puzzle with only 300 pieces. If you are lucky and get good pieces you might get an idea of what the completed puzzle looks like.

Health conscious people already have pretty good diets. If that's you then further improving your diet might not get you far. Maybe you need more sleep.

You need to find your weakest link. Working your weakest areas and creating balance gives you better results than trying to further improve a good diet.

But what if you think diet and only diet is the answer to acne? I see these cases in acne forums every day.

Still plagued with acne they think something they eat causes it. So they keep hunting and removing every possible dietary cause to acne they read about. Soon they ask: "If I can't eat any of these foods, what can I eat?"

Sounds familiar? Go and snoop around in acne forums and you'll hear this question over and again.

This endless elimination leads to very strict diets that are impractical in 'real life'. So they slip occasionally. Because they slip they beat themselves up for not sticking to the diet that's good for them. They further think these little slips keep them from getting clear.

This is a lose-lose situation. Either suffer with impractical diet or keep having acne.

What about social life? What happens when your buddies ask you to go out and have fun with them? Do you have to choose between clear skin and having fun? Another lose-lose case.

As you can see this diet can cure acne idea often leads to enormous stress. This stress alone can do you more harm than diet. It can even keep you from getting clear.

And because they obsess over diet improving the other elements of health never even enters their mind!

Diet equals acne thinking leads to another dangerous pothole.

If diet causes acne then removing the dietary causes should get your clear quickly - right? After all banging your head against the wall hurts. If you stop it the pain also stops quickly. Why should it be any different with diet and acne?

Getting clear is a journey - not a switch

But getting clear ain't an on/off switch. Healing is a process. It takes some time and if you don't understand what happens you may misread the signs of healing. What if you get the worse acne breakout and suddenly feel tired after changing your diet. Does it mean your new diet is worse than the old? Maybe. But those can also be signs of healing.

Simplistic 'diet causes acne' thinking often leaves you unprepared to deal with these. Healing is simple, but still more complicated than simple A follows C logic.

What happens when they don't see the results they expect, or worse, they break out even more? Many people get discouraged. They dump the idea that diet or health has anything to do with acne. They tried it, and it didn't work for them.

Back to square one through the derm's office.

Let's get back to our pirate friend. Another day at another tavern he meets another mysterious man sitting in a dark corner. Little slow on the uptake our pirate buys another treasure map.

And the merry goes around again.

This applies to diet also. A quick search at Amazon.com shows there are 269,561 different diet books. Each with different recommendations. Many with totally contradicting ideas of what should be on your plate. How do you know which one is correct? They are all written by credible people and backed with testimonials and seemingly foolproof scientific evidence.

Should your diet depend on your blood type or perhaps hair color? Or the horoscope of your neighbor's pet dog.

Like our pirate getting fooled with another fake treasure map so do people with these diets. They think maybe the answer to my acne is in the next diet book.

After trying several diets and failing repeatedly people get really confused and desperate. The belief diet has nothing to do with their acne gets stronger and stronger. So they just stop caring and eat whatever they want to.

Instead of moving forward they move two steps back

After this merry-go-round they land further from the real solution to acne than they begun with. On top of that they are jaded, confused, frustrated and desperate because nothing they do helps.

If they would open their eyes a bit they would find the answer staring at them. You just need to apply some common sense to diet and make sure you balance all the elements to health.

Maybe you now begin to understand how destructive the ideas that diet causes acne or that diet is the answer to acne can be.

In my free minicourse Acne 101: What Einstein would have done to get clear I talk a lot about getting your thinking right.

Your thoughts and beliefs about getting clear act like road maps. They tell you what to do in each situation. Where to turn in each corner. If they are correct you do the right things almost automatically.

And if they are wrong? Well, you just discovered the destructive effect of a wrong idea. An idea that at first seemed correct and helpful.

Curing acne doesn't have to be difficult

So the moral of the story is don't be a fool pirate and buy a fake treasure map. Whip out a magnifying glass and examine what you believe about acne and getting clear. Maybe diet causes acne is not the only gremlin.

Getting clear doesn't have to feel like suffering and torture. Not when you do it the Clear for Life way.

Have something to say about this article? Write it here.

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

I believe diet hepls !!! 
I believe that healthy foods help acne and I will always believe it. No matter what you say ( its only 30% ), I know it's the most important thing and ...

Thoughts Create Reality, ALL Reality  Not rated yet
Yes, you hit the "nail on the head" Our beliefs lead to our actions, our thoughts and beliefs create our reality 100% of the time. I had Crohns' Disease ...

So true - diet helped my acne but not much.  Not rated yet
I am proof that diet alone isnt enough.

Last september I was in the best shape of my life and getting ready for a fight. (Im a martial artist), during ...