If you read any of my previous beauty posts then you know that I’ve suffered from acne for many years. Once I realized that 95% of my acne stemmed from my diet I did a drastic lifestyle change. I started to eat much cleaner, drink tons more water, and incorporate what I believed where the best vitamins and minerals that my body needed.
I’m sure you know all about the A, B, C’s of vitamins so I’m gonna jump into a few supplements that I’ve learned about throughout the years.
Disclaimer: Before I go into any of the supplements I use I just want to say once again as I have in previous posts, I am not a skincare expert, doctor, or certified beautician in any sense. This is just my own personal opinion and products that have significantly helped me with my acne over the years.
NOW LET’S GET TO THE GOOD STUFF!
NEEM
For those of you who have never heard of neem I want to give you a little backstory. Neem plant comes from a tree that originates mainly in India. There are many benefits from neem that include:
- Treats dandruff – you can purchase neem shampoo in certain beauty stores or online.
- Boosts your immune system.
- Is known to be a blood detoxifier.
- Boiling neem leaves to help treat bacterial or fungal infections.
- Helps with dental health – you can purchase neem toothpaste.
I began using neem a few years ago when my acne became seriously unmanageable. I was told about it from a friend and he told me how everyone in his family uses it. I started taking the supplement as directed and let me tell you within the first week I got such a bad breakout! I thought there is no way this is supposed to happen to my skin. It was twice as bad as it was before! I started to do my research to see what was going on and read that if you have never done a full body detox this is one of the effects. My mom was actually the one who told me don’t stop taking it this is probably getting rid of all the toxins in your body and to give it a chance. Believe me it was not easy! However, I decided to stick with it for one whole month. I know that clearing your skin overnight does not exist so I decided to be patient. I have to tell you it was one of the best things I could have ever done for my skin. After a month, this also included a strict diet of eating healthy, avoiding sugar, and drinking plenty of water, my skin was FLAWLESS! I really mean flawless, I was able to leave my house without having to conceal one blemish. Not one!
This is when I learned that detoxing your body is such an important aspect to getting clear skin. After years of eating junk food and greasy snacks I knew that it was necessary to go through the initial breakout to finally get the clear skin I needed and neem was one of the best detoxifiers I’ve used. I been taking it on and off for almost ten years and will continue to use it.
MACA ROOT
There are times when I know my skin is breaking out from hormones and this is when I turn to maca root. Maca root is another plant but this time it’s mainly based in Peru. Although it has originally been used to enhance fertility and sex drive it has become a great cure for hormonal acne. It has also been known to help with mood swings as well as enhance sports performance however it varies with each individual.
I have been using maca root on and off for almost 5 years now and have recommended it to my friends with hormonal acne as well. This is something that I highly recommend however being that this is directly effecting your hormones, make sure that it is safe for you to take and start off with small doses.
TURMERIC & CURCUMIN
I’m sure many of you have heard all of the health benefits from turmeric but I never knew up until a few years ago just how amazing it is for acne. Other health benefits from turmeric include:
- Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory compound.
- Turmeric increases antioxidant capacity within the body.
- Turmeric has been shown to help reduce risk of heart disease.
- Turmeric has also been known to help patients with depression.
There are so many other health benefits with turmeric but the best one for me has been how it helped with my acne. Taking this supplement or using it regularly when cooking has shown such an improvement in not only acne but helping with my acne scars as well.
I have done a face mask with turmeric before however I do want to warn you it can stain the skin! I’ve only tried it once but it stained my skin yellow too much for me to want to try it again so I just use it as a supplement.
EVEING PRIMROSE OIL
Once again I’m sure many of you have heard of the health benefits of evening primrose oil. From high cholesterol to hot flashes and relieving eczema, this supplement has so many health benefits it’s really great to add to your diet. I’ve been recommended to take evening primrose oil from a family friend when I was in high school to help with my hormonal acne and it truly made such a difference. With this supplement I take it once in a while because I don’t suffer from hormonal acne the same way I did as a teen but I always have a bottle in my medicine cabinet.
PLANT BASED PROTEIN
This vegan plant based protein is packed with amino acids that help boost the immune system. However, when I began using a scoop in the morning with smoothies I noticed such an amazing difference with my skin. I had such a glow and it significantly helped with my nails and hair as well! I love this protein and highly recommend it if you’re ever wanting to try adding protein to your diet but are not sure which to try.
My last recommendation for having great skin is consuming certain types of tea. Now if you’re anything like me then drinking tea is an everyday part of life. It’s so soothing and tasty that I truly wouldn’t be able to live without it. I won’t lie though I do take my tea with sugar so be careful how many cups a day you drink so you don’t overload! With that being said I try to not only drink the traditional black teas but also try to incorporate some healthy types as well. Ginger, peppermint, green, and raspberry are some of my favorites and have great health benefits as well.
I hope this post was helpful! I know suffering with acne and blemishes can really take a toll on your self esteem, believe me I’ve been there. But there is a way to help minimize the effects with trying to eat clean and add certain vitamins to your diet. I hope that you will take a look into some of these options and see if this can work for you!
