In my last post I gave an overview of the science behind the development of acne in the skin. Now while that science is the process that forms acne on the skin, there is a much deeper cause that most people aren’t aware of.

Behind The Science:

What most people are yet to discover (scientists included) is that acne is the result of unhealthy toxins building up in the body. People generally put all kinds of unhealthy food and drinks with little or no nutritional value into their body and while the body can process a certain amount of toxins, this overloads the its digestive process and causes the toxins to be disposed of throughout the body.

It is important to know that a healthy body is extremely immune to infections, bacteria and even viruses of all kinds. This is why some people are more prone to illness than others. This has been known by many to be one of the core reasons for cancer, of which, in noted cases, only a change in diet was required to eliminate the cancer.

And it is also the root cause of acne.

It’s all based on pH balance.

“What is pH balance?” I hear you ask. The human body relies on a delicate balance of acid and alkali. Some of you will remember these terms from Chemistry class in high school. The pH (potential of Hydrogen) of any substance is measured in a range from 0 to 14; 0 being the most acidic, 14 being the most alkaline and 7 being neutral. Water is a neutral substance having a pH of exactly 7. And since the human body is about 75% water, the human body also needs to be as neutral as possible.

Everything we put into our body has a pH level. These days, the absolute majority of food available is over acidic. From your everyday processed foods in supermarkets like pies and pasta, to the take away and fried foods available on every major street in the world. All of these foods have an acidic effect on the body and cause excess toxins to build up.

If you would like a more in-depth explanation of pH effects on the body, including a quick guide to food, check out a book called The pH Miracle, available at Amazon.com or any other major book store.

In my next post I will guide you through achieving a healthy pH balance.

Now that we have established that pH is the most critical cause of acne, you may be thinking “Ok, but how do I attain a healthy pH balance in my body?”

The first step is to measure your pH level. You can buy packs of pH test strips from some chemists but I find it easier to purchase online. I use Alkalive Ph Test Stix. They come at a good price for 80 strips and are very easy to use. I buy mine from Amazon.com

The ideal pH level for a body is between 6.75 and 7.25 and bare in mind that this will change very quickly (hours). Each person will require a different amount of change in their diets according to their size, weight, age, and starting pH level.

In general, to achieve a healthy pH balance, 50% of your diet should be raw vegetables. And of the remaining 50%, cooked or otherwise, at least half should be fruits or vegetables. Food and drinks with no nutritional value should be avoided all together. These include soft drinks, sweets, most deserts, processed meats and other processed foods.

Meats in general should be minimised to only the required intake (3-4 servings per week) and limited to white meats like fish, chicken and turkey whenever possible. Dairy products should also be excluded from the diet as they are one of the main causes of the build up of mucus in the body. Soy products should be used instead.

For a more detailed description of the right diet to achive pH balance, I started with the these books:

The pH Miracle

The Acid-Alkaline Diet

or for an easy reference guide to the pH effects of individual foods try out this book:

The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide

I personally use The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide but if you are new to the idea of pH balance in your diet I recommend The pH Miracle or The Acid-Alkaline Diet because they provide more detail on the effects of acidic and alkaline foods in general. Once you feel you are comfortable with your understanding of pH balance you may want to switch to the guide for ease of use.

I studied Psychology for over 2 years and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) for another year. NLP, to simplify, is the language of the brain. This has allowed me to understand how the human mind experiences the outside world.

The first thing that all acne sufferers need to realize is that blemishes do not attract attention. Yes, they are visible, but in actuality people are seen as packages. That is, the human brain views the world in groups. What this means is that when any person sees or thinks of anything, it is as a collaboration of many smaller things.

For example, if I say to you to think of a tree, you will most likely visualize the entire image of tree. You do not think of each individual leaf and strain of bark. You do not think of all the branches that come out. You do not think of all the dead leaves still hanging that are about to fall off or of the roots that are underground. You think of the tree as a whole. That is how you see a tree unless you stop and analyze it. And even then if you think of a leaf, you do not think of each individual vein or the slight spots of brown on it.

The same applies to people. If I was to show you a picture of your friends ear, unless you have spent hours staring at it you will not know whos ear it is. Why? Because memories are made of millions of individual sensory inputs. When you see a person, you see all of them at once. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, body, skin colour, etc. These objects are combined together by the mind to create a big picture.

What does this mean for acne sufferers? This means that when any person sees you, unless you both sit down and they analyze your entire appearance, the acne blemishes are entirely secondary to your overall appearance.

The only reason they stand out to you is because you stand in front of the mirror and look for them, or you can feel them with your hand or you can feel the pain of the infection. Yes, I too have done this. And by doing this you focus your attention on them.

If there was a tiny red dot on a white cashmere jumper, you would only find it if you went over every square inch, bit by bit. But once you know where it is, you know exactly where to look the next time. This is the psychology of acne.

It only appears to stand out to you because you know exactly where to look and you focus on it. And by focusing on it, you attract attention to it, even if it is subconsciously. Covering it with your hands only attracts more attention to it. Just like when flirting people touch their most attractive feature to draw attention to it, putting your hand in the exact place your acne is only DRAWS attention TO it.

Here are 2 quick experiments you can try to demonstrate my point. Next time you look in a mirror I want you to focus on your eyes and get so close to the mirror that the rest of you is a blur. I guarantee you that if you stay focused on your eyes, the blemishes will be almost impossible to see. Because outside of your eyes, your face is one big object. If you dont like that one then try standing at least 5 metres (about 20 feet will do) from the mirror. Again you have to see yourself as a whole.

That is the closest you can get to understanding how others see you and even then it isnt even close. So the next time you find yourself thinking that you dont want to go out because you think your acne defines you, I want you to think of this experiment (however stupid it may seem) and what it has shown you.

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br /b /Author: Alexa Topb /br
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br /b /Author: Alexa Topb /br
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