Acne is commonplace.
“It’s part of growing up”
But it shouldn’t exist at all.
Isolated, non-westernized societies are proven to have zero acne.
This is how you can follow their lead and have perfect skin without dermatologists (and their dangerous chemicals)
Almost 95% of adolescents get acne, and almost half of those over 25 have acne deeper into adulthood.
But acne simply shouldn't exist. It is a product of our modern society.
And, if careful, it can be avoided.
In 2002, a study was done on 2 non-westernized populations.
The Kitivan Islanders of Papa New Guinea and Aché Hunter-Gatherers of Paraguay.
When examining 1200 Kitivans and 115 Achés, not a single case of Acne was observed.
This was earth-shattering.
Similar trends were found in the Pre-World War II native people of Okinawa and very rural parts Brazil in 1981.
The trend is clear. Non-westernized completely isolated people have no acne. Period.
Then came Otto Shaefer.
Shaefer was a practitioner in the 1970s who treated Eskimo people as they acculturated to modern life.
He noticed that acne was 100% absent when they started their transition but its prevalence reached Western levels once they adopted a modern lifestyle.
While all of these non-westernized people had completely healthy skin, the average person in modern society often visits a dermatologist.
Said dermatologist charges thousands of dollars just to hand the “patient” dangerous, toxic chemicals or pills just to still have poor skin.
While living in complete accordance with nature would be the obvious solution, that is not something that is plausible for many.
So what are the most important things for our skin that we can learn from these native populations to implement into our more modern lives?
I am going to break this down into a few different parts.
Diet
Light
Activity
Stress
Each is essential to why acne is borderline nonexistent.
Diet
To understand how to minimize acne, we must first understand what acne is and where it comes from.
We have a gland called the sebaceous gland. This gland produces sebum, which is an oily substance that helps lubricate the skin.
Greater presence of hormones, especially those that are androgens (certain sex hormones), lead to increased sebum production.
Typically, sebum makes its way out of the pores and onto the skin to perform its function. But, when there is too much of it the pores can get clogged.
Basically, increased sebum production -> acne
So what does this have to do with diet and how do the Aché and Kitivan people avoid it?
The higher the Glycemic Load of a food, the more that food will raise someone’s blood sugar.
To combat this, the body releases insulin, stimulating the release of IFG-1.
IGF-1, you guessed it, increases androgens which are those hormones that lead to increased acne.
Basically: Higher Glycemic Load of food = More Acne
As this chart shows, every available food to the Aché and Kitivan people has a lower glycemic load than our modern diet.
Red Meat, Chicken, and Fish also all have a glycemic load of zero.
So what does this really mean?
To avoid acne, we must fully avoid processed foods. They will cause it and there is no way around it.
Meats, fats, and even natural sweets like honey and fruit all have very low glycemic loads.
Avoid processed foods and you have a good chance of your acne disappearing.
Light
Most know that the body follows a circadian rhythm.
Your skin cells do the same.
Skin cells have an understanding of their light environment and use it to time functions like cell repair, cell regeneration, and protection from environmental factors.
For us to avoid acne, it is important to abide by our normal circadian rhythm. Computers and phones disrupt this.
Blue light from electronics influences our circadian rhythm. Especially at night, this can mess with our skin’s regeneration and repair part of the cycle.
If your skin does not have the proper time to regenerate and repair because of a messed up circadian rhythm, it will lead to signs of aging, wrinkles, a loss of elasticity, and inflammation.
What does this inflammation lead to? Acne.
This is another reason that the Aché and Kitivan people have no acne.
They live in true accordance with the sun and proper circadian rhythm.
They have no electronics to mess up their circadian rhythm and, instead, rise with the sun and go to sleep after it sets. Simple.
Activity
Modern society is incredibly inactive.
This is another large cause of acne.
As we touched on earlier, increased insulin sensitivity leads to less sebum production and less acne.
What improves insulin sensitivity and, therefore, reduces acne? Exercise.
Exercise also decreases cortisol and stress, which I will touch on shortly.
On top of that, exercise increases blood circulation, which helps deliver more nutrients to the skin.
These nutrients help cell turnover and repair, both of which maintain clean skin and reduce acne.
Finally, exercise causes sweat, which pushes oils out of the pores, reducing acne.
Our lack of sweat in our climate-controlled society is a big culprit.
Sweat more!
Stress
Like I mentioned earlier, stress releases cortisol. Cortisol is one of the hormones that stimulates Sebum production. Basically, stress causes acne.
We live in the most stressful time in history because of over-access and overstimulation.
Everyone is worried about what is going on across the globe and have social media at the tips of their fingers, which leads to immense unnecessary stress.
The Aché and Kitivan people only worry about what is going on in their small domain, which results in far less stress & acne
Dermatologists
Instead of prescribing these natural and lifestyle solutions, doctors will tell you to slather your face in chemicals.
This often doesn’t work, leaving your face dry and unhealthy, and who knows what the long term effects of these modern chemicals is.
Even if it does work, it fixes the symptom, not the cause.
Takeaway
This information is my best explanation of how to heal and prevent acne naturally, without dangerous synthetic chemicals.
Live within these guidelines and watch your skin clear up to perfection.
What are the best NATURAL acne hacks for those who are struggling with acne?
Drop them below ⬇️
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.