May 14, 2025 • 44 mins
Tired of all the conflicting acne advice? Dr. Jen Haley, a board-certified dermatologist, breaks it all down in this episode with real, science-backed solutions that actually work.
She shares the top five ingredients every acne-prone routine should include (like salicylic acid for blackheads and niacinamide for calming inflammation), plus how to apply them the right way without wrecking your skin barrier. You’ll also learn why food does matter, especially when it comes to sugar, dairy, and hormonal acne and how certain supplements can help.
Think oily skin doesn’t need moisturizer? Think again. Dr. Haley explains why skipping it only makes acne worse. With tips for every skin type and age, this episode gives you the tools to build a smart, effective routine that actually delivers results.
Struggling with breakouts? This one’s for you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Listen to your Skin by Moon and Skin, the
podcast where science meetsnature to celebrate the story of
your skin.
Your skin is a living canvas,ever evolving, deeply personal
and uniquely yours.
Each week, we'll dive into thescience of healthy skin, share
empowering stories and uncovertransformative self-care rituals
.
We're here to help you embraceevery phase of your journey with
(00:22):
confidence and care.
Hey everyone, welcome back tothis week's episode of Listen to
your Skin by Moon and Skin, andI am your host, dr Jen Haley, a
board certified dermatologist,and I'm so grateful to be here
today because I love answeringyour questions.
So, as the channel grows, we'regetting so many great questions
and this is what I love I eatthis stuff up.
(00:44):
So keep sending your questionsbecause I want to serve you and
I'm so grateful to have beenpartnering with Moon and Skin.
They're doing some great thingsand great educational content,
so any part of it that I can be,I am happy to be here.
Okay, so we're going to startwith the questions what are the
best ingredients for treatingacne-prone skin?
(01:06):
So it's such a loaded world welive in, where there's so many
products out there.
It's so overwhelming and withmarketing and names of products,
there's so much false andmisleading information.
So I want you to start lookingat your skincare like you look
at your nutrition labels, turnit around and look for certain
(01:27):
ingredients.
Okay, so, when it comes totreating acne-prone skin, we
want to know what type of acnewe're dealing with and this will
determine what ingredients youwant to look for.
So the first ingredient that Iuniversally love for most skin
types is salicylic acid.
Salicylic acid has been around along time.
Encapsulated salicylic acid isreally nice because it tends to
(01:48):
be less irritating, butsalicylic acid it's a beta
hydroxy acid.
Actually, scientifically it's apolyhydroxy acid, but you'll
see most labels call it a betahydroxy acid.
And the reason I love it foracne prone skin is because it's
drawn to oil glands.
So, unlike alpha hydroxy acids,it this beta hydroxy either the
(02:08):
salicylic acid, it's drawn tooil glands so it will penetrate
into your pores where theclogging happens and your pores
get plugged up.
And the other thing aboutsalicylic acid it is a
keratolytic, so keratoidic beinga an acid that basically breaks
apart and loosens up dead skincells.
(02:29):
So if you imagine it's drawninto oil and it's attracted to
the pores in the oil gland andbasically what happens is.
It loosens up all of thoseclogged and plugged up oil
glands and then it exfoliates itoff and it helps your pores
look smaller.
It helps prevent acne fromforming and it removes all the
(02:51):
dead skin cells that areplugging your pores.
So it's really best for peoplewho struggle with blackheads,
whiteheads and clogged pores,not as good for inflammatory
papules or pustules the big redjuicy ones.
It's not going to hurt thoseareas, but it's not going to be
the hero ingredient for thosetype of acne lesions.
And while salicylic acid tendsto be anti-inflammatory, overuse
(03:16):
of it which means you're usingit too often or too high of a
percentage can certainly beirritating to the skin.
So I recommend most peoplestart with a 2% formulation and
you can use it in the form of acleanser, a toner or a serum.
So either way, if you do wantto use it in a cleanser, make
(03:36):
sure you apply it to your wholeface and massage it into the
pores and let it sit for twofull minutes, because otherwise
it's not going to do anything ifyou don't let it have contact
with your skin for a full twominutes.
So, salicylic acid being thefirst ingredient to look for if
you have acne prone skin.
The second ingredient is goingto be benzoyl peroxide, so
(03:59):
benzoyl peroxide is effective atkilling the acne causing
bacteria, and it works a littlebit better for the inflammatory
papules and pustules the redjuicy bumps that we get for acne
.
I also like it if someone isprone to shaving bumps Men who
get shaving bumps on their neckit's a nice product to reduce
(04:21):
the bad bacteria that cause theshaving bumps that can lead to
significant scarring.
The thing about benzoyl peroxide, though, is that it can bleach
your towels and it can bleachyour eyebrows, and it can bleach
your clothing and your hair.
So just keep this in mind, andthat's one of the reasons why I
like it as a cleanser as well,because then it gets off your
body and it doesn't soak intothose areas like a serum or a
(04:43):
gel might, so you could use itonce a day or twice a day.
So if you're someone whostruggles with blackheads and
whiteheads and juicy red pimples, you can use a salicylic acid
cleanser once a day, a benzoylperoxide cleanser once a day.
Those would be really nicecombinations.
And the thing about benzoylperoxide, though, is higher
concentrations can be quiteirritating to the skin and can
(05:06):
cause a lot of dryness, rednessand irritation.
So keep in mind that higherconcentrations is not
necessarily more effective, it'sjust more irritating.
So look for a product thatcontains 2.5 to 5% benzoyl
peroxide.
You don't need 10% benzoylperoxide.
So that's the second ingredient.
(05:27):
And the third ingredient I wantyou to look for, which is really
essential, I think, for allskin types, especially if you're
struggling with acne ordiscoloration of your skin or
looking to reduce the rate atwhich you age or reverse some
sun damage and fine lines andwrinkles, is retinoids.
So retinoids is it's a globalterm that we use for vitamin A
(05:50):
derivatives.
So these vitamin A derivatives,which come from nature, they
can be in the form ofover-the-counter, different,
which used to be a prescription,called a dapoline.
It can be in a retinol, whichyou can find over the counter,
or it can be in prescriptionstrength tretinoin and basically
the precursors of these vitaminA derivatives turn into
retinoic acid in the skin and Iusually have people start with a
(06:14):
retinol because it tends to bethe least irritating and then
you can graduate over time ifyou tolerate it.
But retinoids are the mostscientifically studied
ingredients in pretty much allof skincare and they work very
effectively for acne.
They help unclog pores.
They help reduce inflammationand they enhance cell turnover.
(06:36):
They also even out skin toneand they stimulate collagen at
the cellular level.
But this enhanced cell turnoverturnover.
If you're using retinoids toomuch and too often and too high
of a percentage, it can makeyour skin really inflamed and
peeling and dry and it's hard totolerate.
(06:57):
So less is preferred.
Start low and go slow.
With retinoids, they workthrough nuclear cell receptors.
So what does that mean?
So basically, with retinoids,they work through nuclear cell
receptors and that means thatyou don't need to have full
coverage of an area in order toget benefits.
(07:20):
You have to trust the science.
You only need a small,pea-sized amount and you dot
your forehead, each cheek, chinand massage it in.
Avoid the creases around yournose, avoid the creases around
your eyes and avoid the creasesaround your lips, because these
areas the retinoids will pooland they'll enhance cell
turnover to the point where it'sirritating.
(07:41):
The nuclear cell receptors aregoing to be signaled from these
retinoids and help enhance cellturnover, unclog pores,
stimulate collagen and lift offpigmentation more adequately
than applying it everywhere.
So the other thing aboutretinoids is that you don't want
to use it at the same time as abenzoyl peroxide, because they
(08:01):
counteract each other andthey're not effective if you're
using both of them at the sametime.
All the more reason why I likebenzoyl peroxide in the form of
a cleanser.
You apply it for two minutes,let it do its job and then rinse
it off, and then you can applyyour retinoid at night.
Use your salicylic acid in themorning.
The other thing I wanted tomention about retinoids is
(08:22):
there's a form of retinol thattends to be a hero ingredient
called liposomal retinol, andthis liposomal retinol it goes
through the bilipid membrane ofthe skin without causing the
peeling and the irritation tothe epidermis, like a lot of
traditional, less elegantformulations of retinol cause
(08:44):
the irritation.
So look for a liposomal retinolif you can find one in your
ingredient list, and the retinolthat Moon and Skin is producing
has this technology in it,which is why I love it so much.
Okay, the fourth ingredient Iwant you to look for is
niacinamide.
Niacinamide known as vitamin b3.
(09:04):
It helps regulate oilproduction, it improves the skin
barrier and it reducesinflammation.
So, morning and night, it'svery good at reducing
inflammation, and the nice thingabout niacinamide is it's
tolerated by pretty much allskin types and it's great for
sensitive and inflamed skin.
The thing you should know aboutniacinamide is that it works
(09:27):
with most ingredients typically,although you want to avoid
using it with highly acidicproducts.
So if you're applying an AHA,bha serum, you're not going to
want to apply your niacinamideat the time.
But if you are cleansing with asalicylic acid cleanser, then
you can apply your niacinamideafterwards and you can layer it.
(09:50):
When we layer skincare wealways go from thinnest to
thickest, so you start with yourcleanser, then your toner, then
your thinnest serum and thenyour moisturizer is last before
sunscreen, and then the lastingredient for acne to look for
is azelaic acid.
So azelaic acid it's kind ofcool.
(10:10):
Azelaic acid is a natural acidthat's produced by malassezia, a
yeast that grows on the body,and when it's out of balance
with all of the other microbiomeon your body, it can produce
something called tineaversicolor.
If you've ever seen that orexperienced that, it's fairly
common and it can show as pinkareas or white patches on the
(10:33):
skin of the trunk and the oilyareas of the body.
And this malassezia yeast.
It produces azelaic acid andthe azelaic acid bleaches the
skin white and that's why, ifyou've ever experienced tinea
versicolor, you will notice thatwhen you get tan, those areas
don't get tan.
And that's usually the biggestcomplaint I'll get when somebody
(10:55):
comes into the office withtinea versicolor is they notice
it in the summer when they'regetting tan outside and that
area doesn't get tan.
So we've used this azelaic acid, this special acid produced by
natural yeast, and it worksactually very well for acne and
it reduces redness and it alsohelps fade and lighten acne
(11:15):
marks that happen after acnegoes away.
So ingredients you look forsalicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide
, retinoids especially yourliposomal retinol niacinamide to
reduce inflammation and azelaicacid.
These are the top ingredientsthat you should look for if
you're someone who struggleswith acne.
And before we move on to thenext question, the only thing I
(11:38):
really really want you to knowas a takeaway because we live in
a society where there's alwaysgoing to be a new TikTok video
and a new trend of somebodysaying something's the best is
you must stick with a plan forsix to eight weeks.
When I grab my skin, there'spimples formed deep in those
layers.
It's going to take six to eightweeks for those to purge and
(12:01):
surface up.
So we need to stick with thesame regimen for six to eight
weeks before moving on andadding anything else.
So be patient and you will getthe skin that you deserve, okay,
so that's the first question.
Now listen, if you arelistening to this and you have
other questions, you keepsending them to me.
We will get to every question,because if you're wondering
(12:22):
something, somebody else iswondering something out there.
Okay, so the second question Igot and we're going to stay in
this topic of acne is should Iuse a moisturizer if I have oily
and acne-prone skin?
My initial response is yes.
There's a caveat there, though,because we don't live in an
(12:43):
absolute world, right.
There's times that it's goingto work for you, in time that
it's not, but basically it's a.
It's a common misconceptionthat oily skin doesn't need
moisturizer, when in fact itdoes, because skipping
moisturizing can lead toincreased oil production and
cause even some dryness in someareas, which can cause clogging
of the pores and inflammation.
(13:04):
This is is why I love the Moonand Skin Moisturizer, because it
has hyaluronic acid and kojicacid in it.
What you want to look for is youwant to look for something
that's oil-free, you want tolook for something that's
non-comedogenic, and if you'revery oily in the T-zone, just
apply moisturizer to theperiphery of your face.
If you find that your cortisolruns a little high during the
(13:26):
day, like mine does, you may notneed moisturizer during the day
, maybe just the periphery orface, or skip it but you always,
always, always need to use amoisturizer at night.
When we're sleeping at night,our body is in the regenerative
and renewal phase, and this iswhen we really lose a lot of
water.
There's something called transepidepidermal water loss and our
(13:49):
skin is evaporating all of thatmoisture and it's a great
opportunity to add hydration tothe skin.
So it pays dividends during theday.
So you must use a moisturizerat night, but not everyone needs
to use it during the day.
So I want you to listen to yourskin.
Do you need it everywhere?
Do you need it just on theperiphery of your face?
You just need it on your neckand your chest to help minimize
(14:12):
the rate at which you're agingand the appearance of fine lines
and wrinkles.
So these are all things you askyourself when you're
determining if you need amoisturizer twice a day.
But even if you're oily, evenif you're acne prone, you do
need a moisturizer at night.
You just want to choose theright moisturizer that's going
to be oil-free andnon-comedogenic.
So the other thing I want tobring up is that many people
(14:36):
will notice that they'll onlybreak out during a certain time
of month.
So in our podcast episode aboutskin sinking, I discussed in
detail your infradian cycle andworking with the infradian
rhythm of your body and how yourskin's needs will change
throughout your monthlymenstrual cycle and there are
(14:59):
certain times a month you mayneed more moisturizer and there
are certain times a month youmight need less.
So I want you to listen to thatepisode if you want the small
nuances on how to take care ofyour skin.
The other thing is is our skinsneeds are going to change
through the seasons.
So in the winter, someone whomay have oily or normal skin
(15:22):
will be more dry in the winterand someone who has drier skin
is going to be more moist in thesummer.
So we will be discussing how torotate your skin care with the
seasons, and that's a greatopportunity because, as I
mentioned before, with acnegiving it about six to eight
weeks to take effect, we reallywant to re-address our skin care
(15:42):
every season, every 12 weeks,and adjust it accordingly to get
the best skin that we deserve.
Let's jump into a question aboutfoods.
I find that the questions I geton foods are so triggering.
So anything with nutrition isalways up for debate and it's
(16:03):
just triggering for people.
It's fascinating to me and allI'm doing is I'm a medium, I am
a channel to share scientificinformation with you.
You can choose to receive thisinformation and do with it as
you please.
Okay, I mean, even with theknowledge I have, I'm not
perfect.
I ate carrot cake the other dayand I paid for it with two
pimples.
So you know you, you have theinformation and it will
(16:27):
hopefully help guide you intothe direction to give you
beautiful skin.
But nobody is perfect.
So if you don't have to beperfect, you just have to do the
best you can.
So this question leans intofoods.
So what are or can certainfoods trigger breakouts?
Was the question.
Can certain foods triggerbreakouts?
Was the question.
Can certain foods triggerbreakouts?
(16:47):
When I was in medical schoolmany, many years ago, we were
told that food plays no role.
Food plays absolutely no rolein your skin health, in whether
or not you get acne or anythinglike that, and that's not true.
So it just makes absolutely nosense that you could take
medicine in your mouth and itcould magically know where to go
to make you heal, but the foodthat we are taking in every day
(17:10):
is not going to play a role.
It absolutely does.
The what we drink, what we eat,even who we kiss, determines
our microbiome and the health ofour gut.
So be discerning with what youput in your mouth, and it's
going to represent itself andshow itself on your skin.
So what do we know about acne,though?
There's things we know, andthere's things that you might
(17:33):
know affect you but don't affecteveryone.
So this is an evolving area ofmedicine, and it's really hard
to prove a lot of things withscientific studies, because when
you're doing a study, you haveto control for every little
thing, except for that onevariable to prove that it is
making an effect on the skin.
So, with acne, though, thereare a few things that we do know
for sure.
(17:53):
High glycemic foods, highglycemic foods, foods that turn
into sugar rapidly in your bodyare linked to acne Absolutely.
So what does this mean?
It's not just sugar.
So if you go to Starbucks andyou get a Frappuccino, yeah,
that's high sugar, and it'sgoing to bump up your glucose
levels in your body and you'regoing to be more likely to get
(18:15):
acne.
It's also processedcarbohydrates like instant
oatmeal or rice or pasta orbreads.
These things convert into yourbody into a glucose molecule and
your body identifies it assugar, even though it's not
sugar.
When you put it in, when it'sbroken down by your gut, it
turns into sugar in your bodyand goes into the bloodstream as
(18:38):
high sugar.
So it's really processedcarbohydrates and processed
foods that raise your bloodglucose levels rapidly and
processed foods that raise yourblood glucose levels rapidly and
that leads to increasedinflammation and more likely to
get acne.
So I mean, I have two boysduring their teenage years when
it was Halloween and they binged, they'd always break out a
(18:59):
couple days later.
And this is just part of it andthe evidence was right in front
of me.
I had patients over the yearsthat were very well controlled.
Their acne was well controlledand they would go home for the
holidays and then they wouldcome back and they'd have
breakouts.
So now we have good science andmany studies showing that high
glycemic diets, high sugar diets, high processed carbohydrate
(19:23):
diets do cause acne.
So if you're struggling withacne, start by going lower carb
and eating real whole foods.
You're never going to go wrongby eating real whole foods that
have one ingredient Okay.
Second thing is dairyconsumption.
This is a little lessconsistent, so I wouldn't say
that everyone has a problem withdairy not in my experience.
(19:44):
The studies do show that dairydoes cause a lot of inflammation
and acne in adults.
I find it to be variable and Ithink that there's something
going on genetically with howwe're metabolizing dairy, or how
the dairy can increaseinsulin-like growth factor one
IGF-1, in the bloodstream, orhow it increases insulin levels
(20:08):
in the bloodstream as well, andit varies depending on person to
person.
There was a 2018 study in theJournal of the American Medical
Association of Dermatology andit found that participants that
drank skin milk so you thinkyou're being healthier by
drinking skinim milk the skimmilk had a higher rate of acne.
Skim milk tends to cause moreacne than those who consumed
(20:31):
whole or no milk, and we thinkthat's because the lack of fat
in the skim milk changes how thehormones are absorbed, causing
higher IGF-1 levels and agreater insulin response with
the skim milk consumption.
So the fat actually in wholemilk will reduce the rate at
which the blood sugar spikes,and I'm not saying eat whole
(20:54):
milk instead.
Really, the only way to know ifdairy is a problem for you if
you struggle with acne is tostop it completely for six to
eight weeks and then wait tillyour skin is clear and then,
when you reintroduce it, you'llknow if it's a problem for you.
That's really the only way toknow if it's a problem for you.
Also, some people have more ofa problem with the casein
(21:15):
protein in dairy than the wheyprotein in dairy.
So I do have some patients thatthey have a lot of acne and
they have to avoid dairy ingeneral, yet they have no
problem with whey protein.
So the only way you're going toknow if it's going to be
beneficial for you is for you tocompletely eliminate it.
Do an elimination diet for sixto eight weeks and then, when
(21:38):
you're clear, reintroduce itslowly, watch for about two
weeks and see if it plays a role.
The third thing I want tomention about diet with acne is
we notice that adults that havefattier and sugary processed
foods basically have higherinsulin levels, higher IGF, more
(22:01):
metabolic syndrome, basicallymore inflammation overall,
overall, and they're going tohave more predisposition to acne
, whereas people that have adiet that's rich in whole foods
fruit, vegetables, real foodsfish that has is correlated with
less acne, so I want you tofocus on anti-inflammatory diet,
(22:23):
a whole food, and omega-3 fattyacids and antioxidants.
Okay, this question issomething I'm so passionate
about.
So when I was a resident, I wasthe only woman resident, so
every woman over the age of 20that had acne wanted to come to
me.
They didn't want to see the mandoctors, they wanted to come to
(22:44):
the female doctor.
So I have been seeing adulthormonal acne since the 90s, and
I've see I see it get more andmore prevalent over time, and I
know it's the environment,because I asked my mentor did
you used to see this much acnein 20, 30, 40, 50 year olds?
And he said and this was 25years ago, and now we see even
(23:06):
more.
So this question has to do withhormonal breakouts, so let's
talk about what hormonalbreakouts are.
So the question is how do Ideal with hormonal breakouts?
And there's ways to treat it.
At the end of the day, though,I want you to ultimately take
agency over your own health andprevent it right.
So take agency over your ownhealth and prevent it right.
(23:26):
So, short term we treat things.
Long term, we prevent things.
That's the take I have on allof this.
So what is hormonal acne?
It's different than regularacne.
So if a teenager has acne theymight have blackheads,
whiteheads, they might have bigred juicy pimples, inflammatory
papules and pustules.
What I see with hormonal acneit's typically around the jaw
and the chin area and they'redeep, tender red cysts that
(23:53):
happen in this sort of mask areaon the chin and the jaw and
they're usually pretty tenderand they last a long time, like
three or four weeks and whenthey go away they often leave
discoloration afterwards thatcan last many, many months.
If you're fair-skinned, it willleave a pink area and if you're
(24:13):
dark-skinned or medium skintone it will leave a dark area
like a brown spot, sort of likewhat you get after you get a cut
, and that post-inflammatoryhyperpigmentation can often be
more scarring than the acneitself.
So the one thing is is don'tpick these type of pimples,
because you usually don't getanything out of them and it
causes more scarring if you pickthem.
(24:34):
So just don't pick them.
As far as treatment options, ifyou're in the office seeing a
dermatologist, you can beprescribed a medication called
spironolactone that basicallyhelps block the receptors from
higher circulating hormonelevels in the body.
It's not something that youshould ever take without a
prescription if you can getaccess to it on the internet
(24:55):
nowadays, but it is somethingthat works very effectively and
I use it in the office while Igive people lifestyle
recommendations, because whenyou change your lifestyle, it
takes three, four, five monthsto really see an effect.
But we're playing the long gamehere.
We're playing the long game ofbeautiful skin for life.
(25:15):
So, short-term, okay to takethese medications.
Long-term, I want you to getoff the medications and use
lifestyle as your treatment.
The other things we can do forhormonal acne we discussed the
retinol at night and you can usebenzoyl peroxide or salicylic
acid in the morning.
This is really an internalcondition, though it's not so
(25:37):
much external.
So while the skincare cancertainly help because it's
going to help, especially withthe retinoids, to lift off the
pigmentation and preventpigmentation from forming after
the pimples go away we need toaddress the hormonal imbalances
inside the body.
So there is some evidenceactually showing that
supplementation in addition toall the dietary stuff I just
(25:58):
answered from the previousquestion there are some
supplements that can help withthis hormonal acne in adult
women, particularly around thejaw and the chin that we
mentioned.
So the first is Saw Palmetto.
So Saw Palmetto is aprescription and not a
prescription.
It's a supplement that menoften take for BPH or prosthetic
(26:18):
hypertrophy, like in a largeprostate, basically, and it
works by blocking 5-alphareductase, which is an enzyme
that converts testosterone intodihydroxy testosterone, and this
is a major trigger for adulthormonal acne.
And one of the other thingsthat the saw palmetto does is it
reduces sebum or oil production.
(26:40):
So sebum is basically oilproduction from the pores, and
the saw palmetto can help reducethe sebum and make it
especially useful for oily oracne prone skin or when somebody
has pcos and they also have,like, hair growth in areas that
they don't want.
There was a study back in 2012in the journal of cutaneous
aesthetic surgery that foundthat saw palmetto helped reduce
(27:04):
sebum or oil production and acnein individuals with oily skin,
and there's another study in2010 in complementary therapies
in medicine that suggested thatsaw palmetto reduced androgenic
activity, which can also helptreat hormonal acne, and the
dosage for saw palmetto isbetween 160 to 320 milligrams
(27:29):
per day in these studies of thestandardized extract.
The thing is is that sawpalmetto can cause digestive
issues in some individuals andit's definitely not recommended
during pregnancy orbreastfeeding, and if androgen
activity is not the cause ofyour hormonal activity, that's
not going to be the besttreatment for it.
So you do want to have anindividual evaluation to
(27:52):
determine if this is the rightsupplement for you.
Another supplement that I use alot is called DIM, d-i-m, and it
stands for diindylmethane, andthis works by balancing estrogen
metabolism, and this works bybalancing estrogen metabolism,
so this can help to reducebreakouts as well that are
caused from hormonal imbalances.
And the nice thing is that DIMis found in cruciferous
(28:15):
vegetables like cauliflower andbroccoli, and I actually love
broccoli sprouts for thispurpose.
I want you to look at medicineas food, so I usually will keep
some broccoli sprouts in therefrigerator and I just take a
little chunk and eat them acouple times a day, and it helps
with liver detoxification, sothat's really, really beneficial
, and there was a study back in2011 showing in the BMC
(28:37):
dermatology that found that DIMhelped reduce acne in women with
hormonal imbalances.
The dosage is around 100 to 200milligrams per day.
I don't like people to be onDIM for long periods of time.
I'll often cycle them throughfor three months to kind of
rebalance things and theninstill good lifestyle measures,
and part of the lifestylemeasures are reducing exposure
(29:01):
to endocrine disruptingchemicals.
So there's plastics, there'sphthalates, there's all sorts of
ingredients or chemicals in ourenvironment that are causing us
to have endocrine and hormonaldisruption.
They mimic estrogen and we wantto eliminate our exposure on
that, and I'm going to do a deepdive on that in the future
(29:21):
episodes, so stay tuned for that.
But DIM may be helpful in thiscategory.
There's another supplement whichI I find that a lot of people
can tolerate pretty well.
Whereas the saw palmetto andthe dim, it's really a
case-by-case basis of who useswhich supplement.
Myo-inositol is one supplementI find I can utilize in most
(29:45):
people with benefits, and theway myo-inositol works is it
helps balance insulin levels.
So we talked about how dairyand sugar can boost your insulin
levels and cause inflammationand lead to acne.
So the myo-inositol helps tobalance this, and then it also
helps to reduce insulinresistance, which is a major,
(30:06):
major trigger for PCOS andhormonal imbalance.
So in people who especiallystruggle with PCOS, I love
myo-inositol.
It can lower testosterone, itcan improve ovarian function in
women with PCOS and reducehormonal imbalance and hormonal
breakouts, even if you strugglewith it certain times of the
month.
Myo-inositol also helps withoil production and prevent
(30:35):
clogged pores, and it's greatthat they're doing studies
behind all of these.
So there's a study back in 2017in the International Journal of
Endocrinology that found thatmyo-inositol significantly
reduced testosterone levels andinsulin resistance in women with
PCOS and it led to fewer acnebreakouts.
There's another study in 2016in gynecological endocrinology
(30:55):
that found that myo-inositolimproved metabolic and hormonal
imbalances, which helped reduceacne in PCOS patients.
So what's the dosage?
It's around 2,000 to 4,000milligrams per day, divided in
two doses, and I actually have apowder that I mix with my
coffee every morning.
So there's ways to take this.
(31:15):
You could do capsules, youcould do powders, all sorts of
things and the best form, as Imentioned, is myo-inositol.
It's often combined withD-chiroinositol in a 40 to 1
ratio for PCOS, but you want tolook for that myoinositol form.
It's generally very safe.
It can cause a little bit ofstomach digestive issues at high
doses, so stick with the lowerdoses.
(31:38):
The doses in the studies were2,000 to 4,000 milligrams a day,
divided into twice a day, andjust start slow, start low and
go slow, and the digestiveissues typically happen at
higher doses and themyo-inositol, unlike the DIM,
tends to work better the longeryou use it.
So with the DIM, I like it forshorter periods of time of two
(32:00):
to three months, but with themyo-inositol I like it longer
term.
For acne reduction it tends towork a little bit better.
Okay, so those are the threesupplements that I look at
adding and incorporating intothe lifestyle modifications for
my patients that have hormonalacne.
But what about just supplementsfor all acne?
(32:22):
Okay, there's some studiesbehind using different types of
supplements for all acne.
Zinc is going to be the moststudied and the most effective,
and zinc is pretty cool becauseit reduces inflammation and
bacterial growth, especially ofcutobacterium acnes or C acnes,
which is the one that's linkedwith acne in the inflammatory
(32:43):
papules.
Zinc also helps reduce oilproduction and it aids in wound
healing.
So after the acne goes away, wewanna have as small of a scar
as possible.
There's a 2014 meta-analysisthat found that zinc
supplementation significantlyreduced acne severity.
And there's a fun fact.
So I live in Arizona andArizona used to be a mining area
(33:04):
for copper.
So there's a fun fact.
So I live in Arizona andArizona used to be a mining area
for copper, so there's a lot ofcopper in the earth in Arizona
and it also gets into the watersupply.
So we have high copper levels.
So where you have copper,copper and zinc do a little
dance together.
So the higher your copper, thelower your zinc.
The higher your zinc, the loweryour copper.
(33:25):
So often in Arizona which Ihaven't seen in other areas I've
lived I find that zinc isreally really effective in
treating acne.
Now when I'm using it, I'm onlyrecommending 30 to 50
milligrams per day, because ifyou use too much zinc now you're
going to lower somebody'scopper levels and we don't want
to interfere with copperabsorption and lower somebody's
(33:47):
copper levels too much.
We want to keep healthy copperand healthy zinc.
So we're supplementing, we'renot overdoing it.
Just like everything we weretalking about here, more is not
better and more effective.
It can be more problematic.
So zinc at a dosage of 30 to 50milligrams a day in the form of
zinc gluconate or zinc sulfatemay be beneficial for acne.
(34:08):
It's only gonna work if you'redeficient in it.
If you have plenty, it's notgonna work right.
That's how supplements work,okay, the second supplement that
has been shown to be beneficialfor most people with acne is
omega-3 fatty acids I'd say theone negative with a omega-3
fatty acids is it can thin theblood.
So you want to check with yourdoctor if you have other medical
(34:29):
conditions and make sure it'ssafe for you.
More isn't necessarily morebetter as well Isn't better as
well.
But omega-3 fatty acids canhelp reduce inflammation, help
with your skin bilipid membraneand help to balance oil
production.
So even though you're consumingan oil, it's going to help with
(34:51):
balancing oil production bypromoting more positive, healthy
oils and reducing theinflammatory oils in your skin
and support a healthy skinbarrier.
And there's a study back in2012, adacta
Dermatoveneriologica love theEuropean names journal that
showed that omega-3s reducedinflammatory acne after 10 weeks
(35:14):
.
So everything we're talkingabout, we're giving it six to
eight, or in this case, 10 weeksto work.
So stick with the plan.
And this is at a dosage of2,000 milligrams per day of
combined EPA DHA.
Eating actual cold water fishthat's low in mercury is always
(35:34):
going to be your first choice.
Supplements are your secondchoice.
The third supplement that Ilove for acne prone skin is
vitamin D.
So before you consume vitamin Dsupplementation, you want to
have your blood levels checked,and in the US I like a blood
level that's 60 to 80.
That's like a real sweet spot.
Under 100, over 60 is reallywhere I liked it, but 60 to 80
(35:58):
is where we like the bloodlevels to be, and most people
are deficient in vitamin D, andvitamin D acts as a hormone more
than a vitamin in the body.
It does so many things and, asfar as acne goes, it helps
regulate the immune system, soyou'll have less inflammation.
It's going to reduceinflammation and it's going to
help control and mitigatesebaceous oil gland activity,
(36:21):
and there's a study in 2016 thatfound that vitamin D deficiency
is very common in acne patients, and supplementation to get to
the point of adequate vitamin Dlevels will help improve acne.
So keep this in mind, becausethis is just a low-hanging fruit
that's attainable for anyone,and the dosage of vitamin D is
(36:43):
around 2,000 to 5,000 IU per day.
You need to check your bloodlevels first.
I've never seen anyone overdoseat 5,000 IU per day in my
experience of 20 plus years.
Okay, the next supplement thathas been shown in multiple
studies to help with acne areprobiotics, because we know that
the gut is related to the skinand the brain.
(37:06):
Your gut, brain and skin areall on one axis.
They're all derived from thesame cell type when you're an
embryo.
So it's all interrelated andwe're finding more and more that
the health of our skin isrelated to the health of our gut
.
So if you're having gi distressand acne, they are related.
So we want to improve thehealth of your gut and the
health of your skin, becauseboth will will happen
(37:28):
simultaneously.
So we know a lot about the factthat having a healthy gut
microbiome is important.
We haven't quite nailed downwhat we want to see in the gut.
We want to see as muchdiversity as possible, and the
more diversity we have in thegut, the healthier our gut's
going to be.
The less diversity, the lesshealthy it's going to be.
(37:49):
So just throwing probioticsdon't necessarily fix the gut
problem.
So just throwing probioticsdon't necessarily fix the gut
problem.
There are certain probioticsthat have been shown to be
helpful for acne.
So there was a 2021 review indermatology and therapy that
(38:13):
found that probiotics improveacne by reducing inflammation
and stabilizing the gut-skinconnection.
Specific strains of antibioticsare lactobacillus rhamnosus,
bifidobacterium bifidum andlactobacillus acidophilus.
But my opinion honestly, afterobserving and practicing and
reviewing literature, is toincorporate fermented foods.
So you don't want to do thisquickly because you'll have a
significant amount of GIdistress.
(38:33):
But I'm kind of in love withfermented foods, especially
sauerkraut, kimchi and my newestfavorite which I'm creating
myself and I'm not a cook at allis beet kvass and it's
basically fermented beet juice,which to some of you that might
sound gross, but sauerkraut iskind of neat, and kimchi because
you can add it.
If you make some beef or youmake some chicken, you can add
(38:56):
it.
If you make some some beef oryou make some chicken, you can
add it with some vegetables andyou just put it on the side and
these fermented foods impartreally beautiful, healthy,
diverse microbiome to your gutand short term your body may
have some issues acclimating,but start low and go slow and
over a months you're going tojust notice your skin glowing
and you're going to feel betterand maybe some of the joint
(39:17):
stiffness or joint pain that youhad is going to go away and
you're going to be able totolerate food you might not have
been able to tolerate in thepast.
So I really want you to look atyour gut as like the brain of
your body.
Basically, it's really amazing.
The other thing is fiber isvery important and prebiotics.
So prebiotic fiber is reallyimportant because you can be
(39:38):
taking in probiotics or theactual organisms, and if you
don't have the prebiotic fiber,which is the food to feed them,
they're not going to survive.
They're just going to die rightaway and you wasted your money
on the probiotics.
So you want to focus onprebiotics and fiber to feed
(39:59):
your healthy gut, so you supportit.
It's like miracle grow for theplants of your body.
We want to feed the goodbacteria in our body.
Okay, the next one isN-acetylcysteine, or NAC, so
N-acetylcysteine, n-a-c.
It is a super powerfulantioxidant and it reduces
(40:20):
oxidative stress andinflammation.
This is known as mucrimist.
In the hospital, and when I wasan intern working in the ER, we
would have patients that camein that maybe took too many
Tylenol and they were going tohave liver failure, and we would
give them N-acetylcysteine.
So N-acetylcysteine is amazingat supporting liver
detoxification, and liverdetoxification is essential to
(40:42):
work well because it helps clearthe toxins that also affect
their skin.
So all we're doing here withall of these things whether it's
food or supplements or anythingelse is we are supporting the
body to do what it wants to do,which is to detoxify, renew and
regenerate itself.
The other thing aboutN-acetylcysteine is that, or NAC
(41:04):
is that.
It helps regulate glutathione,and glutathione is the most
powerful antioxidant in the body, and it's also essential for
clear skin, for even skin toneand for acne-free skin.
There's a study in 2012 in theclinical and experimental
dermatology that showed that NACN-acetylcysteine
(41:25):
supplementation improved acne.
So once again, we have sciencebehind these.
So what's the dosage in thestudy?
It's 600 to 1,200 milligramsper day behind these.
So what's the dosage in thestudy?
It's 600 to 1200 milligrams perday.
You could take it once a day,twice a day.
We're just supporting the liverto do what it needs to do.
And the last thing I want totalk about, which I've talked
about before, is spearmint tea.
So spearmint tea isanti-androgenic, which means it
(41:48):
lowers the testosterone hormonesthat tend to cause hormonal
acne in women.
So by reducing the testosteronelevels that tend to cause
hormonal acne in women so byreducing the testosterone levels
that can trigger the hormonalacne and being anti-inflammatory
and helping oil production,spearmint tea is a natural
winner for reducing acne.
There's a study in 2015 inphytotherapy research journal
(42:14):
that found that drinkingspearmint tea twice a day for 30
days lowered androgen levelsand thus reducing acne.
So how much do you drink.
First of all, I want you tofind organic spearmint tea and I
want you to avoid tea bags thatcontain plastic in it, because
plastic is an endocrinedisruptor.
So loose leaf tea is going tobe your best bet.
(42:35):
One to two cups a day so thestudies show two cups a day.
Even one cup a day is going tobe beneficial.
So these are your supplementsthat are going to help with acne
.
We mentioned saw palmetto.
We mentioned DIM, we mentionedmyo-inositol for hormonal acne,
for all acne.
We mentioned zinc, omega-3fatty acids, vitamin D,
(42:57):
probiotics and fermented foods,and acetylcysteine and spearmint
tea.
Now, what do you want to avoid?
Because we want to avoid thingsthat are causing acne before we
start adding things in.
You want to avoid biotin or B7.
Vitamin B7 is biotin.
Biotin can worsen your acne byincreasing keratin production
(43:19):
and clogging pores.
So while there's a lot of hairsupplements that are using high
doses of biotin to supposedlyincrease hair growth, which we
need to discuss on a futureepisode biotin can worsen acne.
So if you're taking biotin andyou have acne, I'd stop it.
The second is iodine.
So iodine, especially in highdoses, or if you have a ton of
seaweed which I do, like seaweedand iodized salt.
(43:41):
This excess iodine can triggeracne breakouts, so you want to
stop that as well.
And before you just take all ofthese supplements, I want you
to consult with a healthcareprovider before starting
anything, because responses canvary.
Everyone has different causesand there's different potential
side effects and interactionswith different medications.
So that's all I want to covertoday in this deep dive for acne
(44:05):
answering your questions.
Amazing questions.
I love it.
Thank you for giving me theopportunity for this platform to
share information with you toempower you to have clear skin.
At the end of the day, all ofthese are science-based
suggestions and you need to tunein and listen to your own skin.
Till next time.
Thank you for joining us onListen to your Skin by Moon and
(44:28):
Skin.
It's an honor to be part ofyour skincare journey and if you
love this episode, make sure tosubscribe.
Leave us a glowing review andshare it with someone who's
passionate about their skincarejourney, and please connect with
us on social to ask yourquestions, which will drive
future educational episodes.
Welcome to Listen to your Skin by Moon and Skin, the
podcast where science meetsnature to celebrate the story of
your skin.
Your skin is a living canvas,ever evolving, deeply personal
and uniquely yours.
Each week, we'll dive into thescience of healthy skin, share
empowering stories and uncovertransformative self-care rituals
.
We're here to help you embraceevery phase of your journey with
(00:22):
confidence and care.
Hey everyone, welcome back tothis week's episode of Listen to
your Skin by Moon and Skin, andI am your host, dr Jen Haley, a
board certified dermatologist,and I'm so grateful to be here
today because I love answeringyour questions.
So, as the channel grows, we'regetting so many great questions
and this is what I love I eatthis stuff up.
(00:44):
So keep sending your questionsbecause I want to serve you and
I'm so grateful to have beenpartnering with Moon and Skin.
They're doing some great thingsand great educational content,
so any part of it that I can be,I am happy to be here.
Okay, so we're going to startwith the questions what are the
best ingredients for treatingacne-prone skin?
(01:06):
So it's such a loaded world welive in, where there's so many
products out there.
It's so overwhelming and withmarketing and names of products,
there's so much false andmisleading information.
So I want you to start lookingat your skincare like you look
at your nutrition labels, turnit around and look for certain
(01:27):
ingredients.
Okay, so, when it comes totreating acne-prone skin, we
want to know what type of acnewe're dealing with and this will
determine what ingredients youwant to look for.
So the first ingredient that Iuniversally love for most skin
types is salicylic acid.
Salicylic acid has been around along time.
Encapsulated salicylic acid isreally nice because it tends to
(01:48):
be less irritating, butsalicylic acid it's a beta
hydroxy acid.
Actually, scientifically it's apolyhydroxy acid, but you'll
see most labels call it a betahydroxy acid.
And the reason I love it foracne prone skin is because it's
drawn to oil glands.
So, unlike alpha hydroxy acids,it this beta hydroxy either the
(02:08):
salicylic acid, it's drawn tooil glands so it will penetrate
into your pores where theclogging happens and your pores
get plugged up.
And the other thing aboutsalicylic acid it is a
keratolytic, so keratoidic beinga an acid that basically breaks
apart and loosens up dead skincells.
(02:29):
So if you imagine it's drawninto oil and it's attracted to
the pores in the oil gland andbasically what happens is.
It loosens up all of thoseclogged and plugged up oil
glands and then it exfoliates itoff and it helps your pores
look smaller.
It helps prevent acne fromforming and it removes all the
(02:51):
dead skin cells that areplugging your pores.
So it's really best for peoplewho struggle with blackheads,
whiteheads and clogged pores,not as good for inflammatory
papules or pustules the big redjuicy ones.
It's not going to hurt thoseareas, but it's not going to be
the hero ingredient for thosetype of acne lesions.
And while salicylic acid tendsto be anti-inflammatory, overuse
(03:16):
of it which means you're usingit too often or too high of a
percentage can certainly beirritating to the skin.
So I recommend most peoplestart with a 2% formulation and
you can use it in the form of acleanser, a toner or a serum.
So either way, if you do wantto use it in a cleanser, make
(03:36):
sure you apply it to your wholeface and massage it into the
pores and let it sit for twofull minutes, because otherwise
it's not going to do anything ifyou don't let it have contact
with your skin for a full twominutes.
So, salicylic acid being thefirst ingredient to look for if
you have acne prone skin.
The second ingredient is goingto be benzoyl peroxide, so
(03:59):
benzoyl peroxide is effective atkilling the acne causing
bacteria, and it works a littlebit better for the inflammatory
papules and pustules the redjuicy bumps that we get for acne
.
I also like it if someone isprone to shaving bumps Men who
get shaving bumps on their neckit's a nice product to reduce
(04:21):
the bad bacteria that cause theshaving bumps that can lead to
significant scarring.
The thing about benzoyl peroxide, though, is that it can bleach
your towels and it can bleachyour eyebrows, and it can bleach
your clothing and your hair.
So just keep this in mind, andthat's one of the reasons why I
like it as a cleanser as well,because then it gets off your
body and it doesn't soak intothose areas like a serum or a
(04:43):
gel might, so you could use itonce a day or twice a day.
So if you're someone whostruggles with blackheads and
whiteheads and juicy red pimples, you can use a salicylic acid
cleanser once a day, a benzoylperoxide cleanser once a day.
Those would be really nicecombinations.
And the thing about benzoylperoxide, though, is higher
concentrations can be quiteirritating to the skin and can
(05:06):
cause a lot of dryness, rednessand irritation.
So keep in mind that higherconcentrations is not
necessarily more effective, it'sjust more irritating.
So look for a product thatcontains 2.5 to 5% benzoyl
peroxide.
You don't need 10% benzoylperoxide.
So that's the second ingredient.
(05:27):
And the third ingredient I wantyou to look for, which is really
essential, I think, for allskin types, especially if you're
struggling with acne ordiscoloration of your skin or
looking to reduce the rate atwhich you age or reverse some
sun damage and fine lines andwrinkles, is retinoids.
So retinoids is it's a globalterm that we use for vitamin A
(05:50):
derivatives.
So these vitamin A derivatives,which come from nature, they
can be in the form ofover-the-counter, different,
which used to be a prescription,called a dapoline.
It can be in a retinol, whichyou can find over the counter,
or it can be in prescriptionstrength tretinoin and basically
the precursors of these vitaminA derivatives turn into
retinoic acid in the skin and Iusually have people start with a
(06:14):
retinol because it tends to bethe least irritating and then
you can graduate over time ifyou tolerate it.
But retinoids are the mostscientifically studied
ingredients in pretty much allof skincare and they work very
effectively for acne.
They help unclog pores.
They help reduce inflammationand they enhance cell turnover.
(06:36):
They also even out skin toneand they stimulate collagen at
the cellular level.
But this enhanced cell turnoverturnover.
If you're using retinoids toomuch and too often and too high
of a percentage, it can makeyour skin really inflamed and
peeling and dry and it's hard totolerate.
(06:57):
So less is preferred.
Start low and go slow.
With retinoids, they workthrough nuclear cell receptors.
So what does that mean?
So basically, with retinoids,they work through nuclear cell
receptors and that means thatyou don't need to have full
coverage of an area in order toget benefits.
(07:20):
You have to trust the science.
You only need a small,pea-sized amount and you dot
your forehead, each cheek, chinand massage it in.
Avoid the creases around yournose, avoid the creases around
your eyes and avoid the creasesaround your lips, because these
areas the retinoids will pooland they'll enhance cell
turnover to the point where it'sirritating.
(07:41):
The nuclear cell receptors aregoing to be signaled from these
retinoids and help enhance cellturnover, unclog pores,
stimulate collagen and lift offpigmentation more adequately
than applying it everywhere.
So the other thing aboutretinoids is that you don't want
to use it at the same time as abenzoyl peroxide, because they
(08:01):
counteract each other andthey're not effective if you're
using both of them at the sametime.
All the more reason why I likebenzoyl peroxide in the form of
a cleanser.
You apply it for two minutes,let it do its job and then rinse
it off, and then you can applyyour retinoid at night.
Use your salicylic acid in themorning.
The other thing I wanted tomention about retinoids is
(08:22):
there's a form of retinol thattends to be a hero ingredient
called liposomal retinol, andthis liposomal retinol it goes
through the bilipid membrane ofthe skin without causing the
peeling and the irritation tothe epidermis, like a lot of
traditional, less elegantformulations of retinol cause
(08:44):
the irritation.
So look for a liposomal retinolif you can find one in your
ingredient list, and the retinolthat Moon and Skin is producing
has this technology in it,which is why I love it so much.
Okay, the fourth ingredient Iwant you to look for is
niacinamide.
Niacinamide known as vitamin b3.
(09:04):
It helps regulate oilproduction, it improves the skin
barrier and it reducesinflammation.
So, morning and night, it'svery good at reducing
inflammation, and the nice thingabout niacinamide is it's
tolerated by pretty much allskin types and it's great for
sensitive and inflamed skin.
The thing you should know aboutniacinamide is that it works
(09:27):
with most ingredients typically,although you want to avoid
using it with highly acidicproducts.
So if you're applying an AHA,bha serum, you're not going to
want to apply your niacinamideat the time.
But if you are cleansing with asalicylic acid cleanser, then
you can apply your niacinamideafterwards and you can layer it.
(09:50):
When we layer skincare wealways go from thinnest to
thickest, so you start with yourcleanser, then your toner, then
your thinnest serum and thenyour moisturizer is last before
sunscreen, and then the lastingredient for acne to look for
is azelaic acid.
So azelaic acid it's kind ofcool.
(10:10):
Azelaic acid is a natural acidthat's produced by malassezia, a
yeast that grows on the body,and when it's out of balance
with all of the other microbiomeon your body, it can produce
something called tineaversicolor.
If you've ever seen that orexperienced that, it's fairly
common and it can show as pinkareas or white patches on the
(10:33):
skin of the trunk and the oilyareas of the body.
And this malassezia yeast.
It produces azelaic acid andthe azelaic acid bleaches the
skin white and that's why, ifyou've ever experienced tinea
versicolor, you will notice thatwhen you get tan, those areas
don't get tan.
And that's usually the biggestcomplaint I'll get when somebody
(10:55):
comes into the office withtinea versicolor is they notice
it in the summer when they'regetting tan outside and that
area doesn't get tan.
So we've used this azelaic acid, this special acid produced by
natural yeast, and it worksactually very well for acne and
it reduces redness and it alsohelps fade and lighten acne
(11:15):
marks that happen after acnegoes away.
So ingredients you look forsalicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide
, retinoids especially yourliposomal retinol niacinamide to
reduce inflammation and azelaicacid.
These are the top ingredientsthat you should look for if
you're someone who struggleswith acne.
And before we move on to thenext question, the only thing I
(11:38):
really really want you to knowas a takeaway because we live in
a society where there's alwaysgoing to be a new TikTok video
and a new trend of somebodysaying something's the best is
you must stick with a plan forsix to eight weeks.
When I grab my skin, there'spimples formed deep in those
layers.
It's going to take six to eightweeks for those to purge and
(12:01):
surface up.
So we need to stick with thesame regimen for six to eight
weeks before moving on andadding anything else.
So be patient and you will getthe skin that you deserve, okay,
so that's the first question.
Now listen, if you arelistening to this and you have
other questions, you keepsending them to me.
We will get to every question,because if you're wondering
(12:22):
something, somebody else iswondering something out there.
Okay, so the second question Igot and we're going to stay in
this topic of acne is should Iuse a moisturizer if I have oily
and acne-prone skin?
My initial response is yes.
There's a caveat there, though,because we don't live in an
(12:43):
absolute world, right.
There's times that it's goingto work for you, in time that
it's not, but basically it's a.
It's a common misconceptionthat oily skin doesn't need
moisturizer, when in fact itdoes, because skipping
moisturizing can lead toincreased oil production and
cause even some dryness in someareas, which can cause clogging
of the pores and inflammation.
(13:04):
This is is why I love the Moonand Skin Moisturizer, because it
has hyaluronic acid and kojicacid in it.
What you want to look for is youwant to look for something
that's oil-free, you want tolook for something that's
non-comedogenic, and if you'revery oily in the T-zone, just
apply moisturizer to theperiphery of your face.
If you find that your cortisolruns a little high during the
(13:26):
day, like mine does, you may notneed moisturizer during the day
, maybe just the periphery orface, or skip it but you always,
always, always need to use amoisturizer at night.
When we're sleeping at night,our body is in the regenerative
and renewal phase, and this iswhen we really lose a lot of
water.
There's something called transepidepidermal water loss and our
(13:49):
skin is evaporating all of thatmoisture and it's a great
opportunity to add hydration tothe skin.
So it pays dividends during theday.
So you must use a moisturizerat night, but not everyone needs
to use it during the day.
So I want you to listen to yourskin.
Do you need it everywhere?
Do you need it just on theperiphery of your face?
You just need it on your neckand your chest to help minimize
(14:12):
the rate at which you're agingand the appearance of fine lines
and wrinkles.
So these are all things you askyourself when you're
determining if you need amoisturizer twice a day.
But even if you're oily, evenif you're acne prone, you do
need a moisturizer at night.
You just want to choose theright moisturizer that's going
to be oil-free andnon-comedogenic.
So the other thing I want tobring up is that many people
(14:36):
will notice that they'll onlybreak out during a certain time
of month.
So in our podcast episode aboutskin sinking, I discussed in
detail your infradian cycle andworking with the infradian
rhythm of your body and how yourskin's needs will change
throughout your monthlymenstrual cycle and there are
(14:59):
certain times a month you mayneed more moisturizer and there
are certain times a month youmight need less.
So I want you to listen to thatepisode if you want the small
nuances on how to take care ofyour skin.
The other thing is is our skinsneeds are going to change
through the seasons.
So in the winter, someone whomay have oily or normal skin
(15:22):
will be more dry in the winterand someone who has drier skin
is going to be more moist in thesummer.
So we will be discussing how torotate your skin care with the
seasons, and that's a greatopportunity because, as I
mentioned before, with acnegiving it about six to eight
weeks to take effect, we reallywant to re-address our skin care
(15:42):
every season, every 12 weeks,and adjust it accordingly to get
the best skin that we deserve.
Let's jump into a question aboutfoods.
I find that the questions I geton foods are so triggering.
So anything with nutrition isalways up for debate and it's
(16:03):
just triggering for people.
It's fascinating to me and allI'm doing is I'm a medium, I am
a channel to share scientificinformation with you.
You can choose to receive thisinformation and do with it as
you please.
Okay, I mean, even with theknowledge I have, I'm not
perfect.
I ate carrot cake the other dayand I paid for it with two
pimples.
So you know you, you have theinformation and it will
(16:27):
hopefully help guide you intothe direction to give you
beautiful skin.
But nobody is perfect.
So if you don't have to beperfect, you just have to do the
best you can.
So this question leans intofoods.
So what are or can certainfoods trigger breakouts?
Was the question.
Can certain foods triggerbreakouts?
Was the question.
Can certain foods triggerbreakouts?
(16:47):
When I was in medical schoolmany, many years ago, we were
told that food plays no role.
Food plays absolutely no rolein your skin health, in whether
or not you get acne or anythinglike that, and that's not true.
So it just makes absolutely nosense that you could take
medicine in your mouth and itcould magically know where to go
to make you heal, but the foodthat we are taking in every day
(17:10):
is not going to play a role.
It absolutely does.
The what we drink, what we eat,even who we kiss, determines
our microbiome and the health ofour gut.
So be discerning with what youput in your mouth, and it's
going to represent itself andshow itself on your skin.
So what do we know about acne,though?
There's things we know, andthere's things that you might
(17:33):
know affect you but don't affecteveryone.
So this is an evolving area ofmedicine, and it's really hard
to prove a lot of things withscientific studies, because when
you're doing a study, you haveto control for every little
thing, except for that onevariable to prove that it is
making an effect on the skin.
So, with acne, though, thereare a few things that we do know
for sure.
(17:53):
High glycemic foods, highglycemic foods, foods that turn
into sugar rapidly in your bodyare linked to acne Absolutely.
So what does this mean?
It's not just sugar.
So if you go to Starbucks andyou get a Frappuccino, yeah,
that's high sugar, and it'sgoing to bump up your glucose
levels in your body and you'regoing to be more likely to get
(18:15):
acne.
It's also processedcarbohydrates like instant
oatmeal or rice or pasta orbreads.
These things convert into yourbody into a glucose molecule and
your body identifies it assugar, even though it's not
sugar.
When you put it in, when it'sbroken down by your gut, it
turns into sugar in your bodyand goes into the bloodstream as
(18:38):
high sugar.
So it's really processedcarbohydrates and processed
foods that raise your bloodglucose levels rapidly and
processed foods that raise yourblood glucose levels rapidly and
that leads to increasedinflammation and more likely to
get acne.
So I mean, I have two boysduring their teenage years when
it was Halloween and they binged, they'd always break out a
(18:59):
couple days later.
And this is just part of it andthe evidence was right in front
of me.
I had patients over the yearsthat were very well controlled.
Their acne was well controlledand they would go home for the
holidays and then they wouldcome back and they'd have
breakouts.
So now we have good science andmany studies showing that high
glycemic diets, high sugar diets, high processed carbohydrate
(19:23):
diets do cause acne.
So if you're struggling withacne, start by going lower carb
and eating real whole foods.
You're never going to go wrongby eating real whole foods that
have one ingredient Okay.
Second thing is dairyconsumption.
This is a little lessconsistent, so I wouldn't say
that everyone has a problem withdairy not in my experience.
(19:44):
The studies do show that dairydoes cause a lot of inflammation
and acne in adults.
I find it to be variable and Ithink that there's something
going on genetically with howwe're metabolizing dairy, or how
the dairy can increaseinsulin-like growth factor one
IGF-1, in the bloodstream, orhow it increases insulin levels
(20:08):
in the bloodstream as well, andit varies depending on person to
person.
There was a 2018 study in theJournal of the American Medical
Association of Dermatology andit found that participants that
drank skin milk so you thinkyou're being healthier by
drinking skinim milk the skimmilk had a higher rate of acne.
Skim milk tends to cause moreacne than those who consumed
(20:31):
whole or no milk, and we thinkthat's because the lack of fat
in the skim milk changes how thehormones are absorbed, causing
higher IGF-1 levels and agreater insulin response with
the skim milk consumption.
So the fat actually in wholemilk will reduce the rate at
which the blood sugar spikes,and I'm not saying eat whole
(20:54):
milk instead.
Really, the only way to know ifdairy is a problem for you if
you struggle with acne is tostop it completely for six to
eight weeks and then wait tillyour skin is clear and then,
when you reintroduce it, you'llknow if it's a problem for you.
That's really the only way toknow if it's a problem for you.
Also, some people have more ofa problem with the casein
(21:15):
protein in dairy than the wheyprotein in dairy.
So I do have some patients thatthey have a lot of acne and
they have to avoid dairy ingeneral, yet they have no
problem with whey protein.
So the only way you're going toknow if it's going to be
beneficial for you is for you tocompletely eliminate it.
Do an elimination diet for sixto eight weeks and then, when
(21:38):
you're clear, reintroduce itslowly, watch for about two
weeks and see if it plays a role.
The third thing I want tomention about diet with acne is
we notice that adults that havefattier and sugary processed
foods basically have higherinsulin levels, higher IGF, more
(22:01):
metabolic syndrome, basicallymore inflammation overall,
overall, and they're going tohave more predisposition to acne
, whereas people that have adiet that's rich in whole foods
fruit, vegetables, real foodsfish that has is correlated with
less acne, so I want you tofocus on anti-inflammatory diet,
(22:23):
a whole food, and omega-3 fattyacids and antioxidants.
Okay, this question issomething I'm so passionate
about.
So when I was a resident, I wasthe only woman resident, so
every woman over the age of 20that had acne wanted to come to
me.
They didn't want to see the mandoctors, they wanted to come to
(22:44):
the female doctor.
So I have been seeing adulthormonal acne since the 90s, and
I've see I see it get more andmore prevalent over time, and I
know it's the environment,because I asked my mentor did
you used to see this much acnein 20, 30, 40, 50 year olds?
And he said and this was 25years ago, and now we see even
(23:06):
more.
So this question has to do withhormonal breakouts, so let's
talk about what hormonalbreakouts are.
So the question is how do Ideal with hormonal breakouts?
And there's ways to treat it.
At the end of the day, though,I want you to ultimately take
agency over your own health andprevent it right.
So take agency over your ownhealth and prevent it right.
(23:26):
So, short term we treat things.
Long term, we prevent things.
That's the take I have on allof this.
So what is hormonal acne?
It's different than regularacne.
So if a teenager has acne theymight have blackheads,
whiteheads, they might have bigred juicy pimples, inflammatory
papules and pustules.
What I see with hormonal acneit's typically around the jaw
and the chin area and they'redeep, tender red cysts that
(23:53):
happen in this sort of mask areaon the chin and the jaw and
they're usually pretty tenderand they last a long time, like
three or four weeks and whenthey go away they often leave
discoloration afterwards thatcan last many, many months.
If you're fair-skinned, it willleave a pink area and if you're
(24:13):
dark-skinned or medium skintone it will leave a dark area
like a brown spot, sort of likewhat you get after you get a cut
, and that post-inflammatoryhyperpigmentation can often be
more scarring than the acneitself.
So the one thing is is don'tpick these type of pimples,
because you usually don't getanything out of them and it
causes more scarring if you pickthem.
(24:34):
So just don't pick them.
As far as treatment options, ifyou're in the office seeing a
dermatologist, you can beprescribed a medication called
spironolactone that basicallyhelps block the receptors from
higher circulating hormonelevels in the body.
It's not something that youshould ever take without a
prescription if you can getaccess to it on the internet
(24:55):
nowadays, but it is somethingthat works very effectively and
I use it in the office while Igive people lifestyle
recommendations, because whenyou change your lifestyle, it
takes three, four, five monthsto really see an effect.
But we're playing the long gamehere.
We're playing the long game ofbeautiful skin for life.
(25:15):
So, short-term, okay to takethese medications.
Long-term, I want you to getoff the medications and use
lifestyle as your treatment.
The other things we can do forhormonal acne we discussed the
retinol at night and you can usebenzoyl peroxide or salicylic
acid in the morning.
This is really an internalcondition, though it's not so
(25:37):
much external.
So while the skincare cancertainly help because it's
going to help, especially withthe retinoids, to lift off the
pigmentation and preventpigmentation from forming after
the pimples go away we need toaddress the hormonal imbalances
inside the body.
So there is some evidenceactually showing that
supplementation in addition toall the dietary stuff I just
(25:58):
answered from the previousquestion there are some
supplements that can help withthis hormonal acne in adult
women, particularly around thejaw and the chin that we
mentioned.
So the first is Saw Palmetto.
So Saw Palmetto is aprescription and not a
prescription.
It's a supplement that menoften take for BPH or prosthetic
(26:18):
hypertrophy, like in a largeprostate, basically, and it
works by blocking 5-alphareductase, which is an enzyme
that converts testosterone intodihydroxy testosterone, and this
is a major trigger for adulthormonal acne.
And one of the other thingsthat the saw palmetto does is it
reduces sebum or oil production.
(26:40):
So sebum is basically oilproduction from the pores, and
the saw palmetto can help reducethe sebum and make it
especially useful for oily oracne prone skin or when somebody
has pcos and they also have,like, hair growth in areas that
they don't want.
There was a study back in 2012in the journal of cutaneous
aesthetic surgery that foundthat saw palmetto helped reduce
(27:04):
sebum or oil production and acnein individuals with oily skin,
and there's another study in2010 in complementary therapies
in medicine that suggested thatsaw palmetto reduced androgenic
activity, which can also helptreat hormonal acne, and the
dosage for saw palmetto isbetween 160 to 320 milligrams
(27:29):
per day in these studies of thestandardized extract.
The thing is is that sawpalmetto can cause digestive
issues in some individuals andit's definitely not recommended
during pregnancy orbreastfeeding, and if androgen
activity is not the cause ofyour hormonal activity, that's
not going to be the besttreatment for it.
So you do want to have anindividual evaluation to
(27:52):
determine if this is the rightsupplement for you.
Another supplement that I use alot is called DIM, d-i-m, and it
stands for diindylmethane, andthis works by balancing estrogen
metabolism, and this works bybalancing estrogen metabolism,
so this can help to reducebreakouts as well that are
caused from hormonal imbalances.
And the nice thing is that DIMis found in cruciferous
(28:15):
vegetables like cauliflower andbroccoli, and I actually love
broccoli sprouts for thispurpose.
I want you to look at medicineas food, so I usually will keep
some broccoli sprouts in therefrigerator and I just take a
little chunk and eat them acouple times a day, and it helps
with liver detoxification, sothat's really, really beneficial
, and there was a study back in2011 showing in the BMC
(28:37):
dermatology that found that DIMhelped reduce acne in women with
hormonal imbalances.
The dosage is around 100 to 200milligrams per day.
I don't like people to be onDIM for long periods of time.
I'll often cycle them throughfor three months to kind of
rebalance things and theninstill good lifestyle measures,
and part of the lifestylemeasures are reducing exposure
(29:01):
to endocrine disruptingchemicals.
So there's plastics, there'sphthalates, there's all sorts of
ingredients or chemicals in ourenvironment that are causing us
to have endocrine and hormonaldisruption.
They mimic estrogen and we wantto eliminate our exposure on
that, and I'm going to do a deepdive on that in the future
(29:21):
episodes, so stay tuned for that.
But DIM may be helpful in thiscategory.
There's another supplement whichI I find that a lot of people
can tolerate pretty well.
Whereas the saw palmetto andthe dim, it's really a
case-by-case basis of who useswhich supplement.
Myo-inositol is one supplementI find I can utilize in most
(29:45):
people with benefits, and theway myo-inositol works is it
helps balance insulin levels.
So we talked about how dairyand sugar can boost your insulin
levels and cause inflammationand lead to acne.
So the myo-inositol helps tobalance this, and then it also
helps to reduce insulinresistance, which is a major,
(30:06):
major trigger for PCOS andhormonal imbalance.
So in people who especiallystruggle with PCOS, I love
myo-inositol.
It can lower testosterone, itcan improve ovarian function in
women with PCOS and reducehormonal imbalance and hormonal
breakouts, even if you strugglewith it certain times of the
month.
Myo-inositol also helps withoil production and prevent
(30:35):
clogged pores, and it's greatthat they're doing studies
behind all of these.
So there's a study back in 2017in the International Journal of
Endocrinology that found thatmyo-inositol significantly
reduced testosterone levels andinsulin resistance in women with
PCOS and it led to fewer acnebreakouts.
There's another study in 2016in gynecological endocrinology
(30:55):
that found that myo-inositolimproved metabolic and hormonal
imbalances, which helped reduceacne in PCOS patients.
So what's the dosage?
It's around 2,000 to 4,000milligrams per day, divided in
two doses, and I actually have apowder that I mix with my
coffee every morning.
So there's ways to take this.
(31:15):
You could do capsules, youcould do powders, all sorts of
things and the best form, as Imentioned, is myo-inositol.
It's often combined withD-chiroinositol in a 40 to 1
ratio for PCOS, but you want tolook for that myoinositol form.
It's generally very safe.
It can cause a little bit ofstomach digestive issues at high
doses, so stick with the lowerdoses.
(31:38):
The doses in the studies were2,000 to 4,000 milligrams a day,
divided into twice a day, andjust start slow, start low and
go slow, and the digestiveissues typically happen at
higher doses and themyo-inositol, unlike the DIM,
tends to work better the longeryou use it.
So with the DIM, I like it forshorter periods of time of two
(32:00):
to three months, but with themyo-inositol I like it longer
term.
For acne reduction it tends towork a little bit better.
Okay, so those are the threesupplements that I look at
adding and incorporating intothe lifestyle modifications for
my patients that have hormonalacne.
But what about just supplementsfor all acne?
(32:22):
Okay, there's some studiesbehind using different types of
supplements for all acne.
Zinc is going to be the moststudied and the most effective,
and zinc is pretty cool becauseit reduces inflammation and
bacterial growth, especially ofcutobacterium acnes or C acnes,
which is the one that's linkedwith acne in the inflammatory
(32:43):
papules.
Zinc also helps reduce oilproduction and it aids in wound
healing.
So after the acne goes away, wewanna have as small of a scar
as possible.
There's a 2014 meta-analysisthat found that zinc
supplementation significantlyreduced acne severity.
And there's a fun fact.
So I live in Arizona andArizona used to be a mining area
(33:04):
for copper.
So there's a fun fact.
So I live in Arizona andArizona used to be a mining area
for copper, so there's a lot ofcopper in the earth in Arizona
and it also gets into the watersupply.
So we have high copper levels.
So where you have copper,copper and zinc do a little
dance together.
So the higher your copper, thelower your zinc.
The higher your zinc, the loweryour copper.
(33:25):
So often in Arizona which Ihaven't seen in other areas I've
lived I find that zinc isreally really effective in
treating acne.
Now when I'm using it, I'm onlyrecommending 30 to 50
milligrams per day, because ifyou use too much zinc now you're
going to lower somebody'scopper levels and we don't want
to interfere with copperabsorption and lower somebody's
(33:47):
copper levels too much.
We want to keep healthy copperand healthy zinc.
So we're supplementing, we'renot overdoing it.
Just like everything we weretalking about here, more is not
better and more effective.
It can be more problematic.
So zinc at a dosage of 30 to 50milligrams a day in the form of
zinc gluconate or zinc sulfatemay be beneficial for acne.
(34:08):
It's only gonna work if you'redeficient in it.
If you have plenty, it's notgonna work right.
That's how supplements work,okay, the second supplement that
has been shown to be beneficialfor most people with acne is
omega-3 fatty acids I'd say theone negative with a omega-3
fatty acids is it can thin theblood.
So you want to check with yourdoctor if you have other medical
(34:29):
conditions and make sure it'ssafe for you.
More isn't necessarily morebetter as well Isn't better as
well.
But omega-3 fatty acids canhelp reduce inflammation, help
with your skin bilipid membraneand help to balance oil
production.
So even though you're consumingan oil, it's going to help with
(34:51):
balancing oil production bypromoting more positive, healthy
oils and reducing theinflammatory oils in your skin
and support a healthy skinbarrier.
And there's a study back in2012, adacta
Dermatoveneriologica love theEuropean names journal that
showed that omega-3s reducedinflammatory acne after 10 weeks
(35:14):
.
So everything we're talkingabout, we're giving it six to
eight, or in this case, 10 weeksto work.
So stick with the plan.
And this is at a dosage of2,000 milligrams per day of
combined EPA DHA.
Eating actual cold water fishthat's low in mercury is always
(35:34):
going to be your first choice.
Supplements are your secondchoice.
The third supplement that Ilove for acne prone skin is
vitamin D.
So before you consume vitamin Dsupplementation, you want to
have your blood levels checked,and in the US I like a blood
level that's 60 to 80.
That's like a real sweet spot.
Under 100, over 60 is reallywhere I liked it, but 60 to 80
(35:58):
is where we like the bloodlevels to be, and most people
are deficient in vitamin D, andvitamin D acts as a hormone more
than a vitamin in the body.
It does so many things and, asfar as acne goes, it helps
regulate the immune system, soyou'll have less inflammation.
It's going to reduceinflammation and it's going to
help control and mitigatesebaceous oil gland activity,
(36:21):
and there's a study in 2016 thatfound that vitamin D deficiency
is very common in acne patients, and supplementation to get to
the point of adequate vitamin Dlevels will help improve acne.
So keep this in mind, becausethis is just a low-hanging fruit
that's attainable for anyone,and the dosage of vitamin D is
(36:43):
around 2,000 to 5,000 IU per day.
You need to check your bloodlevels first.
I've never seen anyone overdoseat 5,000 IU per day in my
experience of 20 plus years.
Okay, the next supplement thathas been shown in multiple
studies to help with acne areprobiotics, because we know that
the gut is related to the skinand the brain.
(37:06):
Your gut, brain and skin areall on one axis.
They're all derived from thesame cell type when you're an
embryo.
So it's all interrelated andwe're finding more and more that
the health of our skin isrelated to the health of our gut
.
So if you're having gi distressand acne, they are related.
So we want to improve thehealth of your gut and the
health of your skin, becauseboth will will happen
(37:28):
simultaneously.
So we know a lot about the factthat having a healthy gut
microbiome is important.
We haven't quite nailed downwhat we want to see in the gut.
We want to see as muchdiversity as possible, and the
more diversity we have in thegut, the healthier our gut's
going to be.
The less diversity, the lesshealthy it's going to be.
(37:49):
So just throwing probioticsdon't necessarily fix the gut
problem.
So just throwing probioticsdon't necessarily fix the gut
problem.
There are certain probioticsthat have been shown to be
helpful for acne.
So there was a 2021 review indermatology and therapy that
(38:13):
found that probiotics improveacne by reducing inflammation
and stabilizing the gut-skinconnection.
Specific strains of antibioticsare lactobacillus rhamnosus,
bifidobacterium bifidum andlactobacillus acidophilus.
But my opinion honestly, afterobserving and practicing and
reviewing literature, is toincorporate fermented foods.
So you don't want to do thisquickly because you'll have a
significant amount of GIdistress.
(38:33):
But I'm kind of in love withfermented foods, especially
sauerkraut, kimchi and my newestfavorite which I'm creating
myself and I'm not a cook at allis beet kvass and it's
basically fermented beet juice,which to some of you that might
sound gross, but sauerkraut iskind of neat, and kimchi because
you can add it.
If you make some beef or youmake some chicken, you can add
(38:56):
it.
If you make some some beef oryou make some chicken, you can
add it with some vegetables andyou just put it on the side and
these fermented foods impartreally beautiful, healthy,
diverse microbiome to your gutand short term your body may
have some issues acclimating,but start low and go slow and
over a months you're going tojust notice your skin glowing
and you're going to feel betterand maybe some of the joint
(39:17):
stiffness or joint pain that youhad is going to go away and
you're going to be able totolerate food you might not have
been able to tolerate in thepast.
So I really want you to look atyour gut as like the brain of
your body.
Basically, it's really amazing.
The other thing is fiber isvery important and prebiotics.
So prebiotic fiber is reallyimportant because you can be
(39:38):
taking in probiotics or theactual organisms, and if you
don't have the prebiotic fiber,which is the food to feed them,
they're not going to survive.
They're just going to die rightaway and you wasted your money
on the probiotics.
So you want to focus onprebiotics and fiber to feed
(39:59):
your healthy gut, so you supportit.
It's like miracle grow for theplants of your body.
We want to feed the goodbacteria in our body.
Okay, the next one isN-acetylcysteine, or NAC, so
N-acetylcysteine, n-a-c.
It is a super powerfulantioxidant and it reduces
(40:20):
oxidative stress andinflammation.
This is known as mucrimist.
In the hospital, and when I wasan intern working in the ER, we
would have patients that camein that maybe took too many
Tylenol and they were going tohave liver failure, and we would
give them N-acetylcysteine.
So N-acetylcysteine is amazingat supporting liver
detoxification, and liverdetoxification is essential to
(40:42):
work well because it helps clearthe toxins that also affect
their skin.
So all we're doing here withall of these things whether it's
food or supplements or anythingelse is we are supporting the
body to do what it wants to do,which is to detoxify, renew and
regenerate itself.
The other thing aboutN-acetylcysteine is that, or NAC
(41:04):
is that.
It helps regulate glutathione,and glutathione is the most
powerful antioxidant in the body, and it's also essential for
clear skin, for even skin toneand for acne-free skin.
There's a study in 2012 in theclinical and experimental
dermatology that showed that NACN-acetylcysteine
(41:25):
supplementation improved acne.
So once again, we have sciencebehind these.
So what's the dosage in thestudy?
It's 600 to 1,200 milligramsper day behind these.
So what's the dosage in thestudy?
It's 600 to 1200 milligrams perday.
You could take it once a day,twice a day.
We're just supporting the liverto do what it needs to do.
And the last thing I want totalk about, which I've talked
about before, is spearmint tea.
So spearmint tea isanti-androgenic, which means it
(41:48):
lowers the testosterone hormonesthat tend to cause hormonal
acne in women.
So by reducing the testosteronelevels that tend to cause
hormonal acne in women so byreducing the testosterone levels
that can trigger the hormonalacne and being anti-inflammatory
and helping oil production,spearmint tea is a natural
winner for reducing acne.
There's a study in 2015 inphytotherapy research journal
(42:14):
that found that drinkingspearmint tea twice a day for 30
days lowered androgen levelsand thus reducing acne.
So how much do you drink.
First of all, I want you tofind organic spearmint tea and I
want you to avoid tea bags thatcontain plastic in it, because
plastic is an endocrinedisruptor.
So loose leaf tea is going tobe your best bet.
(42:35):
One to two cups a day so thestudies show two cups a day.
Even one cup a day is going tobe beneficial.
So these are your supplementsthat are going to help with acne
.
We mentioned saw palmetto.
We mentioned DIM, we mentionedmyo-inositol for hormonal acne,
for all acne.
We mentioned zinc, omega-3fatty acids, vitamin D,
(42:57):
probiotics and fermented foods,and acetylcysteine and spearmint
tea.
Now, what do you want to avoid?
Because we want to avoid thingsthat are causing acne before we
start adding things in.
You want to avoid biotin or B7.
Vitamin B7 is biotin.
Biotin can worsen your acne byincreasing keratin production
(43:19):
and clogging pores.
So while there's a lot of hairsupplements that are using high
doses of biotin to supposedlyincrease hair growth, which we
need to discuss on a futureepisode biotin can worsen acne.
So if you're taking biotin andyou have acne, I'd stop it.
The second is iodine.
So iodine, especially in highdoses, or if you have a ton of
seaweed which I do, like seaweedand iodized salt.
(43:41):
This excess iodine can triggeracne breakouts, so you want to
stop that as well.
And before you just take all ofthese supplements, I want you
to consult with a healthcareprovider before starting
anything, because responses canvary.
Everyone has different causesand there's different potential
side effects and interactionswith different medications.
So that's all I want to covertoday in this deep dive for acne
(44:05):
answering your questions.
Amazing questions.
I love it.
Thank you for giving me theopportunity for this platform to
share information with you toempower you to have clear skin.
At the end of the day, all ofthese are science-based
suggestions and you need to tunein and listen to your own skin.
Till next time.
Thank you for joining us onListen to your Skin by Moon and
(44:28):
Skin.
It's an honor to be part ofyour skincare journey and if you
love this episode, make sure tosubscribe.
Leave us a glowing review andshare it with someone who's
passionate about their skincarejourney, and please connect with
us on social to ask yourquestions, which will drive
future educational episodes.
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