9 Scientifically Proven Solutions To Oily Skin And Hence Acne

Oily skin is clearly a nightmare for acne, in more ways than one. The oil, scientifically called sebum, clogs your pores up by combining with dead skin cells, and once that happens, you’ve got two scenarios.

One, the melanin in your sebum oxidises and turns black, leaving you with a blackhead.

Two, the lowered oxygen levels provide the perfect breeding ground for p.acnes bacteria, which digests sebum for fuel.

This second scenario is how most acne forms; p.acnes multiplies like a woodland ant colony, your immune system takes notice, and a massive bombardment of inflammatory chemicals is unleashed, which swells your pore and creates acne.

Thanks to high oil production, your face is covered with cysts, pustules, pimples, whiteheads and blackheads. 

What can be done about the problem? That’s what we’re going to discuss today.

 

One – eat sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are terrific for many conditions behind acne. They’re proven to reduce inflammation, and contain a compound called quercetin that soothes the symptoms of food allergies.

However, their real claim to fame is their massive content of beta-carotene, or plant based vitamin A. 100 grams of roasted sweet potatoes contains 283% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA), which is barely half a serving if you have the slightest bit of hunger.

Vitamin A works its wonders by controlling your sebaceous glands, which produce the skin’s oil. Specifically, your sebaceous glands are lined with retinoid receptors, which retinol, the active form of vitamin A, binds to and activates.

Vitamin A can also shrink your skin pores, making what oil you do have less able to clog them. It even lowers keratin protein production, preventing dead skin cells from sticking together. Accutane (avoid) uses vitamin A as its main ingredient.

Read Annihilate Your Acne – learn how to clear your skin permanently

You can tell that sweet potatoes lower oil production just by looking at them – beta carotene provides yellow, orange, and red pigments in foods (see carrots and pumpkins). The richer the colour of your supermarket bag, the better for oily skin they will be. I eat sweet potatoes every other day.

Eggs are another excellent choice, containing both the beta carotene and retinol forms of vitamin A. Meanwhile, 100 grams of beef liver contains 634% of the RDA for vitamin A, in active retinol form.

 

Two – eat some oysters

The oyster can improve oily skin via multiple pathways. Firstly, this shellfish is the world’s best source of zinc, bar none. 100 grams contains 91mg of this mineral; the RDA is 15mg and a typical zinc pill contains 30mg. Zinc is a potent aphrodisiac, and the world’s most famous lady’s man Casanova reportedly ate 50 oysters or more daily.

How does that help oily skin? Simply because zinc is a necessary cofactor for the creation of retinol binding protein, the main bloodstream transporter of vitamin A.

Without zinc, your vitamin A cannot bind to sebaceous gland receptors. Without zinc, your vitamin A is useless for oily skin. Not to mention that zinc cures acne itself by controlling the immune system.

Oysters are also fantastic for the rare mineral magnesium, with 14% of the RDA per 100 grams. Magnesium helps to clear excessive cortisol from the bloodstream and can therefore reduce the oily skin caused by stress hormones (see below).

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Note: if you find oysters too slimy or difficult to cook, a dedicated zinc supplement will work just as well. Isolated zinc gluconate lowered acne by 49.8% in this study.

My favourite supplement, coming with a bonus fruit and vegetable blend, is this MegaFood Zinc. A great dedicated (and pure) option is this Thorne Research Zinc Picolinate. Picolinate is one of the best absorbed forms.

 

Three – use the secret natural topical treatments

Diet and lifestyle are easily the most important causes of oily skin, but topical treatments are another hidden secret. The main prescription remedies are topical retinoids, but nature is full of unknown secrets. It might be strange that an oil works wonders for sebum production, but the studies don’t lie.

Topical treatments tackle the same factors as diet, like DHT and vitamin A, but in a hyper-concentrated localised burst:

Sea buckthorn oil – an orange berry from the Himalayan valleys, which Nepali villagers sell in juice form to passing mountaineers. The oil has two excellent properties for oily skin: 1) it’s extremely rich in vitamin A, which controls your sebaceous glands. And 2) it contains plant steroids called stigmasterol and beta-sitosterol, which are strong inhibitors of the androgen DHT.

One study found that after just one week, sebum production fell by 17%, while the patient people who applied sea buckthorn oil for eight weeks enjoyed a 45% improvement, which is amazing from such a random berry. Remember to buy sea buckthorn berry oil, which is completely different to sea buckthorn seed oil. The berry oil is easily identified by its more intense orange colour. Best product: US Organic Sea Buckthorn Berry Oil.

Green tea – another random foodstuff with amazing results in studies. Green tea again inhibits DHT on the skin’s surface, through an antioxidant compound called epigallocatechin gallate. Green tea is slightly slower than sea buckthorn oil, with a 6% reduction after 1 week (study)…

…but after 8 weeks, topical green tea reduced oily skin by 60%. A separate study found a 50% reduction in acne. One smart strategy would be combining both green tea and sea buckthorn oil, as they work their magic through different compounds. Best product: the pure Swanson’s Green Tea Leaf.

Turmeric – this Indian spice might be the food with the single highest number of acne powers. Applied topically, it’s an anti-inflammatory juggernaut, loaded with antioxidants, and may increase collagen formation thanks to its curcumin compound.

Continuing the theme, turmeric can also reduce oily skin by 24.76% after 5 weeks (study). Like sea buckthorn oil, the beta sitosterol and stigmasterol may be responsible, but that’s only a guess. A great powder to combine with grapeseed oil or sea buckthorn oil. Best product: Organic Turmeric Powder by Feel Good Organics.

Rosehip seed oil – the oil of the seed of the wild rose bush of the Andes. Rosehip seed oil is extremely rich in natural vitamin A, causing natural acne enthusiasts to constantly recommend it as an alternative to prescription retinoids. Its vitamin E is also respectable. A great alternative to sea buckthorn oil. Plus, rosehip seed oil has decent evidence against ageing characteristics like wrinkles, fine lines and poor elasticity too. Best product: Kate Blanc Organic Rosehip Oil.

Grapeseed oil – while vitamin A is the best direct nutrient for oily skin, vitamin E is the greatest indirect one. Vitamin E is the main antioxidant used to protect your skin’s oil, to prevent the formation of toxic squalene peroxide, which triggers even more oil production. Grapeseed oil is one of the richest topical treatments in vitamin E. Its other acne features include a 69% content of linoleic acid, which strengthens the skin barrier and helps to lock in moisture. Best product: Sky Organics Grapeseed Oil.

Argan oil – an excellent alternative; grapeseed oil is higher in linoleic acid, but argan oil is even richer in vitamin E. Argan oil also has a lower comedogenic score of 1 out of 5, making it extremely unlikely to clog your pores. If you’re suffering from hyperpigmentation, then argan oil is a little known remedy: it inhibits two of the three main enzymes behind melanin accumulation, which are tyrosinase and dopachrome tautomerase. Best product: Organic Argan Oil by InstaNatural.

 

Four – sprinkle cinnamon over everything

The vitamin A in sweet potatoes is impressive, but it falls short next to the greatest food for oily skin of all – cinnamon. This common spice, found in nearly every kitchen, is widely prescribed to diabetics for lowering blood glucose and insulin.

High blood sugar stimulates sebum production massively, while insulin is the worst hormone for oily skin ever – it’s far stronger than DHT or testosterone. Insulin both encourages the creation of IGF-1, an anabolic hormone also found in dairy, and increases the receptiveness of androgen receptors in the sebaceous glands to DHT.

Hence, insulin fires up your oil pumping machine twice as hard, and cinnamon can combat that well. In a 2003 study, 60 type 2 diabetes patients were divided into 6 groups. Groups 1, 2, and 3 received 1, 3, and 6 grams of cinnamon respectively, while 4, 5, and 6 received the same quantities of a placebo.

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The cinnamon groups enjoyed blood sugar reductions of 18-29%. Just ¼ to ½ of a tablespoon led to 20% falls. The placebo groups displayed no difference. Another 2003 study found big reductions in fasting insulin from cinnamon.

So buy a packet of Ceylon (not cassia) cinnamon and sprinkle it on foods like a maniac, and enjoy this tasty way to reduce oily skin.

An excellent bulk brand is this 1 pound bag of Healthworks Organic Ceylon Cinnamon Powder. Bio-live natural yoghurt is an efficient and acne-friendly medium for eating cinnamon, as long as you don’t have a dairy sensitivity.

 

Five – get more vitamin D

Vitamin D is another insulin slasher, this time by improving your insulin sensitivity. In short, insulin’s job is to convert blood glucose to glycogen (energy) and store it in your muscle storages…

…but the receptors in those stores can become resistant, barely responding when insulin arrives. Your pancreas must pump out more insulin to compensate, and now your levels are elevated. In a nutshell, improved insulin sensitivity = less oily skin. High insulin resistance = very oily skin.

The good news is that one essential nutrient, vitamin D, can improve insulin sensitivity excellently. The better news is that you’re probably deficient. 

There are vitamin D receptors all over your body. A human body contains 30,000 genes, and vitamin D affects nearly 3000, including the gene that activates the insulin receptors in your glycogen stores.

This study took 100 Iranian volunteers, 70 women and 30 men, and fed them 50,000IU of vitamin D weekly (for context, I take 2000IU daily). Initially, 24% of participants were vitamin D deficient, and after 8 weeks, there was a significant reduction in both bloodstream insulin and the insulin resistance of glycogen receptors. The results “suggested that vitamin D supplementation could reduce insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes”.

Read this article and learn why vitamin A is great for oily skin

So you now have a fun strategy to follow: get to the beach right now, do some surfing or sunbathing, and relax as your oily skin is confined to history.

If you live somewhere damp and grey like England, you can take NatureWise Vitamin D3, a focussed, natural brand.

 

Six – eat more antioxidants

Insulin is also highly prone to oxidation, and when it does, it becomes useless at activating energy store receptors. If a large proportion is oxidised, your somewhat primitive body will simply pump out more insulin to compensate. This is another form of insulin resistance, and another road to oily skin…

…and not surprisingly, the best protection for these insulin molecules is eating more antioxidants. Dietary antioxidants can both defend insulin directly and scavenge free radicals elsewhere in the body which oxidise insulin down the road.

Your simple solution then, is to pack your diet with herbs, vegetables, fruits and spices. Eat a wide variety to get many different antioxidant classes – phenols, flavonoids, catechins, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and individual superstars like resveratrol in red wine and lycopene from watermelons.

7 natural topical treatments which can massively reduce acne

The best sources may be lurking under your nose. Dark chocolate is bursting with antioxidants, and coffee is the average American’s number one source. Ground cinnamon is the 3rd best food for antioxidants, according to the ORAC scale. Basic dried oregano ranks fifth.

Never underestimate herbs and spices! They’re often way more nutritious than fruits and vegetables, since drying them out makes the nutrients hyper concentrated.

 

Seven – sleep well

Sleep deprivation is a consistently overlooked cause of acne. Why would it not be – you spend a third of your life sleeping. That’s over 25 years by the time you’re 80.

Lack of sleep can cause heart disease, depression, and shrink your brain. Most acne patients forget about getting 8 hours of sleep each night, but one powerful benefit is less oily skin.

Like vitamin D, sleep improves your insulin sensitivity, by maintaining the function of  insulin receptors. One 2012 study created two groups: humans assigned to sleep for eight hours, versus humans sleeping for no more than 4.5 hours.

Insulin sensitivity fell by 16% in the sleep deprived group. Furthermore, the insulin sensitivity in fat cells fell by 30%, which rivalled that of patients with type 2 diabetes. The scientists said it was equivalent to somebody ageing 10 to 20 years.

The truth about dairy and acne

A 2010 study again analysed sleep and insulin sensitivity. Two groups again slept for either 8.5 hours or 4.5 hours. The scientists concluded: “Partial sleep deprivation during only a single night induces insulin resistance in multiple metabolic pathways in healthy subjects”.

If you want to lower your oil production, then sleeping for a solid eight hours per night is a great way forward. 

 

Eight – relax and reduce stress

Do you ever annoyingly get acne when you’re nervous before a hot date? Or when you’re busy at work with no holiday in sight?

The reason is what the legends of old knew all along – stress causes acne. Stress causes acne through impaired nutrient absorption, digestive inflammation and delayed wound healing, but it also opens the oil floodgates by increasing blood sugar. The main stress hormone is cortisol, and one of cortisol’s main duties is to pull glucose from your skeletal muscle stores.

For example, cortisol is naturally higher after sleeping, because you’ve been fasting for 8 or 9 hours and need extra glucose for energy. Unfortunately, these powers also apply when you’re simply stressed out. Any mental stress and anxiety can trigger a large cortisol surge, and hence, your goal is to relax your mind in whatever way you can.

Scientists have tested several fun activities on cortisol levels; the biggest reductions came from laughing, exercising and listening to music. Watching a comedy film can slash elevated cortisol by 50%. Certain secret foods can also help, like the pomegranate, which stops the creation of cortisol from its less active form, cortisone.

 

Nine – correct your body language

Further to our discussion of cheap tricks for acne, the king of them all is simply standing up straight. It seems like the tale of a scammy advertisement lurking in the depths of the internet accompanied by the words “dermatologists hate her”, but this “one weird trick” is supported by science for once.

In 2012, 60 men and women were divided into two groups, and asked to perform either a low power pose or a high power pose for two minutes.

The former involved general expansiveness; standing up straight, hands on hips, no slouching, legs stretched out when sitting, hands behind etc. Low power poses were contractive and defensive; legs crossed, arms folded, a slouched back and less space covered.

After just two minutes in a higher power pose, the patients enjoyed a 25% fall in cortisol levels.

Meanwhile, the lower power people had 20% increases. You can slash your stress hormones simply with proper posture, and slash oily skin too.

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The explanation is that somewhere in the recesses of our minds, the primitive lizard brain is still alive and kicking. All animals follow a simple rule – space is status.

By increasing the space your body covers, you can trick yourself into feeling more powerful, and hence, your stress instinctively falls.

 

Ten – take saw palmetto (for women only)

You might be wondering why we haven’t discussed male sex hormones like DHT and testosterone yet. That’s because I don’t advise any man to focus on them. Androgens do cause oily skin, by binding to androgen receptors in your sebaceous glands, similarly to insulin.

But as we discussed here, DHT and testosterone are a man’s lifeblood, and a well of vitality. You need these androgens for building muscle mass, a happy mood (low testosterone can cause depression), physical energy, and sex drive. Furthermore, you can cure acne while still enjoying high DHT/testosterone anyway.

However, women do not benefit from sky-high androgens and in addition, their sebaceous glands are far more sensitive to DHT. Therefore, if you’re a women, you have an extra avenue for controlling oily skin…

…and one of the best strategies is saw palmetto.

This is a herbal supplement extracted from the serenoa repens plant growing in Southern US states. Its most notable power is strongly inhibiting 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into DHT. Since DHT is the strongest androgen for stimulating your sebaceous glands, more testosterone and less DHT is the best balance for oily skin.

If you want to try saw palmetto, then a top quality supplement is this Oregon’s Wild Harvest Saw Palmetto (amazon link).

 

Conclusion

Follow those steps and you’ll cut the head off the acne-causing snake, or at least one of the heads, because acne does have other major causes.

Controlling insulin is easily your top priority for oily skin. We’re so seduced by TVs and Xboxes that we get no exercise anymore, and that’s why our glycogen stores are full.

Remember though – treating oily skin alone is important, but you also need to make that oil less damaging. That means lowering keratin production to prevent dead skin cells from sticking together, and getting antioxidants to prevent your sebum from going rancid.

Above all else, you simply have to tackle chronic inflammation. The fiery immune system response is what finally ignites acne, through massive collateral damage to skin pores. Oily skin and bacteria simply set the stage. Tackle all three, and your acne will be history.

NEXT: forget creams and moisturisers – discover the ultimate acne-clearing diet

 

Thanks for reading!