Is what I eat causes acne?

Not directly. You can enjoy a chocolate bar and there is not a scientific evidence of that producing a pimple. In fact, there is not a single prove that eating meat or dairies will directly produce a pimple. I’m not a dietitian and please I am not pretending to be one.  What I’d like to share with you is what some of my clients have gone through regarding their efforts to stop breaking out. I have met some of them who adopted strict vegetarian life style and two years later they stay vegetarian not because they succeeded in curbing acne activity but because it made them feel better. I am not discouraging you to eat healthy. Eating healthy benefit your skin, your immune system, your brain and your over all health.

The mechanics involved in your body that contributes to produce a pimple are more complicated than adopting a good diet. The entire medical, beauty, religious and quackery establishments have dedicated some time coming out with their own theory to cure acne, or at least provide a relief to the damaging effects of acne. I am going to prove you, though, that eating well, exercising and feeling exceptionally unbothered every day are the simplest, effective tactics in how to win your personal battle against acne.

Let's start with some simple suggestions that you can effortlessly adopt today and engage in this battle.  

This is the list of eating habits that I highly recommend to follow and life style that I suggest for you to practice:

• Drink water...plenty of water in the morning. Avoid any drink that contains too much sugar. If you enjoy orange juice or apple juice, stick to four once in the morning.
• Eat 2 fruits daily. Especially a banana and any citrus.
•  Avoid any drink that promotes energy or muscle growth. Those drinks trigger your immune system to act indiscriminately against very small tissues like any component in your skin.
• Salty food are known to cause cardiovascular diseases, but before that takes place, there are other significant damaging factors done on your sweat ducts and tiny blood vessels. Keep in mind, your skin is a large dumping site. Your body excretes sweat and sebum through your pores, if these substances are loaded with compounds heavily salt saturated, this would create irritation in the mouth of your pores. 
• Know what brings salty compounds into your diet. Chips, junk food, crackers, ham, bacon, instant soups, saturated fat. Avoid the majority of cheeses or reduce its consumption. 
• Red Meat is needed. Whether we like to agree of not on this subject, red meat is what scientist have agreed upon to what made us who we are in animal kingdom. Eat it, but when you do so, combine it with steamed vegetables or salad. Stay away from mixing red meat with anything that is high in carbohydrates like rice or pasta. Eating meat twice per week is more than what your body will require.
• Avoid drinks with caffeine or alcohol few hours before going to sleep. Sleep deprivation will prevent full cycle of healing events that are necessary to fight against body invaders like bacteria or germs.
• Avoid meals with high content of carbohydrates after 3 P.M. Carbohydrates ingested at late afternoon or late at night are not going to be properly digest. This type of food left in your guts overnight will give life to corrupt energy and dangerous levels of glucose.
• Exercise!!! Exercising your body will ensure that will perform exceptionally well. Physical activity produces energy and releases excess of toxics that otherwise it will poison your body.
• Every morning tell that person in the mirror how happy you feel.
• If you cannot honestly say that to yourself, then it is time to invest in some good source of enlightenment. Please not the T.V.!!!!! Order or buy a book. Sometimes we think we know it all and dismiss the idea of reading a good book.
• And yes have that chocolate bar....if it makes you feel great. DO IT. Remember: stay unbothered.   

Are dead cells really dead?

I heard this expression before: "The game ain't over until it's over." Superficial skin cells seems to play by the exact same rule. These soldier cells, the name I prefer to call them, are conveniently named dead cells. The reason, and I am theorizing here, is probably because the majority of them just happen to be on their final destination. Although these cells are not necessarily dead, one may say they are about to end their relationship with the skin. These top skin cell layers are one of the most unappreciated in the human body. We just don't give them the respect and admiration for their unique role of preventing or, at least, alerting upcoming younger cells of what lays ahead of them. Their unique role is to be our first line of defense for our bodies. These cells are partially cornified and deformed, however, their internal circuitry still able to transmit signals. The transmitted signals travel through their bodies in emergency "frequency" that alert younger cells of an imminent danger. Danger like how much pressure, heat, cold, toxicity, or abrasiveness. Those waves of information are rapidly passed along in fractions of seconds so the brain can act in timely manner.

These cells are also known to engage in suicidal missions when they "feel" that self-detachment from the main organ would prevent further physical damage to younger ones, as in the case of a burn or bacteria invasion. They are really good at transforming solar energy into many uses for the main body. Just as cells plants are able to transform sun energy into photosynthesis, our top layer of skin cells does a similar job. But because we are more sophisticated living beings in some senses, we demand and expect a lot more from our skin cells. Sometime these demands can certainly get us in trouble as in the case of dangerous sunbathing, excessive dehydration due to smoking or alcohol intake, neglect related to a stressful life, or simply the excessive use of cosmetics.

Even pores must rely on these cells. Pores are in charge of supplying proper moisture and keeping the skin surface cool. They could not get their job done if it would not be for our dedicated friends. When superficial skin cells begin "feeling" harsher condition like extreme dryness, they sound an "alarm" demanding immediate action from the pores to produce oil, sweat or the combination of both. In our teenage years and referring specifically to our face, the skin and its large networks of supportive tissues can produce an excess of oil and sweat causing to over enrich their delicate environment. This might create havoc on the surface. Too much of a good thing can generally give life or attract undesirable creatures like bacteria. Of  course, do not blame your superficial skin cells for this mess. Honestly, they are still doing their job. What contradicts their functions most of the time is that the brain is too busy handling a revolution of hormones and an overwhelming shifting of emotional period. In this period of growth, our brain may not attend to skin cells' request and simply might misinterpret their needs. You see, their living environment is known as Protective Acid Mantle and it most meet certain requirements to act as a shield. This Mantle, and I'm using my own interpretation, is the source of many surviving elements that superficial skin cells must have and count on every second.  It is like a bioelectrochemical mantle, providing energy through the use of organic waste mainly coming from the pores. This mantle supports nutritional needs, provides information like latest warning attacks from foreign matter, survival awareness updates, gene expression inputs and many others unknown factors that are deemed essential for the entire community of billions and billions of superficial cells. I will explain in another article these mechanics of how superficial cells interact and get in conflict with their Protective Acid Mantle. Make sure you stay tune.

Now, if so far you are still unconvinced why these "dead" marvelous things deserve some love and  respect, wait until I briefly describe their ultimate and most noble function. These dry leaves, as what they resemble through a powerful microscope, are in charge of laying out working  and surviving plans for future cell generation. Skin cells like any other cells in our bodies rely immensely on information coming from other cells. Even before detaching from mother skin, these older cells "teach" and alter the probability pattern of behaviour of younger cells. By recruiting, promoting and fostering adaptive fashion, older and experienced skin cells perpetuate a legacy of behaviour that plays a profound effect on their daily life as well as ours. They just don't quit and leave mother skin. They are also making sure they pass down their life experiences to a new generation.