Hormonal Acne - How to Treat and Prevent It

Did you know that hormonal acne technically isn’t a formal diagnosis?

As someone who exclusively focuses on helping women clear their skin, I think this misunderstanding is what leaves people suffering with acne for years and never getting results.

It’s easy to think that your acne is related to your hormones, and of course hormones can play a role in acne breakouts. But I believe that many people corner themselves with this “diagnosis”, thinking it’s only about their hormones and nothing else…leaving MANY pieces of the acne puzzle left unattended.

Even if you experience cystic acne, acne around the chin/jawline or breakouts relating to your period, that doesn’t mean that the other aspects of the gut/brain/skin axis should be ignored.

Why?

Because it’s all connected.

For example, if you have an “unhealthy” or unbalanced gut microbiome, it will directly impact the metabolism of your hormones, which will influence how your hormones impact your skin health.

So what do you need to do?

It’s not as simple as popping DIM or going onto birth control in order to clear your skin. That’s just leaving many pieces of the puzzle still unanswered.

Here’s a simple, far more effective approach to remedying “hormonal” acne.

Reduce systemic inflammation

Upregulation of inflammatory processes in the body will never give you clear skin. Chronic low-grade inflammation has been known to contribute to acne and advanced skin aging. Eating a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet also help provide your body with the building blocks it needs to keep inflammatory processes at a minimum. Think dark, leafy greens and healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids for starters.

I’m a personal fan of “paleo” style eating for skin health, primarily because it’s a trendy code word for whole-foods and nutrient dense meals. When I talk about paleo, I also don’t mean high protein. That’s a common misunderstanding of what paleo actually means.

Keeping blood glucose regulated is also important for reducing inflammation. Eating a whole-foods, low sugar diet is a no-brainer way to help. Not to mention significant insulin spikes in the day negatively impact acne-related hormones like testosterone.

Improve your body’s detoxification processes

Your hormones are metabolized through 3 phases of liver detoxification. Each of these phases require specific nutrients in order to function properly.

For example, phase 1 liver metabolism requires B vitamins to help break down hormones to more water-soluble forms, where phase 2 liver metabolism requires sulfur-rich compounds like glutathione to further metabolize these hormone by-products and prep them for elimination from the body (which is where phase 3 comes into play).

You don’t necessarily need to supplement to help improve your body’s natural detoxification processes, rather change diet and lifestyle factors that can influence these processes.

Once again, follow a nutrient-dense, whole-foods diet can help support your body’s detoxification processes. Ensuring proper elimination with lymphatic drainage technique like dry skin brushing and having daily bowel movements is also critical.

Ensure you’re getting the right nutrients + building blocks for proper hormone metabolism

Hormones are created from cholesterol, meaning you need to have an approach amount of the right building blocks in order to create hormones. Healthy fats and adequate protein are important here.

Secondly, how your hormones are metabolized is also critical. Upregulation or down regulation of certain enzymes will influence how your hormone are metabolized. For example, an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase is involved in metabolizing testosterone to its more or less potent forms. If 5-alpha-reductase is unregulated in the body, there will be more DHT (the more potent form of testosterone) in the body, increasing the likelihood of acne flare-ups. Simple measures like managing stress, improving blood glucose regulation, improving body composition and getting enough healthy fats in your diet can help.

See?

This is exactly why simply “following the carrot” of looking for the obvious on how to “fix” hormones is not the right answer when it comes to clearing acne. There’s SO much more that needs to be addressed - especially if you’re someone who has been struggling for a long time and still hasn’t gotten results.

Everything in the gut/brain/skin axis must be considered.

If you’re wanting more answers on how to treat and prevent hormonal acne, the actionable steps you need to take are outlined in the Skincare Lab.