Cause and Effect
Nov 23, 2022Acne
By my early twenties I was becoming really frustrated with the painful and unsightly acne that refused to wane years after puberty did its thing. My mother understood what a slap to a girl’s ego this was and took me to a dermatologist seeking the aid of a new acne wonder drug that we heard could potentially eliminate acne permanently. Because this drug could cause very serious birth defects to fetuses, females were required to take birth control.
During my office visit I asked the dermatologist if anything I was eating could be causing my acne and he emphatically said, “NO. What you eat doesn’t have anything to do with your acne”. Then after a pause he interjected with this caveat: “But, if you notice eating chocolate or French fries makes your acne worse, well, then, avoid eating it”.
In one breath he authoritatively denied any connection between the food I was eating and the state of my skin, and in his very next breath, cracked a window open for a potential link. As much as I wanted to put all my trust in the education of doctors, I realized regrettably that they didn’t have all the answers.
Making the Connection
Decades later, raising a family of my own, the only actual link between food and the body I was intimately aware of was an allergic reaction. I had suffered from seasonal allergies and food allergies all my life. If you were unfortunate enough to have an allergy, you avoided the allergen like kryptonite. As long as you avoided the allergen, life was pretty carefree. Why is it that this connection is easy to see, but the link between other things we take into our body and negative responses is not? Perhaps it is because many negative responses take time to accumulate or develop like heart disease or cancer.
When I first began using herbs to elicit specific responses, I was thrilled to see immediate and gradual "cause and effects" in the body. Why didn’t everyone know about the many wonders of herbs?! (I am still wondering this, but that is a topic for another time.) My newfound understanding of cause and effect with herbs and the body led me further down the path towards other things we take into our body, and I found scores of books, documentaries, articles, and studies that piqued my interest. There are many who have made the connection between food and the diseases we suffer or the health we enjoy. How was I so late to the party?! Now I pay a lot more attention to what I eat and how it makes me feel.
Here is a "cause and effect" challenge for you:
- Have you noticed any connections between the things you eat and the way you feel? For example, does eating ice cream cause your stomach to be unsettled? Do you have breakouts after eating chocolate or French fries? Does eating processed meats make you feel bloated or queasy?
- For a week, pay attention to how you feel after eating a favorite food or drink, then the second week, stop eating this food or drink and at the end of the week assess how you feel.
Kristi Taylor is a Master Herbalist, Clinical Herbalist and Natural healing Guide®. She endeavors to share her knowledge and passion of natural healing with whomever will listen – because nature’s wisdom never ceases to delight and amaze!
References
Baldwin, H., Tan, J. (2021). Effects of Diet on Acne and Its Response to Treatment. Am J Clin Dermatol 22, 55–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40257-020-00542-y
Burris, J., Rietkerk, W., & Woolf, K. (2014). Relationships of self-reported dietary factors and perceived acne severity in a cohort of New York young adults. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 114 (3), 384-392.
Caperton, C., Block, S., Viera, M., Keri, J., & Berman, B. (2014). Double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessing the effect of chocolate consumption in subjects with a history of acne vulgaris. The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology, 7 (5), 19.
Kucharska, A., Szmurło, A., & Sińska, B. (2016). Significance of diet in treated and untreated acne vulgaris. Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 2016; 33 (2): 81–6.
Penso, L., Touvier, M., Deschasaux, M., Hercberg, S., Ezzedine, K., & Sbidian, E. (2020). Association between adult acne and dietary behaviors: findings from the NutriNet-Santé Prospective Cohort Study. JAMA dermatology, 156 (8), 854-862.
