Understanding Your Primary Acne Trigger - Gut Imbalance

Author: Jessica Gremley

GUT IMBALANCE

A practical guide for getting clear

Your Primary Acne Trigger is―GUT IMBALANCE

You’re in the right place

Congrats! You’ve taken the Acne Trigger Finder and the results are in.

Based on your answers to the questions, your PRIMARY acne trigger is Gut Imbalance. And now, with this guide in hand, you’re on your way to better understanding your primary acne trigger and ways you can begin healing your skin.

REMEMBER! This guide is just one part of your Gut Imbalance Clear Skin Kit. It’s critical, if you haven’t already, to watch the Online Clear Skin Training, also included inside your Clear Skin Kit.

I created this online training especially for you, because gut balance can have a significant impact on your acne! In the online training, I share even more secrets on how this trigger sabotages your skin, and what you can do to take back control.

Ready to learn more about your primary acne trigger?

Let’s dive in!

1. Common characteristics

Breakouts related to gut imbalance occur on the cheeks and side of face by the ears.

Is your acne red and inflamed? Does it appear on your cheeks and near your ears? If so, that’s exactly what most of our thousands of clients with digestive issues experienced before we helped them get clear.

Fascinatingly, there are many theories linking organs throughout the body to different parts of the face. Chinese Face Mapping is one such theory, which links your stomach to your cheeks―an indicator that what’s amiss in your gut is amiss on your face.

2. More Telltale Signs

Bloating, gassiness, skipping bowel movements, stomach aches, cramping are all signs of gut imbalance.

Do you tend to break out during or after digestive distress? If you’re not completely sure, start tracking! Breakouts triggered by improper gut function typically cause breakouts within 24 to 48 hours of an episode.

Pay special attention if you’ve eaten food that your body is sensitive to or food that’s gone bad. Taking antibiotics for any reason or taking Accutane often causes nausea. Other digestion problems include constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s or Celiac disease, leaky gut, diarrhea, and generalized stomach aches and pains.

3. Likely Landmines

When it comes to acne, gut imbalance is an often-overlooked trigger.

Most people don’t even know they have a gut imbalance! While some feel stomach upset or constipation so consistently, they’ve forgotten what a healthy gut feels like and think this is “normal”. And that helps explain why this acne trigger is, for the most part, rarely if ever addressed by conventional methods.

The most common landmine is having constipation for a day or more, a sure sign of gut distress. If your gut is healthy, you should be having two or more bowel movements per day; one per day is acceptable. However, if you skip having a daily bowel movement even once in the course of a week, consider yourself constipated―and be on red alert for breakouts!

Food intolerances, stress and leaky gut can aggravate your acne.

Food intolerance, also known as non-allergic food hypersensitivity, refers to difficulty in digesting certain foods. These foods often include dairy (lactose intolerance is well known!), gluten, grains, and those that cause gas buildup such as beans and cabbage. Symptoms of food intolerance include bloating, migraines, acne, stomach ache and irritable bowel.

Stress can cause chronic nausea or bloating. It can also be a trigger for disease flareups or worsen symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel syndrome and other gastrointestinal conditions.

A small percentage of our clients have a more severe gut issue known as leaky gut or increased intestinal permeability. In this condition, bad bacteria, cellular waste, gluten proteins and toxins can more easily pass through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, increasing inflammation and, in turn, triggering acne.

4. Secondary Triggers

You should know―you probably have more than one acne trigger. While identifying your primary acne trigger is crucial in your quest to get clear, please realize…

There’s MORE than one trigger aggravating your acne. We typically find that our clients have 3 to 4 triggers all impacting their skin at one time.

These common secondary acne triggers include hormonal imbalances, stress and diet. Two acne instigators often derail your clearing efforts as well. The first are pore-clogging ingredients in your skincare, hair care, laundry and beauty care products―even many topical acne care products! The second instigator is sticking to an acne care routine that’s unknowingly harming and/or perpetuating your acne.

You might be aware of some of these triggers and instigators; others, you might not have had a clue they’re impacting your skin!

The important thing to know is: all systems in our body are interrelated. Triggers like gut imbalance can set off a chain reaction of secondary triggers―like stress or stress-eating the wrong foods, which in turn, can unsettle your hormones. You get the picture.

What can you do?

If you believe your acne may be impacted by secondary triggers like these, be sure to check out the acne trigger and acne topic pages inside Clear Skin Connection. Each is packed with proven, research-backed resources so you can take the best path forward to heal your skin.

Meanwhile, here’s the lowdown on the three secondary triggers that may be impacting your skin.

HORMONES

As a female, you’ll most likely experience hormonal acne around the mouth, chin and along the jawline.

And the week prior to your period is when the most hormonal acne flares up. Finding your body’s healthy balance of estrogen, progesterone and androgen is one of the critical keys to eliminating acne. I prefer using a tailored regimen of herbs as opposed to birth control pills. Using herbal supplements allows your body to naturally rebalance itself without harmful side effects.

STRESS

Stress is the trickiest of all the acne triggers as it can show up, at least a little bit, in just about everyone.

Stress-induced breakouts usually occur within 48 hours of a stressful event. If you suspect you have this trigger, pay close attention to timing. You can naturally relieve stress with proven selfcare methods like exercise, mindful breathing techniques, meditation and laughter. In addition, the right supplement for acne-prone skin (such as our Clove Hill Adrenal Stress Formula) can provide the missing nutrients you need to strengthen, support and rebuild your adrenal glands.

DIET

Bet you’ve heard this again and again―chocolate and French fries trigger acne. Nope!

Research has proven that’s a myth. Instead, many common “good-for-you” foods trigger your breakouts because they contain iodine or androgens. Breakouts occur 24 to 48 hours after eating acne-triggering food including cow’s milk, peanut butter, sea plants and shrimp. Once you identify and stop eating foods triggering your acne, your skin can begin to recover from this trigger. Try substituting in new favorites like almond milk, cashew butter and freshwater fish to continue enjoying satisfying meals.

5. Time for relief

You can naturally rebalance your gut microbiome with herbs and supplements.

If you’re nodding in agreement to what you’ve read so far, using a consistent herb and supplement regimen to heal and rebalance your gut is a great first step to get relief.

For most people, acne-related digestive imbalances are highly responsive to therapeutic-grade Probiotics (such as our Clove Hill Clear Skin Probiotic-10). Probiotics are living microorganisms that, when taken orally, quickly re-establish a healthy microbiome in your digestive system and―with the right strains―help eradicate breakouts.

Additional means to restore gut health include Oil of Oregano (including our Clove Hill Oregano Oil supplement), which has powerful anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. And Fish Oil (for example, our Clove Hill Skin Omega-3) a potent natural anti-inflammatory that’s rich in Omega 3 fatty acids.

Remember! You get what you pay for, so be sure to invest only in top quality herbs and supplements if you want real results.

A few last thoughts…

Thank you for joining me in this guide!

You’ve learned a lot about your primary acne trigger―Gut Imbalance. 

From common characteristics and telltale signs, additional instigators and likely landmines, to quick ways you can start getting relief, you’re equipped to begin taking back control.

One of the most important things I want you to keep in mind is this―acne is an important way your body tells you “something is off”.

The link between acne and gut imbalance definitely falls into this category. And, unfortunately, the longer you ignore the signs of gut imbalance, the more discomfort you’ll experience―and the more breakouts you’ll have.

I know you’ll want to take action and do the right thing!

And now that you have this guide―and all of Clear Skin Central―at your fingertips, you’re better prepared than ever to make the right choices to heal your skin.

Congrats and best wishes!

Jessi Gremley
Creator of Clear Skin Central