Sweet Retreat: Unwrapping the Sugar-Acne Connection and Mastering Your Clear Skin Challenge

Welcome to Natural Pathic Beauty's Clear Skin Sessions, where we heal your acne from the inside out. Hello and welcome to episode 5. We are entering week 5 of the Clear Skin Challenge. Can you believe it? I'm so excited for this week because it is all about sugar. And this is going to make a huge impact not only on your skin, but your entire life. So let's get down to it. If you're new here, this is the Natural Pathic Beauty Clear Skin Sessions. This is where we talk about how to get rid of your acne for good. I've been there, I get it, I've suffered with acne. It was so traumatic for me that it actually changed my personality. I went back to Natural Pathic School so that I could learn how to heal my acne from the inside out because the solutions that I was being given were they not working, but I didn't even really want to partake in those solutions anyways, which are harsh medications and endless skin care treatments. I wanted to learn how to solve my acne from the inside out. For the last 18 years, I've been helping women do this as a natural pathic doctor and I am here to share my tips and secrets with you. We are at a point where we know the root causes of acne and there is no reason why anybody should still be suffering with acne. So this is what this podcast is all about. It's teaching you how to get clear skin and how to embark on your clear skin journey. And part of that is this eight week clear skin challenge that I have designed to launch this podcast. So there are two steps, two main steps to healing acne. Number one, which is phase one is reducing inflammation in the body. So acne is inflammation and reducing overall inflammation in the body is the first step to heal acne. Foundational natural pathic medicine is so helpful for this step. Often people go through this phase and they completely clear their acne and that's what this challenge is based upon. For other people, we need to dig a little bit deeper to balance imbalances in the body and address a lot of microbial overgrowth. And we can only do this once inflammation has been reduced. That's when we can do some targeted testing to really understand what's going on so we can quickly and efficiently get to the root cause of your acne and solve it for good. So I know this process very deeply. I've been doing it for over 18 years. I think I've pretty much seen it all and some people are going to be able to heal their acne easier than other people and that's what this challenge is going to help you uncover. So at the end of this challenge, you will know which category you fall into. Do you need to do more testing to understand what the root cause of your acne is or are you able to solve it just by reducing imbalances? So we are at week five of the clear skin challenge and I hope that you are already seeing some changes. So the first four steps that we did, number one, we cut dairy out of your diet which for some people is a game changer. And number two, we helped you design a breakfast that not only helps balance your blood sugar and your cortisol levels but also something that you love because this is so important to have a breakfast that you look forward to in the morning. Number three, stress. We talked a lot about stress. I shared a really, really great breathing exercise that helps you transition from a state of stress to a state of relaxation very quickly. And last week we talked about drainage and how drainage is very critical. Most acne patients are not great at drainage and detoxification and I gave you some helpful tips how to start this. So if you've missed any of the previous weeks of the clear skin challenge, be sure to listen to the podcast episodes that came before this. And if you're on board, if you've been following me through this journey, you are ready to cut sugar out of your diet. And I am really excited for this one because it makes a huge change not only in your skin, not only in how your body ages but in every single organ system in your body. This is incredibly exciting and I think this step is the one that people get the most out of globally throughout their whole body, throughout their whole life. When you cut sugar out, you realize that you've been living under a fog and that's exactly what I call it because once you cut sugar out, all of a sudden things become far clear. Your body just, your body is clearer, your mind is clearer, you feel more energized. It just seems like your entire body is lifted out of some deep sleep or something. So that's why I love this step so much. But it's a tough one. This is also the most difficult step to undertake because sugar is so addictive. In fact, research has shown it's more addictive than cocaine. I think I remember reading that it's eight times more addictive than cocaine. And this is because sugar actually binds to opioid and dopamine receptors in our body. These are very addictive substances as we know and because sugar binds to these receptors, it's addictive. And so when we start to cut sugar down, when we slowly reduce our intake of sugar, this can be really, really challenging. Because the best way is just to go cold turkey and we're going to talk a little bit about that in a minute. And I read something a while ago and I could not find research to back this up, but I did read that in the Renaissance, they actually used sugar as a party drug. It's that addictive and it gives us that high. It gives us such a great feeling that people actually used it as a party drug. So I don't know if that's completely true or not, but I can completely see how people would have done that, especially when they weren't used to eating tons and tons of sugar when they did eat it, they would definitely get a high. Anyways, let's talk about how sugar contributes to acne. And there are two main ways that it really affects our skin. So number one, sugar leads to insulin dysregulation. And I'm going to explain this process to you in detail. And number two, sugar also leads to microbiome dysregulation. And this just amplifies inflammation in the body. And I'm going to explain this to you as well. So let's jump into insulin dysregulation. So there have been a number of key studies that have been done over the past few decades that have really highlighted the correlation between acne and sugar. There is a big meta-analysis done in 2016 and yes, it is beyond debate. Sugar does lead to acne. But there were two really interesting studies that were done. One was in 2002. And this study looked at over 1,300 people in Papua New Guinea that lived traditionally. They ate a low glycemic diet consisting of fish, tubers, wild game, coconut, peanuts, and corn. So scientists found this study very interesting. And then there was also another study that was started in 1971. And this study took a look at the Canadian Inuit population. And they really tracked them over a period of 30 years. And they took a look at how they fared on their traditional diet where they had absolutely no acne lesions. And this Inuit population lived on a very high fat diet. And then they followed them. And once these people started to introduce Western foods, acne lesions started to appear. So these two studies are very interesting. And they do show us that when there's a very traditional diet in place, one with very low sugar, there's a very low incidence of acne lesions. And again, we saw this, we saw this confirmed in the meta analysis that was done in 2016. So it's not debatable. So first of all, how much sugar do we actually consume? So as North Americans, we consume an enormous amount of sugar. The average American consumes about 17 teaspoons of sugar per day. The recommended sugar consumption is 6 teaspoons of sugar per day. For my patient population, I do about half of that. So I'm about 3 teaspoons of sugar per day. And this is really natural sugars. I'm not suggesting people go out and have 3 teaspoons of cane sugar. I'm considering sugars that are found in fruits. So we really have to reduce our sugar consumption really drastically because people that are prone to acne are more insulin sensitive. We are more sensitive to sugar than other people may be. So why does sugar affect acne so much? It all comes down to insulin resistance. And this happens when insulin receptors on the cell no longer respond to insulin in the blood. This happens the top two reasons why this happened. is number one, dysregulated cortisol levels. So if you have been exposed to stress long-term in your life or if you have a very stressful life right now, you're likely going to have more insulin resistance than if you were completely relaxed. And then there's also increased consumption of sugar and fructose. This is, you know, very obvious and I'm going to explain to you how this happens. But then there's also chronic infection. And I see this a lot. When there tends to be high levels of chronic infection in the gut, there tends to be more insulin resistance. And this is often because this infection creates a lot of inflammation in the body due to the, an imbalist microbiome. So how does insulin resistance happen? So when you eat carbohydrates, they are broken down into glucose. Glucose is a molecule that is used as fuel for the body. And stress when we're exposed to stress, it's going to release stored glucose from the liver. So that's how stress really contributes to insulin resistance. And so when a diet, high in carbohydrates is consumed, the amount of blood glucose is going to be elevated. So within our blood vessels, we are going to have more molecules of glucose than if we're not stressed or we're not eating a high sugar diet. Now glucose needs insulin to get into the cells of the body. And insulin is like a key. It attaches to the cells to the insulin receptor and it opens a glucose channel which allows glucose to enter into the cell. However, when there's a lot of glucose in the blood, the pancreas is going to be released more insulin into the blood. And when there's too much insulin in the blood, these receptors get overwhelmed and they stop working. So what happens is we have high levels of glucose in the blood and high levels of insulin in the blood. And I know that I've really gone granular here to really get down into the details. But I want you to understand that there is such a direct correlation between stress, between consumption of sugars, and the amount of insulin that we have in our blood. This is really important when it comes to acne because when we have high insulin levels in the blood, we have increased amounts of certain hormones such as IGF1. And IGF1 directly increases androgen levels. And androgen are the hormones that increase oil production and increase caratonization in the poor. And these actions lead to acne. And when there's high insulin in the blood, it also increases androgen production in the ovarian thicus cells. And again, this leads to increased oil production and hypercratination in the poor. So as you can see, there is such a direct correlation between eating sugar and being stressed and experiencing insulin resistance and acne. And so many times I see when people cut sugar out of their diet, the inflammation in their skin just goes down almost immediately. It's a real immediate fix. So this is actually really exciting because this is a tool that you can implement in your life quite easily. It's very inexpensive. It's something you can do right this moment. You don't have to order any special supplements or anything. Something you can do to to get really drastic results when it comes to your skin. So how do you know if you actually have an insulin imbalance? If this is something that applies to you. So often people that have insulin imbalances, they tend to feel dizzy, angry, anxious, nauseous. They get a headache if they miss a meal or if they eat a meal too high in sugar. They tend to have low energy, migraines, hormonal imbalances. Sometimes you can see accumulation of fat around the midsection, difficulty falling or staying asleep can experience fatigue, difficulty concentrating, maybe a diagnosis of PCOS, Xima, skin tags and of course acne. So there's a lot of symptoms that can indicate that insulin is imbalanced in the body. So let's talk about the second way that sugar can lead to acne and that is by dysregulating the microbiome. So research shows us that when we consume a lot of sugar, we increase a type of bacterial called proteobacteria in the gut and we decrease a very beneficial file of bacteria called Vactorydeides and this upsets the balance of the microbiome. It creates more inflammation in the body and also reduces the integrity of the gut lining which can lead to leaky gut. This promotes tuxemia in the body and inflammation and metabolic dysregulation. So everything always comes together in the gut and we have to remember that acne is inflammation. When there's inflammation in the gut, if you are prone to acne, you are going to experience acne. And this also ties back to how the microbiome can make you more prone to insulin dysregulation as well. So everything in the body is all connected and I think that's one thing we really want to remember that when there's an imbalance in the microbiome, it's going to reflect on insulin regulation as well. All systems, they're so interrelated and that's why when I see patients and they come to me and they have multiple conditions that seem to be unrelated, often when I address the root cause of acne, often all these other conditions seem to miraculously solve themselves because when I solve that root cause of imbalance, everything else starts to balance in the body. And it's actually a very, very beautiful thing to see how harmonized the body really is when we give it what it needs. And when we take away those things that are really leading to inflammation in the body. So the bottom line is if you have gut issues, you want to avoid sugar, absolutely definitely don't even question it. So if there's constipation, if there's diarrhea, if there's a lot of bloating, if there's heartburn, if there's nausea, avoiding sugar is one of the main things that you want to do to help balance out your body. Okay, so at the beginning of this episode, I mentioned that sugar is very addictive because it binds to dopamine receptors because it binds to opioid receptors. And this, this means that it's not easy to completely quit sugar. Somebody with very, very strong willpower may be able to do this quite easily. Just say, okay, that's it. I'm not eating sugar again and they, they won't. But for many of us, that's not the case. And you know, I've worked with many people that have given up sugar. And I really find that the best way to do it is to prepare, to get your, your mind ready to know that you're doing it, get some alternatives to sugar prepared, and then just do it cold turkey. This is the only way to do it. But you have to have a plan. And often, I talk with my patients, I'm like, okay, so what are you going to do when the sugar cravings hit? So maybe you're going to have some carrot sticks, you know, on hand with some hummus or something, like a really healthy snack, you know, to get you through that craving. And you know, I often tell my patients the very best snack to have that's going to cut those sugar cravings right away is eating something fermented. So having something like a pickle or a couple spoonfuls of kimchi or sour crowd or even a little bit of coconut yogurt, those foods are going to help quench those sugar cravings very, very quickly. So have something like that on hand and you can actually do an activity as well. Instead of feeding that sugar craving with a food, you can drink a glass of water and go for a walk or you can do a few yoga poses or you can read a few pages of a really good novel or something. Whatever's going to distract you from that sugar craving, but it's strong. So you have to be prepared. You can't go into, you know, a situation where you're going to stop sugar without being prepared because it's going to be very, very difficult. But it is so worth it. And I find it usually takes about three to five days to really kick a strong sugar addiction, which is not that long. It's not that long. And then once you do kick that addiction, you just feel liberated. That's all I can say is you feel liberated because sugar, sugar binds us. I tell you it really does. So one another really big question I get is what sugar substitutes can I safely use when I have acne? So stevia, monk fruit extract and xylitol are all substitutes that, you know, my patients often utilize. I find monk fruit extract is by far the very best one. There can be some side effects with stevia if you have got issues as well. Zylitol can cause bloating. So, you know, I find monk fruit extract is probably the best sugar substitute across the board. But I always encourage my patients to use these substitutes sparingly. Maybe a drop or two if you have a warm drink that you want to sweeten or you want a little bit more sweetness in your morning smoothie. But I don't suggest making a bad brownies and using one of these sugar substitutes instead of sugar. That's because we're still feeding that sugar craving and we actually want to get past that sugar craving because there is something called a cephalic insulin response and this is this is when just the taste of sugar can trigger insulin production in the body and can trigger this you know cascade of increased insulin increased IGF1 increased androgens in acne so I actually see this a lot I see patients they try different sugar substitutes the things are still a little inflamed and when they cut down on their sugar substitute use you know there's actually a lot of relief in their acne so I really do suggest that you use these sugar substitutes very sparingly when you really need them and when you can really enjoy them and another question I get a lot is what fruits should you eat when you're cutting out sugar so fruits have so many benefits and I never ever suggest that anybody just cut fruits out completely however some fruits are much higher in sugar than others and tropical fruits I find can be very triggering for people with acne such as mangoes pineapples bananas these fruits are very very high in sugar so you know I usually ask my patients to hold off on those fruits until we've cleared the skin and then you can eat them in you know light moderation moving forward but the fruits that I find are very helpful for my patients number one berries I know berries technically aren't a fruit they're their own class but it's my favorite class I love berries berries are amazing and then also northern fruits such as apples such as pears nectarines apricots these fruits they're still high in fructose but you know they're not as high as some of the tropical fruits and they don't tend to be as triggering now you don't want to go overboard on fruit consumption either I usually recommend fruit consumption only once or twice a day and when you do eat fruit at this point in the healing stage I do not recommend eating it on its own either after a dinner or with a handful of nuts or maybe an apple and some almond butter or put your berries in a smoothie with some protein powder just to avoid any glucose spikes so or fructose spikes so you know fruit is still good there's so many benefits to eating fruit but when we're really trying to re-regulate metabolism and insulin levels and heal the microbiome and potentially eradicate any overgrowth really keeping fruit to a minimum is very very helpful okay so what can you expect when you stop sugar less inflammation less acne I have seen this over and over and over again but not only that more energy better sleep better digestion and the one that I hear again and again is more clarity it's like we step out of that place of being in a brain fog and it's kind of like in a ha it's a big a ha when you stop sugar and all the sudden you're clear but remember caution with a cephalic insulin response even though you're cutting out sugar don't overload on sugar substitutes I find that's not super helpful okay I hope this has been super helpful and I have inspired you to get rid of sugar to really heal your skin to heal your body and to experience so many incredible benefits so stay tuned for week six of the clear skin challenge I'm going to be dropping another podcast episode next week if you want to know more about the four pillars of clear skin and how I treat acne check out my free clear skin masterclass the link is in my show notes and if you know that you just want to get going on your clear skin journey and work with me you can book a call with my team to learn more about my programs and get started right away and again the link is in the show notes so have a beautiful day I hope that this episode has been helpful for you and I hope that you are enjoying this challenge I can't wait to hear more from you send me a DM in Instagram I want to know how you are doing if you're seeing results and of course if you have any questions so sending you so much love and have a beautiful day