The Clear Skin Diet

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Author: Alan C. Logan
Binding: Hardcover
EAN: 9781581825749
Label: Cumberland House
Dimension: 1.3 x 9.1 x 6.2 inches
ISBN: 1581825749
Manufacturer: Cumberland House
Publisher: Cumberland House
Number of items: 1
Number of pages: 304
Publication date: September 01, 2007
Studio: Cumberland House

While acne has long been a problem for adolescents, in recent decades--the last fifty years specifically--acne has been on the rise among adults as well, particularly among women. Many scientists have traced this upsurge to changes in the dietary habits of North Americans. The Clear Skin Diet is designed to help those who suffer from acne to understand what it is, why they have it, what it has to do with their eating habits, and what they can do to prevent it or lessen its impact.

The Clear Skin Diet introduces the acne diet and lifestyle. Dietary requirements for protecting the skin are also listed--along with suggested food supplements when they cannot be easily met--and summarized, as well as mind-body medical interventions that can influence acne hormones and lessen their impact.

Most interesting are the 50 acne-preventive recipes that are provided, along with information on how one can locate the ingredients that are no readily available in most grocery stores.

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Ratings & Comments(Average:)

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- Great book, very informative.
There can't be a better source of information for the skin-acne connection out there. Very informative with credible references, very well written. There are a few spots in the beginning that got a bit technical for me so I skimmed, but otherwise I had no issue reading the whole way through. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject matter. It's definitely not a bore-fest!

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- good place to start
I am plagued with adult acne and I have tried most of the stuff out there with little luck so decided to start from the inside out! I took some info from this book along with a few other sources and have had success. I began ingesting the following(see below) and by week 3 of this new intake my skin looked amazing! really amazing, glowing I would dare say! Acne is a bummer and is emotional and as a woman I know how awful it really can be! I slowly built up my intake of the following and now consume each thing on this list each day and I swear to you my skin is 95% clear!!
1) vitamins: Pantothenic acid, alpha liopic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, acidophilus.
2) I ingest tablespoon of organic fish oil (liquid) and flaxseed oil
3) I ingest 1 tablespoon of pure organic cacao powder(not coco powder w/ sugar..the real deal)
4) 4 cups of organic green tea
5) 1 glass of blueberry juice
6) topically I use BP each night on my skin and use not a moisturizer but a hydration cream and I cleanse with an over the counter sensitive cleansing liquid.
7) for scaring I use topical vitamin c serum each morning

I decided on this mix based on several different resources and this combo works wonders for me. I am not sure if one thing is more powerful than another to be honest but I can say that 3 months into this "test" my skin is still looking amazing. I had to share because I know that so many suffer with this horrible condition.

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- A good starting point to change your way of thinking
The book was extremely detailed and provided research to back their claims - occassionally some of the descriptions of the research findings were a bit too detailed for me to keep my attention but I definitely appreciated the writers providing the research and also the obvious lack of research into the relationship between diet & acne which also has led to lack of education in dermatologists regarding diet (in all my years of acne and multiple doctors I have not had a single one ask me about my diet - it was been through the internet and this book I discovered this finding). I was making changes very early on in the book - before hitting the chapter telling you what to do and I definitely saw improvement. I didn't make any dramatic changes but I definitely agree with 2 main points they make - the affect of dairy increasing acne and the use of high omega 3 fatty acid foods to help decrease acne. I don't stay on a "strict" diet because of this book but it has made me more aware of the foods I put into my body so that I make better choices - and I have clear skin right now to prove it :)

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- "Pizza Face" is more than just a pejorative
Since I discovered this book in my mid-20's, my biggest complaint is that Logan and Treloar didn't publish a decade earlier. The money they could have saved me on dermatologist visits and Proactiv Solution Renewing Cleanser! Not to mention the social anxiety and lingering scars of breakouts I could have prevented.

Tell me if my routine sounds familiar to you: I would feel a breakout coming on, get out an arsenal of irritating topical products, dry my skin out so much I couldn't help but touch it, shellac heavy concealers and moisturizers on, stress that I wasn't fooling anyone with the cover up, and hunker down with my favorite sugary comfort food to wait it out. Every well-intentioned step of the way, I was compounding the problem. This book will give you more constructive ways to channel that anxiety.

The authors are serious when they describe this as a "lifestyle plan." They say it may take up to 90 days to see results and form healthy eating habits. Don't let this discourage you. Some of the studies they cite were able to show statistically significant results in under 6 weeks. I began incorporating their plan in the middle of an epic breakout and found the advice halved my healing time.

The results of the lifestyle are not superficial. The steps you take to clear your skin will change your hormones, gut flora, and brain chemistry. Side effects of the program may include weight loss, lowered risk for diabetes and heart conditions, higher energy, more stable moods, relief of some symptoms of depression/anxiety, thicker hair on your head and ladies, finer hair on waxing zones. Of course, none of this is guaranteed, so you'll have to see how the results manifest for yourself. :)

This book is structured to be a teaser. The first 6 chapters are a cross between Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (P.S.) and Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me (Don't Go to the Cosmetic Counter Without Me). The authors are offering you the biological mechanics which confirm your suspicions about the contribution of excessive dairy, sugar, etc. on your skin. This can be a long slog, but equips you to make educated decisions about which portions of the diet are easy to incorporate into your lifestyle and which you can skip for now. Chapter 7 read like The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, examining the health ramifications of a western diet on the cultures that adopt it. Chapter 8 is what you came for, the diet itself. If you've read the preceding chapters, or any of Dr. Weil's books like 8 Weeks to Optimum Health: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body's Natural Healing Power, the takeaway points will look like familiar common sense: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants" (Pollan). However, it's great to have it pulled together coherently with the lit review. Finally, Chapter 9 gets Julia Child on you and moves into suggesting some simple recipes.

I bought this book on Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation) for immediate gratification and so I could read it covertly in public places. Unfortunately, the Kindle is such a curiosity to by-passers, it's blowing my cover! If you have any suggestions for an "intellectual beard" I can download for my Kindle bookshelf, let me know! If you're waiting for a physical copy to ship, definitely go to the author's website ([...])and download the diary to get you on your way to establishing a baseline.

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- Highly Recommended - dermatologist's perspective
Every acne patient should read this book. I find it very unfortunate that the American Academy of Dermatology has continued to perpetuate the myth that diet is not linked to acne. As someone who has made the choice to lead a healthier lifestyle, I was essentially following this diet for the past several months before I even read the book. I could see wonderful changes in my skin in addition to other changes (lost 30 lbs, was no longer tired and achy). I no longer had monthly flare-ups of the female adult acne, no longer had a drab complexion. People told me my skin seemed to "glow" and that my skin looked like an ad for an Oil of Olay commercial. I was no longer dependent on the latest and greatest topical treatment from the big pharma.

This textbook explains very clearly, and with excellent scientific background, exactly how diet and lifestyle influence the inflammatory and hormonal systems in our bodies to aggravate acne. The Western diet and lifestyle that predisposes to acne is also linked to obesity, diabetes and hormone dependent cancers down the road. For the past year, I have been recommending that acne patients avoid sugar and dairy. More recently, I have been recommending this book to all patients and/or their parents who see me about their acne. The endless antibiotics prescribed for acne lead to unfavorable to changes to bacterial flora, increase antibiotic resistant organisms, and may lead to other changes. I have seen firsthand how acne has now become a problem in much earlier and later ages than before. I see children whose acne starts at 9, adults who have acne well into their 50's. Many of these changes are not a result of genetics but of diet and lifestyle, particularly diets that are high in sugar, dairy, and unhealthy fats.

The diet in this book is not restrictive. The recommendations in this text are also appropriate for anyone trying to lose weight or improve their cardiac risk factors. I strongly believe it is only a matter of time before there is more proof that other inflammatory conditions such as psoriasis would benefit from similar dietary and lifestyle modifications. The only fault I can find with this book is that it is a little textbook-like. The authors explain every study that supports their points - very good for those who are skeptical, but it can make it a bit of a slow read.

I do realize that many of my patients will not pick up this book - they come to me to get a pill, a quick fix, and move on with their lives. I now take the time to explain the dietary and lifestyle contributors to acne and recommend this book, even though it really slows down the clinic. If even a small proportion of patients will make positive lifestyle changes as a result of my recommendations and this book, I will be quite pleased! Recently one of my patients left me a message - her skin improved within weeks of following the dietary changes. I was absolutely delighted to hear it.

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