We live in a toxic world. There are over 100’000 chemicals in our environment. Hundreds of these find their way into your body.

These chemicals and other toxins cause many health problems – acne is one of them. If you want to enjoy clear skin and good health, you need to help your body to deal with these toxins and chemicals.

Detox for acne is the best way to do this.

What is detox?

Have you ever had hangover? If so, then you’ve experienced detoxification process in action.

Detoxification simply means elimination of waste matter (such as toxins, chemicals, digestive waste products) from the body. This completely natural process is going on 24/7.

Your body could not survive without constant detoxification. Did you know that the byproducts of digestion are harmful to you? Your body has to constantly remove waste matter.

Can toxins affect acne?

Detox is the new buzzword in the natural acne treatment community. The theory goes that the human body is overburdened with toxins. This toxin overload leads to many health problems, acne among them.

Unfortunately the natural health field is littered with myths, quackery and snake oil. You have to be a bit careful with what to believe (take this from someone who has been through it all). Let’s separate toxic myths from detoxificating truths.

Yes, it’s true that toxins can affect acne. However, the connection is not as dramatic as many websites would have you believe – your body is not a bubbling toxic waste dump.

The toxin and acne connection comes down to inflammation (chronic inflammation is the primary cause for acne). Toxins and other foreign matter are generally speaking inflammatory. The less toxins, the less inflammation your body has to deal with.

The liver is another possible link between toxins and acne. Along with the kidneys the liver is your body’s primary detoxification organ. If the liver and the kidneys can’t keep up with the toxic load, your body has to resort to secondary detoxification organs, such as the skin is one of them. Toxins are quite literally pushed through the skin. Remember that toxins are inflammatory. So as they pass through the skin they cause inflammation, and inflammation can turn blocked pores into painful, red pimples.

The liver also regulates the levels of many key hormones, some of which are linked to acne. It’s possible that toxin overload hampers with this and causes hormonal imbalance – though this link is far from proven.

Can you detox acne away?

Now that you understand how toxins affect acne, it’s easy to see why detox helps with acne.

Detoxification, or cleansing, helps your body to remove these toxins. As that happens chronic inflammation settles down and the redness in the skin generally calms down. Detox also gives the liver much needed rest.

However, before you jump into the detox train, beware of toxic detox myths.

Detox myths

Riding the celebrity hype, detox is starting to hit the mainstream consciousness. Unfortunately this means all sorts of shady operators want to profit from this opportunity.

Let’s look at few of the most common detox myths. Keep these in mind and you can save a lot of money.

Your body isn’t a toxic waste dump

Some detox websites and books want to scare you with images of overflowing toxic waste dump. The solution is to buy their detox kit, which gently and effectively gets rid of toxins. Don’t buy into this.

Your colon isn’t poisoning you

This is related to the previous myth. The colon is often blamed for this toxin overload. They say that your colon is filled with undigested food that’s putrefying into dangerous chemicals. These toxins then leak into your body and cause liver congestion.

Please note that this is pure nonsense. It’s physiologically impossible for your colon to be filled with undigested food. First, the cells in the colon wall are constantly renewed, this happens so quickly that you have a brand new colon every 20 hours. If the cells in the colon wall are shed every 20 hours, how is it possible that anything sticks to them? This is no more possible than food sticking into the inside lining of your mouth.

Second, if there would be undigested food in the colon, you would think someone would notice it. To date this hasn’t happened. Doctors who perform colonoscopies daily tell you there’s no undigested food in the colon. And if there is, it’s from the meal you ate yesterday – not years ago. Similarly, autopsies never reveal this putrefying matter of undigested food.

The only place it exists is the books and websites of people who want to sell you colon cleansing products.

You don’t need any products to detox

Detox is a completely natural process. It’s going on 24/7, and is regulated by your body. You don’t need any products for this, nor should you use any detox products. They cannot work the way they are advertised.

How to detox for acne

If you shouldn’t use any detox products, so how should you detox then? You should start by dropping the word detox. It just creates confusion. Replace it with the word rest.

Detox is essentially rest. With rest I don’t mean just physical rest. I mean rest from digestive stress, emotional stress, sensory stress and physical stress. In a nutshell, the less stress you put on the body, the more energy it can dedicate to detox work.

Let’s look at a concrete example of this.

Example acne detox diet

Three day apple fast is perhaps the easiest detox for beginners. As name implies, for three days you eat only apples. Limiting your food intake to just apples eliminates most of the digestive stress. Apples also give you plenty of fiber, which helps to keep your colon functioning. You should also drink plenty of water.

During these three days rest as much as possible. Light walking is OK but avoid heavy exercise. Avoid stressful situations. Just stay at home and read a book or do something else relaxing.

As you do this your body starts eliminating toxins. This process can feel a bit uncomfortable (think hangover), but you are doing your body a wonderful favor. In the long run this will also be good for your skin.

Perhaps you have heard of the best-selling acne book Acne Free in 3 Days? Three day apple fast is the ‘secret acne cure’ it the book. There you just saved $40.

Detox for acne in a nutshell

We live in a toxic world and regular detoxification can do wonders for acne and your overall health. However, keep in mind that detox is a natural process and you should avoid any products that claim to detox your body. Just rest and trust that your body takes care of the toxins (that’s what you do after a night of drinking – right?).

As helpful as detox is, it’s not the be all and end all acne cure. Acne is a complicated condition and detox is just part of the solution. But when done correctly it compliments more holistic acne treatment efforts.