14 Proven Acne Fighters

Hey, guys. Dr. Josh Axe and Jordan Rubin here. On today's episode, we're going to be talking about how to have clear, glowing, healthy skin. And Jordan, I know this is something that so many people are suffering with today, issues like acne, breakouts, actually acne scarring for adults and adult acne. We're also going to be even getting into even things like age spots and sunspots and how to have clear, glowing, beautiful skin. And Jordan, I know one of the biggest problems today when people have skin issues is that it can really harm their self-esteem. So Jordan, talk about what are some of the main causes today of acne and aging skin and some of these issues?

Absolutely. First, we have to understand this is not simply cosmetic. This is not skin deep. This is much deeper. In fact, if you've got acne blemishes, breakouts, etc., you've got something wrong internally. And I can tell you from experience having gone through acne as a teenager, it can be devastating. And it is something that not only harms your self-esteem, but it really is a major bummer.

Yeah.

And I know some people out there are 30, 40, 50, we all get pimples, right? Everybody has pimples, but you're still dealing with it. Now, certain people are more prone to acne than others, but I'd say 80% to 90% of Americans have pimples occasionally, if not more, and those that have acne or Yeah, absolutely, Jordan.

You know, when you look at some of these psychotropic drugs, and I wouldn't just say psychotropic, but when you look at a lot of the things like tetracycline and some of the other medications that are prescribed, they cause issues with the brain. I mean, they are really— they really affect the body's neurology. In fact, the side effects, if you go online and just look up acne medication side effects, They are shocking and scary. And so we're going to talk about today some natural ways to reduce skin inflammation, support the gut health, which we know is so tied to the health of your skin. Jordan, let's dive right in and talk about step number 1, GAGs, glycosaminoglycans. Talk about how can those help the skin? And by the way, these things can also not just help the skin, Jordan, they can help other areas of the body as well.

Absolutely. If you want the latest and greatest beauty treatment or acne treatment, glycosaminoglycans particularly hyaluronic acid are absolutely key. So if you look at your skin, you've got collagen, you've got elastin. Glycosaminoglycans include glucosamine, chondroitin, and hyaluronic acid. You get them from consuming bone broth. Actually, hyaluronic acid is found in chicken skin. So if you get organic pasture-raised chicken, eating the skin can be very, very good for you. If it's conventional, not so much.

Yeah.

Hyaluronic acid is also found in bone broth if I didn't mention it. So that is an amazing acne fighter taken orally and topically. So when you think skin, if it's acne, age spots, wrinkles, think hyaluronic acid in a food form from turkey or chicken bone broth or chicken skin from organic chickens is the first acne fighter we're going to talk about today.

You know, Jordan, I think everybody growing up has the white meat or dark meat that they have an affinity to, and for me, like, I love doing chicken legs, I love I love the skin, that dark meat was one of my favorites. By the way, let us know what is your favorite. Are you a white meat person or a dark meat person when you're eating chicken if you're an eater of chicken?

This borders on political incorrectness.

Well, I know.

All chicken is the same.

So we do have chicken skin as you mentioned because a lot of times people just discard the chicken. They think it's not the best part. As Jordan is saying, think about this, in Chinese medicine, eating the area of the animal actually supports that organ of the body. So what Jordan is saying, when you're eating the skin, if it's organic, if it's So free-range chicken, that's going to support your skin there as well. And while you're at it, eat the chicken liver, by the way. It's great for your own detoxification.

And that's also great for the skin. We didn't mention it, but liver is one of the highest sources of retinol or vitamin A, which is absolutely huge. And it's even a prescription medication for acne, Retin-A.

Wow.

But make sure to consume the skin. Back in the Jewish culture, they consume crispy chicken skin called gribenes. So if it's good chicken, it's good for you. That's number 1. That's the first proven acne fighter. Now, we have 14 today because there's so many good remedies for the skin. But guess what? If you're dealing with gut issues, liver issues, or brain issues, immune system issues, they're all related. If you've got skin stuff, you've got stuff inside. So stay tuned. Tell anyone you know who is using cover-ups, who's using acne medications. There are so— some of the best-selling infomercials of all time, some of the biggest celebrities Oh, yeah. Have been on some of those. Acne is everywhere and it causes much more than damage to your self-esteem.

Let's jump in here into step number 2 here. I'll touch on this first, a grain-free and dairy-free diet. Listen, this is so important. So many people today have food sensitivities, intolerances, or food allergies. Now, that's not the only case, but Jordan, I, over the years, Worked with a lot of patients and had them do IgG tests. And what came up more than anything was gluten and different types of dairy products and casein.

Casein.

And so we saw a lot of reactions to that. I mean, this food is, you know, imagine, I know you're a big Superman fan as I am. You know, we're fans of superheroes and comic books and those types of things. But, you know, everybody has their kryptonite. And imagine this, for a lot of people, especially dairy products and wheat products, Those are going to be the biggest things that are going to flare up your skin causing that inflammation. So again, you might be eating your kryptonite every single day. And so one of the things you want to consider is, as Jordan put up here, going grain-free, especially gluten-free for a period of time. We know these grains and starches can cause inflammation in the gut. They also feed yeast.

Absolutely.

As we talked about, starches break down into sugars. Feed additional yeast and Candida within the system. And then also, we know dairy, specifically beta-casein A1, sometimes potentially lactose for some people, but I would say casein more than anything from conventional cow's milk is going to wreak havoc on the skin. Jordan, looking back as a kid when I was a teenager, I would struggle sometimes with acne. But for me, my kryptonite looking back over the years, I recognized it when I was in college, That it was dairy. When I drank milk, I got phlegm in my throat, I got sick, I got acne issues. When I got off milk, for me, that was literally— just doing that completely cleared up my skin and helped heal my body.

And for me, it was different. I grew up in a home where we didn't consume dairy, so mine was grains and lots of them. So gluten and beta-casein A1 are really dangerous if you're wanting clear skin. And Josh mentioned this. There are some dairy products that can be really, really good for you. Pasture-raised, raw cultured dairy, yogurt, kefir from goat milk, sheep milk, or A1-free cows, and butter and ghee are really good. But when it comes to milk, ice cream, etc., those can cause problems with your skin.

Cheese on pizzas.

Absolutely. But here's the deal, if you're seriously afflicted with acne or if your child is, And even adults, they deal with it. I would go off all grains and all dairy for a period of time because you will see amazing, amazing results and you'll want to stick with it very likely.

Jordan, fatty fish. I know I just got back from a trip to Florida. I ate a lot of grouper, some mackerel, some snapper. Absolutely love fish. In fact, my wife Chelsea complains whenever I make salmon or especially mackerel. I love doing mackerel for breakfast. And my dogs are like, the entire time I'm eating mackerel, they're like trying to like jump up on the counter and get at it. So they love mackerel almost as much as they love beef bacon.

Absolutely.

But anyways, talk to us a little bit about the compounds in fatty fish that help with acne. How does that work? Because a lot of times people would think, oh, I'm getting these oils. How is oil or fat actually going to help the skin?

Absolutely. It's pretty simple and we're going to talk about 2 2 powerful compounds later that help support skin health and reduce acne, age spots, wrinkles, etc. But when it comes to fatty fish, we've got sardines, we've got herring, we've got many fatty fish. Swordfish has a little bit of fat in it, but salmon is really the best, sockeye salmon in particular.

Right.

For 2 reasons, it has omega-3 fats and astaxanthin, which is an antioxidant, and a little vitamin D. So when you are looking To reduce acne. You want to reduce inflammation. Omega-3 fats, particularly EPA, are very anti-inflammatory, and astaxanthin is an anti-inflammatory antioxidant. Salmon has them both, but any fatty fish, sardines are great. They're very affordable. If you consume them with the skin and bones, you've got lots of calcium, that's amazing.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, they don't smell great, let's just call a spade a spade, but they are powerful. Sardines have ribonucleic acid. They're one of only a couple of foods to have it. So fatty fish, 3 times a week minimum is great for your skin. And I know what you're going to say, teenagers don't like to eat fish. Here's the bottom line, you either want to get better or you don't. That's what I say to my kids. I've got a son who turned 12 and he's starting to have some challenges with pimples and we are taking it head on. He's like, Dad, if I got to go off all... high-carb foods, I'm ready to do it. And I have a daughter who's going to be 13 very soon and an older son as well. Everybody's different, but most kids deal with acne occasionally. Adults do. I still get pimples, but I know what works and fatty fish is a great answer. It's a great acne fighter.

And I wanted to mention this about fatty fish, a few things Jordan mentioned or sort of the theme of what we have going on. It is so important That you treat the root cause of the disease. Jordan, here's the problem. I have so many patients coming in over the years who said, Dr. Axe, I went to, and you've experienced this, 3, 5, 10 different doctors. They just gave me a medication or put my kid on a medication, and that's all the help you're getting. You've got to get the root cause. So all these things that Jordan and I have been talking to you about, one thing that's so important is reducing inflammation. You've got to do that in the gut and the skin to heal. You've also got to repopulate the good bacteria in your gut with probiotics. And the other thing is, Jordan, keeping insulin levels balanced. I mean, that's why we're talking about getting rid of the grains and actually casein in some cases and sugars. All of these things can cause insulin imbalance and cause other hormone imbalances. We know hormones are so important when it comes to balancing these things out. So again, a few things here, Jordan. I love doing salmon patties as a healthy recipe. You can find that on draxe.com.

Yeah.

Let's talk about fermented foods, Jordan, some of the benefits there. I know obviously when we're talking about things that we love, sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, even kefir and things like that, the probiotics in there, specifically Lactobacillus plantarum, if we're talking about certain Japanese fermented foods, Bacillus subtilis and some other fermented soil-based organisms or general probiotics. But probiotics act as— and I remember, Jordan, you telling me this years ago. That we were talking about soil-based organisms and you kind of used the analogy, actually I'll let you tell it, of kind of like a— not a backhoe but a bulldozer, you know, sort of clearing the land, right?

Absolutely, or Pac-Man we like to say.

There you go.

When you consume fermented foods, you're not only benefiting from the probiotics but the organic acids. So sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles or pickled cucumbers, pickled ginger is wonderful. Miso is really good and kefir can be great, especially if it's from whole goat milk or sheep milk. Raw is really good or a masi, which is A1 beta-casein-free. Make sure to consume fermented foods every day. Acne really is very linked to the gut.

Yeah.

So if you get your gut straight, you get your skin straight. It's an external sort of look to your internal health. Fermented foods are absolutely awesome. Greens. We talk about this often here on Ancient Medicine Today, but greens and green juices contain chlorophyll and beta-carotene. Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A, which is one of the top anti-acne nutrients. And in fact, today we are talking about 14 proven acne fighters. Acne medications, acne over-the-counter creams, they're some of the best sellers in America, if not the world.

Wow.

Because people are desperate to get rid of their blemishes. And if you're not prone to acne and you're a little bit more mature, let's say, you might have age spots, wrinkles, all of these tips are going to help your skin look beautiful. But especially if you've got a teenager at home, we want to help you transform your skin from the inside out. And we're even going to give you some tips on how to make an amazing acne-fighting poultice.

So I'll talk about a few herbs here, Jordan, that I love for acne. overall helping the skin. And some can be used in a food form, some can be used in supplement form. As I talked about earlier, you know, there are a lot of different things that can cause skin issues. It can be more gut-related, it can be more hormone-related. If we're talking about hormones, for some, if you're a woman in between the ages of probably 18 to 40, sometimes considering an herb like Vitex can be very—

Absolutely.

Or also known as chaste berry. Can be very, very beneficial for acne and hormones. Now, Jordan, this isn't necessarily an— well, it is an herb, but oftentimes it's used as an oil. Sometimes even evening primrose oil and borage oil, those can be beneficial if it's more hormone-related. But also looking at insulin, doing cinnamon on a regular basis can help out with blood sugar levels, can be great as well. So again, those are some that are beneficial. And we're talking about gut, if you've got inflammation in your gut, I really like using ginger root extract. Also, I think actually licorice root can be beneficial as well.

You're stealing my spice blender here, but we try to delineate between herbs and spices here on Ancient Medicine Today. But on the herb side, there are several. In fact, so many work. Some people respond really well to the mints, so peppermint and spearmint. Others, more of the, I would call Italian herbs such as oregano, marjoram, or thyme, all of them are proven antimicrobials when you lower the microbe levels, you begin to have better results because acne is caused by bacteria that are in the oil glands in the skin. And it is really important to get to the internal issues. Holy basil is a great, great herb for acne and beautifying the body. And then you look at something we're going to talk about, let's go right into it, adaptogens.

Yeah.

Now, Josh mentioned hormones being an issue, one of the major issues for Acne, dry skin, or even oily skin is an imbalance between cortisol and DHA. If you've got too much cortisol, stress hormones, you are going to be more prone to breakouts. Don't people say, what are they, the old days, French fries, chocolate, and stress, right?

Right.

You're partially right there, and certain allergens can be triggers, but stress or cortisol can cause your skin to look older. More blemished and definitely lead to acne. So adaptogenic herbs such as ashwagandha, rhodiola, schisandra, and others are critical. In fact, I believe ashwagandha combined with amla berry or Indian gooseberry or amalaki is one of the greatest beauty tips on the planet.

Oh, yeah.

In fact, clinically studied extracts of ashwagandha And amla berry have shown to visibly reduce signs of aging, improve collagen and elastin. Really, really amazing. So if you've got acne or stress or need energy, adaptogenic herbs are awesome.

Yeah, I totally agree. As we've talked about, Jordan, I know in working with patients, and you might be one of these people out there, when you eat something bad, you know, your acne flares up or skin issues, but a similar thing, if you are really worried or studying for an exam or you've just got a stressful life or family situation going on, that flares up whether it's a health issue or acne or any of those issues as well. So keeping stress levels low, and as Jordan mentioned, getting those adaptogenic herbs can be key. The next thing here we'll talk about is spices. And man, there's a lot of great things here, Jordan. I'll have you jump in, then I'll touch on a few spices I love.

Well, you know, licorice is sort of in between an herb and a spice, and it's kind of like an adaptogen, but licorice is great to reduce cortisol levels. And it's known as a beauty tonic. I think ginger and turmeric, and I know you're probably sick and tired of hearing us say ginger and turmeric, turmeric and ginger, it's good for everything, isn't it? Well, pretty much.

Yeah.

Antioxidants reduce inflammation and reduce the visible signs of aging. So turmeric, ginger, galangal root, garlic is actually an antimicrobial spice, cumin, all of these spices, dill, they're all... Antimicrobial, and they will all help your skin, but ginger and turmeric are awesome. And we're going to talk about it all the time. Cinnamon, you mentioned earlier, is a powerful spice for controlling blood sugar, which can improve your skin because if your blood sugar fluctuates, inflammation does as well. So what doesn't benefit from turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and clove? That's a powerful foursome right there that I would recommend. There you go. Antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory. I'm going to say it again. Ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, and clove. I make it almost all the time in some type of dairy or non-dairy base and I love it.

Yeah.

Decoction, take some almond milk or coconut milk or dairy milk, boil it with some of the spice. You can use powder but I like to use whole herb turmeric, ginger, clove, and cinnamon. Then strain it off, it'll be a nice yellowish-brown color, it is powerful. for your skin. If you use coconut milk, you're going to get antifungal benefits as well. In fact, I could have easily put coconut oil up here. Essential oils, vitamins, and minerals, I don't think anything can be more powerful for acne. So what you can do topically, vitamin E is really good for scars.

Yeah.

So a natural vitamin E gel is really good. I'm going to throw out an oil combo, lavender and frankincense, yet again, my favorite go-to. Frankincense, Boswellia, is a great anti-inflammatory and is great to reduce not only inflammation but also bring back the integrity of the skin. You know what else is a really good internal and external oil? Sea buckthorn.

I like that one too.

Sea buckthorn is a great source of omega-7 and antioxidants, also known as sea berry. So if you can— it's a berry that's loaded with fat, really, really cool. Sea berry, sea buckthorn is great. You can get it as a CO2. You can get it as a supplement or you can get it frozen and eat them. So vitamin E, frankincense, and sea buckthorn. You'll be a little red in the face, but—

Yeah. Well, I think one of the interesting things about sea buckthorn from what I've read is that it really helps with balancing out your skin secretions in terms of the oil. So whether you're dry, too dry, or too oily, actually sea buckthorn can help bring your body back into balance. A couple other essential oils I love. are geranium and myrrh. You know, geranium or geranium rose is fantastic. You know, that family of geranium and rose together are really natural anti-inflammatories topically for the skin, has a calming effect.

And tea tree oil is the bomb for acne, but you need to use very small amounts because if you put it close to the eyes, because you can get pimples all over, it is pretty powerful. Tea tree oil, melaleuca oil is amazing, and it is part of our our special poultice. And actually, our poultice can be adapted to your liking. You know what else is a great oil for acne is rosemary.

Oh, yeah.

Absolutely. So rosemary is closely related to mint, but rosemary, tea tree, they're really great externally. But remember, it's also an internal issue. Essential oils, herbs, adaptogens are so powerful for the skin, but so are nutrients. And if you're watching today, we're talking about 14 proven acne fighters. So if you've got blemishes, you had blemishes, or you're about to get a blemish, it's time to tune in. Tell your friends, tell everyone you know. We're giving you 14 proven acne fighters including a special poultice at the end, internal recommendations for external beauty, and a bonus if you have wrinkles, age spots, if you are aging prematurely, this is going to help you as well, and if you've got gut issues, and if you've got brain issues. You see, we're not treating the Well, I'll talk about a couple vitamins, minerals here and then hand it off to you, Jordan.

You know, when it comes to your skin, I think B vitamins are essential, especially biotin. You know, biotin is a great B vitamin which really helps directly support the skin, the hair, and the nails being used as building blocks there. And then also, when we're talking about vitamins, as Jordan talked about earlier, the fat-soluble vitamins are critical, every single one.

Oh, yeah.

You know, Jordan, I read a recent study that showed that the fat-soluble vitamins, I was actually creating an online nutrition course and when I was reading it, one of the things I went and looked at different populations and they did a study on children. And they actually went and ran, they did analysis on them on all of their average deficiencies and they found by far in kids, their number one deficiencies were in fat-soluble vitamins more than anything else.

Absolutely. So vitamin A, not necessarily beta-carotene, although beta-carotene is really good, vitamin A retinol. Combined with beta-carotene. I remember years ago somebody recommended, when I had acne as a teenager, 25,000 IUs of beta-carotene a day. And you can get beta-carotene in green foods. Spirulina and chlorella are really high in it.

Yeah.

We talked about chlorella having RNA. It's a nucleic acid building block as well. But beta-carotene, which is a precursor of vitamin A, which is provitamin A, retinol, and you want to be careful on the dosage. Vitamin D is amazing, vitamin E is amazing, and vitamin K is amazing. But you know what? I think the number one skin nutrient is really a mineral and it's zinc. And it's a rampant deficiency around the world, particularly if you eat mostly a plant-based diet. If you avoid red meat, you can lack zinc. But zinc is as good a skin booster as there is. And zinc, and I left something out here, zinc combined with polyphenolic herbs, green tea, Green tea is amazing. Grape seed is amazing. Those and zinc are really, really powerful. And any fat-soluble antioxidant, we're going to talk about one later, but lycopene from tomatoes is similar. So, so many good nutrients, fat-soluble vitamins, B vitamins which are water-soluble, and minerals, particularly zinc, are very, very important for skin in general, but certainly to reduce acne.

You know, Jordan, one of the things I talk about in my book Eat Dirt is all about having a healthy gut lining and this condition leaky gut, which we know the gut is linked to your skin health.

Absolutely.

And so in order to repair that gut lining and actually even have healthy microbial balance and absorb zinc, actually that's a whole other thing, absorption, you've got to have a healthy gut lining. And zinc actually helps with gut repair, so does bone broth powder, that's why getting bone broth As a soup or a bone broth powder in your diet. That's something we didn't put up here either, Jordan.

Well, I covered it here in the GAG section. There you go. But 14 is a lot. 14 proven acne fighters, follow just 3 of these and you're going to get results.

There we go. So some great stuff there, Jordan. So let's talk about omega-3s and astaxanthin. Now, we did touch on these as we talked a little bit about wild-caught salmon, but talk to us about the benefits here of omega-3s and astaxanthin.

Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, and I know DHA gets a lot of press. But when it comes to acne, I do recommend a high-potency fish oil that's high in EPA. Now, you can get benefits from chia and flax oil, but you need a lot more. I highly recommend a good quality omega-3 fatty acid high in EPA, and there really is a powerful omega-3 called ETA, which is found in fish roe, also in green-lipped mussel. I don't eat green-lipped mussel because it's not... Part of what you call a biblical diet, but ETA is a very underappreciated omega-3 fatty acid that is very anti-inflammatory.

Yeah.

I think you need between 1,000 and 3,000 milligrams of EPA and DHA a day if you're trying to reduce acne. And astaxanthin is the red pigment that makes salmon pink, red, or orange, 4 milligrams a day of astaxanthin. is a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant for your skin and also your brain.

Jordan, let me ask you a question. What would be an ideal juicing recipe for somebody who's trying to have beautiful skin? What are a few things you'd put in your personal juice?

Now, just understand, I do think carrot juice is amazing because of the beta-carotene, but it is high in sugar. So that's sort of a double-edged sword. But I'd put a little bit of carrot and I would put lots of greens. I always like celery because sodium and potassium are really good for the skin as well. help with intra- and extracellular fluid balance, and some of the best acne-fighting vegetables, parsley and cilantro.

Yeah.

Now, I'm not a huge cilantro fan from taste, but I'm going to do it. So I would do carrot, parsley, celery, cilantro, and zucchini. And now what I've done to really boost the skin is I would take that juice and combine it with blended Cucumber. So I know this is a 2-part process, but you juice, then you fill your blender with juice. Peeled cucumbers are great sources of silica, which is absolutely awesome for the skin. Those are all really, really good. But carrot juice and cream, pretty hard to beat if you find a good source of raw cream.

Yeah, I love that idea, Jordan. Again, as you mentioned, cucumber, high in silica, that's great for the skin. I used to wonder in movies, I remember when I was a kid, and I'm like, why do these women have cucumbers on their face?

Yes, yes, yes.

Yeah, there you go with silica. All right, guys, let's talk about SBO probiotics. Jordan, I'll talk about this and I'm going to have you talk about your—

Super duper—

Super duper cleansing poultice.

You're giving it air quotes, so that must mean it's like mysterious.

Well, it is. It's a Jordan Rubin special, so there you go. All right, SBO probiotics. So we know that today most of us, you know, Jordan, there's a lot of different popular probiotics out there, probably one of the most popular, if not the most, being acidophilus and different types of probiotics in that nature. You know, most probiotic supplements today, unfortunately, don't have the most durable strains that you're missing on a daily basis.

Right.

And for all of us, we were— you know, Jordan, in my book, I wrote about there was a tribe to where they eat food but they get a little bit of dirt when they eat. And so, when you're shopping at the local farmers market, you know, and you have a little bit of those things that are embedded in the carrots, I mean, those are SBO probiotics found in the soil. Today, we know that SBO probiotics are so beneficial to the gut health. Like things like Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus clostridium, Bacillus coagulans, also different types of yeast like Saccharomyces boulardii. But look for some of those probiotics, not that are just found in food, but that are also known as soil-based probiotics today. And when you're buying a probiotic, look for one that has organic ingredients and that has things like Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus clostridium. And also fungi as well, these things that actually live in the earth are so beneficial. Jordan, it's time to unveil your secret poultice.

So if you are dealing with acne, this is really a nighttime treatment. And keep in mind, there are lots of ways to do it. I'm going to give you 2 ways. One is more oil-based, one is clay-based. And I'm also going to throw in a tip if you get boils or cysts. Now, I inherited this from my dad, but I used to get a recurring cyst on my shoulder They even call it a Bible cyst because people used to hit them with big books and have some disgusting splat. So let's get started. A clay-based poultice is amazing. So get some type of bentonite clay or you can get a tube clay that is more of a liquid and you start with that and then you add essential oils to it and then you can add some aloe vera to it, but this is not an oil-based. It's a clay base, so you're going to use some type of clay. If it's not already hydrated, use some water and then go ahead and put some essential oils. Now, if you're dealing with skin blemishes, I like what we talked about. Use geranium rose, use frankincense, use lavender, use rosemary, and a little bit of tea tree. So use maybe 1 drop of tea tree oil, a few more of the others, and mix it up. It'll be a paste. And apply it lightly. You're going to look like you're wearing a mask, but I've been doing this with my son Joshua the last couple of weeks because my little boy is now growing up and he's hitting puberty. And I, being the father who wants him to look his best, I'm always helping him out. He probably says, Dad, stop pointing out my pimples, but I've just seen amazing results the last few days. You know, one thing that people ask all the time, Jordan, how do you and Dr. Axe come up with this stuff. We do it out of necessity.

Yeah.

Patients, family members, friends, and ourselves, and we look at every healing opportunity or every challenge as a healing opportunity, and we get to share it with you. And we deal with things all the time. This morning, I was dealing with my 9-year-old son Samuel who got bitten by some type of insect and had an allergic reaction. So before I left, I was giving him something. So soon, we're going to talk about on our allergy program How to deal with that. But when it comes to acne, clay, water, or aloe— aloe is a great addition— essential oils such as geranium rose, rosemary, lavender, frankincense, and a little bit of tea tree, it dries out the acne or the pimple and you'll see really, really great results. In the morning, wash it with some warm water and it'll come right off. You don't want to wear a mask. All day, but this is a nighttime treatment. And if you are more prone to dry skin, you can use coconut oil as a base. Rosehip seed oil is an amazing oil, we talked about that.

Yup.

Shea butter, something like that, and then go ahead and put the oils again. I like rosemary, lavender, frankincense, geranium rose, and a little bit of tea tree, and you can mix and match. You don't have to use the same oil all the time, and I would often put So in other words, lavender can go right on a pimple, frankincense can go right on a pimple, but I like to use a carrier oil because you're going to get some better penetration. And then last but not least, someone asked earlier, I've got cysts, is oregano oil okay? Oregano oil is great for cysts, but you don't want to put it in any delicate areas of the body.

Yeah.

But here's what I recommend, take the same clay, add some water or a hydrated clay, and put a little bit of oregano oil in there, maybe some tea tree, and put it on. Now, what will happen is it will cause the cyst to bust. So you want to cover it, and then soon you're going to have a scab and some new skin. It's amazing how it does that. It literally— I mean, oregano oil will get a cyst to open up. It's not always a pretty picture. That's why I like to put clay on it because clay absorbs and adsorbs the toxins.

Love it.

So this poultice is great for so many things. You don't want to use it though on an open wound, particularly the clay. You know what's interesting? When you read the Bible, the story of the Good Samaritan, you talk about or you read about the fact that when the Good Samaritan was going up to the man who was bloodied and beaten, they didn't say that he used sort of an antimicrobial sanitizing— oils, right?

Yeah.

Oils are healing to the skin. And when you combine them with clay, you get that benefit of sucking out moisture and oils, but also supplying the healing to your skin. And that really, to me, is the best topical acne fighter there is.

Yeah, I totally agree, Jordan. I love that idea. Clay is so cleansing, we know. These oils are so great at fighting pathogenic bacteria in the body. One of the other things I love to do, just a simple thing, is using A little bit of manuka honey with tea tree oil, as you're talking about, just sort of—

It's a little sticky.

If you've got a little spot area you need to treat, manuka, tea tree together directly on the area.

I got to tell you that manuka honey and manuka oil combo for acne is going to be awesome.

Yeah, most people haven't heard of manuka oil. It's a very unique essential oil out of New Zealand and I think it's great, very similar to tea tree in nature and some of its benefits. A couple of questions here, guys. A question from Allison, she says, Anything for a topic eczema that is severe on the face area only, it's swollen, it's red, it's oozing. You know what I would recommend, Allison, is first off, if this is you or a child, I would really do a cleanse for a short time of bone broth.

Yes.

I would just drink bone broth or just do a bone broth soup for a meal. So just bone broth and cooked vegetables, maybe a small amount of meat, but ideally it's just bone broth for several days. And on the skin, if it needs to be soothed, I really like myrrh oil. I love lavender and geranium and frankincense as we've talked about. Those are the 4 oils I would consider using topically there. But again, for the most part, I would say, you know, it's going to be on the inside. It's really starting off doing that broth cleanse is a great place to go.

And you want to make sure with eczema that you are limiting or eliminating A1 beta-casein. From cow's milk dairy unless it's otherwise stated as A1-free and gluten. Gluten and A1 beta-casein are really strong triggers for eczema. And the challenge is when it's oozing or weeping, you can't put a lot of things on there like clay. You certainly don't want to do that, but put a little bit of oil. Aloe can be really good as well, but add essential oils to the aloe or the coconut or rosehip seed would probably be a real gentle one too. I like rosehip seed oil if you can find it. Yeah, absolutely.

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