So what did I do ? I set out to search what could possibly trigger my acne and I made a list of all the items I suspected worsened my acne.

Here was my own personal list of potential acne causes:

• Chocolate bars
• Chips & salsa sauce
• Soft drinks(soda) & Ice tea
• M&Ms
• Mouthwash
• Stress
• Lack of sleep
• Poutines (Fries and cheese)
• Subs
• Wraps
• Gum
• Cookies
• Orange juice
• Pastries
• Ice cream
• Nuts

Evaluation of the acne breakouts list:

I suspected a lot of things promoted acne, and a lot of those foods were really enjoyable! I didn’t really want to give them up, at least not completely, especially not for a homemade acne treatment! Not to mention I didn’t even have any hard evidence that these foods flared up my acne… I mean, I have eaten these things before without getting acne, so why would I assume they are harmful now. Not to mention, tons of people eat it those things and never get acne!

Something must be wrong.

But at the same time… I can vaguely recall eating those goodies in excess and then having a breakout 1-2 days later… what’s happening?

Digestive track and acne

Well for me, because I have a poor digestive track (probably due to doing Accutane, the worst acne remedy), I have to watch out for foods that would otherwise ‘clog up’ my system. In a healthy body, you eat, absord all the necessary nutrients from the food and then expell the trash. However, what happens if I clog up my system is that the trash stays in my body for longer periods of time. This is not healthy. Imagine leaving chinese food out for 2 days in your home, what kind of odor would it have.

Now the foods from the list that ‘clogged’ up my system were subs (with soggy bread and meat), poutine (fries and cheese), chicken wraps and pastries. All these foods would just sit in my system for days, reducing my bowel time (time it takes to go to the washroom) to days instead of something like a regular 12-24 hours.

Now, if you have a good digestive system, ignore these things as they aren’t likely to affect you at all! Make this remedy your own by adapting it to your body, not mine.

Sugar and my acne triggers

Next on the my homemade trigger list: the sugars. Soft drinks, M&Ms (my favorite candy), chocolate, orange juice, ice cream, cookies. Now the reason sugar affects me is not because of the sugar itself… but because of the reaction my body has to the sugar. Anyone doubting this should read the best seller “The Perricone prescription” book.

I dont think that sugar is bad, but excessive amounts affects me. How much is excessive? That depends from person to person, in my case, it’s fairly low.

Environmental acne triggers

Now, what about the mouthwash & gum ? Well, the mouthwash was one of those weird catalyts that everyone has at home … when I started taking some on a regular basis, I noticed that I would break out near my mouth. And although I dont have any studies to back this up (hey, if I dont have anything, I’ll tell you straight up) but there’s a reason they say: “DO NOT SWALLOW” and not to give it to children. It’s because it’s not good for you! Of course I dont swallow it, but there is some mouthwash that remains in my mouth even after rinsing, and that gets absorbed through the linings in my mouth.

What about the gum?

Well… 90% of it has aspartame, which is renowed to be a poizon in high quantities. For some reason, I believe I am more sensitive to these things than regular people who do not have acne, and therefore I have to avoid it while others can go and chew on it all day. It’s a personal thing, what causes acne for me might be different for you so it’s up to you to figure out exactly what triggers your acne and then keep that list handy.