Starting around the 6th grade (11-12 years old) I would get small whiteheads on my face time to time. It was never a problem and my face was generally clear up until 8th grade. I went to a doctor in 8th grade who prescribed me benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin phosphate; each to be used once daily. Immediately, overnight, my acne cleared up. In days, my scars healed and my skin looked just as good as it had before puberty.

This started to change around Sophomore year of High School. I started growing facial hair and this resulted in me shaving daily. My skin was still generally clear and I actually started using the medications less and less, then all of a sudden I started getting cystic breakouts. To suppress these breakouts I would layer on the benzoyl and clendamycin, which actually irritated my face more and caused flaming red streaks down my cheeks making me look permanently flushed. Then I got a prescription for retinae which made my skin even worse, it started to flake and I'd have to go to school with red flaking skin that had pustules dotted all over. It was a horrifying experience that severely damaged my self esteem. I started to hate myself and I believe this stress made my skin even worse. I couldn't even look people in the eye without feeling uncomfortable. This severe acne lasted until the end of Junior year.

I decided I should take time off school and that actually did help with the stress factor of acne. Spending time with myself gave me the time to focus on what I could do to alleviate this stress. I began focusing on meditations, prayers, exercise, etc. and I started looking at what factors of my diet might be causing the acne. I realized the cysts that would form on my face were reoccuring, and I stopped touching, prodding, and picking at them and thought of how I could change my diet to avoid having a greasy face. I cut dairy and wheat out of my diet for some time and began thinking of how I could improve my health overall, rather than just my acne. Sodas, breads, processed meats, dairies were all cut out of my diet and I started indulging in veggies, grass-fed meats, fruits, rice, corns, and lots of water. The effects of my diet change were immediate.

Making sure you know where your meat is coming from is a big deal because a lot of meat is cut from an animal that was experiencing extreme stress during its butchering, this can have an extremely negative effect on your mental and physical health, which could harm the health of your skin. Also buy Non-GMO products, as well as FDA Approved.

Just remember to go with the flow of life!