How to Detox to Clear Your Acne – Tips from a Holistic Nutritionist

Have you ever wondered how to properly detox your body to help clear your acne? Detoxification plays a huge role when it comes to maintaining clear skin.

Your body is constantly detoxing – many systems are running in your body at all times that help eliminate harmful toxins and substances from the body. However, poor detoxification is something I see quite frequently with my clients.

No – this doesn’t mean you have to go and do a juice cleanse or a cut out all your favourite foods from your diet.

Here’s what you need to do to help clear your acne.

But first…

This post is sponsored by Holy Crap Breakfast Cereal. Thank you for supporting companies that support The Pure Life.

How to Detox to Clear Your Acne & More Tips!

Reasons why you can’t detox properly

Here is why you might need to support your detoxification pathways. What causes poor detoxification?

• A damaged gut – antibiotic use, overuse of alcohol, poor quality food like refined sugar, artificial ingredients and sweeteners
• Toxic exposure – from pesticides, pollution, plastics, etc.
• An overloaded liver – stress, poor quality diet, hormonal birth control, smoking & more

Although our body is constantly detoxing for us, the further I get into my practice, the more people I see with sluggish and overworked detoxification pathways. Here are some signs you might need detox support.

Signs you need to detox, ASAP

• You’re struggling with acne or skin problems like eczema
• You have digestive issues like bloat, constipation and gas
• Sometimes you feel foggy, anxious or fatigued
• You have recently come off of or are currently on hormonal birth control (like The Pill, IUD, etc.)

There are two major factors that I like to look at when it comes to detoxification and clearing your acne:

1. Liver Support
2. Digestion & Elimination

Here are some easy ways to support natural detoxification.

How to Liver Detox for Acne:

There are many foods that stimulate liver function & bile production, such as cilantro, dandelion greens and arugula. These foods are important to include often in your diet when clearing acne.

Liver detoxification: the liver has 2 official phases of detoxification. It is important to include a variety of foods to help support both phases of liver detoxification, or else you could end up feeling worse than you started. Here are some of the best foods for liver detox to clear your acne:

Phase 1: helps convert toxic substances into less toxic substances that can be excreted easily from the body, with support of phase 2

Best Phase 1 foods: oranges, strawberries but all berries, dried cranberries or pure cranberry juice, bell peppers, cruciferous veggies like brussels sprouts, kale and cabbage, raw cacao

Phase 2: helps remove the less toxic substances from the body (ideally through a bowel movement)

Best Phase 2 foods: buckwheat, hemp seeds, chia seeds, quality protein, cruciferous veggies, onion, garlic (sulphur-rich foods), nuts, beans, lentils, grass-fed beef (Vitamin B12), tempeh and rosemary.

Once your liver has filtered out unwanted substances, toxins, chemicals and hormones, these need to be excreted through elimination.

Here’s why digestion is so important for clearing acne.

How to Support Digestion for Acne:

Digestion & detoxification: In order for toxic substances and harmful hormones to leave your body, you need to excrete them through a bowel movement. The strength and wellbeing of your digestive system (and your microbiome) will determine how healthy your bowel movements are.

1. Ensure you are having a healthy bowel movement at least once per day.
2. Enjoy a fibre-rich breakfast filled with detox-loving foods like Holy Crap Breakfast Cereal, one of my favourite plant-based breakfast cereals that goes well with anything! I love pairing 1/4 cup of the Apple Cinnamon Blend with coconut yoghurt and apple slices or sprinkling a tbsp of the Skinny B blend onto my peanut butter toast. Easy, nutritious and wonderful for natural detoxification. See how I use Holy Crap Cereal in this video.
3. Include a variety of fruits and veggies to support a healthy microbiome – try making meals like this recipe or this one.
4. Drink 2-3L of filtered water per day to help support healthy bowel movements.
5. Include lifestyle detox practices daily, such as dry brushing or jogging.
6. Check your breathing – make sure you take time to analyze your breath, take deep inhales and long exhales, consider meditation. Breathing is directly linked to your digestion.
7. Consider taking a digestion-supporting supplement like digestive enzymes with meals.

If you are feeling like you need some extra detox support, make sure to reach out to a practitioner (such as myself!).

Happy detoxing!