Seeking a cure for acne and problem skin? Using fish oil on acne could be your answer to healthy blemish-free skin. Here you'll learn how this healthy marine oil may be the key to reducing inflammation and healing your skin from the inside out.

Here's how you can use fish oil for acne:

• Its anti-inflammatory effects reduce redness and puffiness of acne lesions.
• Improves skin texture by increasing hydration within the skin cell.
• Balances mood, reducing stress, thus lowering sebum production.
• Reduces skin cell production (keratin) resulting in less trapped sebum which can cause acne.
• May affect the size of the sebaceous glands reducing sebum output.
• Regulates over-production of androgens, hormone causes oil production leading to acne.

No one likes to get acne. I remembering going through a period where I had really bad acne. My doctor prescribed a number of different treatments, such as antibiotics, special cleansers and even Retin-A. In my case, I think these treatments helped my symptoms, but didn't treat the real cause of my acne.

Causes of Acne Breakouts

There are a number of causes of acne. Some people believe you can get acne from eating chocolate or pizza. Here are four causes of acne recognized by doctors and skin specialists:

1. Hormones
2. Bacteria
3. Plugged skin pores
4. Inflammation of the oil gland

Most acne medications work by unplugging skin pores, exfoliating dead skin cells and increasing cell turnover. Acne caused by bacteria can be treated with antibiotics.

My doctor prescribed tetracycline (an antibiotic) but it didn't work too well for me. Some researchers now believe that acne is not a tetracycline deficiency; so long term use of antibiotics to treat acne is useless. Eventually I was given Retin-A, a powerful vitamin A drug used to fight acne. Side effects of Retin-A include burning, dry skin, itching, peeling, redness, and stinging.

Can the food you eat increase your risk for acne and breakouts? While certain foods may increase your risk for acne, there is now evidence that the type of fat in your diet may be the key to healthier-looking skin.

How Your Diet May Affect Acne Breakouts

One question to ask is if your diet is causing inflammation in your body. Eating a diet high in processed foods may increase your risk for acne and inflammatory skin conditions.

A lot of processed foods are high in vegetable oils. Although vegetable oils are low in saturated and hydrogenated fats, they're high in omega 6 fatty acids.

Research shows that humans evolved on a diet with a ratio of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids of about 1 to 1. Nutritionists believe our modern Western diet gives us a ratio of 15 to 1.

This means our Western diet is deficient in omega 3 fatty acids and excessive in omega 6 fats. Scientists believe eating too many omega 6 fats leads to an unbalanced omega 6 and omega 3 ratio which promotes inflammation; increasing your omega 3's and decreasing your omega 6's would thereby reduce inflammation in your body.

So what does that all mean? Eating more omega 3 fatty acids and improving your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio may help fight inflammation in your body. One of the tell-tale signs of acne is the redness, puffiness and tenderness - a definite sign of inflammation of the skin.

There's no doubt in my mind that my diet at the time was a typical 'Western' diet filled with lots of vegetable oils, fast foods and other processed foods. But now it's possible to stop the redness, pain and swelling of acne by using fish oils' natural anti-inflammatory powers.

Introducing the Fish Oil Acne Diet

Adding fish oils to your diet is an excellent way to fight acne by targeting the inflammation from within. Studies show there are benefits from using omega 3 fatty acids on acne. Fish oils are high in omega 3 fatty acids, Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Studies have shown these fatty acids exert an anti-inflammatory effect within our body's cells.

Dan Kern, a long-time acne sufferer, has a great website called acne.org. It's packed with helpful information on acne and different methods of fighting it. He has an informative section called Acne Home Treatment Reviews, where users post their personal experiences with different acne treatments. Check out using fish oil on acne reviews for unbiased opinions and results people experienced from using fish oil on acne.

How You can Use Fish Oils for Acne:

Based on user's experiences from Acne.org the most effective dosage was 3 to 4 grams of omega 3 fatty acids per day.

Since most people follow a Western diet high in omega 6 fatty acids, our bodies are deficient in omega 3's. This dietary deficiency requires optimal dosages of omega 3's for safe and effective results.

Using liquid fish oils is a great way to getting an effective dose of omega 3 fatty acids. Remember to look at the dosage and amount of omega 3's Eicosa-pentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) you're getting per dose. Adding up the EPA and DHA amounts will give you the amount of omega 3 per capsule or teaspoon.

When I began using fish oil on acne, I started with 1 gram per day and slowly worked my way up to 3 - 4 grams per day. I think it's best to split your dosage throughout the day for maximum absorption and to get a constant supply of omega 3's throughout the day. Since starting this fish oil regimen, I hardly get any acne breakouts and my skin tone has improved a lot!

Is it Safe to Use Fish Oils for Acne?

Is 3 to 4 grams of fish oils too much? What about side effects? Fish oils are considered safe. Numerous scientific studies show there are no dangerous side effects from fish oils.

What if you have an allergy to fish or fish oils? You can try using other forms of omega 3 oils such as flaxseed oil, walnuts, and soybeans. One cup of soybeans, navy beans, or kidney beans provides between 200 and 1,000 milligrams of omega 3's and a 1000 mg. gel cap of flaxseed oil will provide over 500 milligrams of omega 3 alpha linolenic acid.

For the majority of people, using fish oil for acne is a safe and effective treatment. Remember that every one is different and responds differently to home remedies for acne. Although this may not work for people with severe acne, it may work exceptionally well for people with mild to moderate acne.

I think the key is trying different treatments (including various home remedies for acne and drug treatments) until you find one that works for your individual skin type.

The Fish Oil Acne Diet is not an overnight cure. You may need to stay on this regimen for at least a few months before seeing long-term, positive results. One of the health benefits of fish oils is reducing your risk for heart disease, high cholesterol and blood pressure.

Is this Fish Oil Acne Diet the best home remedy? Maybe not the best, but in my experience I think it belongs in the top ten treatments for acne because it treats it from within. I hope this information helps you on the road to a clear and healthy complexion.

Choosing the Best Fish Oil to Fight Acne and Reduce Skin Inflammation

If you want to reduce inflammation to fight acne, you should use a fish oil offering high omega 3 concentrations with proven anti-inflammatory protection.

While there are many fish oil supplements to choose from, there are only a few that offer a higher concentration of omega 3's.

One particular fish oil supplement you might be interested in is Dr. Sears, creator of the Zone Diet. Dr. Sears formulated a specialized high-dose fish oil called Zone Labs Omega 3 Concentrates.

Not available in stores, Dr. Sears' fish oils received top marks (5 stars) in the latest International Fish Oil Standards report for purity and quality. The IFOS is the world authority for analyzing fish oils and their components.

These pharmaceutical-grade oils were found to have the highest concentration of omega 3 fatty acids, and a patented anti-inflammatory effect not found in any store bought fish oil.

Let's face it....your skin needs the highest quality nutrients to become soft, smooth and acne-free. Giving your body the healthy ingredients it needs is imperative to getting clear healthy skin.

Dr. Sears Zone Lab Omega 3 Concentrates meets this demand by providing your skin with patented anti-inflammatory omega 3's not found in any other fish oil.

Research References:

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