A is for Acne
I'm not going to go through the whole alphabet thing, but we might as well start with one of the most common skin disorders, acne.
Myths about acne
1. It's something you ate
The attempt to connect acne (and every other skin disorder) with food is as old as humans. There's a reference to it in the ancient Sumerian scripts of the Golden Crescent. OK, I made that up. Whatever. If the right (or wrong) diet affected acne, people would have figured it out and nobody would see doctors about it. I mean, if a diet of sterilized bran flakes and distilled water would fix acne, people would stick to it even if they got scurvy. The fact is, people have tried everything, and it doesn't make a damn bit of difference. There are lots of reasons not to eat fries three times a day, but skin isn't one of them.
If you know for absolute certain that you have a breakout after eating a Mars Bar, don't eat Mars Bars. That's not what we're talking about.
2. Washing properly
Again, if washing would fix acne, nobody would see doctors about it. People would wash 243 time a day if it really made a difference, and the various "scrubs" are useless, except to cause irritation.
3. Getting enough sleep
D'oh.
4. Drinking enough water
Listen, that's why we have kidneys - they figure it out. If you drink 12 litres of water a day, you'll spend a lot of time in the bathroom, but it won't make any difference to your skin. Try it.
5. Being a nice person.
See (3).
6. Using omega-3 supplements, or extract of emu oil, or aardvaark droppings, or whatever....
See (1).
So what does cause acne?
...to be continued
