Acne affects about 85 percent of the population of America at some time in their life - including some adults -- it is one of the most common skin disease addressed by dermatologists. Almost all teens get the type of acne called acne vulgaris, which can appear on your face, neck back, and shoulders.

The challenge is how to treat acne effectively without the need for drugs. The favoured strategy used by most dermatologists is to prescribe an antibiotic - typically tetracycline-type derivatives which are designed to kill bacterial infections. In this case, it is a propioniform type of bacteria that is mainly responsible for the actual inflammation and infection that occurs.

Propionibacterium acnes can be found on the surface of everybody's skin. Acne eruptions result when the bacteria block your pores, which can lead to inflammation. Antibiotics can be very useful to help clear up your acne. Some other conventional treatments can include using topical agents such as: benzyl peroxide, or in some extreme cases harsher treatment drugs like Accutane.

Accutane is something that should be avoided (also known as isotretinoin),and some doctors strongly advise against it because of it's dangerous side- effects. It's the only drug classified as category X, meaning it is 100 percent guaranteed to cause birth defects .If you are a pregnant woman or of child bearing age, you have to get a pregnancy test before it can be prescribed.

It also has some other nasty side-effects, such as depression, aggression,and has even caused suicide. Although these prescription treatments normally do work, it's important to understand that they in no way, shape or form get to the underlying cause of acne.

How to treat the root cause of acne

What you need to do is to eliminate the underlying reason that is causing the propioniform bacteria that result in these cysts or lesions outbreaks.Thankfully,there are some very simple strategies that will achieve just that,that work almost every single time.

Most experts will tell you that your diet has nothing to do with your acne.Well nothing could be further from the truth. What is clearly apparent is that your diet has everything to do with it. You are what you eat period!

If you are predisposed to developing acne, and are eating a diet that is causing your insulin levels and insulin growth factors to rise, then you will get acne. This will happen because when you eat refined carbohydrates and sugar,it causes a huge surge of insulin and an insulin-like growth factor called IGF-1 (Insulin-Like Growth Factor) in your body.

This can lead to an excess amount of male hormones, which will cause your pores to secrete sebum,a greasy substance that will attract acne-promoting bacteria spores. Additionally, IGF-1 also causes skin cells known as keratinocytes to multiply, a process that is usually associated with acne.

A simple solution is to drastically reduce the amount of food in your diet that is causing your body to produce insulin. The main culprits are sugars,and all grain carbohydrates as they are converted into sugar in your body.

This includes foods such as:

Bread
Cereal
Pasta
Rice
Potatoes
Corn

Even thought you can have a healthy grain. You must understand that even a high quality,organic,and whole wheat bread can cause this problem because it's still a carbohydrate.The processes that are used to manufacture modern breads and most cereals alter the protein structures in the grains, this leads to rapid digestion and is followed by an over production of insulin.

Researchers are pointing out that, along with acne, eating processed starches may also be associated with myopia (short-sightedness) and diabetes as well.Also don't think that corn is a vegetable. It's actually a grain, and a high density carbohydrate,which should be also avoided.

Even fruits in your diet can increase the amount of insulin in your body, and can exacerbate your acne if you're predisposed to it.You should replace sugars and grain carbohydrates with vegetable
carbohydrates,as they metabolize slowly and tend to not cause surges in your insulin production.

There are other important factors to consider,especially if you have tried the conventional approach to treating your acne problem. You should establish a proper balance of bacteria -- If you've taken antibiotics it's very important to take a probiotic supplement.

Antibiotics don't discriminate between the good and bad bacteria in your gut.Antibiotics just kill bacteria en-mass as well as the propioniform bacteria causing your acne. One all-too common side effect is an over production of yeast. For example: For a woman, you may experience vaginal yeast infections, but men and women can also develop candida as a result of upsetting the balance of bacteria in your gut.

By reducing your intake of food that bad bacteria and yeast thrive on, i.e. sugars and carbohydrates, you will also help re-establish the delicate balance of bacteria in your gut.Maintain and Optimize your vitamin D levels.Vitamin D is crucially important to help establish a healthy immune system and can control virtually any type of infection. This vitamin (it's not strictly a vitamin) is becoming known as one of the greatest weapons to fight against illnesses like: cancer and heart disease.

It is noticeable that most diseases like: flu and the common cold are
prevalent during the winter months because there is a lack of sunshine - which helps in the manufacturing of vitamin D.The best way to optimize your levels of vitamin D is to treat your skin to healthy amounts of sunshine - but only just enough to cause your skin to turn a light pink.Your body can produce as much as 20,000 IU's at this low level of exposure on most of your skin as you dare to expose.

After enough exposure your body will not make any more vitamin D,and can in fact cause some skin damage if you stay exposed for too long.
By exposing yourself to the sun, you will optimize your vitamin D production naturally.If you are unable to do a little sunbathing you might like to consider a safe tanning bed (you should Google it, to see what's available) which is another great alternative.

If regular safe sun exposure or a safe tanning bed is not an option, you may want to consider taking a vitamin D supplement.If you don't have access to regular sun exposure or a safe tanning bed,you want to consider supplementing with oral vitamin D.Typically the supplemented doses are several thousand units a day that range from 2-3,000 to as much as 10,000 IU's (international units) per day. But if you chose to supplement, only do so if you are monitoring your vitamin D levels with a blood test at a regular intervals.