Food Elimination & Alkaline Diet

In my quest to rid my skin of inflammation (otherwise known as acne caused by the wonderful world of mid twenties stress hormone imbalance central!) I have grabbed onto all the information I can about what causes skin flare ups. I was talking to my acupuncturist a few weeks ago about dietary adjustments, and he said I need to stay away from foods that create heat and contribute to my inflammation (for those who have never realized the connection between food and skin, recognizing that the skin is the largest detox organ is a great start- your skin is a minefield of pores constantly pushing things out of your body - unwanted toxins that didn't detox the normal route through the digestive track). He listed garlic, tomatoes, fried foods, spices, and citrus foods.

So I stopped eating citrus, as I don't eat any of the other foods anyway. While I haven't seen a drastic improvement I am smart enough to know that with a situation as complex as mine, one thing is not going to be the cure-all. The real test for how I (and all of you for that matter!) would be to reintroduce it into your diet. The great thing for me is that I eat the SAME THINGS all the time so I definitely know when something is out of wack, and I can use the information indefinitely. For example, I didn't eat peanuts for 5 months or so, and I had them back in November and woke up the next day with a burn on my nose. I tried to recall burning it on my curling iron but obviously I would remember something like that. I could only blame it on the peanuts! Amazing.

So in googling "acid citrus" I came across what is known as the Alkaline diet: eating foods that have a high pH so as to lower the level of acids in your body:

The Alkaline diet' (also known as the alkaline ash diet, alkaline acid diet and the acid alkaline diet) is a dietary protocol based on the consumption of foods which metabolise (burn) to leave an alkaline residue (ash). Minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, are the principal components of the residue as they are incombustible. -Wikipedia

Very fascinating to say the least. Turns out that citrus actually is alkaline , not acidic. And foods like pineapples and pomegranates are more acidic. Obviously I really overwhelmed right now and just exploring it - there's already so much to look out for - wheat, dairy, soy, high glycemic foods, non-organic foods, you could pretty much narrow your diet to broccoli and spinach alone based on everything I've read about what to avoid.

Most of the alkaline/acidic charts I find are contradictory on a lot of foods, but a lot concur with each other on others. Research is the best answer in my opinion.

All sources of protein such as meat and fish are highly acidic. So yet another reason to try and reintroduce soy into my diet via tempeh (a more fermented form of soy that is much more easily digested by our bodies). And I'll be looking for subtle shifts to know if I'm reacting to it or not - the best way to know if you are intolerant or allergic to something!

High alkaline foods include green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, avocado, beets, kale, barley- basically all of your favorite foods I'm sure!

Medicinal Urine

OK I know what you are thinking. But hang with me a bit. I have recently been doing a lot of research on what is known as Urine Therapy for my own health concerns, but also out of sheer curiosity. I had heard about using one's own pee on your scalp from a Russian co-worker years ago. I'm pretty sure I just thought her ludicrous and didn't think twice of it.

About 3 weeks ago I was in a health store here in Seattle and decided (without much expectation) to ask the lady working if she had any recommendations for acne products. We got to talking and she told me she was from Poland, which for some reason made me trust what she had to say. After spending months learning about the toxins Americans are exposed to everyday I've grown a great respect for Eastern alternatives and about natural health remedies in general. So I heard her out.

Instead of recommending a really expensive product, she simply said "You are gonna think I'm crazy, but you should consider 'You-ryne' Therapy." I had no clue what she said under her thick accent, so I said "What?" And when she said it again, I said, "Oh!" I think I sat on it for about a week before I even really researched it. Turns out people have been using their own pee for remedies for thousands of years. And I was / am desperate to get rid of my acne without using harmful chemicals, so I decided to take the plunge.

I found out that your pee is essentially excess vitamins, nutrients, minerals, hormones, etc etc that your body couldn't absorb or use- it is not toxic. And so in using your own urine you are basically putting back on your skin (if you decide to use it topically instead of internally - I'm not ready for that yet) what your body didn't absorb the first time. Even more fascinating is the fact that your urine is a snapshot of what your immune system was alarmed by and passed on to your kidneys - in homeopathic fashion, the idea of reintroducing this back into your immune system will give it a second chance to confront the exact same problems. For this reason, Urine Therapy has been successful in treating allergies among other things. And the pharmaceutical industry even uses Urea in many many medicines because of it's many benefits.

Before you stop reading or worse, stop talking to me, ha, please consider the popularity of this naturally remedy. A quick google search will prove just that. It has been used for ailments such as:

Acne
Psoriasis
Cold, Flu
Metabolic problems
Allergies
Digestive problems
Cancer
Lupus
Arthritis
Hepatitis
Diabetes
And more!

I understand that my attempts at convincing alone will not sway the most stubborn readers, so I encourage you to research on your own. I can only vouch for my own success thus far. In 3 weeks I've noticed severe improvement and most of my blemishes heal within a few days instead of a week or more. I can assume this is because of soaking these inflammations with nutrient rich, well - pee! I'll have to update you in the weeks to come since shifting your body's habits and functions can often take months. Go on, read about it!