Turmeric and Coconut Oil for Healing Acne

Modern pharmaceutical and beauty businesses are designed to make money. They do not always have our best interests at heart. Chemical treatments are presented as the only option for many ailments, when often they have intense side effects and should really only be a last resort.

Some of the most potent ways to care for ourselves come from nature. Traditional plant-based recipes have been serving peoples health for thousands of years, and can still offer potent support for us today.

Inflammatory Acne

Our faces are incredible sensitive. Diet, hydration levels, allergies, intestinal floral levels, omega essential fatty acid balance, and internal and environmental toxins all affect the health and appearance of our facial skin. Sometimes toxic overload mixes with genetic factors to create a perfect storm that literally erupts through our pores.

Healing inflammatory acne requires a multi-faceted approach that includes an alkalinizing, anti-inflammatory diet, limiting intake of sugar and other toxic refined foods, exercise, and using gentle non-toxic facial cleansers and moisturizers.

Truly transforming your face from the inside out can take time and effort. But you can treat the symptoms of inflammatory acne with a simple formula that has stood the test of time.

Curcumin and Lauric Acid

A study in Taiwan discovered that a combination of curcumin and lauric acid was effective at killing Propionibacterium, the main cause of inflammatory acne. These fancy-sounding chemicals are actually the main constituents of two common foods turmeric and coconut oil.

Turmeric

Women in India have used turmeric powder as part of their beauty regimens for thousands of years. Turmeric is naturally anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial, and anti-septic. It both nourishes healthy cells and interferes with the functioning of inflammatory enzymes. As a part of a healthy diet, it can manage inflammation levels throughout the body and support healthy digestion and nutrient assimilation.

Topically, turmeric kills bacteria on and beneath the skins surface without damaging healthy cells or drying the skin out.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has also been used in tropical countries for a very long time. It is both a dietary and culinary staple and a beauty product with countless applications. Coconut oil is anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, and nourishes skin cells to inspire softness and sheen.

In the Taiwanese study, coconut oil was found to be the most effective carrier for the curcumin (turmeric) to enter the skin cells. The lauric acid works synergistically with curcumin to inhibit the growth of inflammatory acne.

Treating Your Acne with Turmeric and Coconut Oil

You dont need to use fancy laboratory extracts to achieve the results the scientists discovered in the acne study. You can use the same treatment Indian women have used for a long time.

Wash your face with a gentle, non-drying natural cleanser. Raw organic or wild honey makes a great affordable cleanser that is both anti-bacterial and naturally hydrating. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder (the fresher, the better) with enough virgin coconut oil to make a paste. Apply the paste to the inflammatory acne patches on you face, and let it sit as long as possible.

Rinse well with warm water, and follow with a gentle organic moisturizer that is appropriate for your skin type. Despite what you might think, gentle products are best for sensitive and acne prone skin. Harsh products, or not using moisturizer, strips the skins natural oils. This makes the oil glands go into hyper-production mode to make up for the lack of moisture. This just perpetuates the breakout cycle.

It may take a few days application of the turmeric coconut oil paste to clear your skin up. If the acne has already erupted, or you messed with it (never pick at acne breakouts!) there still may be scarring, but the turmeric and coconut oil mixture will help lighten that over time.

You can use a slightly thinner version of this treatment over your whole face as a nourishing mask. The pigments in turmeric will stain clothing and may stain porcelain fixtures, so be careful with your application and while you let the paste sit. It may temporarily give a yellow or orange tint to fair facial skin, but this will go away within a few hours.

Healing treatments do not need to come from fancy bottles and prescription drugs. We can turn to ancient remedies for many common ailments, and treat our conditions with the medicine of nature. While any deep transformation usually requires a fundamental shift in dietary and lifestyle habits, we can treat the symptoms of inflammatory acne with a simple treatment of turmeric and coconut oil.

Also learn about the special circumstances in which you may need to limit or stop use of this herb.