then the skin will heal itself naturally. Abstention from certain foods becomes medicinal. Let’ s examine each of the three causes individually. Fat-and-protein combinations are the most common cause of skin discharge in the form of fatty pimples, acne, and boils. If the body is overloaded with mucus and / or fat deposits, the kidneys, liver, and digestive organs cannot keep up with the disposal work, and the body therefore expels the stuff via the skin. ‡
The foods responsible are usually milk, cheese, ice cream, fatty meats, nuts, and peanut butter. Those affected are not only people eating the SAD: I often see people who turn vegetarian increase their intake of cheese and nuts to“ get enough protein,” only to find themselves with skin problems they never had before. Sugar plays a role in that it appears to trigger the process, either by depressing the immune system, or because its expansive energy pushes the excess out. According to Michio Kushi, excess protein and fats are also discharged in the form of warts, moles, callouses, and tumors. However, I find that these conditions can also at times point to a malfunction of protein metabolism. Beauty spots, freckles, and brown moles may be the result of too much sugar attracted to the surface of the skin by the heat of the sun. 17 Sugar, especially in the form of fruit sugar, can make the blood smell sweet and attractive to insects and fungi. Thus, insect bites and fungal infections respond well to the elimination of sweet juices, and fruit, and to local applications of a natural antibiotic such as miso, green clay, § or brown-rice vinegar. Excess fats can also affect the overall texture of the skin, making it oily or, surprisingly, very dry. Skin becomes oily when fat is discharged through large pores. Dry skin, which appears often with fine-grained complexions, is caused when fats accumulate under the skin and thus prevent the body’ s natural moisture from reaching the surface. Lowering dietary fat intake can therefore improve both oily and dry, cracked skin. However, dry skin can also be caused by an insufficient amount of fats in the diet. Mineral-matter excess is a catchall category. I include in it all substances taken out of their natural context, such as extracts, concentrates, and anything in pill form. Salt, especialy iodized salt, also falls into this category. When the body cannot process these substances naturally, it will push them out through the skin. I’ ve experienced this many a time. For example, when I first found out that seaweed is a good source of minerals, I decided to take kelp tablets, a concentrated natural source of those minerals, instead of eating the seaweed itself, for I had discovered, to my chagrin, that I didn’ t like the taste of it. Within a few days I had developed painful welts all over my arms, which disappeared as soon as I stopped taking the kelp. Kelp is implicated in acne because of its iodide content, and iodide irritates the pores’ lining as it is excreted through the skin. Multivitamins and iodized salt can also cause problems for the acne-prone. 18 Another example: My eldest daughter, when she was nineteen months old, suffered smoke inhalation due to a fire and was given steroids and other medication to combat the fluid accumulation in her lungs. When she was taken off the medications, she discharged those substances via a red pimply rash from her waist all the way down to her toes. And you may remember the case mentioned earlier of the young woman who had tiny painful pimples all over her chin, like a beard, which disappeared as soon as she stopped taking her twenty daily vitamin supplements. The severe, purplish acne that develops on cheeks or chin seems to be related also to the intake of artificial sweeteners, especially in the form of soda pop, in addition to ice cream and peanut butter. At least I’ ve seen it disappear when those foods were removed from the diet. Pimples, welts, or rashes from mineral-matter excess can be recognized easily: They hurt if you press them with a finger( presumably because minerals are hard and crystalline and thus irritate the skin). They tend to be red and open, perhaps weeping, rather than pus-filled or fatty. The only true way to heal them is to discontinue the input of the substance being discharged. Clay poultices may help speed the discharge. Some deep-seated mineral matter, often from drugs, strong medications, or artificial substances, can be pulled to and through the skin by the heat of the sun. The heat opens the pores and causes blood and fluids to expand and rise to the surface; this, in turn, can bring useless or toxic substances with it, attempting to expel the latter from the body. In some cases this could give rise to irritations or diseases, including skin cancer, which appears to be“ caused” by the sun. But not all committed sunbathers get cancer, nor do all skin cancer sufferers lie regularly in the sun. Therefore, perhaps we should consider the possibility that the sun only causes skin diseases if the body gives it something to work with. Organ malfunctions, or general metabolic imbalances, can manifest themselves in the form of chronic skin conditions, such as psoriasis, eczema, and other scaly, itchy, or weepy conditions. Allergic reactions and nutritional-deficiency symptoms also belong in this category. A switch to a simple, natural diet of whole grains, beans, and cooked vegetables, avoiding meats, milk products, refined sugar and grains, an excess of fruit, nut