Soap – the cause and the cure for ACNE?!?!
A quest for a cure
by Tom Reitz
itspuresoap.com
1. Could soap be the cause or the cure for acne?
Ever since I was a “yout” (My Cousin Vinny reference!), I had some bad acne. As I recall it started when I was 11 or so. I remember being told by various people that I needed to do this or that, or go take this drug or to not drink sodas… All I seemed to get from people was the run around because in fact, they didn’t have the answer either! These people seemed genuine but there was no consistency and absolutely nothing worked anyway.
2. No cause seen:
So, then I recall going to the doctor and perhaps the dermatologist, and they didn’t seem to know what it was caused by either. Drugs were dispensed, and I’ll never forget it as I took this drug one summer and I was told to not get any sun. That sucked! I don’t remember taking it for longer than 2 weeks ’cause I wanted to be outside.
3. Brief History of Soap:
Over the years I began a quest to learn about acne, nutrition and exercise, and also found a bunch of nonsense throughout this as well… but that is another article… I discovered something about how soap had changed in the last century and got another piece of the puzzle when I learned, anecdotally, that people back on the farm can’t ever remember anyone with acne. My grandfather is 100 next month (June ’07) and he told me about this a few months back.
4. Cause and the Cure?:
Soap’s change was done purposefully and in defense of the good ol’ US of A. But this altered its chemistry seemingly forever. My proposition is that this change for the good of the country has actually caused harm to its own citizens. Was this the right thing to do at the time? Absolutely. But we now need to acknowledge this change and correct it one bar of soap at a time!
5. Myths abound:
Myths about what causes acne abound. From chocolate to hormones, but what is the truth. Let’s examine each and expose the truth.
6. Chocolate:
Chocolate. Poor little chocolate. Chocolate is healthful. Hasn’t everyone heard of flavonols? There are a ton of them in chocolate. There is nothing wrong with chocolate… HOWEVER, the fake synthetic fats that are all contained in most chocolate candies are bad for you. These are called partially hydrogenated oils or margarine. These we’d recommend you completely avoid for other health related reasons, but these also don’t cause acne. I removed these completely from diet years ago but it didn’t impact my acne.
7. Dairy:
⁃ The idea that dairy products causes acne is flat out dangerous. Calcium and the related nutrients found in it are vital to anyone! Now, we’d recommend against eating lowfat or no fat calcium products, as the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E & K) can’t be utilized and calcium can’t be deposited on your bones. And until the day you die, your body needs calcium to keep your bones strong and resistant to breakage. Whole milk is not the problem! However, you need to be sure to eat from a wide variety of dairy products. However, there is nothing in dairy that can cause acne.
8. Soda:
⁃ We have a lot of problems with soda but acne isn’t one of them. Firstly, we recommend you not have a soda without a meal just to keep your blood sugar steady from it. For many years, I was massively affected by rising and falling blood sugar levels, but by simply having an occasional soda with a meal has simply cured this. The phosphorous contained in a soda is a brittle metal (according the Periodic Table of Elements), and competes for calcium in your body. If you aren’t getting enough calcium and pouring in a ton of phosphorous then your bones will pick up this phosphorous and cause early osteoporosis. And lastly, the high fructose corn syrup in sodas will deplete your body of B vitamins but this again doesn’t directly affect acne, even if you get dehydrated. I’ve experimented with this and it did nothing for me.
9. Lack of water:
⁃ Not drinking enough water is a big problem for many people. How much do you need? According to the water cure: (www.watercure2.org), you need to divide your body weight by two and drink that many ounces of water each day. Plus you need an effective sea salt (check out www.realsalt.com) to use this for your food and help maintain hydration. But, alas, this also will not directly affect acne, it can certainly help but not with any clear connection. I’ve seen no association with this either.
10. Fast food:
⁃ Where to start here? If we talk about simply eating your food really, really fast, then this is certainly a problem, but not really for your skin. If we look at the food and additives itself, then we may start to get a problem. A lack of healthful nutrients whatsoever can certainly put a drain on you and deplete you of the full spectrum of vitamins, minerals, essential oils, and various other to be discovered nutrients that only come from fresh food (foods that spoil fast). However, this also doesn’t directly cause acne. I’ve known people who eat fast food constantly that have nice skin, however they will eventually have other problems.
11. Stress, hormones or genes:
This seems to be a cop out. “We can’t seem to find anything directly related to this so let’s blame stress, hormones or genetics.” I think this is a factor combined with everything else I’ve mentioned above but again it is not directly correlated.
12. No cause found:
“We don’t know what causes acne,” I had heard often and still do, but “this might help” (usually a drug, with all kinds of side effects). So where do we turn for information?
13. Modern medicine:
Modern medicine is pure chemistry folks. Chemists barely look at how food interacts with your body. Instead, they look at how food interacts with their drugs. This is hardly any help because food clearly affects your chemistry but does it directly affect your skin? Unfortunately, no or at least, not for me.
14. Magic potions:
Snake oil salesmen abound. They are all over the internet and will prey on your insecurity and lack of knowledge. All of these things are shams. They’ll either work for a brief period of time or not work at all. Or worse yet, they’ll tell you that you need to use more of it (pay them more $) for a longer period of time and that eventually it will start to work. Ugh! (And if it doesn’t work, then you are the culprit, not them!)
15. Nobody looking from the outside in:
To really understand soap and your skin, we need to study the history from an almost outside point of view.
16. Brief History of Soap: Let me just reference the wikipedia here as there is some really great information that we pulled onto our site at www.itspuresoap.com. Here it is from our page:
⁃ Do you know soap’s history? (excerpted from the Wikipedia)
⁃ The earliest known evidence of soap use are Babylonian clay cylinders dating from 2800 BC containing a soap-like substance. A formula for soap consisting of water, alkali and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC. (IF YOU WERE SWEATING ALL DAY EVERY DAY IN THE DESERT, YOU TOO WOULD INVENT SOAP FIRST!)
⁃ It is commonly reported that a soap factory with bars of scented soap was found in the ruins of Pompeii (79 AD). However, this has proved to be a misinterpretation of the survival of some soapy mineral substance, [citation needed] probably soapstone at the Fullonica where it was used for dressing recently cleansed textiles. Unfortunately this error has been repeated widely and can be found in otherwise reputable texts on soap history. The ancient Romans were generally ignorant of soap’s detergent properties. The word “soap” appears first in a European language in Pliny the Elder’s Historia Naturalis, which discusses the manufacture of soap from tallow and ashes, but the only use he mentions for it is as a pomade for hair; he mentions rather disapprovingly that among the Gauls and Germans men are likelier to use it than women [1].
⁃ The Arabs made the soap from vegetable oil such as olive oil or some aromatic oils such as thyme oil. Sodium Lye (Al-Soda Al-Kawia) NaOH was used for the first time and the formula hasn’t changed from the current soap sold in the market. From the beginning of the 7th century soap was produced in Nablus (Palestine), Kufa (Iraq) and Basra (Iraq). Soaps, as we know them today, are descendants of historical Arabian Soaps. Arabian Soap was perfumed and colored, some of the soaps were liquid and others were hard. They also had special soap for shaving. It was commercially sold for 3 Dirhams (0.3 Dinars) a piece in 981 AD. Al-Razi’s manuscript contains recipes for soap. A recently discovered manuscript from the 13th century details more recipes for soap making; e.g. take some sesame oil, a sprinkle of potash, alkali and some lime, mix them all together and boil. When cooked, they are poured into molds and left to set, leaving hard soap.
⁃ A story encountered in some places claims that soap takes its name from a supposed “Mount Sapo” where ancient Romans sacrificed animals. Rain would send a mix of animal tallow and wood ash down the mountain and into the clay soil on the banks of the Tiber. Eventually, women noticed that it was easier to clean clothes with this “soap”. The location of Mount Sapo is unknown, as is the source of the “ancient Roman legend” to which this tale is typically credited.[2] In fact, the Latin word sapo simply means “soap”; it was borrowed from a Celtic or Germanic language, and is cognate with Latin sebum, “tallow”, which appears in Pliny the Elder’s account. Roman animal sacrifices usually burned only the bones and inedible entrails of the sacrificed animals; edible meat and fat from the sacrifices were taken by the humans rather than the gods. Animal sacrifices in the ancient world would not have included enough fat to make much soap. The legend about Mount Sapo is probably apocryphal. (THIS SOUNDS CRAZY… MOST LIKELY NOT TRUE ACCORDING TO SOME OTHER BOOKS WE’VE READ!)
⁃ Historically, soap was made by mixing animal fats with lye. Because of the caustic lye, this was a dangerous procedure (perhaps more dangerous than any present-day home activities) which could result in serious chemical burns or even blindness. (DON’T TRY MAKING SOAP AT HOME FOLKS! BE VERY VERY CAREFUL IF YOU DO!) Before commercially-produced lye was commonplace, it was produced at home for soap making from the ashes of a wood fire.
⁃ Castile soap, made from olive oil, was produced in Europe as early as the 16th century.
⁃ In modern times, the use of soap has become universal in industrialized nations due to a better understanding of the role of hygiene in reducing the population size of pathogenic microorganisms. Manufactured bar soaps first became available in the late nineteenth century, and advertising campaigns in Europe and the United States helped to increase popular awareness of the relationship between cleanliness and health. (IN THE 1800S, THE CHURCH REALLY PUSHED THIS AND CAME UP WITH THE PHRASE “CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS” OR ITS VARYING PHRASING.) By the 1950s, soap had gained public acceptance as an instrument of personal hygiene.
⁃ But I like using regular soap… (excerpted from the Wikipedia)
⁃ Today, fat-based soaps have mostly been superseded by modern detergents. (READ THIS AS CHEMICALS FOLKS! NOT NATURAL AND NOT GOOD FOR YOU!) Washing agents do not contain soap for cleaning fabric, but for reducing foam.
⁃ The disadvantages of commercial soaps are:
⁃ Most commercial soaps have had their glycerine removed for use in other industries, which deprives the skin of the natural, moisturizing glycerine and generally leaves the skin feeling dry. (THAT WAY THE BIG COMPANIES CAN THEN SELL YOU THEIR MOISTURIZERS! UNBELIEVABLE!)
⁃ Some antibacterial soaps have antiseptic chemicals that can kill “healthy” bacteria that live symbiotically on the skin’s surface and contribute to skin health. There is a theoretical risk of antibacterial additives (specifically Triclosan) in soaps contributing to antibiotic resistant bacteria, however, controlled studies have not borne out that conclusion (Aiello AE et al. Antibacterial cleaning products and drug resistance. Emerg Infect Dis 2005 Oct; 11:1565-70). Some antibacterial soaps contain Triclosan which, when discharged into the environment and exposed to sunlight, breaks down into dioxins (“Occurrence and Environmental Behavior of the Bactericide Triclosan and Its Methyl Derivative in Surface Waters and in Wastewater” Anton Lindström, Ignaz J. Buerge, Thomas Poiger, Per-Anders Bergqvist, Markus D. Müller, and Hans-Rudolf Buser Environ. Sci. Technol.; 2002; 36(11) pp 2322–2329). (OH YEAH, GO AHEAD AND WAIT FOR THE SCIENTISTS TO PROVE THIS AND IN THE MEAN TIME, KEEP ON BUYING THE SOAP MADE BY THE SCIENTISTS!)
⁃ Soap-based products often contain the additive sodium laureth sulfate, which research has found to be harsh on skin. This product is also present in many non-soap cleaners for personal hygiene (shampoos, bathfoams, toothpaste, etc.). (THIS STUFF IS IN PRACTICALLY EVERY CLEANER! WHEN EXACTLY DID WE ALL GO TO SLEEP TO ALLOW THESE CHEMISTS TO HIJACK NATURAL SOAP AND TURN IT INTO AN EXPERIMENT ON US! NO THANKS, WE’LL STICK TO GRANDMA’S SOAP AND AVOID THIS, THANKYOUVERYMUCH! In general… NOT A GOOD IDEA!)
⁃ 17. “No acne” before World Wars:
⁃ This is from speaking with some older folks (my grandfather and some of my friends’ grandparents) that were around back then, but the consensus seems to be that acne simply didn’t exist back before the World Wars. So what changed?
⁃ 18. Stayed with same ingredients:
⁃ There were massive shortages and the US people were sending everything they could to the soldiers and sacrificing at home so that we could defeat Hitler. We were running low on everything including soap.
⁃ 19. Enter Chemists:
⁃ Chemists were already recruited to find alternates for everything we were running low on, including soap. It was discovered that we could substitute the lard for alternative oils like tallow or chemical detergents. This was probably okay to be done for a short amount of time during the war, but this stayed on after the war. And then an advertising push was started and everyone was fooled or forgot about lard based soaps.
⁃ 20. Grand experiment continues…:
⁃ To this day, this grand experiment continues and we continue to use chemical based detergent soaps on our skin and think the sun is stronger or something as our skin reacts worse to it.
21. Cause and the Cure:
⁃ Soap is both the cause and the cure of skin problems. Chemical soaps cause problems and natural soaps cure. So what do we consider to be a chemical soap and what do we consider to be a natural soap?
22. Chemical soap bad:
⁃ Chemical soap is any mass produced common brand name soap. Look for complicated chemical names in the ingredient list. Anything you can’t pronounce, you should not ingest nor put onto your skin. Please remember that your skin absorbs things. Everyone knows that moisturizers absorb, so why shouldn’t the chemicals in soap? These chemicals are being absorbed into your skin and damaging your skin and pores.
23. Pure natural lard soap good:
⁃ Soap should be simple and free of chemicals or any complicated words in the ingredient list. The base of soap should be lard as this is the most similar to human skin. Simplicity is generally the best solution and with something placed on your skin daily, you need to trust that your soap is naturally pure and clean and will therefore make your skin clean and natural as well. If your soap cleans up your skin and doesn’t leave any chemicals on it, then it can finally get clean and be clear of acne.
24. Conclusion:
- Make your own. I’ve made mine…
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