When you’re struggling with acne it seems like this super complicated, hard to fix disease. You try all kinds of treatments and nothing just seems to work. Skincare, antibiotics, prescriptions, diet changes and so on. Nothing seems to work…
Why do some people have perfect skin despite not using skincare or doing anything for it, while you’re out here doing absolutely everything under the sun with nothing to show for it? Except bad skin of course…
Well, my friend, there lies the answer. Let me explain.
First up, you don’t have acne because your skin is dirty or because of your genetics. That’s just what skincare companies want you to believe so they can sell you even more products that promise to make your skin as clean as a new ferrari.
And if the whole genetics argument was true we wouldn’t have studies of non westernized tribes with ZERO rates of acne. I’ve talked about these a lot before and I will keep talking about them until everyone with acne knows that it’s not about their hormones or genetics.
But what is it about then? Living like your friend that seemingly does everything wrong but has perfect skin and like a non westernized hunter gatherer.
You gotta live a lifestyle thats a mix of these two imaginary people. What does your friend do that’s conducive to clear skin?
He’s probably low cortisol maxxing. He doesn’t care about his skin. Acne has never even crossed his mind and he doesn’t take things so seriously. On the other hand you’re out here spending every waking hour stressing over your skin. Looking in every mirror, window or car you walk past. The first thing you do each morning when you wake up is go check if you got any new pimples. Of course you did.
He doesn’t use skincare. Look, I am not saying that skincare is horrible. But there are certain benefits to using nothing at all. I’ll go over that in a second.
And what does the hunter gatherer do that’s conducive to his perfectly clear skin?
He eats clean. No seed oils, no pesticides, no artificial food dyes like red 40, no microplastics, no phthalates, no nothing. Just clean whole foods. More in a sec on the exact diet that’s important for clear skin.
He lives like a human is supposed to. He walks around all day. He has no concept of shoes so he’s grounded 24/7, experiencing the immaculate flow of energy from mother earth. He gets tons of sunlight. The source of all life on earth. He hangs out with his tribe, has fun and like our acne free friend and doesn’t stress over all kinds of useless stuff.
It’s pretty simple actually and when you combine the best of both worlds that is when you will see the best results with your skin.
Let’s go over how.
Low cortisol lifestyle bro
This is such an underrated cause of all kinds of health problems, including acne. Everyone is so caught up in the hustle and grind culture that they see on social media to the point where they will sacrifice their health for it.
“Nah bro I’ll just sleep when I’m dead”
Fuck that man. I see all these 16 year old kids on social media talking about their “perfect routine”. Wake up early, drink coffee, go for a zone 2 run, work 12 hour days using claude for my ai business bla bla bla. Slaves.
Sounds so fucking boring.
You want to be the unemployed friend that just lifemaxxes. Reads long books, sits at a cafe observing people. Takes time out of the day to do nothing. Sleeps like a baby. Cortisol meter all the way down.
Practically feeling your health improving. Your leaky gut disappearing. Your pimples disappearing one by one.
Delete the social media or at least start using it less. But honestly, deleting it is easier. And especially don’t use it right after waking up and right before going to bed. That’s when you’re the most susceptible to all the bullshit you see.
“OMG the world is ending”
Cortisol spike.
“Stock market down 4% today, shit”
Cortisol spike.
The low cortisol guy doesn’t react to all this. He simply doesn’t care. And that’s why he has beautiful skin. Who would have thought the stock market could be connected to your skin health? But I am telling you it is (kinda). Everything is connected in this world.
Also, like I said, start engaging in relaxing low cortisol activities like reading, meditating, walking, etc.
Stop looking in the damn mirror
Looking in the mirror is another overlooked contributor to acne. Let me explain.
The thoughts you think about become your reality. This is a universal law whether you believe it or not. It’s called manifestation and I know that sounds so weird and tiktok girl vision board like, but it’s true.
You manifest everything in your life everyday. You manifest going to the gym every time you think “I should go to the gym” right before you do it.
You manifest taking a shower by thinking “I am gonna take a shower now”.
Just like you manifest bigger things that take more time like getting rich, getting your dream car or visiting a country you’ve always dreamed of.
These things just take longer to manifest because they’re on a lifeline further away from the one you’re on now, but other than that it’s no different than manifesting taking a shower or going to the gym.
Just like you can manifest this you can also manifest good or bad skin.
Constantly looking in the mirror saying to yourself:
“I hate my skin”
“I have so many pimples”
“My acne is horrible”
All these things are drawing you to a acne filled lifeline where you ABSOLUTELY have acne.
If you say to yourself that you have ugly skin, your subconscious will believe it and make sure you stay on a lifeline where you have UGLY SKIN. It’s not rocket science.
Obviously this is not the only thing that matters, but trust me, it absolutely plays a part.
But just like you most likely won’t get rich by just sitting around and telling yourself that you’re rich, you won’t fix your skin by just telling yourself you got clear skin.
You also gotta walk the walk. Create and sell something when you wanna get rich. Eat clean and live a healthy lifestyle when you wanna fix your skin.
So stop being so upset about your skin that you take every opportunity to study it in depth when you walk past a mirror, window or car. Just ignore it. Tell yourself you got beautiful skin and spend as little time as possible thinking about acne.
Like I said, your thoughts shape your reality. Acne on your mind = acne on your face.
Stop looking in the damn mirror bruh.
Healthmaxxing
This is the foundation of everything.
If you don’t do this, none of the other stuff is really gonna work.
This is the walking the walk part. And honestly, it’s not that hard or complicated.
The first part is diet. If there is one thing we can learn from modern studies on acne and studies of the non westernized tribes with zero acne it’s this:
The more whole foods you eat, the better.
But there are a couple things worth prioritizing and some things worth absolutely avoiding for the best results.
Let’s look at the Kitavan Islanders first. They eat a diet consisting mostly of root vegetables, fish, coconuts and fruit.
Pretty simple. But there are a couple reasons why this gives them so peak skin.
The first is that their diet has a very low glycemic load. Glycemic load is just glycemic index * carbohydrate content in a 100g portion and just helps to give a more accurate representation of the glycemic response certain foods illicit.
When you look at the chart above you can see a comparison between normal western foods and traditional foods that populations like the Kitavan Islanders consume.
You can basically see that the glycemic load for the unrefined foods is way lower than normal western foods.
This high glycemic response triggers the release of insulin and IGF-1 which trigger acne through various mechanisms.
It stimulates the production of skin cells inside the hair follicles along with increasing sebum production, and when these two mix, that’s when you get clogged pores which can lead to acne.
Insulin and IGF-1 can also increase general levels of inflammation in the body which is yet another cause of acne.
And that’s not to say that insulin and IGF-1 are all bad. They’re not. They also play important roles in hormone and metabolic health, but if you want to fix your acne you would probably do best to avoid rapid spikes in both of these.
You basically do this by just consuming whole foods like I talked about earlier. Whole foods in general have a much lower glycemic load than processed foods like white bread, candy, cakes and so on.
Other dietary factors to prioritize:
High fiber. Fiber is good for you. Don’t get it twisted. The only time you’ll really have trouble with fiber is if you go from eating almost no fiber at all to suddenly consuming 30-50g per day. What you should do instead is to gradually increase your fiber intake. Fiber helps bind and excrete toxins in the gut like estrogen, endotoxins and heavy metals before they get reabsorbed and cause trouble. They also help move shit through you quicker so you literally aren’t full of shit all the time. Muy bueno. Good sources include raw carrots, cooked potatoes, fruits like apples, oranges, dates, avocado and berries like blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.
Omega 3’s. Let’s face it brother. You probably don’t eat a lot of fish. And that’s fine because most fish is unfortunately contaminated with bad stuff like microplastics and heavy metals. That’s why I just recommend supplementing with omega 3’s, since they’re so important for skin health and acne. The problem is that there are so many horrible omega 3 supplements out there. Most fish oils are rancid and full of bullshit. That’s why you should either buy a algae omega 3 supplement or a third party tested fish oil supplement and store it in the fridge to improve it’s shelf life. I use this one. No affiliation, just the best one I’ve found.
Micronutrients. You need to hit your micronutrient targets to supply your body with the building blocks it needs to heal your health and skin. I’d recommend tracking it with an app for a couple weeks to see where you stand. Consistently low in vitamin x and mineral y? Consider supplementing or eating foods that contain them. Key micronutrients for skin health include: zinc, omega 3, vitamin c, vitamin E (get the best here, code “KASPER” to save $$$). But you should hit them all ideally.
So to conclude the diet part: eat nutrient dense whole foods like red meat, eggs, high quality milk and dairy products, fruit and vegetables that work for you. Pretty simple.
The next part of the healthmaxxing equation is lifestyle and environment.
I don’t wanna make it too long but just try to adopt a lifestyle similar to Mr. Italian Grandpa and Kitavan Islander dude. This includes:
Getting lots of sunlight (especially around morning and afternoon/evening). Sunlight is so important for many aspects of your health and can be considered the foundation of health. If you don’t sleep well, everything else will suffer, including your skin health. Also consider wearing a good sunscreen on your face though, to protect from photoaging.
Daily movement. Walk 10-20k steps per day ideally. Do some resistance training. Do some cardio. Swimming. HIIT. Sports like basketball, surfing or whatever you like. Avoid stagnation at all costs. Movement does so many things for health that I don’t even have to explain it, because you probably already know that it’s important.
Grounding is another important thing for health. It improves blood flow and inflammation among other things by donating free electrons that neutralize free radicals. It’s only in the last 100 years or so that we’ve started wearing shoes that cut off this connection to the earth because of the synthetic material most shoes are made from. So start grounding brother. Walk on grass, swim in the ocean and consider getting some grounding shoes so you can ground even while wearing shoes. I personally like the ones from wyde footwear called the somas:
This obviously also connects to the low cortisol lifestyle I mentioned before. Hanging out with friends, meditating, reading books, walking, playing cards with your friends in the sun, avoiding doomscrolling like the plague and so on.
Treating life as a game and just not taking it so serious all the time. That’s what these traditional societies do.
Another important thing in the lifestyle and environment part of the equation is avoiding toxins.
It’s something these people don’t have to think that much about because they just naturally aren’t exposed to that many toxins.
But for us living in the modern world it’s a different story. We are bombarded with chemicals, endocrine disruptors, microplastics and all kinds of stuff that’s stressing our body and overburdening our detox systems.
To make it clear, I am not saying that all chemicals are bad. The word “chemical” sounds scary but everything in the universe is made of chemicals. Including natural stuff.
But some chemicals, man made or natural, should be avoided for optimal health and clear skin.
For example, we know that microplastics are bad for you. We also know stuff like parabens, phthalates, certain fragrances and so on have negative impacts on your health.
If you want to fix your skin, it’s important that you avoid these. For example, eat whole foods. That will already make you avoid a lot of chemical additives that aren’t good for you. Also, stop drinking out of plastic. Avoid skincare and self care products with parabens, artificial fragrances and stuff like that. Wear natural fiber clothing so you avoid microplastics. Get an air purifier and/or plants in your home to filter formaldehyde, microplastic particles and other bad stuff. Avoid most cleaning products and detergents.
You decide how far you wanna go with this. I’m just giving you the information.
And honestly, it sounds a lot harder than it is. You switch out a product once and then never go back to it again. It only seems overwhelming in the beginning when you feel like you have to avoid so many different things. Just start one at a time.
F*ck yo skincare
Look, I used to big into skincare. I thought it was the cure to acne because it was the only thing people mentioned when you searched “how to fix acne”.
“just use the cerave cleanser and moisturizer”. Fuck that. These influencers talking about that literally never even dealt with acne and just wanna shill you an affiliate link so they make money.
I tried all kinds of skincare products for years and most of them did absolutely nothing except drain my wallet.
You gotta understand that skincare is a surface level treatment. It doesn’t fix the root cause. You gotta view skincare as the cherry on top. You have to fix all the underlying issues first (what I just went over) before you even start to think about skincare.
That’s why these non westernized people have perfect skin without even knowing what skincare is. And it’s the same for your friend.
It would be similar to worrying about the best supplements for general health while eating fast food, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol every day while never working out.
The supplements wouldn’t do shit in that situation. You gotta fix the basics that actually move the needle before you worry about the supplements. Or in your situation, the skincare products.
Skincare can also do more harm than good because most products contain bullshit ingredients like parabens and fragrances. On top of that, mixing certain skincare products can cause irritation and redness, disrupting your skin barrier and potentially making your skin worse.
This is why I always recommend using only a few products that you know work and are high quality. Ingredients like salicylic acid, chk-cu, vitamin c, etc.
Using a good sunscreen on the face can also be really helpful to prevent photoaging long term so you don’t end up looking like a wrinkly ballsack by the time your 40.
But that’s pretty much it.
Acne is a lifestyle. It’s not this isolated disease that can be fixed with skincare. It’s a way of life. The way of the skinmaxxer. Some people, like you and me, just have to be more conscious of it because we are more prone to it than others for one reason or another.
If you want the full A-Z blueprint, check out my skool community HERE.
Thanks for reading. I hope you learned something.
— Kasper Veritas