We all know Woody Harrelson from his appearances in unforgettable movies such as “White Men Can’t Jump”, “Kingpin” and “Natural Born Killers”.
And who could forget his splendid role as the hilarious bartender in the sitcom “Cheers” ?
Woody had tons of acne
Turns out that in his early twenties Woody had a terrible complexion and tons of acne.
Woody explains that his acne disappeared after he became a vegan. He has remained a vegan for the last 25 years and his acne never came back.
Says Woody: “It’s been at least 20 years. I used to eat burgers and steak, and I would just be knocked out afterward. I had to give it up. The first thing was dairy. I was about 24 years old and I had tons of acne and mucus. I met some random girl on a bus who told me to quit dairy and all those symptoms would go away three days later. By God she was right.”
If you are a regular here at Sana Fela, you know that we have discussed the role of diet in the development of acne before.
Looks like Woody is a good example of somebody that took that advise to heart and reaped the benefits.
Becoming a vegan helped Woody to stay acne free
Drinking milk can raise the levels of several hormones that play a key role in the development of acne. See this post for more details.
Likewise, consumption of lots of sugar can cause an increase in the production of oil by the sebaceous glands, which in turn leads to an increase in acne. The mechanism behind this is explained in this post. It is thus no wonder that a low carb diet can help prevent acne. By becoming a vegan, Woody stacked the cards to his advantage.
It is one thing to clear up an active acne out break. It is another to keep the acne from coming back.
Several solutions are available that can bring an acne outbreak under control. As you know, here at Sana Fela we are partial to using a natural Tea Tree Oil treatment, because it is simple and effective without being harsh on your skin like some of the other treatments.
How to keep acne at bay
Once you have a handle on your existing acne, how about taking steps to prevent it from returning? Have a critical look at your diet and see if there is something you can change to keep the acne away. Sounds simple? It can be if you consider changing your diet as something that is simple to do and worth it. But many of us would rather have there wisdom teeth pulled without anesthesia than to radically change our diet. Then again, maybe at least reducing things like milk, dairy and sugar in our daily diet would be worth it if it would help our skin.
Think about it. But don’t take our word for it. Ask Woody!
For further reading:
Role of diet in the development of acne
How to treat acne and prevent it from re-occuring
