A Cup Of Green Tea May Keep The Acne Away
We already know that drinking green tea has many health benefits due to its antioxidant content. However, a new study conducted by National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan, shows a previously unappreciated health benefits may be clearing up adult acne.
In the study, researchers observed a study group of 80 women between the ages of 25 and 45. Each of the women went into the study suffering from moderate to severe acne. As part of the research, over a period of four weeks, the women were randomly assigned either decaffeinated green tea extract or a placebo to drink daily.
At the end of the study, the researchers discovered that those who drank the green tea extract had less acne around their nose, mouth and chin as well as a “significant reductions in total lesion counts.
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Green tea has been used in traditional medicine for years for all sorts of health and wellness issues, but can it also be the answer to our skins health? Green Tea is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and it also contains caffeine, which is a diuretic and helps keep your system clean and detoxified, says skincare expert Celeste Hilling, founder and product formulator for Skin Authority.
How Egcg Helps With Acne
IGF-1 has acne-producing effects in your body. To be specific, high IGF-1 levels will produce too many skin cells that get stuck together and clog your pores. Also, it directly leads to worse inflammation.
The good news is, EGCG is the major killer of IGF-1s acne-producing effects. On the one hand, EGCG makes your body pump out more IGFBP-3, which binds up IGF-1 floating around your bloodstream. On the other hand, it also prevents the acne-producing effects of IGF-1. Due to these two properties, EGCG in green tea can improve your acne successfully.
Moreover, EGCG has the ability to blocking 5- reductase. If you dont know 5- reductase, it is a serious problem for acne sufferers. 5- reductase converts free testosterone to DHT . DHT is a major stimulator of excess sebum, clogged pores, and inflammatory acne. Thus, by holding down 5- reductase, EGCG contributes to green tea for acne treatment in another way.
Effect On Insulin Resistance And Blood Sugar Control
High blood sugar and insulin levels are bad for acne. Very bad. Anything you can do to keep blood sugar and insulin levels stable can help your skin. Thats why going on low glycemic index and low carbohydrate diets often helps your skin. Regular consumption of green tea can also help.
A large epidemiological study from Japan showed that drinking 6 or more cups of green tea per day reduced the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by 33%. The effect was even larger in women and there was a robust dose-response relationship, i.e. the more you drink the larger the risk reduction. In women drinking 1-6 cups per week reduced risk by 21%, 1-2 cups per day reduced the risk by 34%, 3-5 cups per day by 39% and 6 or more cups by 51%.
Results from intervention studies are not so clear. But the overall trend is fairly clear. Most studies show at least a mild positive effect to insulin resistance and blood sugar levels. As this one review study noted:
However, the majority of human epidemiological and intervention studies demonstrate beneficial effects of green tea or green tea extracts, rich in EGCG on weight management, glucose control and cardiovascular risk factors.
The potential role of green tea catechins in the prevention of the metabolic syndrome a review.
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Drinking Green Tea For Beauty Benefits
A healthy diet certainly supports skin health, and that can include green tea, which research has already flagged as a cancer fighter, immune booster and heart protector. “Drinking green tea helps skin, too, by decreasing inflammation and free radicals. However, not much gets into skin,” says Baumann.
That said, brewing up a cup of green tea isn’t enough. For the best benefits, Baumann recommends both drinking green tea and applying green tea products to your skin. Happy sippingand slathering.
Tea Tree Oil And Green Tea For Acne
Topical tea tree oil is known to be an effective treatment for mild to moderate acne . It has strong antimicrobial properties that are effective against acne.
You Will Need
Method
- 2 times a day.
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How Can I Clear My Face In 2 Days
15 Simple Tricks to Get Clear Skin OvernightWash Your Face. Always wash your face before bed! Hydrate Your Skin. A dry face is much more prone to wrinkles and breakouts, FYI. Use a Clay Mask. The ingredients will penetrate deep into your skin and clean out excess oil and bacteria. Dont Pick It. Whatever you do, resist the urge to squeeze. Honey. Steam It Out.
Add Green Tea To Your Regimen
Still, with all the health benefits of green tea, there’s no reason why you can’t use it as an addition to your acne treatment routine. While it’s not enough to completely clear your skin on its own, it may help to give you some improvement.
You can simply drink a cup or two a day. Some people say green tea can make them feel a little queasy when drank on an empty stomach, so if this sounds like you try sipping your tea after a meal.
Green tea can be used topically, too. Many skin care products and cosmetics contain green tea extract.
How much good you’re actually going to get from the green tea in your cosmetic products is debatable, and has a lot to do with how much green tea extract is in the product. Some sources cite green tea as an anti-ager for the skin.
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Topical Green Tea Reduces Hormone Activity In The Skin
There is evidence that shows that those prone to acne are more sensitive to androgen hormones than those who have clear skin. When theres too much free testosterone floating around our blood an enzyme in our body called 5-alpha reductase converts that testosterone into a hormone called dihydrotestosterone . DHT is like testosterones stronger, more evil brother its testosterone on crack and causes oily skin, acne breakouts, hirsutism and sometimes even male pattern baldness!
Benefits Of Green Tea For Acne
Green tea has some pretty cool potential benefits for your skin and your overall health! If youve read much of our website, you know that these are almost one-and-the-same. Taking good care of your health is taking good care of your skin.
Turns out that drinking green tea can make your skin produce less sebum, reduce your inflammation levels, and boost your immune system. Thats a powerful trio of effects for acne-busting, and well go into them in a minute.
But first, whats responsible for the benefits of green tea? Whats the magic ingredient?
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Hormonal Effects Of Green Tea
Studies have shown that green tea also has anti-cancer effects, particularly against breast and prostate cancers. Interestingly those cancers are connected to IGF-1 and sex hormone levels the very same hormones that cause havoc on your skin.
Green tea increases the molecules that bind to sex hormones , and thus effectively reduces levels of bioactive hormones.. As I covered in the topical use of green tea post, ECGC prevents conversion of testosterone to DHT. DHT is perhaps the most harmful hormone when it comes to prostate cancer and acne. So lower levels are definitely good for you.
So in summary, we can say that green tea appears to balance many of the hormones that are linked to acne.
Treatments To Help Clear Your Skin
In addition to green tea, you’ll also want to get started on a daily acne treatment routine. This will give you the most effective and reliable results.
For mild breakouts, over-the-counter benzoyl peroxide is a good choice. Try that for eight to 10 weeks and see if that helps improve your skin.
If OTC products aren’t doing much good, or you have moderate acne or severe acne, you’ll definitely want to get on a prescription acne medication instead. There are plenty of treatment options out there, and one will work for you. Put in a call to your dermatologist.
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Can Drinking Green Tea Help With Acne
The research regarding this question is still limited. ;There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to support the claim that green tea does have a positive effect on acne, but that is yet to be proven.
What we do know so far is that green tea is a major source of polyphenols antioxidants that can be usually found in food. Antioxidants help protect the skin from the damage of free radicals. They deactivate these radicals which are also known as oxidant radicals. Along with other polyphenolic components, they help lower inflammation in your body, which is one of the main causes of acne. People with high levels of inflammation are more acne-prone than others.
This antioxidant also has the power of balancing out your hormones, which is amazing news for those who suffer from hormonal acne.
You might be wondering how exactly does green tea influence hormones? It works by lowering the androgen levels in your body, which naturally become higher than they should during adolescence or because of some lifestyle factors and medical conditions. It makes the body produce more IGFBP-3 , a type of protein that binds with IGF-1. In addition, it can also block IGF-1 receptors, resulting in less acne. Imbalanced hormones lead to excess production of sebum which in turn causes clogged pores.
Green tea is also known for its antibacterial benefits. Some studies show that it can work on a few acne-causing bacteria.
Green Tea Can Reduce Inflammation
While antioxidants are healthy, antioxidants themselves don’t do anything to improve acne breakouts. But green tea is also rich in a certain type of polyphenols called catechins.
Very simply, polyphenols are compounds in plants that have health benefits for people. Catechins are antioxidant and also anti-inflammatory.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The catechins in green tea are very effective at reducing skin inflammation. Can green tea then reduce inflammatory acne? Maybe.
A study published in the April 2016 issue of Complementary Therapies in Medicine gave decaffeinated green tea extract supplements to a group of adult women with acne. A second group took a placebo supplement.
Those who took the green tea extract supplement had fewer inflammatory breakouts, especially around the nose, mouth, and chin.
But the green tea supplements didn’t completely clear up acne completely. In fact, between the two groups there was no significant difference in total acne breakouts.
So, it would seem that the green tea supplements may be made existing acne blemishes less inflamed, especially around the nose, mouth, and chin area.
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Mix How To Green Tea Mask For Your Face
This recipe yields 1 face mask recipes.; If you make extra, cover and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Step 1:;;I used loose leaf green tea.; Boil some water, and add to about 1/4 teaspoon of loose leaf green tea.; The green tea leaves swell a surprising amount so you dont need a ton.
The instructions are basically the same with a tea bag.; Add an approximate inch of water to just cover the tea bag.; This will brew the tea to be super concentrated.;Afterwards, re-use your tea bag for another cup of antioxidant rich tea.
Let steep for up 3-5 minutes.;
Step 2: Use a teaspoon of the green tea from the leaves or tea bag that you steeped.
Step 3: Add 1/4 teaspoon of sweet almond oil and 1 drop of bergamot essential oil to green tea.; 1 drop is enough, dont add more.
Green tea has very little fragrance to it, so adding bergamot essential oil adds a citrus like fragrance with a mild spice.; ;You can substitute with lavender or tea tree essential oil which are also great for your skin.
Step 4: Add 1 tsp french green clay.
Pro Tip: try to avoid using metal when mixing liquids with clay.; Use a plastic or wooden spoon and bowl.; This is because of the cation exchange that takes place with how clay works.
Adjust clay or water until you get the desired consistency.; It shouldnt be soupy, if you have too much water, it will also look a bit oily.; Aim for smooth but not overly thick.
Different sources or brands of clay can differ so they might not be the exact same directions as I used.
It Helps Decrease Inflammation
Catechins are rich in green tea. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate was discovered to be useful in the treatment of acne and rosacea out of the four primary catechins identified in green Tea. It works by lowering swelling. In one study, the use of a 2% green tea lotion reduces inflammatory acne.
EGCG is a strong antioxidant with immunomodulatory and photoprotective effects. It also has antiangiogenic and anti-inflammatory actions .
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Helps Reduce Sebum Production:
The overproduction of sebum is one of the primary drivers of skin breakout. Effective utilization of green tea diminishes sebum discharge and treats skin inflammation.
A study of 22 healthy, non-smoking men examined the effects of 5% local green tea extract for 60 days. Researchers have found a significant reduction in sebum secretion.
Drinking green tea can also reduce sebum production and help control acne.
Green Tea Facial Mask For Dry Skin
Ingredients
Those with dry skin need all the extra moisturization and hydration, and this green tea mask, with the perfect blend of the right ingredients, offers just that and more. While the recipe uses powdered tea, you can swap the contents of a tea bag or two of green tea leaves if you prefer.
Place 2 tablespoons of yogurt in a small bowl. Add a a tablespoon of colloidal oats and a teaspoon of matcha green tea powder and mix well.; Apply the mixture and leave on for 10-15 minutes before rinsing. Itll instantly make your skin more brighter and softer.
Misting with my Rose Face Spray for further moisturizing and toning and to help lock in the moisture is also suggested. Slathering with;DIY Hyaluronic Acid Serum is also a great choice
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White Clay And Green Tea Mask To Fight Acne And Blackheads
Have you already heard about the benefits of using white clay for your skin? White clay, also known as Kaolin, is an ideal base for natural beauty treatments.
Its highly cleansing and disinfecting, making it perfect for treating problems with acne and blackheads.
Here are some more benefits of using a white clay and green tea mask:
- It has excellent astringent properties, treating acne and blackheads and revealing healthy, luminous skin. But where can you get white clay? Try your local herbalist or health food stores. And its not expensive in fact, its quite affordable. Typically youll find it in powder form. Youll see how easy it is to make a mask.
- To prepare this treatment the first thing you need to do is make a potent tea using three green tea bags and a half cup of water. Use chlorine-free water if possible, but dont worry if you dont have it on hand.
- Now youll add your tea to the white clay powder. You want to obtain a paste thats thick enough to apply to your face. Mix it well, and smooth this mask over your face, paying special attention to areas where you tend to see blackheads and breakouts.
- Leave your mask on for 15 minutes, then rinse with cool water. Its a good idea to use this treatment twice a week.
Green Tea With Sugar:
Sugar is also very friendly skin treatment agent. With the help of green tea with sugar, you can have the renewal of your skin cell. This remedy is best. Take;the green tea in a sauce pan then allow it to cool, after it gets cool. Add the appropriate amount of sugar into it and massage it into your face for 15 minutes. Repeat this remedy for several for the quality results.
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