Jenny Sugar has spent decades battling horrendous and painful acne on her face, even though the answer lies in her very last name! Surprisingly, she randomly decided to give up one product to cure her stomach problems, but it turned out that this also affected the condition of her skin.
“I will never forget when I was babysitting one day after college and a tiny one year old pointed out a monster pimple on my chin. I tried to ignore it and distract him with a toy, but he kept pointing. Mother looked at me sympathetically and simply said, “Yes, she has a bo-bo.”
Since then, more than 10 years have passed, during which I suffered from acne. I didn’t have horrendous acne that covered my entire face, but my problem was that I always had a few huge pimples like Rudolph’s deer nose, pimples that were deep, painful and red. There was not a moment when I felt carefree: when one pimple went away, several new ones appeared.
I was very shy as it continued until my 30s. I visited a dermatologist who decided to clear my skin before my wedding day in August 2008, but the harsh current medications at the time only made my skin red and irritated, my skin didn’t clear at all. After 30 years, my two pregnancies helped a little (thank you, hormones!), but after the birth of each child, acne returned. I was in my 40s and still had acne.
How do I cure acne?
It wasn’t until January 2017, when I cut sugar for a month as part of my New Year’s resolutions, that I experienced soft, clear skin for the first time. In fact, I gave up sugar, not for my skin (I didn’t know it would help), but for a personal experiment, to cure a stomach that hurt for six months and my doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it.
Not only did I feel better after the second week, with no bloating or digestive problems, but the blackheads that had been on my chin since I was 12 suddenly disappeared. I kept looking in the mirror expecting a pimple to appear, but my skin remained clear for the rest of the month.
Is sugar really the problem?
After the month was over, I decided to celebrate with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Living without pies, cakes, ice cream and chocolate for 30 days was very difficult. After a week of eating small amounts of white sugar every day, my stomach went to war again, and of course my face too.
I was so happy…and just as angry. I couldn’t believe that I had found one product that could heal my skin and prevent acne and that it was so easy, but the treatment was truly terrible! Sugarless? No dessert after dinner? No more baking? No chocolate?!
How do I live now
I am just a human being. And my last name is Sugar (Sugar is translated from English as “sugar”), so it was not possible for me to live 100% without sweets. I found ways to consume sweets that would not affect my face (or stomach). I’ve learned how to use bananas and dates in baking, make desserts that aren’t as sweet as white sugar desserts, and I can still enjoy chocolate using cocoa powder in recipes. Ice cream is generally easy – I just make banana ice cream using frozen fruit.
To be honest, sweet treats just aren’t worth having such a negative impact on me. Even though I am tempted when I see people enjoying cakes at parties or eating cakes at cafes, I get over it quickly because I am grateful to have found one product that I can avoid if I want to look and feel healthy.. This does not mean that I never consume sugar at all. I can enjoy a few bites (and love every second), but I know how bad it feels when I eat a ton and it keeps me going.
I wish I had known about this in junior high because it would have saved decades of bad treatment for my skin. If you suffer from acne and medications and other treatments don’t work, sugar may well be the cause. Isn’t it amazing that acne can be cured so easily? You’ll never know for sure unless you try. And what do you have to lose?”