This is my first blog post, ever. So bear with me. I just wanted to give a little insight into how and why I got interested in nutrition, which has ultimately led me to setting up this website with the intention of helping as many people as possible to heal themselves of whatever ails them.
I first got “teenage” acne in my early teens. It wasn’t really bad acne (at least as far as the doctor was concerned!), but it was very embarrassing for me. People said I would grow out of it, but I didn’t. I washed morning and night with a special cleanser, then put special cream on. After a while with no results, I moved on to stronger creams that really dried up my skin, but the acne persisted. I got through secondary school, then through 3 years of college, but the acne was still there. I started working, and after a couple of years moved to the UK. I lived in a bedsit with my girlfriend, but the acne was still there and really affected me psychologically. If I had a bad outbreak, I could really feel people looking at the pimples rather than at me, and if things were really bad, I wouldn’t go out socialising. I tried all kinds of lotions and potions (Japanese washing grains, or a potion where you had to mix white powder with a clear liquid to make a paste, put it on for an hour then wash off – it made my face glow bright red!). After nearly 10 years in the UK, I went to my doctor and said “This is ridiculous – I’m over 30 years of age and I still have teenage acne – is there nothing you can do?”. He said “There is – I can give you hormones.” “Will it work?” I asked. “It will”, he said, “but there are side effects”. “Like what” I asked, “Like your hair will fall out” he said. I thought for a moment, and then said “I think I’ll stick with the acne”.
I left that doctor’s office that day in 1994, and I have not been back to a doctor since for medical advice (I did have to visit one for a medical exam for a mortgage application, but that’s another story!). I went home and basically gave up on finding a solution. A few years later I was looking through the small library of books I had accumulated over the years and found one called “Let’s Get Well” written by US nutritionist Edele Davis in 1966 (apparently my wife had bought it for her best friend who suffered with psoriasis, but had never given it to her). Anyway, I started reading. She had a whole chapter on acne. I was intrigued. Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Zinc and other nutrients were all mentioned. I started experimenting on myself. I bought the recommended foods and supplements, and stopped eating the bad stuff. Amazingly, I got results. I couldn’t believe it. 22 years in acne prison, and all I needed to do to escape was change my diet and provide the missing nutrients. I had to know more. I bought more books and started to build up a considerable nutrition library. I discovered raw eating, and raw vegetable juicing. I went back to college and got a diploma in nutritional therapy. And now here I am, starting up a health and nutrition website!
If you are suffering with any health issues, then I hope you will find some useful information on this site to help your body to heal itself.