While growing up, my aunts used to tell me to take care of my skin. Since I am a carbon copy of my mother they were worried that I would inherit her problems with pimples. She used to have a lot big pimples when she was younger and it only lessened when she was in her thirties. Now she still has pimples occasionally. My aunts held up what one of my uncles did as an example of how to get rid of pimples. While he was studying medicine, my uncle had a severe case of acne. During that time acne medicines were not as common as today. It was really frustrating for him. In order to get rid of his acne he did not eat fried fatty foods. He only ate rice, fish and vegetables that were boiled. His staple viand was “hinun-unan†(Visayan term) or “paksiw†(Tagalog term). “Hinun-unan†is usually fish cooked in vinegar and garlic. It really worked. Looking at my uncle now, I can’t imagine that he was a pimply-faced youth. As in all things, getting rid of acne is an exercise in discipline and self-control. Eating only boiled fish and vegetables would really require a lot of discipline.
Good thing I did not inherit my mother’s complexion. Sure I have pimples occasionally but not to the extent that I lose sleep over them.
