Grapefruit Seed Extract Treat Acne

Many people suffer from acne and looking for different ways of treating the disease, but without success. In addition, some medicines for side effects such as acne dry skin, irritation and skin sensitivity. Grape seed extract is used to treat various skin problems, it is known that bacteria that cause acne and oil to fight and is sold in most supermarkets and health vitamin. It takes just minutes a day to cleanse your face with grape seed extract to help reduce the occurrence of acne and prevent future outbreaks.

Face wet with warm water by hand or with a soft cloth.

Apply three or four drops of grapefruit seed extract to wet hands and facial massage with circular movements for about a minute. Make sure to clean the whole face.

Wash your face with warm water and rinse with a clean cloth. It is normal for a slight tingle when washed or dry to see your face.

Making Grapefruit Seed Extract

Grape seed extract is a popular natural medicine for many ailments, including skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis. Grape seed extract is generally produced industrially. The creation of a grape seed extract is very difficult, and includes a series of chemical treatments and heat safe to use grape seed extract, to isolate the house. To prepare the extract of grapefruit, chemicals are needed, and the process should be performed in a trunk of a chemistry lab, and should not be done at home. The following article describes the steps necessary to extract the grapefruit seed extract to extract business.

Method

Grind the seeds into a fine powder grapefruit.

The powder is dissolved in pure water for most of the grape seed extract, which contains the removal of fiber and pectin.

The mixture is then dried at low temperature, spray-dried to a concentrate of grape powder.

Grapefruit Seed Extract Health Benefits

Grapefruit seed extract is a liquid extracted from the seeds, pulp, and white membranes of grapefruit (Citrus paradesi). It has been a recognized antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antiviral substance for many years. Its antimicrobial properties were extensively studied by Yugoslavian nuclear physicist Dr. Jacob Harich (1919-1996) – the first scientist who introduced the use of grapefruit seed extract as antimicrobial agent to the scientific community.

Grapefruit seed extract is composed of different flavonoids including naringin, isosacuranetin, poncirin, quercetin, campherol, neohesperidin, and apigenin. These flavonoids are actually phenolic compounds with beneficial effects to human. They work as antioxidants, neutralizing free radicals that damage body tissue and lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.

Grapefruit seed extract is used as food additive, dietary supplement, cosmetic ingredient, and disinfectant. It is non-toxic, environmentally safe, cheap, and biodegradable.

Benefits of Grapefruit Seed Extract

1. Beneficial Bacteria

According to Doctors and Veterinarians grapefruit seed extract (at normal doses) is gentle yet preserves the integrity of your intestinal bacteria. Without these beneficial bacteria life could not be sustained. Although grapefruit seed extract is very effective against many pathogens it is mild in comparison to strong antibiotics that can destroy beneficial intestinal bacteria and deplete the immune system! Because grapefruit seed extract does not exhibit the harsh side effects and high cost of pharmaceuticals it is becoming the alternative health choice for naturopathic physicians, clinics and the general public.

2. It can be taken for long periods of time without toxic side effects

There are reports that people have taken grapefruit seed extract every day for several years (as a preventive) without side effects of any kind. However we do not recommend grapefruit seed extract for long term use!

3. GSE is hypoallergenic (non-allergenic)

Dr. Allen Sachs points out that about 3 to 5 per cent of all people are allergic to citrus fruit and could therefore also display a sensitive reaction to grapefruit seed extract. These people should start with a low dosage and perform a patch test to be sure.

Is Grapefruit Seed Extract Any Good?

I've read about the anti-fungal properties of grapefruit seed extract, but I have also read about the potential presence of benzethonium chloride and other chemicals used in the manufacturing process. Is grapefruit seed extract safe?

Answer

Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) comes from the seed, pulp and white membranes of grapefruit. It has a reputation as an antifungal and antibacterial agent, but when I discussed your question with Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., director of the Fellowship at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, and an authority on botanical medicine, she said that it is unclear how potent GSE is as an antibacterial or antifungal. She said that many grapefruit seed extracts on the market are adulterated and noted that a German study of six commercial grapefruit seed extracts showed that five of these products contained benzethonium chloride, a synthetic antimicrobial often used in cosmetics and other topical preparations, as well as the preservatives triclosan and methylparaben.

Dr. Low Dog adds that this finding is consistent with those of other researchers who have found benzethonium chloride or triclosan in samples of liquid and powdered grapefruit seed extracts. When grapefruit seed extract is used topically (say, for treatment of athlete's foot as I have recommended), the presence of these synthetic substances is not a big issue. But she cautions that grapefruit seed extract often is recommended for treatment of infant thrush (also a fungal infection) and says she would not recommended putting a potentially adulterated product in an infant's mouth or that anyone use it internally.

It is probably safe to put a few drops of grapefruit seed extract in water in a spray bottle for an odorless way to kill household mold and mildew. As a treatment for athlete's foot, you can try applying full strength grapefruit seed extract to the affected area two to three times a day. You can also use it as an alternative to tea tree oil to treat nail fungus. Paint it on affected nails twice a day for at least two months. But given the evidence of apparent widespread adulteration of grapefruit seed extract, I agree that it shouldn't be taken internally.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

Truth About Grapefruit Seed Extract

Since my original post on Grapefruit Seed Extract, I've stumbled upon some new eye-opening information, so I thought I'd expand the subject here.

The big controversy that's been going on for years with Grapefruit Seed Extract lies in its potential to be contaminated with benzalkonium chloride, parabens, and triclosan.  Numerous studies have tested samples of commercially produced GSE and found these contaminants to be present.  (See here, here, here and here.)  The biggest contaminant found is benzalkonium chloride, a chemical that rates a 7 in the cosmetics database that's a known immune system toxin, skin toxin, and possible cancer risk.

Some studies have shown that without these contaminants, a truly natural extract of grapefruit seed and pulp in ethanol or glycerin, had no antibacterial properties.  However, GSE apologists claim that GSE can be effective without these contaminants.  So, what is the truth? Is there such thing as a "pure" GSE, and if so, is it effective?

Grapefruit Seed Extract was first developed in 1972 by a man by the name of Dr. Jacob Harich.  Today, there is one main manufacturer of GSE that defenders claim is pure.  It is sold under the name Citricidal. This website describes how it is made:

Grapefruit Seed Extract

Help with thrush, bowel problems, arthritis, athletes foot, yeast and fungal infections, and many long standing internal or external infections.

Some parts of the text below are Reprinted from BEYOND NUTRITION, issue 1 Winter 1994
Sales of GSE in UK and Europe – Sales of GSE in USA

Fourteen years ago an earnest gardener noticed that when he threw grapefruit seeds onto his compost heap they did not rot. Fortunately, being both a doctor and an Einstein Laureate physicist who specialised in finding natural remedies, he investigated. The result was a remarkable discovery The extract he made from the grapefruit seeds may turn out to be the most potent and benign antimicrobial so far discovered.

GSE Liquid Concentrate Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I want to use the GSE® Liquid Concentrate? - As a natural, non-toxic compound our GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) Liquid Concentrate has many uses. Internally, the concentrate has been used to support a wide variety of ailments.*

How can the product be non-toxic if it is so potent? - Extensive testing done at independent laboratories and universities around the world has proven the concentrate to be safe for human consumption. It is effective against pathogens because it belongs to a family of compounds known as quaternary compounds. This family is best known for benzalkonium chloride and benzethonium chloride as well as the infamous Quaternium group, a very toxic antimicrobial preservative used in the cosmetics industry. While Grapefruit Seed Extract is molecularly similar to these compounds, there are some profound differences in structure and function. Studies done to date indicate that there is little danger in either short-term or long-term internal use.

What is the pH of this product? - The Original GSE Liquid Concentrate has a pH of about 3.8 and the Maximum GSE Liquid Concentrate has a pH of about 2.2, which are both very acidic. This is why we recommend you dilute Grapefruit Seed Extract before use. We do not know if the product becomes alkaline when ingested the way orange juice and other citrus foods do.

Grapefruit Seed Extract Benefits

1. Broad Spectrum

Grapefruit seed extracts main advantage is it's extraordinary ability to perform both (internally and externally) against a wide variety of known or unknown infections caused by viruses, bacteria, funguses and parasites.

2. Grapefruit seed extract is alkalizing.

Grapefruit seed extract helps alkalize the body. It is considered one of the most alkaline forming foods and of all fruits it is the most alkalizing. Alkalizing the body (raising pH) is one of the single most important health regeneration benefits available.

Disease cannot live in an alkaline environment within the body. It is claimed that cancer dies in a pH of 8.0. Countless other conditions are caused by an acid environment within the body. These same conditions are effectively treated by restoring the proper pH.

Grapefruit seed extracts pH is a low 2.0. Don't let this fool you as acid foods have alkaline effects on the body. The problem comes when you eat food that is acid forming such as meat, sugar and most grains. This food creates and acid environment within the body.

Truth About Grapefruit Seed Extract

Grapefruit seed extract. Sounds so friendly, doesn´t it? You´ve heard it touted as a “natural” preservative, and the health food store sells it in a capsule as an antifungal supplement. If everybody says that it´s natural they must be correct, right? Wrong.

Grapefruit seed extract is not grapefruit juice. It is also not grapefruit essential oil and it is most certainly not an herbal tincture. Chemical manufacturers take the leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds. Typically, in chemical synthesis of this type, chemical reagents and catalysts are used under extreme high heat and pressure or vacuum. Synthetic ammonium chloride is one of the chemical catalysts used in this process.

The US Department of Agriculture´s (USDA) National Organic Program defines synthetic as “A substance that is formulated or manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a substance extracted from naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral sources.” Grapefruit seed extract is a synthetic chemical compound, cannot be called “organic,” and is not permitted in organic food proucts.

Grapefruit seed extract

Grapefruit seed extract (GSE), also known as citrus seed extract, is a liquid derived from the seeds, pulp, and white membranes of grapefruit. Self-made natural GSE processed in the laboratory without solvents or synthetic agents is prepared by grinding the grapefruit seed and juiceless pulp, then mixing with glycerin. Commercially available GSE sold to consumers are made from the seed, pulp, glycerin, and synthetic preservatives all blended together. Grapefruit seed extract is sold as a food supplement and used in cosmetics because it is a claimed natural antimicrobial.

An early proponent was Dr. Jacob Harich (1919–1996). A long time promoter of GSE was Aubrey Hampton, the founder of Aubrey Organics. Some marketers of GSE affirm this extract to be a safe, natural, and an effective preservative. This extract has been stated by some practitioners of alternative medicine to possess antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. It has been recommended by some nutritionists for the treatment of candidiasis, earache, throat infections, and diarrhea. GSE is promoted at health food shops and on the internet.

Grapefruit Seed Extract

Grapefruit seed extract, is a great natural antioxidant that will really help extend the lifespan of your soap. Unlike many artificial preservatives found in store bought cosmetics, it won't harm your skin by clogging pores and damaging skin cells. In fact, this ingredient may actually benefit your skin and improve your complexion overall.

Benefits of Grapefruit Seed Extract

The benefits of grapefruit seed extract expand into many different fields. For skin care and soap making purposes, some of the benefits include...

# A high content of vitamin C
# A high content of vitamin E
# A large amount of beneficial antioxidants
# Grapefruit seed extract is a non-comedogenic antioxidant acting almost as a preservative helping to extend the shelf life of your product.

Grapefruit Seed Extract Side Effects and Uses

We have all heard about the amazing benefits of the Brazilian Acai berry and various other ingredients now being added into nutritional and dietary supplements, but what about grapefruit seed extract? Could this possibly be the most potent and beneficial supplement ever to hit the market? Researchers think it may be just that, but just like everything else in this world, it is up to you to decide.

What Is It?

Grapefruit seed extract is of course an extract of juice from grapefruit, but it goes through processing steps that create a very powerful substance containing the juice and seeds. The main benefit is the alkaline nature of the fruit, which instills a very alkaline setting within the body.

This is very similar to gardening. Some plants need an alkaline soil in order to grow and bloom successfully while others will bend over and die in alkaline conditions.

Many uses of Grapefruit seed extract

I first came across Grapefruit seed extract when I lived in the U.K, and read some good reviews on this particular product. I purchased a little 100 ml (3.4 oz) bottle and used it occasionally in fruit juice. My aim was to see if it was effective in preventing, for example, travelers' tummy if we went on a short holiday over on the Continent and ate food that was different to what we were used to, or indeed if we had a local takeaway meal ("carry out" I think you call it in the States) that wasn't prepared, shall we say, in the most hygienic conditions. I was also interested in its espoused results on parasitic disorders. I found that it did help a lot, particularly if taken a few days after a "dodgy" meal.

Many years later, living in the south Pacific, I discovered I still had the bottle and used it to great effect on a trip to the jungles of east Malaysia, where we were served native foods which were definitely not what my stomach was used to ! Every time I go on a trip to a different country now I make sure I include it with me, as it is a handy aid in combatting or preventing stomach upset and other infections caused by nasty parasites, viruses and bacteria that are all around us.

Since then I have discovered it has quite wide-ranging uses, from a surface cleaner to an eczema treatment.

Initially perceived benefits of grapefruit seed extract portable, easy-to-take, alternative to antibiotics in some cases and no side effects !

Grapefruit Seed Extract and Candida

Although grapefruit seed extract was not widely used until the 1970s, its use since then has rocketed as both doctors and patients have realized its broad applications against all kinds of infections.

In a 1990 study, grapefruit seed extract was found to perform as well or better than 30 antibiotics and 18 fungicides. As a non-toxic agent though, it had none of the side effects of the other treatments!

As an added bonus, grapefruit has a great selection of vitamins that can do wonders for your general health.

How does Grapefruit Seed Extract work?

Grapefruit seed has a number of important chemicals - Vitamins C & E, bioflavonoids - that can help repair cells in the body. It also has antifungal properties that effectively combat Candida. One particular bioflavanoid, Hesperedin, can give a natural boost to your immune system.

Our Experience with Grapefruit Seed Extract

My wife, Edna, and I were attending a preparedness expo in Salt Lake City some years ago, and she felt impressed to get three, 2 oz. bottles of GSE to take on our up-coming mission, which we served ‘97-‘99. The studies on GSE’s effectiveness were very good and some of them had been done at BYU – showing that it was anti-bacterial, etc.

Because we were going to Cote d’Ivoir, West Africa, and all the natives have malaria, we were required to take one of three medications – none of which would prevent it – but were believed to reduce the probability or seriousness. All three had significant side effects. We chose larium. It’s side effects, depression, were the least serious of the three.

After about two months in Africa, we looked at each other, and said, “We don’t need this – learning French, adapting to a new culture, and being away from family were tough enough to deal with. We didn’t need to add depression.

Edna had read that GSE was anti-parasitical, so we deduced that it would work for malaria. We stopped using larium and started using GSE. It is very bitter, as one can well imagine – coming from concentrated grape-fruit seeds. The Nutribiotics brand, which we had, comes in glycerin and is very dense. If you put drops it in glass of water, the drops go right to the bottom of the glass.

Grapefruit Seed Extract Profile

Botanical Name- Extracted from organically grown Grapefruit (Citrus paridisi)
Origin- USA
Extraction- Glycerin Extracted and Isolated-USP
Shelf life- 3-5 years
Notes- Heavily concentrated! Grapefruit seed extract should be diluted accordingly to at least a 2% dilution ratio. Manufactured for external use only.

Is severely irritating to the skin in its undiluted form. Avoid contact with eyes.

The Grapefruit seed extract offered by Mountain Rose Herbs is the Citricidal brand and is fully biodegradable, safe for water treatment, and is safely and effectively used for sanitation, cosmetic, and agricultural use.

Laboratory Analysis
Color- Dark Yellow with Orange hue
Odor- Mild Citrus
Total Ingredients- Grapefruit Extractives- 58.26% Glycerin (USP)- 38.21% Ascorbic Acid- 2.52%