Skin from the inside out

Skin issues are a common complaint that I receive a lot of in practice. The bulk of them being acne, eczema and dermatitis.

I really enjoy helping clients resolve their skin issues, because when they start to see results within the short space of time it often takes, I see their mood and quality of life lift instantly. It's inspiring and exciting.

Believe it or not, there is no 'off the shelf' product miracle beauty product that is going to resolve your skin issues. The majority of 'off the shelf' products contain chemicals, perfumes and alcohols that exacerbate the problem, despite their shifty marketing techniques to make you believe otherwise. And then the cycle begins again.

There are a few fundamental areas that are almost always targeted from a holistic perspective when a natural health practitioner treats a skin issue. These fundamentals can absolutely be helped along by things easily done at home. So here they are:

1/ E l i m i n a t i o n

Looking after all of your detoxification channels to help eliminate waste from the body is important to help you to support your skin health.

Your skin is an eliminatory organ, so if you are seeing skin blemishes, that may be an indication that your other organs of elimination, being the liver, kidneys, bowels, lymphatics and lungs, may not be functioning at their best. This is where we investigate further to figure out where work is needed.

Elimination through the liver and thus, the bowel, are super dooper important for elimination toxins and cellular waste.

These are easy and achievable goals that will see positive changes happen in your elimination habits via the liver and the bowel, when consistent:

💧Water, water, water! I can't stress this enough. I would guess about 90% of my clients simply do not drink enough water. When we are dehydrated, we cannot draw enough water into the bowel so soften stool and therefore, its harder to get it out. To accurately calculate how much water you should drink per day, multiple your body weight x 0.033. The answer is how many litres per day you need to aim for.

🍋 Bitter foods to helps the production of bile, which helps you to poop. Bile is a solution produced by the liver. It stimulates the formation of digestive juices and therefore increases digestive function. Bitter foods include:

- Apple Cider Vinegar - have a shot approximately 30 minutes prior to a meal

- Dandelion greens - a lot think this is a weed but its actually an extremely useful herb. Don't go picking them by the roadside though. Grow them in your vegie garden and add them to your salads.

- Radicchio - you know that purple lettuce that is sometimes in salads

- Grapefruit

- Lemon

- Bitter melon - not super common in Australia but you can definitely source it. Try an asian grocer!

- Rocket leaves

- Watercress

- Broccoli and brussels sprouts - contain bitter-tasting chemical compounds called glucosinolates

🦠 Prebiotic foods to help grow your good gut bacteria. The good little bugs in your bug can help to purge the waste on your inside, helping to keep things moving and basically, clean you out.

🥦 Eating enough daily fibre - because most Australians just don't! 25-30g is the daily recommended amount. Eat your vegies!!!!!! Need I say more.

-and-

🏃‍♀️ Exercise! It helps with the contraction of the digestive tract muscles, encouraging elimination via the bowel, among many other things.

For more information on toxic burden caused by skin and beauty products, head on over to my other blog post, called 'Natural Beauty' - here

2. L y m p h a t i c s

Where there is any skin related issue, the lymphatic system will always need attention. Your lymphatic system is like a sewerage system without a pump. It requires contraction of muscle to function properly.

It carries immune fighting cells around the body and carries cellular waste for elimination. Without its proper functioning means that bacteria can set in easier and bodily waste begins to accumulate.

Some ways that we can support our lymphatic system:

👐 Manual lymphatic drainage massage - this is a very different form of massage that incorporates a very soft touch massage. It encourages the flow of lymphatics to the lymph nodes in order to push it around and out of the body.

👣 Rebounding - this is a super fun exercise using one of those small trampolines. Bouncing up and down causes muscle contracting in the legs, which helps move lymphatics along.

🙃 Using a slant board - lying on a long board that is put over a low step. Place your head facing the lower end closest to the floor, so that the body can drain towards your head using gravity

🌿 Using herbs that support and boost the function of the lymphatic system - get in contact with me if you are wanting guidance with these. They are super helpful and I always incorporate them into my treatment plans for skin complaint clients, without a doubt!

3. H o r m o n e s

Blemishes present on various areas on your face give an indication, as to what organ/system needs attention. We use the face as a tool (in conjunction with other methods) to determine treatment.

For example, acne around the jawline is associated with reproductive conditions and more specifically caused by a potent form of the hormone, testosterone and/or blood sugar imbalances. This is most commonly seen in younger females (yes, females make testosterone too!)

This is cleared up fairly easily using herbal medicines, nutritional supplements and most importantly of all, with diet !!

Some simple dietary additions that you can add in to your daily eating regime:

- Eating foods that are low in refined carbohydrates. You want to stick to wholefood carbohydrates, which are more fibrous and nutritious, meaning root vegetables, 1 serve of fruit per day, organic wholegrains such as oats, rye, millet, quinoa. Carbohydrates should also only make up 1/4 of your meal composition.

- Higher protein and healthy fats - hormones and healthy fats are both needed to make healthy hormones! Without them, your body will struggle to make them adequately. They are both also needed for healthy skin production.

- Eating foods high in zinc can help to keep your sex hormone balance healthy:

⭐️Pepitas / pumpkin seeds

⭐️Oysters

⭐️Cashews

⭐️Legumes

⭐️Eggs

⭐️Shellfish

- Again - eating plenty of fibre (vegetables mainly) and drinking plenty of water can also help clear excess hormones from the body. The additional fibre also acts as a prebiotic to bring those probiotics up in good numbers! Bad bacteria can cause the recirculation of hormones back through the body, causing a cycle of imbalanced hormones.

If you have any questions about any information above, please do not hesitate to reach out. You can also book a discovery call here (by scrolling down the page), where we can chat about what Naturopathy can do for your skin health.