6 tips to get great skin, from the outside in…
Many of us have experienced skin issues at some point during our lives.
Whether it’s acne as a teenager, adult onset acne, menstrual cycle related breakouts, or that one big red pimple on the chin every month!
Getting to the root cause of skin issues, and achieving great skin is a process of elimination of the key factors typically involved.
Once you’ve identified the triggers and learned how to manage these, you’ll be on the path to having clear, radiant, glowing, great skin.
A sign of deeper issues?
Poor skin health can be a sign of poor health inside your body.
Often at our Functional Medicine clinics we help people to achieve better and sometimes life changing skin health results through finding and addressing the root cause of the problem.
Remediating skin health problems can have a profound impact on the quality of your life.
From increased confidence in daily life, to better all round health after dealing with the deeper issues at play, overcoming skin problems can help you look and feel great.
Here we’ll take a look at 6 factors that we commonly see at our clinic, the Functional Medicine approach to skin health, and some tips on how to address them.
So what’s the root cause of your skin issues?
Book your free 15 minute Discovery Call with Dee Brereton-Patel now
1/ Food intolerances
Gluten-containing grains and dairy can be big factors.
And although there are plenty of other possibilities, my advice would be to start with these two food groups.
Grains, cows milk dairy and sugar, can increase levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) – a hormone that helps to drive acne.
2/ Intestinal health
Increased intestinal permeability and dysbiosis are two major factors implicated in poor skin health.
Clinical testing can be a great investment and can help pinpoint gastrointestinal related imbalances quickly.
Begin to support intestinal health by eliminating sugar and replenishing with high quality multi-strain probiotics, such as bifidobacteria and lactobacillus.
3/ Blood sugar imbalances
High insulin and IGF-1 can lead to high levels of androgens (hormones) associated with acne.
The quickest way to deal with this is to eliminate sugar (in pretty much all forms, so minimal fruit also), all grains, white potatoes and dairy.
Help stabilise blood sugar levels with high quality protein-rich foods in every meal and snack.
4/ Liver detoxification pathways
Work with a good Functional Medicine practitioner or Nutritional Therapist to optimise detoxification of toxins and hormones.
Committing to something like a science backed 28 day detox plan, supported with specific foods and nutritional supplements, can be highly effective
5/ Oestrogen metabolism
There will be a whole blog on oestrogen metabolism shortly!
But for now, support oestrogen detoxification with plenty of cruciferous vegetables and onions, leeks, eggs, green tea, flax seeds and turmeric.
6/ Skin specific nutrients
Consider adding some skin specific nutrients that supply the essential raw materials that you skin needs:
- zinc
- vitamin A
- vitamin D
- essential fatty acids
Not all supplements are created equal.
Getting the quality and the dosing right is key – seek advice!
To your optimised, healthy future,
Dee & the Coho Health team
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