How’s your skin feeling?
I work with skin clinics all over the country advising them on nutrients to help their clients improve their skin health from the inside. It’s fascinating work and we have some great conversations about the balance between what goes on (the skin) and what goes in (the body), and how getting nutrients replenished and sustained at a good level really shows on your body. This is whether you have an underlying skin condition that you want resolved, or you just want to work on hydration, or healthy ageing. As a naturopath, it’s always a matter of looking at the whole picture for an individual rather than a blanket approach to all (usually doomed!).
Having written that, there are a few nutrients to consider for yourself if you want to work on improving your skin health. I have a mantra about nutrient supplementation:
test for it
dose it right
get the right form of nutrient for you (so much plays into this: genetics, gut function, often time of year etc)
Buying off the shelf based on a two-minute read isn’t likely to end well when the whole picture of your health isn’t taken into account, so here are a few nutrients to think about for your skin health, and get in touch if you’d like an individual approach to improving your skin:
Zinc: you may know this one is helpful, but why? So many reasons. It supports collagen and elastic production; is a key player in immune function, is involved in hundreds of enzyme reactions in the gut (for good digestion); helps with wound healing and more. A skin super-star. But. There are several things that zinc can be bound with, and each affects its ability to be absorbed across your gut and into your cells. We recommend just one type based on much reading and clinical outcomes.
Vitamin C: good for everything right? Humans are one of only three species on earth that don’t make our own vitamin C (monkeys and guinea pigs are the others, just in case you were curious). So we need it, every day. Ideally from food, but as vitamin C is destroyed so easily by cooking, it’s hard to get enough for the collagen producing, wound healing purposes it is so good at. The right form, at the right dose, at the right time for you, and this can be really helpful.
Omega oils: a complete minefield! Rancidity (oxidation), types of oils, doses…aargh! I’ll let you in on a secret here - I test before I prescribe. There is an amazingly simple finger-prick test you can do that tells you what you need. It’s amazing, accurate, and can save you a bucket of cash by getting this right. Oh, and omegas are e-ssential for healthy skin of course. Every cell in your body (including skin cells) has a phospholipid bilayer around it to help transport nutrients in and toxins out. Very handy for your skin (think elasticity, hydration..)
Vitamin D: ironically, the best way to get this hormone (yes hormone) is from the sun (which is the very thing that can damage your skin). Hm. tricky. Because vitamin D is anti-inflammatory, skin-protective, immune-enhancing and wound healing, it’s a very common prescription in my clinic. And, of course, we can test you for it first, however it is one of the safest supplements to take with regard to dose, but I always recommend getting advice, as with all supplementation, as you can do more harm than good by getting it wrong.
Alpha Lipioc acid: so good, for so many things, and not least for skin health. It induces collagen production in skin, is anti-inflammatory and protective against “damage” (let’s just say wrinkling shall we?).
I practice a food-first approach to health of course, but some things are just super hard to come by in even a well curated diet.
If you’d like to find out more about how to take care of your skin, either by treating a skin condition or preventing skin damage, dro me a line. I’d love to share what I know and tailor it to your needs.
flourishonline@gmail.com will get straight through.
