I want to finish this week talking about general skin health. I've spent a good amount of time in my blog so far discussing different aspects of health, many of which have related directly to our skin. In Healthy Cavemen Didn't Live in Caves, I discussed the smoke and mirrors behind the sunscreen industry and debunked some skin cancer claims. I talked about proper hand washing techniques in Lengthen Your Life #1 and how that can extend your life. This week's If You Wouldn't Eat it, Don't Put it on Your Sking was all about increasing awareness that your skin is an absorptive organ, and it's no different than eating your cosmetics. And finally, in We're All Really Doughnuts, I talked about the direct relationship between your outer, or "dry", and inner, or "wet", skin, and that we usually have issues with our "dry" skin because of what's happening to our "wet" skin, or digestive tract. Here are more things that I see as relating to your skin that are important to your health.
If your skin is dry, it's likely that your diet is deficient in good fat. Believe it or not, fat really is good for us, and certain fats, we can't be healthy without. In Minnesota, especially in winter, dry cracked skin is an epidemic. I have had several patients ask if there is something they can do nutritionally to help this, and the answer is usually yes: increase your fish oils until your skin isn't dry anymore. As much as many would like it to be otherwise, you can't just add any fat and get soft supple skin. Some fats make us healthier, and some don't. When it comes to our skin health, the fish oils (EPA and DHA), are important for the production of sebum, which is the waxy-like coating that keeps our skin moist.
Fish oils, like all nutritional supplements, are not all created equal. Only a few companies worldwide have facilities that can distill these oils, so everyone has to get their products from the same places. You would think that would ensure quality across the board, right? Wrong. That means that the cleanest, freshest, and most pure oil is sold to whoever is willing to pay the most. The next batch, which won't be quite as clean, nor as fresh, and will have more contaminants, will be sold to the next highest. This cycle will continue until all the oil is sold; high quality or not. That means for a company to get pure oil that has no contaminants and is not rancid, they have to pay a hefty price. So when you go to a "Wall" store (Walmart, Walgreens, Wall Drug), and buy a bottle of 500 capsules for $10, you more than likely won't be getting a very good product. Good safe fish oils are not cheap.
Depending on the person, most will find if they take between 1500-2100mg of EPA and 900-1500mg of DHA, their skin will start healing properly and become more soft and supple. Some may have to increase it more, but especially in winter, you'll find it rarely takes less than a total of 2000mg.
Dry skin can have another cause that is often overlooked. I discussed hand washing in a previous blog which explained my theories of how we over soap our hands. This applies to our bodies as well. The sebum coating that is washed away every time we wash our hands is also washed away when we use soap or body wash on our bodies. It is even worse for the body, since many like a scalding hot shower, especially in the depths of winter, when our skin is driest anyway. I argue that washing your whole body with soap every day is not only unnecessary, but is significant cause of dry skin.
Soap and body wash has the purpose of cleaning our skin from dirt and grease. Unless the skin has dirt or grease on it, there is simply no purpose to use soaps all the time, with the exception of washing places where smelly apocrine glands are located: the armpits, groin, and anal regions. Sweat from eccrine glands (the rest of the body) does not have an odor, and so does not really need to be washed away, Our skin is meant to have this sebum protection. Washing the rest of the body, especially in hot water, only further dries the barrier that we rely on to protect us from invaders.
Soft supple skin is not hard to maintain year round, unless you are following the hygiene and dietary practices of average American adults. If you take care of yourself correctly, and follow my advice, you'll find that others will be asking you how you keep your skin so nice, when theirs is dry, cracked, and weathered.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.
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