Glowing skin is birthed from within. Topical creams & lotions definitely have their role, but the real root of glowing, healthy skin lies within your gut. Healthy skin is attainable – it’s simply another organ, and thus has it’s needs. Meet these, and you’re well on your way to happy skin.
Glowing, healthy skin requires good nutrition – first and foremost. It requires an abundance of healthy fats (sustainably caught oily fish, avocados, nuts, seeds) and a colourful array of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, especially zinc. Drinking clean water (as in filtered, not tap) is essential. It hydrates skin, helping it to look smooth and less wrinkly and shrivelled.
Our skin is one incredible organ. It wraps us up and prevents microbes and many other unwanted things gaining entry into our body. It regulates our temperature, making us shiver or sweat as required to either lose heat, or maintain it. It also begins the harvest of vitamin D from the sun for us. Vitamin D plays many crucial roles in the body including for fertility and immune health. Bare skin exposed to sunshine begins the process of vitamin D manufacture in our body.
Whether you’re treating a skin condition such as acne, psoriasis or eczema, or simply wish to optimise skin health, a healthy bowel, that empties its contents a minimum of once a day (or more) is also critical to the health of the skin. Fibre and a flourishing array of good bacteria is critical here. An unhealthy gut, with an unbalanced gut bacteria will struggle to marry up to skin health on the outside. Your liver is another important organ. If your bowel or liver aren’t well, it’ll show up on your skin.
A good nights sleep, regular R & R and a good sweat all benefit skin health too. Dry skin brushing is a great way to exfoliate dead skin cells to encourage new cells to come forth, and its also a wonderful way to get the lymphatic system working. Your lymphatic system is largely responsible for getting rid of toxins.. if you have a build up of toxins, your skin will usually show this on its surface too.
Top skin foods:
- Sustainably sourced, oily fish
- Avocados
- Fresh fruit and veg (more veg than fruit), preferably organic
- Good oils from nuts and seeds including flax, hempseed, chia, pumpkin, coconut and olives
- Green leafy veg
- Apple cider vinegar
- Fermented foods and drinks to encourage a healthy level of good bacteria throughout your gut. These include kombucha, kefir and sauerkrauts
Top skin nutrients:
- Vitamin A (though watch with supplements – this can be very toxic in the wrong dose!). Food sources include carrots, fish oils and organic egg yolks
- Vitamin C. Food sources include citrus fruits, cauliflower, aloe vera juice, broccoli, rosehips
- Zinc. Food sources include pepitas, sunflower seeds, seafood, mushrooms, Brewers yeast, walnuts, ginger
- High quality essential fatty acids (fish oils, hemp seed oil, evening primrose, sunflower oil)
- ‘Greens’ including spirulina, chlorella, sea vegetables such as kelp, dulse, wakame (just a note on wakame too – it has 4 x the iron of beef and more than 10x the calcium of cows milk!). There are many ‘greens’ supplements on the market that contain an array of different greens together.
Top skin treatments at Saltuary:
- Infrared sauna – an amazing way to sweat out some serious toxins!
- Salt therapy for those with inflammatory skin concerns (acne, eczema, psoriasis)
- Dry skin brushing – make sure you get a ‘natural’ one. They are fairly widely available, we stock these too.
- Natural beauty therapy – we offer facials and detoxifying / exfoliating body wraps using 100% organic, plant based products to feed your skin! If you would like to sample the products we use, pop by anytime for a bunch of samples, our staff will happily talk you through the correct range for you.
- Acupuncture and herbal medicines. These are great for those with skin conditions including eczema, psoriasis and gut problems that lead to them.
I’m sure you’ll agree, that these are all very delightful ways to look after your bodys biggest organ! 🙂
With love.. tiina xx