Flawless, glowing skin not only enhances your overall appearance, it also signifies good health and youthful vitality. Skin ailments such as acne, rosacea, dermatitis, eczema, skin dryness, sagginess, and premature wrinkles, can sabotage your self-esteem and make you feel unnecessarily insecure. Fortunately, the majority of skin ailments can be reversed with a few simple, safe and natural techniques. Read-on if you’re ready to take control of your skin health and to obtain beautiful, unblemished, radiant skin for life.
Step #1: Toss the Toxic Topicals
Healthy, glowing skin is created from the inside out and topical products fail to address the root cause of skin imperfections. Moreover, the skincare industry is highly unregulated and there are thousands of toxic ingredients in beauty products that have never been proven to be safe or effective. When you apply those toxic chemicals to your skin, they are absorbed into your bloodstream, increasing toxicity, which only makes skin problems worse. In addition to increasing toxicity, many skincare products also wear away at your skins protective layer, which further aggravates skin problems and worsens irritation.
Choose skincare products with natural ingredients (the fewer the ingredients the better), and be sure to research any ingredients that are not herbal or food-based, before using a product. The site http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ contains a helpful and free database with toxicity information on over 63,000 cosmetic products and ingredients. Some of the most toxic ingredients that you should avoid include: parabens, synthetic colors such as FD&C, triclosan, fragrances, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate, formaldehyde, toluene, propylene glycol, and sunscreen ingredients such as PABA, avobenzone, benzophenone and homosalate.
Step #2: Balance Hormones
Hormone imbalances can cause and/or exacerbate almost every skin problem known to man — including acne, wrinkles, eczema, psoriasis and hyperpigmentation; and cause dry, thin, oily, dull and sagging skin. Work with a healthcare practitioner that is knowledgeable about hormones (or better yet a hormone specialist) to identify potential hormone imbalances. Some of the most common imbalances that can contribute to skin problems include: estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, human growth hormone, cortisol, DHEA, insulin and melatonin.
If hormone deficiencies are identified, consider taking a hormone balancing supplement (https://unitynaturals.com/product-category/natural-supplements/) or in severe deficiency cases, ask your holistic healthcare practitioner to prescribe bioidentical hormones. Bioidentical hormones have the same chemical structure as the hormones found naturally in your body, and help to balance hormones without the harmful side-effects associated with traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Step #3: Focus on Estrogen
Estrogen levels play a very influential role on the health of your skin. Too much estrogen in relation to progesterone (a condition known as estrogen dominance), is a major acne trigger in both men and women. If you have estrogen dominance the only way to heal acne fully and permanently is to reduce your toxic estrogen levels and/or increase progesterone. EstroBlock (http://www.estroblock.com/estro-block/) contains clinically effective doses of DIM and I3C – 2 ingredients proven to clear toxic estrogens and balance hormones; and the supplement is used worldwide to heal stubborn acne. Another estrogen related problem (that is particularly common among menopausal women) is too little estrogen. An estrogen deficiency can cause skin dryness, a loss of collagen and skin elasticity; wrinkles and poor wound healing. Bioidentical hormones can help reverse the deficiency and restore a more youthful appearance to the skin.
*You can take a free hormonal acne quiz here: http://www.estroblock.com/hormone-quiz/
Step #4: Enhance Your Diet
If you want healthy skin, it is essential that you drink purified water and at least 8 glasses of it a day. This will help to flush out toxins, encourage regular bowel movements and prevent skin dryness. The consumption of a healthy, alkalinizing and detoxifying diet is also essential. Consume a wholefoods, plant-based diet, high in fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes. Reduce or vastly eliminate meat, all vegetable oils, sugar (in all its forms), and processed, fried and packaged foods. Dairy is a major acne and inflammation trigger and should be eliminated completely.
Increase your intake of deep greens such as Swiss chard, spinach, arugula and kale – these foods are high in vitamins and minerals and help to alkalinize the body which is essential for healthy, glowing skin. You should also increase your intake of beets, watermelon, pomegranates, oranges, cranberries and brown rice. These foods help to boost nitric oxide levels, which helps to modify and reduce skin-sabotaging inflammation levels.
Step #5: Focus on Digestion
Flawless, radiant skin is a sign of healthy digestion and almost all skin problems are exacerbated when digestion is compromised. Most of us have a deficiency of healthy gut bacteria, which are required to keep toxic microbes in balance and to properly digest food. In order to restore gut bacteria, consume probiotic rich foods such as tempeh, kimchi, yogurt (unsweetened and organic), kefir, sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables; and kombucha tea. Also, add a high quality probiotic supplement to your daily diet, one that contains at least 10 billion live bacteria per serving.
In addition to increasing probiotic intake you should also chew your food thoroughly, drink warm lemon water, and consume liquids at least 20 minutes before or after a meal (not with your meals because they dilute digestive juices). Liver health also plays a major role in metabolism, inflammation control and healthy digestion (all of which directly impact skin health); and it is responsible for the production of bile which is needed to digest fat. If you suspect that your liver function is compromised, cut-out all alcohol and consider taking a liver cleansing supplement such as Liv D-Tox (https://unitynaturals.com/product/liv-d- tox-2/).
Step #6: Consider the Following Supplements
DHT Block: DHT is a hormone that builds-up and blocks the pores, causing inflammation and acne. DHT block contains Diindolylmethane (DIM) and a proprietary blend of additional nutrients that help to reduce DHT levels. It also helps to shift the production of estrogens from bad to good, thereby reducing estrogen dominance and reversing stubborn acne. https://unitynaturals.com/product/dht-block/
Adrenal DMG: The adrenal glands play a significant role in the health of your skin. When they become weakened, it can lead to hormonal imbalances, skin inflammation, a puffy face and acne. Adrenal DMG helps to boost adrenal function, which not only helps enhance skin health but also increases immune system function and boosts energy levels.
References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16198774
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf5-r0dbfKU
http://www.nickdelgado.com/how-to-reverse-skin-disorders-and-obtain-flawless-youthful-radiant-skin/
