Skin Health: A Multifaceted Approach
Skin health is a complex topic influenced by various factors, including lifestyle (diet, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and good/bad habits), environment, genetics, and skincare practices. Achieving and maintaining healthy skin requires a multifaceted approach that addresses these different aspects comprehensively.
In this article, we will explore the key components of a holistic approach to skin health and how they contribute to overall well-being.
How Does Lifestyle Support Skin Health?
A balanced diet rich in vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and essential fatty acids is crucial for skin function and resilience. Some of these nutrients and their role in skin health:
Vitamin A: Essential for cell turnover and skin repair. Found in foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, and leafy greens.
Vitamin C: A powerful antioxidant that helps with collagen synthesis and protects against oxidative stress. Citrus fruits, berries, and bell peppers are good sources.
Vitamin E: Protects skin cells from damage caused by free radicals. Nuts, seeds, and spinach are high in vitamin E.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Found in fish, flaxseeds, and walnuts, omega-3s help maintain skin moisture and reduce inflammation. Appropriate omega 3, 6, and 9 levels are necessary for all healthy cellular functions.
Zinc: Supports wound healing and has anti-inflammatory properties. Pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, and beef are zinc-rich foods.
Quality protein: Providing the amino acids for collagen and elastin production, primarily glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline. Organic chicken, grass-fed beef, pork, and fish are good animal sources and beans like garbanzo, edamame, lentils, tofu, oats, and quinoa are good vegetable sources.
Fiber: Soluble fiber helps maintain the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract and insoluble fiber is the Brillo pad that cleans the gastrointestinal tract and takes out toxins. This is important because moving the bowels is critical for skin health and for general health too. There are 5 ways our bodies detoxify because it is such an important function. Those are through the liver, respiration (breathing), urination, defecation, and sweating (skin).
Exercise offers numerous skin benefits by increasing blood circulation delivering oxygen and nutrients to skin cells, as well as promoting renewal of these cells. Exercise increases respiration and sweating to promote healthy detoxification, stimulates collagen synthesis, and reduces stress by releasing “feel-good” hormones. Exercise impacts other hormones for weight management and reduces inflammation caused by excess body fat. Exercise regulates cortisol stress hormones that can impact oil production and skin inflammation. Regular exercise can improve sleep quality and duration which is essential for skin repair and rejuvenation leading to a refreshed and healthier complexion.
Sleep, already mentioned above is the only time the body can repair from the free radicals produced as a normal byproduct of metabolism. These free radicals are neutralized when we sleep assuming you have the nutrients necessary on board. When we do not have enough time to neutralize these free radicals then we have a surplus called oxidative stress. Oxidative stress results in inflammation and reduces the repair effects we need. Consider if you sleep less than 7 hours a night you are working on a deficit resulting in less repair in the body systemically.
Our lifestyle impacts our lives on our physical, emotional, and psychological levels. The choices we make often are impacted by how we feel, such as using sun protection (a good habit) when we go outside versus skipping breakfast or over-eating (a bad habit). When we do good, we look good and we feel good.
Genetics are what we cannot necessarily change but we can support when it is needed. This is too complicated a subject to go into detail here, but two examples relating to how vitamin C is metabolized for collagen and elastin production to help explain how:
GSTO2 is a gene that impacts several enzymes and how vitamin C gets recycled in the body. When the risk allele GG and AG (AA is not risk) is present the enzyme activity is low and vitamin C is not recycled properly resulting in a buildup of its oxidized form. This leads to an imbalance of redox reactions in the body and can be a cause of oxidative buildup.
SLC23A1 is a gene responsible for tissue-specific uptake of vitamin C in cells of the neurons, endocrine system, bone, skin, and other tissues. When the risk allele AA and AG (GG is no risk) the demand for bioactive vitamin C increases.
If you are interested in learning more about YOUR story and needs through testing your genetics click here.
How much water do we need for supple skin?
When I was little my older sister (9 years) was a make-up artist and I remember she would tell me you should moisturize from within. She of course was referring to the importance of hydrating. Water is essential for the skin because it helps flush out toxins, maintains skin elasticity, and prevents dryness. You should aim for 1 oz of water for ½ of your body weight. So, a 140-pound person should aim for 70 oz of water. If they live in a dry climate like Colorado or Arizona, they should add an additional 16oz. Whereas, for the 140-pound individual that would be 86 oz/day. Fresh vegetables and fruits hydrate the body and may hydrate more quickly due to the electrolytes they deliver, however, hydration from our food delivers only about 20% of our needs.
How does blood sugar impact skin health?
Blood sugar levels can significantly impact skin health, particularly in individuals with conditions like diabetes or insulin resistance. Hyperglycemia is often the first sign of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance and/or glucose intolerance can cause acne by increasing sebum production and growth of skin cells. This can lead to more complicated situations of inflammation (acne more painful, red, swollen) and hormonal imbalances making you more prone to acne breakouts.
Blood sugar dysregulation can lead to many unwanted problems like hypoglycemia, shakiness, lightheadedness, and eating the wrong foods when you need to eat because of crashing. More chronic symptoms of dysregulation are cellular miscommunication impacting other body systems.
How does gut health impact our skin health?
The gut-skin connection refers to the intricate relationship between the health of your digestive system (gut) and the health of your skin. Several factors contribute to this connection.
The gut is home to trillions of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms known as the gut microbiota or microbiome. A healthy microbiome is crucial for overall health, including skin health. Factors contributing to the microbiome include the variety of foods we eat, exposure to illnesses and how they were treated (antibiotics or run the natural course), and chemical exposures (think forever chemicals, plastics, food dyes, etc). Imbalances in the gut microbiome can lead to inflammation, resulting in skin conditions like acne, eczema, dermatitis, granuloma annulare, and others.
The gut plays an important part in the absorption of nutrients, in other words eating the food does not always translate to being able to utilize the foods eaten. However, it is a good place to start. When there is a wide variety of food sources especially vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, and nuts offering a lot of fiber and an array of different microbes, there is more balance and less overgrowth of a few bad actors. The bad actors can trigger chronic inflammation, decrease absorption of nutrients, and fuel hormonal imbalances…all leading to skin problems.
What about Prebiotics and Probiotics for skin health?
Prebiotics and probiotics play important roles in maintaining gut health, which in turn can influence skin health through various mechanisms. Prebiotics are non-digestible fibers that are good fuel sources for the beneficial microbes and contribute to a healthy gut microbiome. Increasing the beneficial microbes results in improved nutrient absorption, aid in gut barrier integrity and in modulating the immune response. Prebiotics give rise to the good microbes whether your own or those taken orally. These microbes (both the ones you already have and those taken orally known as probiotics) can reduce inflammation, enhance the skin barrier function, help ward off other opportunistic microbes, and produce the short chain fatty acids (butyrate, acetate, and propionate) that impact overall skin health.
Probiotics are the microbes themselves. Typically, they range from 10 billion to 45 billion in most formulations today. Therapeutic use for individuals experiencing autoimmune IBD (irritable bowel disease), IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), antibiotic-associated diarrhea and specific digestive disorders the dose could be as high as 900 billion and you should be working with a practitioner well versed in this area.
Consuming prebiotic foods like onions, garlic, whole grains, bananas, artichokes, and leafy greens and fermented probiotic rich foods like yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, and tempeh as part of a regular balance diet may help balance the gut. However, bacterial overgrowth in the small and large intestines may not react favorably to some of these probiotic rich foods or oral supplementation.
How might technology play into skin health?
Having a skin care routine that works is crucial for supporting the skin as we age. But that routine should change as your skin matures too. Many health spas help clients with finding a routine that will work for individual skin. Newer formulations are using peptide-based products that can lighten and brighten the skin, reduce the size of pores, reduce rosacea to address a variety of concerns. There is new technology that can take a saliva collection for a genetic assessment to formulate a skin serum and an eye serum based on the sample. The way it works is when you send in your sample you take three pictures of yourself from the front and each side angle, and fill out a questionnaire. The targeted serums are full of peptides to fit your specific skin needs. The cool part is that the formulation can also be changed. So, if you are in the sun a lot during summer the reorder can be adjusted appropriately. I imagine we may see more of this type of personalized and customized offerings in the future. Click here to learn more about this and how to order.
Final Thoughts
Improving gut health through a balanced diet rich in fiber, prebiotics/prebiotics foods, managing stress levels, staying hydrated, supporting good sleep and avoiding inflammatory foods can positively impact skin health. Since skin is a window to the inside of the body, it is worth exploring more into your lifestyle to improve the way you look and feel. Conversely, neglecting gut health can contribute to many health concerns and skin issues.