Tips For Healthy Skin

Posted on May 16, 2008
Filed Under Skin Care Tips |

Healthy Skin from the Inside Out
By J.William LaValley, MD

Skin health is an important factor in our general well-being. In addition to the multitude of options for topical skin treatments, it is important to remember that our skin is a large organ that is nourished from the nutrients in our diets.

So what can we do to improve skin health from the inside out?

As you might suspect, the type of diet you consume has a significant impact on the health of your skin. From recent studies, it appears that eating a Mediterranean-type diet is not only good for your heart, it’s good for your skin as well.

An important study showed that “higher intakes of vitamin C and linoleic acid and lower intakes of fats and carbohydrates are associated with better skin-aging appearance”.1 This is easily accomplished with a Mediterranean-type diet that includes healthy oils from nuts, moderate meats and oily fish, and lots of colorful fresh vegetables.

Stimulating the detoxification pathways within your cells also helps to improve the appearance and function of your skin. Broccoli, watercress, Brussels sprouts, and kale all contain naturally occurring sulforaphanes — healthy dietary molecules that enhance cellular detoxification.2-3 Eating these vegetables raw, or juicing them using a high-quality juicer are the best ways to obtain their substantial detoxification and anticancer benefits.

Green tea also benefits your skin from both the inside and outside. Green tea contains EGCG and other substances that protect skin cells from damage by ultraviolet rays from the sun.4 Numerous products containing EGCG in oral dietary supplements are available. Topical sunscreen products containing green tea and other botanical extracts that have shown significant benefit in preventing or repairing sun damage in skin cells are also available.

Dietary supplements that improve the antioxidant status of your skin cells also appear to improve the appearance and function of your skin. These include silymarin (from the milk thistle plant) and the amino acid derivative, N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC).5-6 NAC is an essential component in the production of glutathione, our most prevalent and powerful intracellular antioxidant. In addition, including borage oil in the diet as a daily supplement improves the durability and the “barrier function” of the skin, especially in older people.7

Perhaps most important to maintaining healthy skin is to limit sun damage from overexposure to direct sunlight. Interestingly, a study shows that using extra virgin olive oil on sun-exposed skin immediately after excessive sun exposure (but not before or during the sun exposure) can significantly reduce the damage to the sun-exposed skin cells.8

A different type of oil, almond oil, was shown to protect skin from sun damage when applied before sun exposure.9 Almond oil before sun, olive oil after sun. Limit the length of sun exposure to avoid damaging your skin cells.

Yes, you’ve heard it a thousand times — quitting smoking is good for your overall health. Quitting smoking is also good for your skin — you will look better as a non-smoker, so quit already!10

Lotions, gels, cleansers and ointments to improve the skin’s health and appearance can also be very helpful. These topical applications will be discussed in future articles.

[J. William LaValley, MD is a physician in Nova Scotia, Canada and Austin, Texas. He practices Integrative and Complementary Medicine as a member of the Canadian Medical Association, serving as the Chairperson of the Complementary Medicine Section of Doctors Nova Scotia. He is also a member of the American Medical Association, Texas Medical Association, and Travis County Medical Society in Austin. He can be reached at 902-275-4555.]

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