Daily Practices for Healthy, Glowing Skin

Being the largest organ in the body, the skin plays many vital roles such as providing a

physical barrier from the external environment¹. While some skin conditions can be

complex, some practices can be adopted every day to improve the quality of your skin

slowly.

Water water water

For optimal health of the organs in your body in general, but also because you skins

needs hydration for the proper integrity/production of membrane surfaces to flush

impurities from here. When the skin becomes dehydrated, there is more chance of it

becoming dry, flaky and infected from bacteria. Drinking between 2-3 liters a day

should be sufficient to prevent this.

Avoidance of dairy

Dairy avoidance is usually recommended for improved skin quality as it can cause

inflammation to the skin. Milk also can interfere with hormones by reacting with

testosterone and increasing the amount of sebum, causing oily skin and pimples 4.

Switch to plant milk (soy, almond, coconut, rice, oat) and coconut yogurts.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are high in richly colored foods such as berries (strawberries, blueberries,

raspberries), organic green tea, red apples, kale, sweet potato, and garlic. They are

super important for the diet for neutralizing free radicals that build up in the body from toxin exposure, progression of disease and aging. These actions help the skin by making the skin look firmer, smoother and glowing. On the surface, antioxidants increase its firm, reduce the appearance of wrinkles and improve the damage from sun and scar tissue damage.

Collagen

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body, making up 70% of the dry weight of human skin and is a vital component of the connective tissues in our bodies in skin,

muscles, and joints. As the skin gradually loses its structural shape causing furrows, A

collagen supplement consisting of hydrolyzed collagen peptides can be used to

counteract this by balancing the amount that is lost in gradual aging¹, improving the

skins elasticity, moisture, dermal water loss preventing dry/rough skin. A recent study

has suggested this where wrinkles were improved after eight weeks of daily collagen

intake³. - FIND YOUR COLLAGEN SUPPLEMENT HERE

Organic green tea

Another high antioxidant compound called polyphenols are highly present in green tea have been found to be highly anti-inflammatory and decrease cell proliferation,

carcinogenic influencers and ultraviolet inflammation of the skin². Green tea helps kill

off the bacterium that contributes to acne, flushing out toxins for a flawless complexion.

Many other influences can affect skin quality that can be controlled from a naturopathic consultation with hormonal assessment, product assessment, improving the gut-skin axis, liver function, chemical exposure, etc.

1. Borumand, M. and Sibilla, S., 2014. Daily consumption of the collagen supplement

Pure Gold Collagen® reduces visible signs of aging. Clinical interventions in aging, 9,

p.1747.

2. Katiyar, S.K. and Elmets, C.A., 2001. Green tea polyphenolic antioxidants and skin

photoprotection. International journal of oncology, 18(6), pp.1307-1313.2.

3. Proksch, E., Schunck, M., Zague, V., Segger, D., Degwert, J. and Oesser, S., 2014. Oral

intake of specific bioactive collagen peptides reduces skin wrinkles and increases

dermal matrix synthesis. Skin pharmacology and physiology, 27(3), pp.113-119.

4. Juhl, C., Bergholdt, H., Miller, I., Jemec, G., Kanters, J. and Ellervik, C., 2018. Dairy

Intake and Acne Vulgaris: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 78,529 Children,

Adolescents, and Young Adults. Nutrients, 10(8), p.1049.

Jade is a final year Naturopathy student at the Southern School of Natural Therapies. She is currently practicing in the student clinic on their Fitzroy Campus.