Top Tips for Healthy Skin

If you feel like you’ve been doing everything right: you’re drinking enough water, eating wholefoods, buying organic produce, using natural essential skincare, and you’re STILL getting skin issues, then there is something else happening under the surface. 

This may well be a food sensitivity, which is causing a heightened immune reaction and the inflammation is showing on your skin. Common severe responses to food are often allergies  to peanuts, eggs and dairy, or another specific food. However, food sensitivities are harder to recognise as the reaction may be so small the symptoms are ALMOST unnoticeable, or they appear up to 72 hours after eating the food. 

The easiest and quickest way to check for food sensitivities is to do an at-home lab test, I recommend this one. Read this post on food sensitivities to learn more on this. 

There are SO MANY toxins and pollutants out there, it’s impossible to avoid them all. But you can and MUST try your best, because toxicity build-up can be the root cause of so many health issues, and you skin might just be the tip of the iceberg.  

To avoid toxins, and try your best to eat organic foods, this will help you avoid pesticides and herbicides which have now been well-established as carcinogenic. When you can’t buy organic, avoid foods that are loaded with pesticides like strawberries, it’s just not worth it.. Watch this video on what foods should be absolutely bought organic because of the high levels of pesticides used to grow them. 

Use natural cleaning and laundry products and natural cosmetics. This will make a huge difference, because you breath and absorb what is around and on you! Your body has to work on overdrive to try and eliminate all these toxins that we are accumulating on a daily basis, which will cause inflammation that can show in skin issues. Additionally, your skin is your largest detoxification organ, so your body will try and push out toxins through your skin, which can result in acne. 

There’s a lot of talk in the beauty industry about biotin and collagen, but did you know that Omegas are just as crucial, if not more, for skin health? Omega 3 fats are essential for skin cell flexibility. Not only that, but they also have amazing anti-inflammatory properties which can help skin conditions such as eczema, rosacea and psoriasis. 

Unfortunately, westernised diets are high in inflammatory fats, and therefore we are getting too much ‘skin-triggering’ foods and not enough anti-inflammatory foods. Switch that up by eating WILD (not farmed!) oily fish, flaxseeds, avocado and, of course, taking a potent omega-3 supplement, such as my FAVOURITE one by Bare Biology. Use PAULA10 for 10% discount.

Refined sugar and simple carbohydrates are your skin’s worst enemy. This is because they promote the production of Advanced Glycation End Products, otherwise known as ‘AGEs.’ This is very apt because they can make your skin look older! AGEs cause collagen to become inflexible and can cause free radical damage to skin cells. 

If you eliminate refined sugars and processed food that contains simple carbohydrates (we’re talking white bread, white pasta), your skin will be more able to produce healthy collagen and, in turn, radiant, glowing skin. 

Firstly, I want to make clear that if you’re eating a load of sugar and absorbing multiple toxins a day, a massage isn’t going to do much for your skin. These are complementary practices to enhance the work that you are doing within to improve your complexion. 

Dry brushing is an ancient Ayurvedic practice which includes brushing the body with a natural hair bristle brush. This is ideal for exfoliating the skin and cleansing the pores, which makes your skin glow brighter. Dry brushing also triggers the lymphatic system, promoting lymphatic drainage, aiding the detoxification process. 

Massage can help improve blood flow and circulation, which will help promote cell regeneration and give you a healthy-glow whilst doing so. You don’t need to pay £100s for fancy spa massages, you can do self-massages at home, and they’ll do the job nicely! 

There are nutrients that are brilliant for your skin health, like Vitamin C, Omega-3, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, biotin and collagen. This is because they promote production of essential proteins, reduce free radical damage and inflammation and help support your immune system. Check out my free guide on “5 Essential Nutrients For Skin” for more info including dosage and brand recommendations – you can find it at the bottom of my homepage.

However, you cannot get your nutrients from food alone anymore, even if you eat organic wholefoods! This is because our soils are depleted from mass farming. So, you must supplement. Not all supplements are created equally, and they need to be in a bio-available form to ensure absorption. Without this, you might as well not take them! 

Also, you should look at HOW you eat your nutrients, as well as what supplements you are taking. If you’re not having a smoothie for breakfast every day, then you’re missing a huge trick! Start having a HEALTHY and protein-rich smoothie for breakfast every day and I bet you will see this reflected in your skin health within two weeks. If it’s not, we need to dig a bit deeper to see what is going on! 

I saved the most important tip until last! I don’t want to put a downer on the above points, but without a balanced microbiome and good gut health, all the above tips are futile. Acne, eczema, premature wrinkles and psoriasis can all be the result of imbalances in your gut. 

This is not new information, there has been scientific research building since 80 years ago on the gut-brain-skin axis, which clearly shows the relationship between your gut health and your complexion. 

Stress and processed foods are key culprits for negatively affecting the delicate balance of your microbiome, which can result in a long string of health and skin concerns. If your gut is out of whack, you will probably be experiencing lots of different ‘unexplained’ symptoms, that you don’t think are connected but almost definitely are! One (or more) of these symptoms will likely be acne or inflammatory skin conditions.