By Vaughn Gray

We all want healthy skin. Skin health is one of the first things we notice about people. Ever wonder why? It’s because the health of your skin is a barometer of the health of your entire body. Our ancestors needed to avoid sick people, and choose mates (and friends) who were robustly healthy. Thus, we find clear skin attractive. This might sound harsh, but times were tough back then and you needed to be cutthroat to get by! Hopefully today we are a little less superficial, but good skin is still unquestionably important.

When you’re sick with a cold or the flu, your skin reflects the state of your health, often appearing pale or even sallow. More enduring changes in skin, like acne or premature wrinkling, are a reflection of deeper long-term health issues. When we think about skin health, we tend to think of our skin in isolation from the rest of our body. As a result, we focus on surface skin treatments like cleansers, creams, or dermatologic procedures. But real skin health, and the luminous appearance that comes with it, has to be nurtured from within.

Healthy Skin and a Radiant Appearance Principles:

1. A Toxic Body Equals  Blemished Skin

Toxins are much in the news, but what, exactly, are they? Simply put, toxins are chemicals that prevent our cells from doing their jobs. There are toxins that injure heart cells, different toxins that injure nerves, and still other toxins that injure bone cells. Our bodies are constantly exposed to thousands upon thousands of different toxins in the food we eat (preservatives and food dyes), the air we breath (car exhaust) and the water we drink ( lead and pesticides from farm run off). In addition, our bodies create toxins as we go about the everyday business of our lives. Many of these toxins are the waste products left behind when our cells burn the food we eat for energy. Ammonia and urea are examples of these toxins.

Every toxin that we take into our bodies and every toxin that we create internally has to be processed by our body’s detoxification system and eliminated before it can do too much harm to our cells. The major organs of the detoxification system are the liver, kidneys, and gut. These organs have specialized systems that process toxins into forms that are easy to clear from the body. These toxins end up in our urine, and some in our feces.

When toxin levels get too high, the liver, kidneys, and gut get overwhelmed. If we bombard our bodies with toxins from processed food, tap water, air pollution, etc, our normal detox organs can’t keep up and our bodies have to take emergency measures. One of these emergency measures is to start eliminating toxins through our skin. Many health professionals call skin “the third kidney,” referring to the fact that, when toxin levels are high, the skin starts excreting toxins in sweat the same way the kidneys do in urine. As you can imagine, a constant flow of toxic chemicals through your sweat glands isn’t very good for the appearance of your skin. These chemicals change skin pH, allowing infections to thrive and create blemishes and acne. In addition, when your skin cells are busy getting rid of toxins, they have less energy for producing the normal proteins that keep your skin healthy and prevent the visible signs of aging. So a toxic body equals more blemishes and less resilient, older looking skin.

What this means is that if you want healthy skin, you can’t put unhealthy things into your body. Smoking, drinking tap water, and breathing polluted air (i.e. don’t run next to highways, and, if you live in a city, get an air filter for your bedroom and run it during the day while you’re away, turning it off at night while you sleep) will all lead to worse skin. Most importantly, avoid processed foods, which are the biggest source of toxins in most people's lives. Replace the processed foods in your diet with fresh veggies and fruit in moderation (2-3 pieces per day). This will actually help clear toxins from your body. The fibers in fruits and veggies bind toxins directly and help clean your bowels. Further, many of the nutrients fruits and veggies provide support the poper functioning of your detox organs. Your skin will thank you!