Our skin is the biggest organ we have and it can be either our friend or our enemy. It protects us from the outside world (trauma, toxins, sun etc.) and allows us to interact with it through touch. The skin not only protects us from the outside world but it can also represent our inner wellbeing and can reflect how we are feeling inside.
We are constantly reminded, by our doctors and the media, that we should take good care of our skin and that we should protect it (use sunblock, moisturizers, eat healthy etc.). But are we doing enough to protect the skin from the internal illnesses and stress?
How can your skin be impacted by your inner health?
The first thin we must accept is that our skin can represent how are we on the inside. For example, if we are dehydrated, that will clearly be shown on our skin. It will be sallow and wrinkly – looking a bit dried up.
On the other hand, when you eat too much salty food, the skin will swell up and the lack of nutrients in our diet will slow down the healing process of our skin. The majority (if not all) illnesses can have a bad impact on our skin.
Sometimes, even psychological stress can harm our skin, causing it to blemish, look dried up, itch or even start peeling. There are a lot of symptoms that stress and the hormones that cause it, are harming your skin.
Because of all this, it’s no wonder that so many people want to be and look well and healthy and look as young as possible. The starting point is our skin. We need to know how to recognize the damage stress is causing to our skin and to minimize it, if not eradicate it altogether. By doing so, the positive results will be clearly visible on our entire body.
How can we combat stress through skin care?
If we want to ensure that our skin is healthy and youthful, we need to start working on it inside out. First and foremost, we need to make sure that our daily vitamin and mineral intake is sufficient. The usual heathy diets ensure that we get enough of everything so that we don’t get skin rashes or other signs of skin problems.
For example, having a sufficient enough Vitamin C intake is really important for collagen production, because collage gives our skin the elasticity and youthfulness. Without enough collagen, wrinkles will start showing and the skin won’t have the necessary internal structural support.
Another important vitamin that we need to pay attention to is Vitamin D. This vitamin plays a key role in our skin’s health. First and foremost, it slows down and reduces inflammation. It also protects our skin from skin cancer, reduces the manifestation of acne and so on. Now usually Vitamin D is mostly found in dairy products but our skin is also producing it, thanks to sun exposure.
Taking care of our skin can also come from the outside in. From time to time, we should practice mechanical exfoliation to remove the dead skin cells and outer layer which tends to linger far more than it should. Most dermatologists recommend doing a regular exfoliation every week not only to clean off the dead skin cells, but also the clear the pores, prevent acne, stimulate the blood flow and lymphatic drainage etc. But as with everything in life, keep it on a moderate level. Don’t exfoliate too often or too much because that can also cause certain problems.
From time to time, schedule a visit to a dermatologist to check the health of your skin and see how you can improve it and make it better.
