How to Heal the Root Causes of Most Skin Issues
A personal story of discovering the hidden messages from my skin
Why most the most effective skincare starts on the inside rather than the outside
I want to share a fundamental idea with you that it took me 10 years to learn: Your skin is a mirror of your internal health.
If you are struggling with skin issues- whether acne, dull skin, or an inflammatory condition- your skin is not your enemy. As you learn to read what your skin reveals about your internal health, it can even become a guide to healing your body.
In this article, I’ll share my journey healing my skin and what it taught me about the three imbalances underlying most common skin issues. You can also follow along with the Skin Trigger Checklist below to help pinpoint any imbalances that may be impacting your skin.
From the Beginning
Growing up, I was an extremely sensitive child and no matter how hard I tried to hide it, my skin always gave me away.
It flushed bright red when I was embarrassed, turned pale and dull when I was stressed, and as soon as I hit puberty, it burst out in bright, red pimples.
Unlike many of my friends, the hormonal storm didn’t pass within a couple years. Instead, my skin got more and more irritated. In an effort to help, my Mom took me to a dermatologist who diagnosed me with a staph infection and prescribed doxycycline to clear it up. For a brief time, my skin was clear - but when symptoms returned, the dermatologist launched an arms race of ever stronger antibiotics to outpace antibiotic resistant bacteria. My skin and I were at war.
When it became clear antibiotics were not working, I rejected my doctor’s suggestion of birth control and opted instead for layers of makeup.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I had the first breakthrough in healing my skin. Surprisingly, the advice didn’t come from a dermatologist, but from a nutritionist who showed me the connection between skin and gut health.
#1. Digestive Issues, Chronic Inflammation, and Skin
When I visited a nutritionist at age 25, my skin was the least of my concerns. For months, I had been struggling with arthritis, fatigue, severe digestive distress, all of which were explained with a diagnosis of Lyme disease.
During my visit to the nutritionist, he ran tests for food intolerances, allergies, and sensitivities and found that I was highly sensitive to dairy, soy, and corn. He recommended that I cut them out of my diet for the next six weeks to allow my gut to heal.
After I followed his recommendation, I witnessed an incredible change in my body: my arthritis pain disappeared, under-eye circles went away, brain fog and mood improved, and the constant acne that had been on my face for a decade cleared up.
As I later learned, gastrointestinal issues often result in chronic inflammation which impacts the entire body - from the joints to the brain to the skin.
When the lining of the gut is damaged (also known as “leaky gut” or “intestinal permeability”), food particles pass through the intestines and into the bloodstream, triggering an inflammatory response from the immune system. As the intestinal permeability worsens, more particles entering the bloodstream trigger chronic inflammation, leading to further dysregulation of the immune system.
The major overlap between gut and skin issues was even identified over 70 years ago by dermatologists John H Stokes and Donald M Pillsbury, though it has received far less attention in the past few decades. As a holistic nutritionist, it’s a pattern I’ve seen multiple times: as clients heal their guts, their skin also begins to clear up because of internal inflammation.
Though chronic inflammation driven by gut issues is a common root cause behind skin issues, it often occurs alongside another imbalance…
#2. Blood Sugar Dysregulation
Shortly after my gut began to heal, I became aware of another factor that was wreaking havoc on my skin: imbalanced blood sugar.
Like many women in their mid-twenties, I drank coffee throughout the day, indulged in pastries and desserts with friends, and treated myself to chocolate when I was stressed.
It didn’t occur to me that these habits had anything to do with a series of other issues I was facing: afternoon energy dips, “hanger” and weakness between meals, unstable moods, and skin issues. I didn’t make the connection between my chocolate and bread rampages and the pimples that followed soon after, aside from assuming they were all due to hormones.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that every piece of chocolate or bread I ate was causing a spike in my blood sugar followed by a release of insulin to bring it back to normal. This blood sugar rollercoaster was wreaking havoc on my body, especially because the constant surges of insulin were triggering other hormones.
According to author Sam Wood in “Unmasking Acne”
“Insulin by itself isn’t evil – it’s only when we have too much insulin that we begin to get into problems related to acne. This is a condition called insulin resistance, and it affects upwards of half the American population.
…Insulin doesn’t act alone – when your body produces insulin, it also produces a series of other hormones and molecules throughout the body. Many of these insulin-triggered hormones and molecules are behind the root causes of acne. There are three that we’re going to focus on – Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), Interleukin 1 Alpha (IL-1 Alpha), and Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 (IGFBP-3).”
As Wood highlights, blood sugar imbalances and the resulting problem of insulin resistance is so common in Western society that we often overlook it.
When I finally began to cut refined sugar out of my diet, I observed:
My diet was dominated by carbohydrates and low in protein and fat. In order to compensate for the carbohydrates I was cutting out, I added more protein and fat to my meals, which resulted in much more balanced energy levels throughout the day.
After 2-3 weeks of cutting out refined sugar - mainly chocolate and bread products - my extreme cravings began to disappear.
As I adjust to a diet with balanced macronutrient ratios -roughly ⅓ protein, ⅓ healthy fats, ⅓ complex carbohydrates- my energy levels, mood, sleep, and skin improved simultaneously.
#3. Imbalanced Stress Response
The last piece of my skin healing journey had to do with stress.
While working with a doctor in Germany, he suggested a brain training program for me called Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS).
DNRS is designed to help those with limbic system impairs, or put another way, those who are stuck in a chronic stress response and struggling with burnout.
The program is based on the concept of neuroplasticity: if a person continually interrupts old stress responses and replaces them with new ones that support well-being, he changes the wiring of his brain and the messages the brain sends to the body. Practiced over weeks and months, brain training can change a person’s fundamental physiology and biochemistry.
Though it took me months of training to rewire my stress response - and the journey still continues - the results have been extremely positive. Stressors that previously felt overwhelming have become manageable and I feel much more resilient in the face of challenges than I did even a year ago.
The added benefit I didn’t expect was that as my nervous system relaxed, my skin became radiant. My cheeks regained color and plumpness and at 30 years old, I looked and felt more youthful than at 25.
Unsurprisingly, the skin and nervous system are intimately related.
One of the main ways the nervous system impacts the skin is via the HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis). When a person is stressed, the nervous system signals the adrenal glands to produce the stress hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol.
Though these hormones help the body to handle short-term stress, they are problematic when someone is chronically stressed. In order to produce more cortisol, the adrenal glands deprioritize production of other hormones necessary for healthy, radiant skin, including estrogen, testosterone, and DHEA.
Simply put, If given a choice between focusing on reproduction and attractiveness versus survival, the nervous system will always choose survival.
Therefore, if you find yourself under constant stress - whether emotional, psychological, or physical - consider working directly on your stress response, either with a therapist or a self-guided program such as DNRS. Healing your stress response will often heal multiple body systems at once - from your gut to your skin.
Conclusion and Invitation
At 30 years old, I have a better relationship with my skin than I ever expected.
My skin is fully clear and healthy and though it remains sensitive, the sensitivity helps me identify imbalances in my health so I can address them as early as possible.
As a holistic nutritionist, I encourage clients to see their skin as a mirror of their internal health. By supporting their gut health, blood sugar balance, and stress response, they can resolve or prevent the most common skin issues and create habits that support long-term healthy and longevity.
Want Support for Your Skin?
If you’re struggling with skin issues, join us for the free webinar “Glow from Within: Holistic Nutrition for Radiant Skin” on Sunday, April 14 where we’ll dive deeper into the root causes of skin issues and how to find comfort and confidence in your own skin. Want a preview?
