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Your Beauty Benefits of B Vitamins!

Your Beauty Boosting Benefits of B Vitamins!

If dehydration, dullness or dryness comes to mind when it comes to your skin concerns (especially in winter) then the Bs are for you!

Whether you are wanting to help alleviate inflammatory skin, such as flaking skin, reduce excess oil flow, even out skin tone or even reverse signs of ageing by boosting collagen formation and strengthening cellular integrity, then it may be time to consider your intake of B vitamins!

There are 8 different types of B vitamins, all of which play a vital role in the care and benefit to your skin. B vitamins are a water soluble nutrient, which means that they must be obtained from our diet, as they are readily excreted and cannot be stored within the body.

Here I will break down how the functions and benefits of each nutrient can support our skin health!

Vitamin B1 (Thiamin)​ is involved in energy metabolism and the growth, development and function of cells, all of which help to support wound healing and prevent scarring. Deficiencies in this can lead to weakness, dryness, craped or flaking of the skin.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)​ plays a vital role for achieving healthy, glowing skin. This helps with maintaining the growth of tissues to encourage a healthy cell turnover, helping to support a clearer complexion, as well as the maintenance of collagen production which protects the structural integrity of the skin. Vitamin B2 is particularly beneficial for acne sufferers as it also assists maintaining the oil flow of the skin, helping to prevent breakouts.

Vitamin B3 (Niacin) ​is one of the most popular skin vitamins as it helps to boost the complexion of the skin and provides multiple factors which assist in skin healing. This helps with the production of ceramides and fatty acid barriers, which assists with retaining skin moisture and plumpness; preventing dry, sensitised skin and ageing skin. It has also been shown to assist skin conditions including helping with acne, eczema, dermatitis and pigmentation.

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid)​ helps to maintain a plump, hydrated skin tone, and improve the elasticity of the skin. This can be applied topically, which acts as a humectant (which helps to retain the moisture in the skin). This also assists with healing and protecting the skin, helping to reduce inflammation and redness and strengthen the skin's barrier. Vitamin B5 has also been shown to help to provide benefit in reducing excess sebum production and regulate the oil flow production.

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)​ works within the nervous system, and helps to regulate sleep by producing serotonin (our happy hormone), and melatonin. This also helps to reduce cellular inflammation and supports cell regeneration.

B7 (Biotin)​ is utilised for the metabolism of fatty acids and protects cells from damage and water loss, which helps to keep your cells hydrated. As biotin helps prevent water loss, this is also beneficial for protection against acne, fungal infections and rashes.

B9 (Folic Acid​) actually provides similar properties to antioxidants, helping to promote cell turnover and fight against free radical damage. It is particularly key in supporting sun damaged skins and preventing premature ageing skin.

B12 (Cobalamin)​ helps promote cell production and can be applied topically for skin benefits as it provides anti-inflammatory benefits, and supports the skin strength and integrity, which is particularly useful for conditions such as dryness, acne, psoriasis and eczema.

So here you can see the multiple benefits and vast array of ways your B vitamins can boost your beauty routine! So, you may be thinking, how do I apply this?!

Let’s take it back to basics.

Aim to consume a highly plant based and whole food diet, rich in dark leafy green vegetables, and include lean poultry and proteins, such as fish, chicken and eggs, legumes such as chickpeas and lentils and healthy fats such as avocados, nuts and seeds. This is the best way to increase your intake of these nutrients.
Also, variety is key! Fill your plate with a variety of different coloured vegetables to ensure you get a wide variety of nutrients and vitamins into your day, and reap the benefits of your B vitamins!

I hope you found this helpful, and if you know someone that would benefit from this, please share this with them.
Also, please leave me a comment below on your thoughts,or anything you found interesting. I’d love to hear

from you!
Thank you, Till next time,

Dominique,

Skin Nutrition Co.

Whilst antioxidants may be largely known for their array of health benefits across the body, did you know they are pumped with skin boosting benefits as well?

In fact, increasing your antioxidant status can provide an array of skin health benefits including; preventing ageing, reducing acne, improving skin tone, brightening, improving skin wound healing and cellular integrity and even your skin complexion!

So what are antioxidants and how do they work?

Antioxidants help protect against free radical damage, helping to provide an extra line of defence within our cellular structure and integrity.
Everyday exposure to things like UV rays, pollution, cigarette smoke, and environmental toxins expose our cells to these ‘free radicals’, which essentially impair and alter our cell membrane and generates free radical damage.
When we have a high amount of these, or accumulate too many free radicals this can create what’s known as ‘oxidative stress’. Antioxidants help to stabilise the cell membrane and prevent damage caused by oxidative stress.

Here are the key antioxidants I recommend for optimal skin health!

Vitamin A
Provides key support for anti-ageing and increasing skin rejuvenation as it helps to increase cellular turnover and collagen production.
Also, particularly beneficial for clearing skin and preventing acne, and reducing overactivity of the sebaceous glands. 

Vitamin C
This is essential for collagen production and repair. 
Its benefits include supporting collagen production, elasticity and blood vessel repair. 
It helps  with brightening the skin and boosting tone and texture of the skin, which helps to prevent sun damage and pigmentation. It helps stabilise cell membranes, increases cell turnover and protects against sun damage and pigmentation. Particularly beneficial for boosting skin luminosity and complexion.

Vitamin E
This helps to neutralise free radical damage, this nutrient has various functions both topically and internally when it comes to protecting the skin.
It helps to absorb UVB light helping to decrease the effect of sun damage. Within the skin cell membrane it helps to nourish the cell, providing a barrier around the skin to keep the skin hydrated and moisturised.

Selenium 
Similarly to vitamin E, this also helps to neutralise free radical damage, helps to decrease inflammation, free radical damage and other skin damaging compounds, preventing wrinkle formation. Essentially selenium provides a safe ‘coating’ around our cellular membrane.

CoQ10
CoQ10 topically applied has been shown to help reduce oxidative damage caused by UV rays.
It is involved in energy production, helping to prevent skin degradation by improving collagen production formation and integrity and helps supports mitochondrial function, neutralising free radical damage.

Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
This provides multiple benefits; however is particularly beneficial if you experience dryness, or sensitised flaking skin including eczema or psoriasis.
Its involvement includes rebuilding the barrier function of the skin, keratin formation and helps provide a lipid barrier, and retaining moisture, particularly important if you are experiencing dry or flaking skin. It also helps with regulating oil production, which is key for oily/ acne skin types.

Having an adequate supply of antioxidants is crucial for our skin health and integrity, as well as protecting our overall cellular membrane. They help with strengthening the structure of our skin and increasing cellular turnover (encouraging a new cell cycle, increasing skin rejuvenation).

If you would like to know more about how nutrients can help your skin, please subscribe to the email below to receive weekly updates on all things skin health and nutrition!

Of coarse, if you feel you need more support, or are struggling with identifying  the right treatment for you skin, we would love to assist you. Simply send an email below or get in touch and we can have a chat about how to best support your optimum health, from the inside out!

Till next time, take care

Dominique @ Skin Nutrition Co. X

Did you know that our skin health is largely affected by our hormones? Have you noticed particular breakouts along the lower jawline, chin or upper neck area?

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According to Chinese facial mapping these are the key areas that indicate hormonal imbalances of the skin.

You might notice an obvious difference in the health of your skin when you have eaten too much chocolate or after a weekend of overindulging, but did you know this can actually disrupt our cells and hormonal receptors as well?

Perhaps you may even feel that your skin is not improving, or won’t be able to properly improve due to a ‘hormonal condition’. Well, please know that you can naturally restore your skin and hormones to achieve optimal skin from the inside, out!

Our hormones are basically chemical messengers, which send messages to other organs, controlling the functions they perform. Think of these like a symphony in an orchestra. Each plays a careful and intricate role, and if one ‘key’ is out, this can affect the flow of the orchestra. Similarly, this is how our hormones function in our body, if one receptor is off, this can alter the functions of the organs in our body.

Our hormones are largely influenced by factors such as lifestyle, environmental toxins, sleep and diet. Please know there is hope and you can restore your hormones naturally, and in turn clear and improve your skin too!

Here are 5 ways to eat to support hormonal balance and help assist skin healing:

1. Increase your intake of dietary fibre rich vegetables.

   Particularly in the form of dark green leafy vegetables. This helps to naturally flush out excess toxins and elevated hormones, helping to increase the clearance of elevated hormones. Fibre is also important for skin health, as it helps to support detoxification, and provides a high amount of antibacterial properties.

2. Increase essential fatty acids- particularly omega 3s.

   These play an important role in our cellular membrane within the skin and are vital for maintaining and restoring the skin integrity, as well as keeping the skin structure hydrated and ‘plump’. Omega 3 fatty acids are particularly helpful for decreasing inflammation, and play an important role for providing a building block for supporting our hormones.

3. Reduce inflammatory foods including fried foods, sugar, and processed or takeaway foods.

   These cause inflammation within our body in a number of ways including, a breakdown of antioxidants, as these contain ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species), which oxidise our cells, causing a breakdown in the cellular structure. Also, having a high amount of inflammatory food disrupts our insulin levels, which can alter our hormonal response and increase androgens, leading to acne and breakouts in the skin. Sugars also creates a ’sticky’ like effect within our cells and blood vessels, creating a coating over our blood vessels, causing a restriction in the vessel formation, and break down of collagen.

4. Eat your greens!

   Include cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts and kale. These are not only high in fibre but also contain DIM (diindolylmethane) which helps to promote detoxification and supports oestrogen clearance, which is particularly beneficial for hormonal breakouts

5. Include Broccoli sprouts in your diet.

   Broccoli sprouts contain the active ingredient sulforaphane, which provides a higher concentration of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties than regular broccoli. It helps to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, helping to protect against DNA and cellular damage, as well as supplying oxygen to your skin cells, which is crucial for combating any oxidative stress and achieving healthy skin! So there are 5 easy, simple tips which, if implemented regularly over a period of 2-4 weeks, you will really start to see a difference and improve not only your skin, but support your hormones as well.

Tip: Please be patient with yourself, as our skin health can take at least 4 weeks to see a change as we have a new cell turnover every 28 days.

Also, particularly with hormones, they tend to change very slowly over time. However, taking small, gentle steps too help support and rebalance them. Implementing these changes regularly and consistently will help you achieve the best results, from the inside out, and for the long term! I hope you found this helpful!

Please let me know in the comments below how you found trying any of these steps helped! I’d love to hear from you and encourage you on your journey! Also, if you know someone you feel needs to hear this or would benefit, please share this will them.

And if you found this helpful and would like to receive more information weekly about all things skin, health and wellness, please subscribe!

Skin Nutrition Co. X

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How your gut health impacts our skin, and is the key to optimal health, inside and out!

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Did you know, much of your skin health is largely impacted by the health of your gut? In fact, your gut microbiome has a direct link to your skin, known as the gut-skin axis. Just like our gut microbiome, our skin has its own microbiome too!

As our skin is the most external organ of the body, it is often the first place to show any signs or indications of an imbalance within. Likewise, being the most external organ, it’s important to look not only externally, but internally as well for achieving healthy, glowing skin.

“Our gut health is actually said to be the foundation for optimal health. Our gut hosts trillions of cells (more than our own bodies DNA), which is called the microbiome. ”

— Dominique - skin health co.

Within this is a balance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria, which are both essential for optimum health. However, when we have an increase in poor bacteria, known as ‘dysbiosis’, this can lead to inflammation within our body, which shows up as inflammation on our skin. These often contribute to conditions like acne, breakouts, eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, and rosacea.

Here are 5 key ways for repairing our gut health to support both optimal health and clear, glowing skin:

1. Reduce Sugar

   Sugar increases the growth of beneficial bacteria and increases inflammation within the gut. This overgrowth of inflammation and bacteria can lead to conditions like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and candida. Sugar also increases insulin levels. High insulin levels can cause IGF-1, which is a common trigger for acne. In fact, acne is so closely related to blood sugar, it has been labelled the ‘diabetes of the skin’. Tip: avoid refined sugar and sweetened, processed foods, and opt for natural sweet foods like fresh fruit.

2. Increase Fibre

   Fibre (particularly in the form of green leafy vegetables), is vital for achieving optimum skin and gut health. It will help support the growth of beneficial bacterial, which will assist the clearance of any excess bacteria or pathogens from the gut. This is key for rebuilding the microbiome of the skin and gut, and is essential for optimum health. SCFA (short chain fatty acids) provide anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties as well, and is key for maintaining overall health.

3. Prebiotics and Probiotic Rich foods

   Again, this goes back to supporting and rebuilding the quality of the microbiome, and assisting rebuilding the health of the skin. This will help reduce inflammation within the body, and can actually assist in repairing a healthy gut lining. The use of probiotics has actually been found to be a beneficial treatment for inflammatory skin disorders including, psoriasis, dermatitis and acne.

4. Reduce Inflammatory Foods

   That’s right, there are some foods that cause a direct inflammation within the body! Refined sugar, processed foods, overly oily or smoked takeaway foods can cause inflammation in the body. Having a high amount of these in the body causes an increase in inflammatory compounds such as ROS (reactive oxygen species), AGES (aged-glycation end products) and lead to increased oxidative stress. These all literally affect and impair our cell membrane quality. ROS (reactive oxygen species) are oxidative compounds which literally disrupt stable skin cell membranes, and cause cross linking between collagen and elastin, leading to increased wrinkle formation. Consuming a high amount of sugar causes AGEs, which forms a ‘sticky coating’ over our collagen cells, and increases the breakdown of collagen and increases aging and free radical damage within the skin.

5. Maintain and Support a Healthy Intestinal Lining.

   The health and condition of your gut microbiome integrity largely impacts the integrity and health of your skin. If you feel you are struggling with digestive issues such as bloating, constipation or other issues like candida, SIBO, leaky gut (a term formally known as intestinal permeability), these will disrupt our bodies ability to breakdown and absorb nutrients properly. If we are not breaking down and absorbing foods properly, this can lead to undigested foods in the blood stream and increase stress within the body, again contributing to inflammation within the skin.

Tip: If you feel you may be experiencing either of these digestive issues, but not quite sure where to begin, I recommend working with a functional practitioner such as myself to help understand and piece together an individualised treatment plan to address and treat the root cause of your digestive issues.

This is why the health of your skin is so closely related to your gut health. To sum up simply, a healthy microbiome, free from any ‘gaps’ or damage to cell lining, adequate nutrient absorption and a healthy diet is key for optimal skin health, and really is the foundation for achieving clear skin from the inside, out.

I hope you found this helpful, and if you know anyone who you feel would benefit from this, please share this post with them.

If you are ready to get to the root cause of your chronic skin issue, and achieve optimal health from the inside out, or are ready to improve your health but not sure where to begin, then I’d love to help you!

Please feel free to contact me via the email form below, and we can have a chat on how I can help you.

I hope this was helpful, and look forward to helping you improve your health journey, from the inside, out. 

Skin Nutrition Co. X

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