5 Possible Root Causes For Skin Problems And How To Address Them

Skin problems like acne and eczema are just a symptom. To effectively treat them, you must identify and treat the root cause.

5 Common Root Causes Are:

• Toxin Build Up
• Hormonal Imbalance
• Nutrient Deficiency
• Poor Gut Health
• Stress

Root Cause #1 Toxin Build Up:

In modern society we are exposed to so many toxins on a daily bases: air pollution and smog, EMFs, pesticides and herbicides, chemicals, xenoestrogens, free radicals from oxidized oils, parasites, mycotoxins from mold, and more. These may be in the environment, our food, our water, our cleaning products, or even our facial products!

The skin is part of the excretory system, meaning it’s one of the places your body removes toxins. Your lymph, liver, kidney, and bowels typically do most of the detoxing, however when you’re exposed to a lot of toxins or other detox pathways become sluggish, your skin takes on the burden of removing toxins. This results in skin problems.

Solution:

• Limit exposure to toxins:
  • Use a quality water filter (more on this here) and shower filter
  • Buy organic food
  • Use clean beauty products or just use a wash cloth and water like I do (Also limit make up use, especially foundation, and only use clean make ups)
  • Use natural or make your own cleaners (1 part vinegar to 5 parts water in a spray bottle makes a great all purpose cleaner)
  • Avoid vegetable oils and processed foods
• Detox:
  • Make sure all detox pathways are open and working efficiently. Here are a few examples:
    • Have daily bowel movements
    • Lymphatic dry brushing (instructions here)
    • Drink detox tea (recipe here)
    • Sweat
    • Move
    • Epsom salt baths (instructions here)
    • Coffee enemas (instructions here)
  • Do a deeper cleanse
    • More info on how to detox and cleanse can be found here

Note: When detoxing, your skin may get worse before it gets better. This is because you’re flushing your body of toxins. To minimize skin issues when detoxing, go slow and open your drainage pathways in the correct order (info on drainage pathway order can be found here).

Root Cause #2 Hormonal Imbalance:

This one’s more common for women. Women are especially prone to breakouts (typically on the chin) in the week before their period. This has to do with a decrease in estrogen and progesterone at that point in the cycle. This is theorized to increase the chances of clogged pores. However balancing your hormones should at least minimize if not completely eliminate hormonal related acne.

Solution:

• Get off hormonal birth control (use natural methods like fertility awareness instead)
• Decrease stress in the form of emotional stress, over exercising, fasting, chronic dieting, keto diets, inadequate sleep, etc.
• Eat raw carrots to help detox from xenoestrogens
• Avoid xenoestrogens like soy and plastic (More info here).
• Eat a nutrient rich diet
• Balance your blood sugar by always eating carbs with protein
• Get some sunshine without sunscreen
• Eat animal reproductive organs like ovaries, uterus, and fallopian tubes (Heart And Soil Supplements and Ancestral Supplements sell these as supplements) (Side note: if you’re a guy wanting to optimize hormonal health, opt for animal testicles instead, these are also available as supplements from the companies above)
• Drink a tea made of 1 1/4 parts blackberry leaf, 1 1/4 parts borage, 1 1/4 parts nettles, 1 part whole dandelion, and 1/4 part rosemary (drink at any time during your cycle to promote balance)

Root Cause #3 Nutrient Deficiency:

Adequate fat, water, omega 3, collagen, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc are necessary for skin health. Fat is needed to make sebum (an oily, waxy substance produced by your body’s sebaceous glands in your pores). Sebum cleans out your pores, preventing acne, and moisturizes your skin, preventing dry skin.

Water is necessary for hydration of skin. Omega 3s are necessary to help keep skin thick and moisturized. They also decrease inflammation. Collagen helps with skin elasticity, prevents wrinkles, and gives your skin a youthful healthy appearance.

Vitamins A, C, and E and copper are anti-oxidants meaning they decrease oxidation which improves skin health. Vitamin A also acts as a natural sunblock preventing sunburns, skin cell death, and dry, wrinkled skin. Vitamin C and copper also increase collagen production. Zinc decreases inflammation, increases overall skin health, and aids the production of new skin cells.

Solution:

• Eat foods rich in healthy fats, omega 3, collagen, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and zinc. See food sources in pictures below
• Drink adequate water
• Eat skin like chicken skin which is rich in collagen and other nutrients for skin health, remember like heals like

Root Cause #4 Poor Gut Health:

Your gut health is linked to your overall health, which includes skin health. Functional medicine practitioner, Chris Kressor says, “Through this connection, your gut microbes send signals to your skin that influence things like skin structure, inflammation, and the production of sebum … If anything in your gut is disrupted in that signaling process, your skin will feel the effects.” (1) Therefore conditions like leaky gut, candida overgrowth, SIBO, autoimmune diseases, and more can negatively affect you skin health.

Solution:

• Slow down and relax when you eat
• Chew your food thoroughly
• Drink bone broth daily
• Get plenty of nutrients (especially zinc, retinol vitamin A, vitamin D, magnesium, and glutamine)
• Include probiotic rich foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, kimichi, and other fermented foods
• Don’t over do the plants (especially raw plants, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds)
• Cut out gluten (this often makes a huge difference in both digestive health and skin health!)
• Quit alcohol
• Detox
• Get plenty of sleep
• Take some helpful herbs/supplements such as aloe vera, ginger, chamomile, cramp bark, globe artichoke, and astralgus.
• In more severe cases, consider an elimination diet (remove any other foods which cause problems for 3 months, then slowly reintroduce them 1 at a time every 2 weeks. Keep a food journal to track your symptoms as you reintroduce foods)  

Root Cause #5 Stress:

Stress can cause gut health problems and increase inflammation. It also increases cortisol which leads to an increase in sebum production, often producing too much and leading to acne. It’s also know to increase psoriasis and eczema flare-ups, seborrheic dermatiti, rosacea, and other skin conditions.

Solution:

• Create a de-stressing routine (example: reading, going on walks, taking a bath)
• Avoid over scheduling your life
• Eliminate unnecessary stressors in your life.

I hope this information helps you get to the root of any skin issues you may have and helps you to get clear glowing skin! Getting to the root of symptoms like this is one of the main things I help clients with in my program Ancestral Gut Healing.

If you’re struggling to get to the root of your skin issues, bloating, digestive issues, food intolerances, constipation, headaches, fatigue, cycle irregularities, insomnia, or other issues, I’d love to talk with you more about how you can overcome your symptoms and regain your health and vitality! If that’s something you’re interested in, click here to schedule a free 15 minute chat with me!

Works Cited

1. Kressor, Chris. “Gut Health and Skin: 5 Skin Conditions Related to Your Gut.” Chris Kressor. 2 October 2020.https://chriskresser.com/gut-health-and-skin-connection/