Health vs Skin
Defining Health
Health can be defined in a few different ways. World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity.”
Defining health can become quite complex as a lot of us have different ideas of what ‘good health’ is. Is it how quickly you bounce back from illness? Is it how physically fit you are? Is it whether or not you have an illness or disease?
The point is, it is all of these and more, health does not rely on one dimension or determinant. In fact there are many, such as social, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. All 5 of these can effect each other and the overall health of an individual. But what does this have to do with skin?... Everything!
Each one of these aspects of health can create internal traumas, which then impacts on our skin. We forget the skin is a major organ of the body, so of course it can come under attack just like any other organ in the body can.
How Nutrition Impacts the Skin.
Food is vital to bring nutrients to our bodies, in order for them to function properly. But did you know how much of these nutrients are vital for our skin to function properly? For example,
Water – Helps prevent signs of ageing and minimises inflammation.
Proteins – Helps repair skin’s tissues and mediates the skin’s functions and energy supply.
Fat – High fatty diet causes skin inflammation.
Alcohol – Destroys the skin’s outer most layer (barrier function), the one that protects the inner layers.
Sugary foods – can create skin thickness, creates advanced glycation (deep wrinkles) and inflammation in the skin.
It is has been proven in scientific research papers how closely associated nutrition is to skin health. Nutritional levels and your eating habits can repair damaged skin, but it can also damage skin and increase signs of ageing.
How Stress Impacts the Skin.
Research has shown how detrimental stress can be to, not only our physical and emotional health, but to our skin’s health as well.
When you become stressed, your bodies cortisol levels instantly rise, which has been shown to increase skin inflammation, decrease skin’s immunity, increases itching and lowers wound healing response. Stress has also been shown to cause acne, alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, rosacea, chronic spontaneous urticaria, and more. For most people, stress is a daily occurrence and unfortunately has become the norm.
We need to remind ourselves that life does not need to be stressful, with helpful techniques and mindful practices, we can overcome this stress and improve our overall health, therefore improving our skin’s health.
How to Manage Stress
Many studies have shown how helpful mind body therapies are to those trying to manage their stress. Mind body therapies is all about tuning into the correlation between the mind and the body, to try and use the mind to affect our physical bodily functions and health. These include meditation, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, tai chi, relaxation techniques, yoga and more. These are all low cost options, to decrease your stress levels and are a good place to start. If symptoms persist, a good idea would to be to see a therapist, to help you overcome you stress.