Keep Your Skin Glowing This Winter!

The secret to a healthy glow goes beyond skin deep.

When you are trying to maintain or improve your overall skin, hair, and nail health, you must always look inward first. The skin is the largest organ in the human body, simply because of the sheer amount of surface area that it covers. As a result, our skin is often the first visual indicator of a deficiency in our diet or an external manifestation of an internal disease state.

At the core of maintaining both inner and outer beauty is a healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of exercise, fresh air, and good nutrition. The optimal form of exercise, yoga, meditation, and/or other activities that help to foster inner beauty, is highly individualised. Optimal diet is highly variable among individuals; however, the foundation of all nourishing diets must include the essential fatty acids, EPA, DHA, and GLA.

Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, actually control a large number of cellular processes in the body that directly relate to the health of your skin, hair and nails. Because the body cannot manufacture essential fatty acids,  they must be obtained from the diet or supplementation.

Omega-3s in fish oil have been shown to:

• Keep skin hydrated to help prevent dry skin
• Help soothe rough skin
• Improve blood flow to the skin and help decrease inflammation
• Encourage production of new healthy skin cells
• Protect the skin against sun damage

GLA is a beneficial omega-6 fatty acid that occurs naturally in evening primrose and borage oils. It is known to help:

• Reduce symptoms of dry, itchy skin
• Help to keep skin hydrated
• Reduce inflammation associated with some chronic skin disorders

References:

1. Melanson SF, et al. Measurement of organochlorines in commercial over-the-counter fish oil preparations: implications for dietary and therapeutic recommendations for omega-3 fatty acids and a review of the literature. Arch Pathol Lab Med 2005;129:74–77.

2. Foran SE, et al. Measurement of mercury levels in concentrated over-the-counter fish oil preparations: is fish oil healthier than fish? Arch Pathol Lab Med 2003;127:1603–1605.

3. Wright S. Essential fatty acids and the skin. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 1989;38:229–236.

4. Koch C, Dölle S, Metzger M, et al. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation in atopic eczema: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. Br J Dermatol 2008;158:786–792.

5. T Brosche and D Platt. Effect of borage oil consumption on fatty acid metabolism, transepidermal water loss and skin parameters in elderly people. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2000;30(2):139–150. 6. Kim HH, Shin CM, Park CH, et al. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) inhibits UV-induced 7. MMP-1 expression in human dermal fibroblasts. J Lipid Research 2005;46:1712–1720. 8. Black HS, Rhodes LE. The potential of omega-3 fatty acids in the prevention of non-melanoma skin cancer. Cancer Detect Prev 2006;30:224–232.