Eczema, Acne & Psoriasis: What is your skin telling you?

Back in college I went from a juicing raw vegan to a bone broth drinking GAPSter basically overnight. In the process I gained a love for fermented foods, healed some gut issues I had since my childhood and felt amazing. One wonderful side affect of healing my gut was, surprisingly clear, glowing, and what one friend referred to as “dewey” skin that I got comments of literally every day (from strangers!).This was one of those signs that made me in to a broth believer. All throughout my teenage years, like most teens, I had subtle acne with dry cheeks and an oily nose. I couldn't believe how drastically my skin changed in the first week thanks to surplus of healthy fats and collagen. I felt like botox brunette barbie!After the diet, I continued with a traditional food diet and never dealt with skin issues until about 6 years later. My wedding and a trip to the Philippines happened and then immediately after I had to go back to America alone. A mix of stress, not taking care of myself prior to the wedding, 10 days of sugary Filipino food (goodness gracious they put sugar in everything!) insane jet lag and a drastic change of climate took a toll on my gut, and it was showing though my skin. So I’m in the process of doing a temporary gut re-healing protocol which has inspired me to talk about what your skin is saying and how you can listen.The Skin:Our skin is the largest organ and important player for detoxification. Often if the liver, kidneys, maybe even lungs are clogged up, our bodies start detoxing everything through the skin. This can present itself as any skin condition including psoriasis, dandruff, acne and eczema as toxin-filled sweat is leaving the body and irritating the surface.However, what your skin is trying to remove isn't always a toxin. Sometimes its just food your body has become sensitive to. This happens when there is a lack of beneficial bacteria in the gut. These beneficial bacteria, found highly in soil, and fermented foods like sauerkraut have the job of pre-digesting food and protecting the mucosal gut lining. When these bacteria are in low numbers, and irritating, fake foods are eaten, they leak through the gut and into the blood stream. This leads to your body attacking that food and beginning to recognise it as an invader. It then tries to quickly remove it before it travels with the blood into the brain.If you are dealing with any skin issues, take it seriously! There is something going on in the gut, that if not addressed will develop into more serious problems down the road! These conditions are not normal, although they are common, and one of the most important pieces of the healing puzzle is a gut-healing diet like the GAPS diet. Steroid creams and antibiotics will only make it worse in the long run as they kill the beneficial bacteria that are helping to protect your gut wall!A gut healing diet can take time to show lasting results as it stimulates your detox organs and encourages the body to release toxins that may have been stored for years. Given time however, your body’s other detox organs will begin working again, foods will stop leaking into the blood stream and skin issues will be resolved.Healing remedies:Beef Tallow- Although it sounds horrible, beef tallow is extremely soothing for skin. It is high in saturated fat and collagen and is structured very similar to our skin cells. The saturated fat encourages cell membranes to maintain their structure and strength. Collagen is of course very important to skin integrity but also a common deficiency. You can render tallow yourself a few ways but one of the easiest is to make beef bone broth and skim the fat off the top before any vegetables or spices are added. Place in a container in the fridge, mix with some essential oils like frankincense and lavender and use topically.Coconut oil- coconut oil, like tallow is high in saturated fat. It is also antibacterial, antimicrobial and anti fungal which is beneficial for many types of skin irritations. Apply topically like a lotion. If the internal issue is a fungal or bacterial overgrowth, it may sting initially as the healing properties are kicking in, but should subside after a few minutes.Honey- Raw honey is also antibacterial and very soothing for skin. It has been use medicinally for skin issues for thousands of years! It can be mixed with lavender or other essential oils, placed on the skin and then wrapped in a cloth while you sleep. For a great home-made eczema/ psoriasis soothing salve check out this guest post by my friend Lauren.Don’t be tricked into thinking that a food intolerance is the problem. Food intolerances, most common being dairy, gluten and sugar, are a symptom. The problem is a gut imbalance which can come from years of a processed for diet, taking antibiotics or simply, inheriting an unbalanced microbial community from birth. Our bodies are designed to be able to digest any whole food, and after giving your gut a little “me time” your skin will show its appreciation!