CNM: your queries about natural health answered
Your queries about natural health answered by Jacquie Lane for the College of Naturopathic Medicine
Dear Jacquie
What can I eat to help dry skin?
B.B, Hove
After the summer months our skin is often dry, and especially after such a lovely summer as we’ve had this year. Now we are going into Autumn, central heating will not make things any easier.
The skin is our biggest organ and needs many vital nutrients. However, one of the most important things it needs is fluids. Plain, filtered water and herbal teas help keep up hydration levels.
Essential omega oils are so called because we have to ingest them from foods. We can get Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9 from nuts, seeds, and oily fish, and Omega 9 from olive oil and avocados.
Seeds like flaxseeds can be ground up and sprinkled on porridge or salads to give us both Omega 3 and 6 oils. Oils work by moisturising from the inside and keeping our cell membranes intact.
Nutrient-wise you need to be eating the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals by eating at least seven portions of vegetables and fruit a day. Include vegetables like sweet potatoes and squashes like pumpkin, as the orange colour contains betacarotene which the body converts into Vitamin A which is essential for skin health. Vitamin C is essential for collagen production, and you can get lots of it from red/orange/yellow/green peppers, berries, kiwi and citrus fruits.
Vitamin E is also a great nutrient for the skin. Good sources include nuts such as hazelnuts and almonds, seeds such as sunflower seeds, and green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli.
You can also use foods externally to help the condition of skin; mixing olive oil with salt makes a great cheap exfoliater – massage it over the whole body, starting at the ankles and working your way up the body to encourage lymph flow, then shower off. The Lymph system is the body’s ‘waste disposal system’. You can make a face pack from half an avocado and a few drops of lime juice; leave it on the face for 20 minutes and then rinse it off, for radiant skin.
See your health professional for advice.
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