Supporting Skin Health and Balancing Hormones the Ayurvedic Way
Skin is the body’s barrier and first line of defence against environmental toxins. While strong and resilient, our skin is still permeable to pathogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals. Some skin conditions are the result of infection or an allergic reaction, while others can be a sign of an internal imbalance.
Acne is often related to a hormonal imbalance, with inflammation as a leading cause of this disruption. Estrogen dominance can occur naturally with aging, but can also result from toxicity, poor diet, exogenous hormones, and traumas. All of these factors contribute to inflammation in the body and not only lead to hormone imbalance, but can also cause a host of other illnesses and disease.
Hormones and Skin Health
Cystic acne (particularly along the jawline) is often related to estrogen dominance and therefore best addressed with a holistic approach. We can use tools like LED light therapy and infrared saunas to help achieve better hormone balance and skin health, as well as castor oil packs over the liver, stress management and gut support, and supplementation like DIM and Chaste Tree.
It’s important to remember that your levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone change throughout your lifetime, at different points in your cycle, and in menopause. Understanding your hormone blueprint and acting from a place of awareness and connection to the body’s needs must be the foundation of your approach to finding balance.
Cortisol is another hormone that’s linked to acne and other skin conditions, as it causes increased sebum (oil) production in the sebaceous glands, leading to clogged pores and breakouts. Elevated levels of cortisol in the body (as a result of chronic stress) also raise inflammation levels in the body and can lead to gut problems, which often worsens skin disorders.
The Ayurveda of Pitta Season
From an Ayurvedic perspective, summer can put us at greater risk of increased inflammation. Containing the energies of heat, action, and transformation, summertime is related to pitta. Because of this elevated heat in the body (which can lead to inflammation), we need to ensure we incorporate cooling foods, drinks, activities and herbs in our seasonal and daily routines.
Learn more about the Ayurveda of summer
If you have a pitta dosha or find yourself susceptible to pitta imbalance, it’s even more important for you to focus on cooling and calming to pacify this accumulation of pitta.
Keep meals light and drinks cooling in the summer and include bitter, astringent and sweet foods.
Make colourful salads and enjoy fresh fruit, choosing local, seasonal produce whenever possible. Avoid inflammatory foods (like refined sugar, processed meats, refined carbs) and be aware of how much spicy food you consume, limiting this heat to avoid pitta accumulation in the body.
The hot weather calls for more cooling beverages, but it’s best to focus more on hydration and mineralization and include teas with cooling properties rather than reach for iced drinks, which may disrupt the digestive process. While drinking tea might sound counterintuitive to keeping cool in the summer, some teas contain cooling properties, including peppermint, fennel, dandelion, and rose.
Adding sea salt to your water improves hydration (through better absorption) and increases the levels of important trace minerals in the body. You might also like to include a supplement like Aussie Trace Minerals; in addition to being very high in absorbable magnesium, it also contains over 70 other minerals and electrolytes.
Boosting antioxidants in the summer will also help to protect your skin - add more berries, pomegranate juice, and colourful vegetables in your diet, and don’t forget turmeric, which is a potent antioxidant that reduces inflammation and may help to reduce the risk of skin cancer.
Protecting & Supporting Summer Skin
When you’re outside and your skin’s exposed to the sun, wear a wide-brimmed hat and longer shirts and pants, and find shade during the hottest times of day. When using sunscreen, be sure to choose a physical (natural, mineral) product that doesn’t contain the harsh ingredients of chemical sunscreens. This one from Revelation Health is a fantastic choice that not only protects but also nurtures the skin with soothing, hydrating ingredients.
You’re probably already familiar with using aloe vera for after-sun care, with its well-known soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. But this cooling plant is also an effective moisturizer, can help to fade sun spots and post-acne hyperpigmentation, soothes eczema and psoriasis, and helps with combating acne.
Coconut oil is naturally cooling and can also be applied to the skin to reduce inflammation, boost hydration and help with wound healing. In Ayurveda, oiling the belly button is a common practice to nurture, detoxify and support the body’s digestion process. I also love Naturally Brave Essentials products, which use high quality natural ingredients and essential oils to soothe and balance the skin.
Start with Self Love
Skin care isn’t about slathering on 10 different “luxury” products full of dozens of ingredients we can’t even pronounce. Supporting the health and radiance of our skin requires a holistic approach and includes a number of lifestyle practices to help reduce inflammation and achieve better whole body balance.
And as we support our skin health more naturally, we also need to reframe the concept of anti-aging and rather work on loving the skin we’re in through all the different seasons and stages of life. We need to create a cultural shift in beauty standards, and this means embracing our skin as we age. Accepting and celebrating the skin’s natural beauty at any age is a liberating and empowering act of self love that can improve our overall health.
I’ve created a new online community for women who want to connect with other like-minded individuals on their wellness journey and support one another in healing and growth. Each month, we’ll explore different topics as they relate to women’s health and wellbeing and work through layers of societal conditioning and the old stories we carry that keep us bound to the past. Learn more here, or claim your spot to join us in this powerful women’s group - we start this month!