Eczema, acne, dermatitis, psoriasis, dark circles, rosacea, urticaria, itchy skin these are all skin conditions we may view as disruptions to our external body requiring topical treatment. To truly heal your skin, we must look within the body. Our skin is really just our largest organ, an accurate depiction of our internal health. It is possible to have clear skin, poor internal health, and a great deal of inflammation. However, it is impossible that an eczema flare, cystic acne breakout, or fungal infection of the skin is not a result of an internal infection, inflammation or overall disruption of the body’s homeostasis. You can achieve that clear, youthful glow of your skin you desire at any age! The path to get there begins with examining your internal health, with the vehicle being nutrition.

At the height of my chronic illness the inflammation and disease my internal organs had been housing for so long to protect me began to seep out onto the surface. At first I began struggling with cystic acne and yeast like breakouts around my face. This was a symptom of a chronic bacterial infection in my gut from overuse of antibiotics, poor diet, and high stress levels that tanked my immune system. With time, and a diet that was clogging my detox pathways (this diet was even GF/DF), small patches of my chin and lips began to erupt with eczema. Before long from my collar bone to my forehead I wore a pattern of eczema and dermatitis patterned across my face. The external condition of my face and neck was an internal reflection of the toxicity and pathogenic load that burdened my liver. Not uncommon to many chronic illness warriors, I suffered from an overload of viral toxins, bacteria, and heavy metals that were circulating in my body. My detox pathways (liver/kidneys/GI tract) were not up to par due to diet, hormone imbalance and inflammation which resulted in toxic blood and my body excreting this toxic load out of my body from circulation before it reached my heart or brain through my skin. This left my skin cracked, oozing, flaking and me ashamed to bear my face in public. I was 26 years young, active and was very strict about my diet, I was not supposed to be sick!

October 2017

Painful cystic acne on neck, chin and around eyes…

Eczeama + Dermatitis continuous flare for several months..

Many well meaning practitioner friends offered to prescribe me antihistamines, corticosteroids and even antibiotics for my startling skin symptoms. However, I knew from the research I had been doing this would just bandaid the problem and make my condition worse. Why? Because while prescriptions drugs are so helpful to provide temporary relief, they lead to immune system suppression and long term increase in symptom exacerbation. And believe it or not our immune systems are not to blame. Our immune system did not wake up one day confused and decide to attack our own body. Our immune system is relentless and fighting a chronic war on conditions we cannot see or may have been ignoring for a very long period of time.

So what did I do to heal my skin?

I used food as medicine. Since I was not working at the time and not able to buy hundreds of dollars in supplementation I started using with food. And it worked. Implementing nutritional therapy as my modality of healing not only cleared up my skin but it eliminated all my autoimmune symptoms, dropped pounds of my body and drastically changed my vibration or energy field as a human being. I was just trying to heal my skin, and what I got out of the deal was so much more!

The biggest remedy to my skin happened when I started juicing every single day. My symptoms did get more intense as I was detoxing and healing from the inside out. But I began feeling better, from the inside out. It was a slow, arduous process of healing. This took many, many months. And let me offer a little bit of encouragement for anyone on their own healing journey, IT WAS ALL SO WORTH IT! Every favorite food I had to forego for a period of time, every night I had to stay in to rest, every extra hour of sleep I needed because I was listening to my body, every single day I spent researching and pouring into books to find a solution to finally heal my body- that was all worth it. Because not only did my body finally heal, I was propelled into a higher elevated lifestyle that is ten times better than the one I had before I was sick! I also feel better at 28 than I did at 18, or before I was ever chronically. The entire trial was a struggle to put me into greater divine alignment, and for that I am so grateful. This is true with any trial we’re currently facing isn’t it?

So what can you do to better your skin health?

If you are struggling with acne, it is necessary to take a look at your gut health and address a bacterial infection internally.

Dark circles around the eyes? This can be a myriad of conditions stemming from anemia, heavy metal toxicity, chronic dehydration and a toxic viral load.

Any scaling, flaking and itching of the skin is most likely occurring in the body as a result of a toxic liver. The liver is a major storage house for anything in the body that could potentially harm us. Our liver is protector, immune system, digestion powerhouse, and overall HERO. Take care of your liver and you will have ABUNDANT health.

Every single condition listed above can be treated with nutritional therapy and without the harmful side effects of drugs or even more effective than supplementation used like the western medicine model.

Our bodies are organic living beings, and they need real, living medicine to heal them, in the form of food! There is no pill, nor any supplement, that can do what living food can do to heal the body.

Any obnoxious, embarrassing skin symptoms were struggling with are actually a blessing. Yes, you read that right. How can I say that? Because your skin is like a little red warning flag. Your skin is a map of what we need to be paying attention .

Here are a few helpful tips to get you started on your skin healing journey:

Hydrate! The concept is simple, but the how to may not be what we’ve always been told. Drink 8-12 glasses a water a day, right? Kind of right. Drink that much water, but make it living water. For the hydration to enter into the cell, there must be an enzyme to accompany it. Infuse your water with lemon or lime, you can make it fancy with more fruit! Start your day with fresh juice, or add water into your fruit and greens smoothie. Combine your water intake with living foods!
Pay attention to what you are putting on your skin. You know what is so funny? I started looking around my friend circle and noticing who has the best skin. It was all the dudes! Not the girls who were spending chunks of change on skin and beauty products but the dudes who didn’t even wash their face or use a moisturizer. And you know what, these dudes have it figured out. Just rinsing their skin with warm water after exercise or sleep, and letting their natural oils hydrate. (Dry skin isn’t because you haven’t found the right moisturizer yet ladies!) I like to abide by a rule for my own personal skin care: if I cant eat it, why would I put it on my skin for my body to absorb? For hydrating my skin I stick to products like coconut oil, shea butter and vitamin E oil. And I have better, more glowing skin now than ever! Disclaimer: I will use an earth clay mask I make at home once or twice a week, but I’m literally just putting expensive mud on my face.
Confidence in who you are! I love getting dolled up just as much as the next girl, but my favorite look to wear is my tomboy, no makeup face. Seriously! It takes zero effort, it is the most comfortable my face ever feels, and I enjoy letting my skin breathe almost every day of the week. This did not come without fully loving myself and not feeling the pressure to wear makeup to work events, meetings, or even fun dates out. When buying new makeup, I like to stick to the most toxin free, organic products I can find! Amazon literally has everything these days.
Diet- what is your diet like? What do you know you could be doing to better serve your body? What is more important to you? Your health and confidence in how your take care of yourself, or the comfort and normality those foods you know you want to pass up provide?
Supplements- these can be helpful, but will not even make a dent in your health until you’ve established a solid foundation with your nutrition. What you may need for your nutrition could look very different than your current doctrine of eating. A high quality Ester C, Vitamin D or B 12 supplement could be the missing cherry on top of the cake for you in your health. Supplementation can solidify your health goals, just not without building a solid nutritional foundation.
Sleep- this one should really be at the top of the list because it really is the most important! When you get enough rest and recharge, your immune system is strongest and able to knock out the underlying cause of so many of our skin conditions we have today!
Last but not least, sweat! I highly recommend rejuvenating activities like hot yoga, a walk in the sun, or time spent in the traditional or infrared sauna to release certain xenobiotics in the body that can ONLY be excreted through sweat. If you are a living breathing human you should sweating REGULARLY!

Even choosing to incorporate just one of the above recommendations can be the catalyst to propel you forward on your healing journey. It starts with one step, and it only takes one little change to result in several big changes that will change your health, then change your life.

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Healing abounds!

<3 Jen