HOW TO DETOX YOUR SKIN

I always ask Gorgeously Green guest expert, Dr. John Douillard, DC, for his recommendations for healthy, glowing skin. Here’s what he has to say: Let’s face it, we all spend way too much money on skin care…But, did you know that the skin that wraps our body is only a small percentage of the skin of the human body?  Most of the body’s skin, and clearly the most important skin, is on the inside.

How is Your Inner Skin?

According to skin care specialist Ben Fuchs, eighty percent of how your skin looks on the outside is dependant on how well your skin functions on the inside.  Both the inner and outer skin is made up of a few types of epithelium.  Epithelium lines many of the surfaces throughout the body.  It lines the intestines, respiratory tract, heart and arteries, just to name a few.

Wherever the inner or outer skin, or epithelium, interacts with the outside world, something very interesting happens.  The outer skin, for example, acts like a filter that brings nutrients in and toxins out.  Just beneath the skin is a layer of lymphatic tissue, which is where the immune system waits to attack any unwanted toxins that make its way through the skin.  This lymph is called SALT, or skin associated lymphatic tissue.

Your Most Important Skin

The lymph that lines your intestines is where experts believe 80% of the body’s immunity lies.  Here, the lymph waits for undesirable bacteria, parasites or pathogens to leak through the gut wall and attack them with white blood cells.  This lymph is called GALT, or gut associated lymphatic tissue.  It has the highest concentration of lymph in the body, making the skin lining the intestines the most important skin in the body.  In fact, it is the skin and villi of the intestines in combination with the lymph on the outside of the gut that I call the most important half inch of the body.  From the Ayurvedic perspective, it is here in the digestive system that is the cause of 80% of all disease.  If the lymph around the intestines is clogged, then the drains throughout the body will be clogged as well.

A clogged drain means dry, wrinkled and lack luster skin.  Detox the lymph and watch your skin come back to life!

In the body there are various types of lymphatic concentrations. In the upper respiratory tract it is called LALT, or larynx associated lymph tissue.  In the mucous membranes in the body it is called MALT, or mucous associated lymphatic tissue.

Healthy Lymph = Healthy Skin

So now, with an understanding of how the skin actually detoxifies itself through its associated lymphatic tissue, we can help the skin detoxify.  This is best done by de-stagnating the lymph beneath the skin.  The good news is that when you clean one lymph system, you clean them all.  So, as we focus on making the skin glow by cleaning the lymph, the lymph throughout the body will drain as well, improving digestion, detoxification, immunity, energy, breathing and much, much more.  Read more about lymph here.

Skin and Lymph Cleansing Strategies

Luckily, nature provides a harvest of skin and lymph cleansing foods throughout the year.  Eat more of these foods when they are in season and naturally keep your lymphatic system moving and your skin glowing.

1. The lymph movers and skin detoxifiers are typically the foods that are red or blue and will stain your skin on contact.

• In the Spring and Summer eat more seasonal berries and cherries.
• In the Fall and Winter eat seasonal beets, cranberries and pomegranates.

2. In the Spring and Summer the harvest is a more alkaline rich vs. acid rich diet which naturally moves the lymphatic system and cleanses the skin.  See my list of these foods here: ALKALINE & ACID FOODS.

3. Dehydration may be the number one cause of congested and lack luster skin. See Rehydration Therapy below.

4. Manjistha – Rubia Cordifolia – is an Ayurvedic herb that is a powerful blood and skin detoxifier and lymphatic de-stagnator.  Learn more about this amazing herb here: MANJISTHA

5. Neem – Azadirachta Indica – is called the Queen of Skin and is the most powerful healing and detoxifying herb in Ayurveda for the skin. Read more about Neem here: NEEM

Two Week Skin – Lymph Cleanse

1. Rehydration Therapy

• Sip plain hot water every 10-15 minutes throughout the day for 2 weeks.
• In addition to the hot water, drink 1/2 your ideal weight in ounces of room temperature water each day for 2 weeks.  For example, if you weigh 120lbs, drink an additional 60oz.  But if you weigh 200lbs and your ideal weight is 140lbs, drink 70oz.
• Eat 70-80% alkaline foods and 20% acid foods for two weeks.  ALKALINE & ACID FOOD LIST
• Eat significantly more seasonal berries, cherries, beets, pomegranates and cranberries.

Dr. John Douillard DC writes a Free Video-Newsletter and directs an Ayurvedic Retreat and Detox Center in Boulder, Colorado.  Please take the FREE SKIN TYPE QUIZ and determine your skin’s Ayurvedic imbalance at www.LifeSpa.com.