How to Support Your Liver Health

Hi friends! Today’s episode is kind of a “part 2” to last week’s episode on liver health. In that episode, we covered what the liver does and a few of the really important roles that it plays in our overall health, as well as what can happen when we don’t support our liver health. In this episode, I’m sharing practical ways that we can support the health of our livers as they support the rest of our bodies. 

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There are a number of ways that we can help support the health and function of our livers and most of them can be done from the comfort of our homes! So that’s great news! I’ve broken these down into a couple of categories to hopefully help it be easier for you to remember (you can always go to the show notes as well). 

The very first thing that we can do to support the health of our livers is… can anybody guess it?? You know what I’m going to say...

Improve gut health

I know that I sound like a broken record here, but I’m not exaggerating when I say that the health of our gut affects just about everything else in our bodies - especially our livers. If our guts aren’t healthy, toxins can be recirculated right back into the liver, instead of being excreted as they are designed to be. 

So if you are experiencing a lot of gut health issues, work with a professional trained in gut health to address the root cause. If you struggle with constipation or regular bowel movements, this is something that needs to be addressed ASAP with a treatment that will address the root cause and not just force your body to go. Unfortunately, these kinds of medications, while necessary at times (for short-term use), do nothing to heal to cause of constipation, and can harm the balance of the microbiome even more, which just perpetuates the problem. 

Here are a few ideas to help, if this is something you are struggling with: 

• High-quality bone broth daily 

• Deep breathing/box breathing before all meals

• Eating every 3-4 hours (fiber, protein, and fat)

• Add more variety to your meals (change out produce often)

• Gargle every day (start small and build up to 2-3 minutes at a time)

• Take a multi-strain probiotic (best to start this after a few weeks of the daily bone broth)

• Hydrate!! (½ body weight in oz of filtered, mineral water daily; can also add electrolytes to help)

Prioritize key nutrients 

Your liver is dependent on certain nutrients to function effectively. It needs protein to supply amino acids which assist with detoxification. It also needs liver-friendly nutrients including vitamin C and B vitamins, zinc, and selenium,  as well as antioxidants found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale, for example. Healing foods like garlic and turmeric can also support liver function by assisting with the production of liver enzymes.

One simple tip for increasing the intake of these essential nutrients is to aim for half a plate of vegetables at every meal, making sure to include some/all of the cruciferous ones that I just mentioned. If you’re also working on your gut health, most of these veggies are more easily digested when cooked (sauteed, roasted, steamed, etc.).

There are some other nutrients and herbs that may also be helpful in supporting the liver: 

• NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) and Glutathione are both antioxidants that have been shown to support the liver 

• Milk Thistle, dandelion root, and astragalus are commonly used to nourish the liver and assist in healing, especially for those with congested/fatty livers. You can often find Liver Support Teas that are made of a blend of these herbs. 

Increase lymphatic movement

Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump to keep things moving. It is dependent on the movement of your muscles and tissue to move the lymph around to different lymph nodes in the body to be filtered and then recirculated.

Moving our bodies every day for even just 10-15 minutes can help increase circulation as well as movement within the lymphatic system. Dry Brushing is also a helpful tool for increasing lymph movement in the body and can be done daily or several times a week before showering or taking a bath. 

Reduce toxic burden

One major way that we can help support the health of our livers is by reducing our exposure to toxins. As I’ve talked about many times, the body - specifically speaking here about the liver - is designed to filter toxins, so we don’t need to try to be 100% toxin-free or live in a pure bubble, however, we can place an undue burden on the liver when the number of toxins we are exposed to and the rate at which we are exposed to toxins is really high. Remember how in the last episode we talked about how every single thing we breathe, digest, or absorb has to be filtered through the liver. So when we are continually eating, breathing, and absorbing things that are full of chemicals that are harmful to our bodies, we have created a huge workload for our livers. 

So what are some simple ways to reduce our exposure: (have entire episodes about this 24, 64, and 65)

• Choosing organic produce (for the dirty dozen) and organic, antibiotic-free meats dramatically reduce the number of herbicides and pesticides we are exposed to.

• Increase awareness of the ingredients in personal care products and cleaning products. (EWG)

• Decrease foods/substances that create a greater workload for the liver such as alcohol/drugs, sugar, caffeine, high-starch carbohydrates (especially w/o protein and fat). 

Use Alternative therapies

There are a few other ways to support the liver that I wanted to mention:

• The use of a castor oil pack over the liver is believed to increase circulation to the liver as well as help in the production of one of our master antioxidants - glutathione. 

• Epsom salt baths are helpful for many things, especially in relief from sore muscles and even in reducing stress. Some also believe that the absorption of magnesium sulfate from the epsom salts can also support the liver. 

• Acupuncture has been shown to improve circulation and therefore decrease stagnation. There are many studies showing that acupuncture is helpful for liver function. 

• TCM believes there to be a direct link between unresolved feelings of anger or sadness and poor liver health. We know unresolved emotions and trauma can also lead to chronic inflammation and even poor adrenal health as well. So all the more reason to be sure you are paying attention to your emotional health as well, managing stress well, as well as seeing a counselor if you feel that you need some additional support navigating through past experiences or feelings (most of us do). 

Adding in a combination of few of these ideas into your daily and weekly rhythms will help support not only your liver health but your overall health as well.

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Why Liver Health Matters

Hi friends! In today’s episode, we are talking about our livers and why it’s so important that we take good care of them! The health of our livers is probably not something that often crosses our minds, but it is one of the most important organs in our bodies both for everyday function and long-term health. So let’s get into talking about the liver…

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The liver is the unsung hero of our bodies. It performs over 500 essential functions and unless something is going wrong, it rarely ever gets noticed. Most people I know don’t go around thinking about their livers throughout the day, yet it’s functions are vital to all other body systems’ ability to function. 

For example, here are a few of the essential functions the liver is responsible for:

Digestion and absorption

Our livers help turn our food into energy. It stores and distributes both fat and glucose, as well as metabolizes both cholesterol and protein.  It produces bile which is vital for digestion and absorption of key vitamins and nutrients and then distributes those nutrients out to the body. It also produces key enzymes that are needed for other chemical reactions all over the body. In addition to distribution, it also stores vitamins and minerals that will be needed in the future. So just by listing these few things, this shows that our livers help regulate our blood sugar, cholesterol, and hormone levels. 

Immune Function

Our livers produce of certain proteins and components of the immune system such as cytokines as well as various other immune cells. Our livers maintain a certain amount of controlled inflammation which assists the body in detoxification, but when this becomes uncontrolled or dysregulated, it can lead to systemic inflammation which damages the immune system and can even lead to auto-immunity or cancer. 

Hormone Function

The liver is hugely important for hormone health. Our livers create proteins and cholesterol that carry hormones all over the body. In addition, it also helps deactivate hormones and assist with ridding our bodies of excess hormones, or ones that we no longer need. This process is vitally important. For example, with the hormone estrogen, our livers actually regulate which kind of estrogens our bodies produce, as well as help with the processes that remove excess estrogen from the body. Without this essential function, an excess of estrogens can build in the body leading to estrogen-dominant diseases and cancer.  

Detox 

The function that our livers are best know for is detoxification. The liver is responsible for the movement of the blood in our bodies. As a matter of fact, almost 1½ liters of blood pass through our liver every single minute in order to be filtered. Through this process it extracts toxins and stores nutrients for later use (which we discussed when talking about digestion and absorption). The liver detoxifies in three phases that must stay in sync with each other. 

Phase One is bioidentification. This is when your body sends out enzymes that put a red flag on all toxins. Phase two is conjugation. This is when the body attaches molecules to those flagged toxins to make them either water soluble or fat soluble. Phase three is elimination. This is when the body actually flushes the toxins from our bodies when we use the bathroom (and sometimes through sweat). If one of these phases isn’t working correctly, it can damage our body’s cells and allow the toxins to continue to circulate in our bodies, further taxing our livers and creating a loop of inflammation. Every single substance we breathe, ingest, or absorb through our skin will pass through our liver, which creates a huge workload for it every single day. 

The point here is that every other system in the body is dependent on the function of the liver and when our livers are healthy, and functioning well, this works great! However, the truth is that the majority of Americans are walking around with less-than-healthy livers. 

What happens when our livers aren’t healthy

It’s estimated that up to 90 million Americans (that’s almost ⅓ of the American population) has Fatty Liver Disease, which is basically inflammation of the liver that occurs when apprx. 5% of cells in the liver are replaced with fat cells. This causes the liver to be unable to keep up with it’s 500+ essential functions and add to systemic inflammation in the rest of the body, which can lead to other chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, even Alzheimers and Dementia. 

If Fatty Liver Disease is left untreated, it can progress into Fibrosis, and even Cirrhosis of the liver, which leads to liver failure (fatal). Liver Disease doesn’t just occur because of alcohol or drug use or Hepatitis. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common form of liver disease and is caused by a combination of lifestyle and genetics - most commonly high-starch/high-sugar diets, insufficient protein intake, intake of trans fats and artificial chemicals, unresolved emotions and trauma, lack of movement in the lymphatic system, and overexposure to environmental toxins. It’s not usually only too much fat, as the name would suggest.

Symptoms of an unhealthy liver or fatty liver disease

There aren’t always immediate symptoms, which can make it tricky. When symptoms do occur, some common ones are:

• Abdominal pain, fullness in the upper right side

• Nausea, loss of appetite (especially in the AM)

• Swelling in legs/abdomen

• Fatigue

• Brain Fog/confusion

• Waking up at night in the 2-3 am range regularly

You can ask your provider to run labs to check enzyme levels most commonly found in the liver ALT and AST. If either level is over 30, especially ALT, this can be indicative of a damaged liver. It’s important to note that by the time these levels are above normal, damage to the liver is already happening. So we don’t want to wait until then to care for and support the health of our liver. 

The good news is that livers regenerate and that our body has an amazing ability to heal. It will need some support from us, but an unhealthy liver, even most diseased livers, with the exception of cirrhosis, can be become healthy and well-functioning again. 

In the next episode, I am going to share ways that you can support your liver health to prevent an unhealthy, sluggish, or diseased liver, as well as ways that you can help your liver to heal if you are already experiencing liver dysfunction or disease. Make sure you stay tuned for that episode! 

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What You Should Know About Essential Oils

Hi friends! In this episode, I’m talking about a topic that I really enjoy - Essential Oils! They have been all the rage for quite a while now, but today I really wanted to get into the basics of what they are, how they actually work, what safety considerations we need to follow, as well as what some of my favorite oils are and how I use them. 

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What are Essential Oils?

Essential Oils are concentrated aromatic liquids that are derived from various parts of plants. They are the true essence of the plant and have many useful properties for the plant, like attracting pollinators, repelling pests, etc. but they also have useful properties for humans. Pure essential oils are harvested at their peak, properly distilled, and completely unaltered or added to in any way. 

It’s important to note that essential oils can not cure anything. They are meant to be used to ease common symptoms and support the body’s natural healing abilities. They are considered a form of alternative medicine but should not be used to replace prescription medications or other therapies prescribed by your physician. 

What should you look for in an essential oil?

The two things that matter most when considering essential oils are quality and purity. You’ll often hear about different grades of essential oils - therapeutic and food grade. What’s important to know here is that there is no official grading system for essential oils in the US (it’s often just a marketing tactic); however, there are a few markers of both quality and purity to look for. An essential oil should be clearly labeled with its full botanical name and not contain any additional ingredients, fillers, or something else that ers, or additives. The essential oil company should be completely transparent about their quality standards and the ingredients/processes that they use by providing a GC/MS report or an equivalent (this states exactly what is in the bottle of oil). It’s also important that the essential oil be stored in a glass bottle that protects the oil from light, such as an amber glass bottle. 

How do essential oils work? 

Essential oils can have many beneficial effects, which we’ll get into in a minute, but first I want to explain how they interact with the body. Inhaling essential oils interacts with the olfactory system in the body, which stimulates the limbic system, and then the hypothalamus in the brain. This, in turn, affects the cells in our body. For example, many essential oils help with emotional health by promoting relaxation, energy, focus, or reducing worry or nervous energy. This happens through this process of stimulating the limbic system, impacting the hypothalamus, and then triggering cell memory - especially when the scent is associated with feelings of calm or comfort. 

How do you use essential oils safely?

There are two main ways to use essential oils - inhalation and topical application. There are a few different ways to inhale essential oils but by far the easiest is by using a diffuser. This disperses the oil into the air which allows you to both enjoy the aroma of the oil but also experience the therapeutic effects through the process I just explained. Most aromatherapists suggest diffusing for about 30-minutes at a time. 

You can also benefit from essential oils by applying them topically. Many essential oils are very beneficial for skin health, muscle pain, and some even believe they can help with inflammation. When using an essential oil topically, it’s extremely important to dilute the oil properly with a carrier oil/lotion. Most oils should have a dilution guide right on their label or at the very least on the company’s website. There are a lot choices to use for a carrier oil. My personal favorite is fractionated coconut oil, but jojoba oil, argan oil are all great choices.  You can also buy pre-diluted oils and lotions - just be careful to check the label for additives or unnecessary ingredients. 

It’s also important that if you are using oils around pets or children that you check to make sure that they are safe for that. Also, if you are pregnant or nursing, there are certain oils that aren’t safe during that time, so make sure you are doing your research. 

What are some of my favorite oils? 

I’m by no means an expert on essential oils, but I have been using them for several years and have found them to be so helpful! I don’t really get into the whole which brand is the best discussion because I feel like so much of it is marketing but obviously, as I shared before quality matters, so do research on the brand that you use and don’t just grab something from the shelf at the grocery store without reading about it first. Personally, I mostly use Plant Therapy oils. I really appreciate their transparency, their customer service, and educational resources, and I really love their prices. Again, that’s not to throw any shade at the other brands, that’s just what has worked the best for me and my family. 

Before I wrap up today, I want to share with you a few oils that I always try to keep on hand and why I love them so much. 

Lemon 

It’s such a bright and cheery scent. It can help with improving both your mood and ability to focus. It’s also great to use around the house for cleaning. I add it to my all-purpose cleaner, use it to scrub my sink, remove stickers and labels from bottles, and so much more. 

Lavender

It’s probably the most common essential oil and has endless benefits. It helps to promote relaxation and sleep. It can be used topically to soothe burns or other skin irritations and it has antimicrobial properties. 

Peppermint

Another really popular oil that is helpful for so much. It helps soothe skin by providing a cooling effect that is also really helpful for muscle pain. It is great for helping calm digestive discomfort and reducing nausea, as well as helping with tension headaches. It also is great for diffusing and promotes energy and mental clarity. 

Frankincense

This is a great oil for skin health. It can help with aging and improving skin elasticity. It has been shown to help support lung health and clear breathing. It can help ease aching joints and calm inflammation. It also has emotional health benefits by promoting a sense of calm. 

Clary Sage

This oil is one of my favorites and most used. It can promote a feeling of calm and reduce feelings of anxiety. It can also help with PMS symptoms by providing relief for cramps as well as helping to stabilize your mood. I consider this one a must-have. 

Germ Fighter

This is an essential oil blend from Plant Therapy (it is comparable to Thieves oil) and contains Lemon, Clove Bud, Eucalyptus Globulus, Cinnamon Cassia, and Rosemary oils. It’s great for supporting the immune system. I use this in our hand sanitizer, as well as apply topically when I feel like one of us is fighting something off. I also diffuse this regularly in our home, especially right now. I also just love the scent! It smells like Christmas to me!

I hope this has been helpful for you! Whether you are on the fence about essential oils and wondering what all the fuss is about or whether you’ve been using them for a while but didn’t really know all the details behind how they work, I hope you now feel more educated and empowered to use essential oils for yourself and your family. 

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Living Life 'A Little Less Toxic" with Shawna Holman

In this episode, Shawna Holman of A Little Less Toxic shares how making simple changes over time drastically improved her health and why the ingredients that we put on, in, and around our bodies matter so much. She also shares practical ways to start reducing the toxic burden on our bodies without feeling overwhelmed and stressed out.

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Questions answered in this episode…

How did you first learn about the impact of toxins on your health?

Is reducing one’s toxin exposure/burden actually important or just something trendy to market “clean” products? Does using less toxic ingredients really impact our health?

How did you start reducing your toxic-burden? How do you recommend others get started in their own journey?

Learning about toxins can feel overwhelming, what is your encouragement for those who are afraid they can’t live a perfectly “clean” lifestyle?

Resources mentioned in this episode: EWG, Think Dirty - Live Clean App

Follow Shawna in all the places: Instagram, Youtube, alittlelesstoxic.com

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How I Supported My Body through Surgery

Hi friends!! In today’s episode, I’m sharing about my recent endometriosis surgery and some of the things that I did, both pre-op and post-op, to support my body through the process. My hope is that this episode will help those of you who may be looking at an endo-surgery for yourself or a friend/family member, but also for anyone who may have any kind of abdominal surgery, or really any surgery at all. Surgery is hard on the body and providing it with a little extra support can go a long way in speeding up recovery time and post-op symptoms.

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So in the last episode, I shared with you guys that I was going to be having another surgery for endometriosis and that I would update you on how everything went, as well as how I supported my body through the process. So today, I want to share those things with you. 

I’m about 1.5 months post-op at this point and thankfully, feeling really good! Overall, this was the smoothest and best surgery experience that I’ve had (of the 3) and I’m so grateful for that! I had a whole lot of people supporting me - praying for me and helping out - which I think has played a huge part in how smoothly I’ve recovered, but I also think that doing a few things both before and after surgery has really helped, as well. 

Pre-Op:

As anyone who has ever had surgery knows, it’s quite hard on the body. So, a few weeks before my surgery date I started doing a few things to both strengthen my immune system. I was already taking a prenatal vitamin as well as omega-3 supplements, CBD oil, and a probiotic daily - so I made sure to be very consistent with those. I also started taking an additional dose of liposomal vitamin c and vitamin d. I also tried to be really consistent with moving my body and getting good sleep. I even added melatonin to my regiment a few times a week, just to ensure that I was getting good, deep sleep and because it acts as an antioxidant. (Note- I did stop the omega 3s and melatonin one week before sx as they can thin the blood a bit). 

I also wanted to support my detox pathways as much as possible, knowing that I was going to be given a lot of medication (which I very gladly accepted), so I upped the times of week that dry-brushed and took detox baths. 

The surgery itself went very well. Going into it, I knew that I had cysts on both ovaries, and given that it had been 6 years since my last surgery, I honestly expected for it to be really severe. However, the surgery only took a little over an hour and there were very few lesions, at least in comparison to last time ((where I had stage 4 lesions). My doctor was also quite surprised and happy with that. As I said, I was given so much medication - more so than any other surgery prior, but again - I gladly accepted it. Thankfully, I had no complications (and had a very easy IV stick, which is usually not the case for me), so I was able to go home shortly after waking up. I will say that if you ever find yourself needing to have surgery, get yourself a BFF that’s a nurse to go with you! I basically had my own private nurse who took great care of me, kept me laughing and chatting all day, and was looking over everyone’s shoulder to make sure everything went according to plan. :) {Chrissy, you’re the real MVP here!} 

Post-Op:

So, once I got home, I was given meds to help with both pain and nausea. Thankfully, I didn’t experience that much nausea this time, but I did stay on top of it with the meds for the first 24 hours. Trust me when I tell you that puking and abdominal incisions DO NOT go well together. DO NOT RECOMMEND. I was pretty bloated and uncomfortable from the CO2 that they use to inflate the abdomen for surgery. This is a super common symptom after any kind of laparoscopic abdominal surgery and usually resolves in a day or less. 

The next few days looked like a lot of resting and sleeping as much as I could (hello, 3-yr old:)). I was pretty unsteady for about 24 hours and needed help getting up and down for a couple days. The pain stayed at a moderate level for 3-4 days and was easily manageable with the pain meds and I was able to wean down to just taking Aleve after about 3-4 days. 

During this time I did try to get in as much bone broth / bb protein as I could to start helping my gut recover from all the meds. I also upped my daily dose of probiotics since I was given antibiotics during surgery and also went back to taking the omega supplement as well as CBD, vitamin D, and extra vitamin C. 

Within a couple of days, I found myself wanting to move more, but I quickly had to learn to listen to my body because if I was walking around more than about 5 minutes, I would start bleeding more. That probably lasted for about 5ish days and then I was able to extend that time. 

One of the most challenging parts for me this time was the effect that the anesthesia (and possibly some of the meds) had on me emotionally/mentally. I felt super foggy and kind of just in a funk for about a week. I don’t remember that being an issue in previous surgeries. 

I would say that I was feeling back to myself, at least 90%, at about 2 weeks post-op, and now I am fully 100% back to normal, or honestly probably a little better than I was before surgery. I’m working my way into exercise, prioritizing my core strength and pelvic floor right now, so doing mainly Pilates for that. I’m also continuing with my vitamin/supplement regimen with the extra vitamin c and higher probiotic doses daily, as well as trying to get 3-4 dry brushing sessions and detox baths every week. 

My post-op appointment went really well and so we will resume trying on our own for baby #2 for a while. I will go back in for a follow-up in about 4-5 months, and I am starting acupuncture back next week (a couple of episodes on that if you want to know more - episode 32 and episode 54). So we’re hopeful and will just see what happens. Right now, I’m just really thankful to have the surgery behind me and to be feeling good, less inflamed, and more energetic. 

I hope that this episode has been helpful for you! If you have an upcoming surgery, I hope that you will use some of these tips and ideas as you prepare and recover. If you know someone with #endo or who may have surgery coming up, pass this episode along to them. It can be so unnerving not knowing what to expect or what recovery may look like, so I hope sharing my experience will help a little with that as well as empower you to know that there are things that you can do to help support your recovery. 

Before I leave you for today, I wanted to share with you a little encouragement - especially for those of you who may be facing surgery or any kind of concern over your health. The morning of surgery, I opened my Bible for a few minutes with God before heading to the hospital. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time, so I just randomly opened it, planning to just read a Psalm or Proverb. I opened it to Psalm 35, to a verse I don’t even remember reading before, that said “He takes pleasure in His servant’s well-being” and it brought me so much peace. I hope it brings peace to you as well! 

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027 - The Secret to Healthy Skin Starts from Within

Welcome back, friends!  Today we are talking about healthy skin! We all deal with skin issues from time to time but for some of us it’s a major source of frustration that can really mess with our confidence and self-esteem. Especially when we can’t seem to get to the bottom of it no matter what we do! 

Well, today’s post won’t answer all your skin health-related questions, but hopefully, it will give you some helpful knowledge about what your skin may be trying to tell you and how you can help keep it looking and feeling healthy! Let’s get into it! 

It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that healthy skin starts from within our bodies. We tend to want to focus on products and things we can put on our skin from the outside - and we will get into that a little later - but really, we need to start by focusing on what we put into our bodies and what is going on with the function of the inside of our bodies first. That’s where the big difference is made. 

So often when we experience one of these skin issues, or maybe even cyclical hormonal breakouts, we tend to jump to what we can take or apply that might fix the problem. We think of it as only going skin-deep, so to speak. But really it’s likely giving you a clue of some other dysfunction or imbalance in the body. 

Our skin is our largest organ, one of our strongest defenses, and it’s also one of our few detox pathways - so it has a lot of functions that affect our whole bodies and visa versa.

There seem to be three main dysfunctions in the body that tend to show up in the skin. 

An overloaded, congested liver - which can often result in acne; poor gut health, either an imbalance in the microbiome or leaky gut syndrome - which can also result in both acne and eczema, as well as cause plenty of other health issues. And the other is blood sugar dysregulation or chronically high insulin levels - which leads to high levels of inflammation in the body and can show up as skin issues like cyclical breakouts, acne, etc. This will often be associated with other hormonal imbalance symptoms as well, maybe even PCOS. 

There can definitely be other causes as well but those are the three that are most common. So if you are dealing with any those issues, it’s worth it to take a look at your liver health,  as well as your gut health and make sure your glucose and insulin levels are where they should be as well. 

So now that we’ve talked about some common causes let’s talk about what you can do to help with these issues! 

Focus on what you are eating 

The first thing is to focus on what you are eating. The common thread in a lot of these skin issues is inflammation, so choosing to remove inflammatory foods (processed foods, sugar, refined grains, oftentimes dairy) will help and then also following an anti-inflammatory diet. This is going to look like a lot of plants - veggies and fruits high in antioxidants and fiber (think leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, blueberries, acerola cherries, strawberries), healthy fats (like avocados, coconut products, nuts like almonds and cashews, olive oil) and then clean, organic proteins (like wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, lentils, and beans, etc). 

Make sure you are well hydrated

Also drinking a LOT of water. Like a lot. Your gut and liver depend on you doing this in order to function well. This is key in helping to flush toxins from your body, as well as adding the hydration needed for the skin. Remember, your goal is half your body weight in ounces every day (weight in lbs.  / 2 = # of ounces you need to drink daily)

Take skin-loving supplements to boost your nutrient levels

Adding in key supplements like collagen (either in bone broth which is healing for your whole body or through a protein powder, like collagen peptides). Collagen is one of the main proteins in our bodies - it helps make up our skin, hair, nails, joints, gut lining, etc. so it’s important that we have enough! Also anti-inflammatory supplements like fish oil / omega-3 and curcumin (found in turmeric) can help lower overall inflammation in the body. Also, adrenal healing herbs like ashwagandha and ginseng can also help to help regulate cortisol in the body, which will help with the inflammation as well. And then, of course, you know that I’m all about getting good probiotics in - whether through fermented foods like sauerkraut and kefir or through a supplement, like a soil-based probiotics, or one of my current favs MaryRuth Organics Raw Liquid probiotics. 

Live an Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle

In addition to eating an anti-inflammatory diet, the other thing that will help is also living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. This means getting good, restorative sleep (7-9 hours every night - this is when your body rebuilds and repairs) and also lowering your emotional stress (this has a huge effect on your gut health and adrenal health), so try to find ways to actively pursue peace in your life.

The other side to having healthy skin is obviously going to be what you put on it and what you expose it to.

Use clean skincare products 

Did you know that your skin has a microbiome, or ecosystem of bacteria, just like your gut? We need to be careful that what we are applying to our skin, to clean or moisturize isn’t something that will strip the skin or kill the food bacteria. Also, make sure that it isn’t full of parabens, sulfates, and artificial fragrances that contain who knows what kind of chemicals. Not only are those things damaging to our skin but they also absorb into our bloodstreams and only create more problems for our livers and gut, creating more inflammation. 

Look for products that are made of ingredients that you recognize, that are naturally sourced, and if you want fragrance, use natural sources for that too, like essential oils. 

You can use the Think Dirty or EWG apps to search for products that are safe for your whole body. I know that Beautycounter and Primally Pure are both really safe, clean options. I’ve also heard some great things about Honest Beauty brand, and Acure, although I haven’t used those myself. Even my girl, MaryRuth has a few facial masks and other skincare products you can check out. 

The good news is that most common skin-issues can be resolved! You may need to do a little digging into what is actually causing it and what may not be functioning well in your body - but that will only help to make you healthier overall, not just help your skin! It’s a much better option than just trying to treat symptoms and cover things up! 

If you have any questions about today’s episode or feel like you need some specific, personalized help - please reach out. I’d love to help you!