May 17, 2018
Healthy hair skin and nails, it’s a topic on everyone’s mind!
From acne to dry skin, brittle nails, to dandruff, so many skin, hair, and nail conditions confuse us and make us wonder what we’re doing wrong.
While I don’t have time to go into each individual skin, nail, and hair I will tell you the top three things my clients do to give them beautiful, healthy hair, skin, and nails.
Believe it or not, it’s not that hard!
Check your deficiencies
The single greatest cause of dry skin, brittle weak nails, dry hair, and many other issues is nutrient deficiency.
The building blocks and component to healthy hair, skin, and nails start with proper nutrition. Think of it this way- the body has many different crucial organs to keep going. If it doesn’t have enough of what it needs, what will not run properly first. Will it be the kidneys or the liver? No, instead it will be the less important functions, like creating hair, skin, and nails that are strong and beautiful. It’s just not a top priority.
So, if you are struggling with these things, you have to look first at the potential places where your diet is lacking.
The two most common issues are not enough B-vitamins and not enough fatty acids.
Increasing foods like leafy greens, veggies, and fats like avocado and olive oil will ensure your skin, hair, and nails have the building blocks to grow beautifully. High quality proteins are also very important for this process. Those who lack protein in their diet, or have iron-deficiency anemia for different reasons can suffer from spoon-shaped nails as well.
Supplementing with these building blocks can be positive for many people. I particularly like B-vitamin supplements. Specifically for hair, skin, and nails I like a product called Hair, Skin and Nails Guard (find it here).
For those with MTHFR, I prefer this B-vitamin supplement.
Check your food sensitivities and hormones
Acne, eczema, psoriasis, what do they all have in common? A potential food sensitivity as an underlying cause.
Dairy especially can be a major culprit of skin issues like rashes, eczema and can trigger flares of autoimmune conditions like psoriasis.
You can never know what your food sensitivities truly are until you test or do a strict elimination protocol. In my office, I often test for sensitivities so we can eliminate the least amount of foods possible while we repair.
Hormonal imbalance is also behind many common issues with the skin and hair- excess testosterone can cause acne and oily skin, low thyroid function can cause dry skin and hair loss. Imbalances of the hormones always relate to a deeper cause, likely a gut functioning issue or gall bladder issue, so its a good idea to get with a professional on these.
Change your Products
The skin is the largest organ in the body. It makes sense that if we want to treat it right from the inside-out, we should also work to treat it well from the outside-in.
Disappointingly, the average skincare or cosmetic product on the shelf is littered with hundreds of ingredients known to harm human health, especially endocrine disrupters that imbalance hormones like estrogen.
Remember, it’s not about the trace amounts in one product or another, they don’t seem like much at first, but the cumulation of these products is almost certainly behind many of the common endocrine disruptions of our time.
Breast cancer risk just 50 years ago was 1 in 24 women, now it’s 1 in 8.
As women, we use a lot of product- from the lotion on our skin to the foundation, eye shadow, and lipstick.
I invite you to take a look at the list on my recent article (find it here) on harmful ingredients in common products. Check what you have and look for companies that eliminate them all.
To make this process easier for my clients, I’ve incorporated a line called BeautyCounter– which stands for Countering the Beauty Industry.
They strive to make clean products that work amazingly well and that eliminate more than 1500 toxic chemicals. They third-party test their ingredients throughout the manufacturing process to ensure they meet their own strict standards.
I have personally used their products for the last year and have loved my experience. I invite you to take a look at the full range of products they sell- everything from cosmetics, to baby, to skin and hair care and start the process of switching to safer.
