As a skin care therapist I would often be the first one to recognize a serious hormonal imbalance based on the acne that a client might be struggling with. As nutritionist it’s clear that it’s an “inside-out” problem.
Women with PCOS often have elevated levels of free-testosterone, which is one of the markers of PCOS. When the body breaks down the testosterone, one of the by-products that can occur is DHT (Dihydrotestosterone). There are areas on our bodies that are particularly sensitive to the signals from DHT which are the face, neck, chest and back. The message is “make more oil!”.
We do need some oil on the skin in order to keep it protected and supple, but when it goes on overdrive, it literally backs up in the pore. The oil (sebum) we produce is very sticky so it doesn’t allow the dead skin cells to exfoliate easily so it becomes like have a tight lid on a pressure cooker.
The naturally occurring bacteria on the skin, along with dead skin cells and the oil end up creating a pretty nasty “stew” resulting in reddened, painful and pustular acne. If this material cannot get out of the skin, it can break the pore wall underneath the skin causing more acne (you might notice a little “family” of breakouts that always groups together). Most people, (men get it too for the same reason), focus only on trying to treat the skin externally — but the goal is to get the body back in balance.
Some basic strategies are as follows:
1. Try to eat organic and hormone free as much as possible, especially when it comes to dairy products. The hormones that the cows receive to keep them lactating as long as possible go right into the milk and it’s by-products (cheese, ice-cream etc.) which go right into you — creating a further hormonal imbalance.
2. Stress is a huge trigger for increasing DHT — it is critical to create your own menu of"stress-busters" that can be used throughout the day and work for you! A simple one is to just stop for one to two minutes and do deep breathing. This short-circuits the stress hormone release response.
3. Acne in all forms is primarily an inflammatory disease. Fish oils, which are also beneficial for neurotransmitter balance, do double duty since they help tremendously with inflammation.
4. Eat inflammation quenching foods, rich in antioxidants — fruits and vegetables. Remember when fried foods were believed to cause acne? They may not do it directly, but indirectly they are highly inflammatory.
5. Getting hormones especially your estrogen to testosterone ratio back in balance is the key to getting to the source of the problem. Work closely with your In-Cyst trained expert toward this goal.
Next blog I’ll share information on strategies for dealing with the skin from the outside in.
Carmina McGee, MS, RD, LE
Registered Dietitian/ Licensed Esthetician
805.816-1629 / Ventura, California
www.CarminaMcGee.com
Carmina@CarminaMcGee.com