Can clean eating clear your skin?
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Fairface Podcast show notes
INTRO
Hi my friends! Welcome back to another episode of the Fairface Podcast. It's so nice to be with you today! I hope you are doing well and enjoying springtime wherever you are.
We had a great run of sunny weather here in Seattle for about a week before the rain came back, but I loved every minute of it and I don't really mind the rain, as long as we get a little sun mixed in!
We've got some starter tomatoes and I planted some marigolds from seed to see if I can get them to grow and bloom. They're some of the easiest flowers to grow, we used to give them to kindergartners when I worked at the school, so hopefully I can't go wrong and they'll be strong enough to transfer outside once the weather gets better.
Clean Eating / Whole Foods Plant Based Diet
Specifically, I eliminated meat, dairy and processed foods and sugars from my diet, and am focusing on a Plant Based Whole Foods way of eating. This includes eating all veggies, fruits, beans and legumes, and whole grains like brown rice, quinoa and so on, and this is my 3rd week in.
For the last few weeks I've been devouring information from lots of plant based sources like Rip Esselstyn, and the many doctors, surgeons, health specialists and nutritionists on his Plant Strong podcast who talk about the benefits of a plant based whole grain diet for living healthier lives as well as reversing and preventing things like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, among others.
On this same topic, there are many schools of thought on whether this type of clean eating can also equate to clear skin?
So I'd love to dive into both of these topics on today's podcast.
Why I went plant based
So the first question I wanted to answer, is why did I choose to go mostly plant based right now? And when I say "mostly" plant based, it's because I was totally plant based for a little over 2 weeks and unfortulately, I felt really sluggish, foggy and light headed and ended up adding a little bit of chicken back in to my diet just yesterday and I have to say, I do feel a lot better.
Maybe I just need a slower entry into total plant based. I'm not sure, but that's what I ended up needing to do.
But back to why I'm doing it in the first place.
You know when you change out your closet from winter to spring clothes and everything from one season to the next has magically shrunk?
I know, it's so weird, but yah, that happened.
I could blame the pandemic and all the casseroles and goodies that made me feel better over the last year and a half, because that's real, but what matters is that I'm trying to do better now.
The other reason, is my blood test results from a few years ago, that showed areas I needed to work on, I have kind of pretended it would magically change or go away without doing anything about it and that's about as realistic as my closet of clothes magically shrinking. Soo.... anyway...
Diet and health are my reasons.
What has it been like going plant based?
I'm just going to be real and I hope I don't offend anyone who's experience is different than mine.
The truth is, it's been both good and mostly hard.
Like I mentioned, after a little over 2 weeks eliminating all processed sugars, meats and dairy, and loading my diet up with all sorts of veggies and fruits and whole grains, I just didn't feel very good or right and I was dragging and felt like I couldn't really think straight and that was after eating as much of the good stuff as I could so I was getting enough calories and nutrients. So I decided to bring a little chicken back in my diet and felt better.
I have also had a really hard time finding the joy in the foods I'm eating. I didn't grow up eating mostly vegetables, so my taste for them is a little harder to satisfy.
I really miss biting into something and saying oh my gosh that is so good. Because I love food, and that is definitely NOT happening for me right now with veggie dishes.
There are plenty of people in the plant based world say things like, this tases incredible, delicious, mouth-watering...but that hasn't been the case for me. I've tried a bunch of different recipes from a variet of sources, for things like lentil tacos, tofu dishes, chili, hummus, banana-oat pancakes...and I still can't say yum to anything.
So I have felt very deprived of flavor and it's been a hard adjustment for me, and that's just being real.
Now Lets swing to the positive side-
Am I giving up on plant based eating? No, because I know it's good for me.
The health benefits can't be denied.
I highly recommend the Plant Strong Podcast with doctors and nutritionists who are reliable sources of information, who talk about how you can reverse and prevent heart disease, plaque build-up, cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity...lots of topics are covered and I feel confident in the reliable information that is put out there and that's important to me to make decisions based on sound, reliable information.
Eating such nutritiously dense foods makes me feel good about what I'm putting into my body because I picture what these healthy foods are doing to my blood and body, changing them in positive ways and filling my cells with nutrients.
The scale has also gone down which is great and I welcome even more of that. And I'm trying to make sure to get a little exercise in every day too, even if it's just a short walk or bike ride.
I know I just need to give myself time to keep adjusting to this new way of eating and keeping a positive perspective. When you're trying to change something you've done for years and years, it can be hard to change old habits, and my body is used to being fueled by other things, not necessarily healhty things. The health benefits are worth the effort.
Now lets look at skin.
Has clean eating, or a plant based, whole foods diet changed my skin?
Many of you know I have Rosacea and before starting to take meat, dairy and processed sugars out of my diet, and focus on plant based whole foods, my skin was mostly clear with my skin care routine.
It itched from time to time and if I ate a lot of sugar, it was much more prone to Rosacea flares. And, my face I feel like, also looked a little puffy to me.
So since eating plant based, I don't see the puffiness in my skin and it has not itched in spots like it used to and I have had no Rosacea flares or break-outs.
My skin appeared pretty calm before, but I can see now that it has calmed down even more from the inside-out, as far as eliminating internal inflammation, which I think was the cause of the puffiness.
So yes, with eating plant based whole foods I do see a benefit to my skin.
On to the Million dollar questions:
Can clean eating clear your skin?
Lets first look at Rosacea.
[ Can clean eating, aka whole foods plant based diet clear Rosacea? ]
I shared in a previous blog post about the Rosacea Diet and whether it really works. At that time I was eating more of a veggie-whole grain diet. You can read that article here: The Rosacea Diet Fact or Fiction
What I found from the research, is that what we eat does have an effect on our skin and skin and food are not independent of each other.
For example, someone with an allergy or sensitivity to certain foods can break out in a rash or hives, just as those with Rosacea can eat certain foods that trigger a Rosacea flare.
What we eat can show up as an inflammatory reaction, and inflammation needs to be healed from the inside out.
Holistic aesthetician Rachel Devine summed it up as, "Every single skin condition is caused internally."
Dermatological studies indicate cleaning up your diet and eliminating trigger foods can lower your Rosacea flares. I personally did see an improvement in my skin with my clean eating back then, and I see it now.
But is not definitive that diet alone is all you need to treat Rosacea. It's just as important to continue a healthy skin care routine in addition to a healthy diet and elimiating foods that are a trigger for your rosacea to flare.
What about Acne?
Can clean eating, (aka a plant based whole foods diet) clear your acne?
The Plant Strong podcast interviewed twin sisters Nina and Randa Nelson, who are the creators of "The Clean Skin Diet".
They struggled with horrible cystic acne in their 20's and share how following a low-fat, whole food, plant-based diet eliminated their cystic acne. It worked so well for them that they wanted to share it with the world to help other people not have to go through the painful experience they went through.
I'll admit, I was a little skeptical as I listened to the interview about whether clean eating alone could clear acne.
Did it work for them? It seemed to. Can it work for all people with severe acne?
I wasn't sure, so I went looking for more information.
According to a study published in the American Academy of Dermatology, switching to a low-glycemic diet (ie vegetables, fruits, beans, and steel-cut oats, kind of a plant based whole grain diet) may reduce the amount of acne you have.
Out of those studied, a vast majority had significantly less acne than those who ate high-glycemic foods like white bread, white rice, processed sugars, etc.
By eliminating foods that cause your blood sugar to spike, it also eliminates the inflammation and excess sebum triggered by those blood sugar spikes, that can lead to acne.
If you are struggling with acne, dermatologists recommend keeping track of what you eat and drink or what you eliminate from your diet so you can figure out whether something makes your skin better or worse. And I'm sure that's nothing new to hear. They say the same thing about Rosacea to try and correlate diet and rosacea flares by keeping a food journal.
At the end of the article, they stated something really important, "While diet may play a role in causing your breakouts or worsening your acne, keeping your skin clear requires more than a diet change. Using acne friendly skin care and acne medication helps to prevent new breakouts."
That's really important, and I would add it's the same for Rosacea and other skin related issues.
I came across an Instagram post from Lexie, who is an Online Acne Naturopath [ @clearskin.withlexie ] who posted this saying,
and that is so accurate.
First, we shouldn't be judging each other anyway, and second, it further supports what the Dermatologists say, there is more going on with acne than just food.
She went on to quote @gutstarted -"Acne and pimples can be caused from multiple factors and of course having a healthy, balanced diet and plenty of water can help, but it’s not the silver bullet for all acne."
Can clean eating help clear up your skin? Yes!
Might you need some additional products or help to completely clear your skin or help maintain healthy skin? Yes!
The bottom line is healthy eating can contribute to better health, mind, body and skin AND utilizing additional resources may also be needed.
Our lives are made up of many attempts at trial and error, including what works to keep our own skin clear and healthy.
Everyone's skin is different.
One person may have Rosacea, another Eczema, another oily skin, someone else has dry skin, another is acne prone. What works for one person - even with the same skin type - may or may not work for you.
But we try and see what will work for us. We bring all the information and all the good things in that we can and that's all we can do.
Eating plants and whole foods that are loaded with nutritious vitamins and minerals will be doing good things for your cells and blood and skin.
But if you eat well but don't further care for your skin that's not the right balance either. We still need to care for our skin, wash our faces, treat them gently and put good products on them.
Do you have an experience changing your diet and how it effected your skin? I would love to hear about it! You can connect with me through this podcast or on Instagram @FairfaceWashcloths. I'd love to hear your experience.
Well, that's all for now! Thanks again so much for being here! I'll see you next time!
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