SEVEN OTHER THINGS YOUR SKIN COULD BE TELLING YOU
Oily skin? Cut down on dairy
As soya and almond milk converts will tell you, dairy is not always your skin’s friend. According to dermatologists, cow’s milk – which is often thick with progesterone from the expectant cow – can knock your ordinary hormone levels off-kilter, resulting in bumpy, oily skin. Patients with inflammatory conditions such as acne, psoriasis and eczema are routinely put on low-dairy diets to help clear their skin complaints.
Acne breakouts? Take a break
Cortisol, the hormone released during periods of high physiological stress, is a key player when it comes to adult acne. As well as triggering the release of oil, high levels of cortisol have an immunosuppressive effect, enabling bacteria to thrive on the skin, leading to breakouts.
Sandpaper skin? Could be an underactive thyroid?
Raw and itchy skin is not uncommon in those in a state of hormonal flux – for instance, menstruating women. Other telltale signs of thyroid disease are muscle cramps and weight gain.
Dark circles? Cleanse your kidneys
When no amount of cold tea bags or cucumber slices can shift the excess baggage around your eyes, it usually means time for an early night (dark circles will appear as your epidermis struggles to make up for lost regeneration time). However, when the eye bags are also puffy – and especially if accompanied by swelling of the hands and feet – it could indicate kidney deficiency or bowel congestion. Try flushing the kidneys with cranberry tablets, which help clear excess calcium oxalate, one of the main contributors to kidney stones.
Mismatched skin? Eat the rainbow
Unevenly coloured patches of skin are your body’s way of telling you to broaden your culinary horizon. For those on restricted diets – from vegetarians and vegans to so-called “clean” eaters – nutrient deficiency can manifest itself on your body’s surface, or as cracked lips.
Bumpy eyelids? Curb your cholesterol
Cheese-guzzlers and those fond of a thick steak may be familiar with xanthelasma, a lumpy eyelid condition that’s the result of a high-cholesterol diet. Opting for fibrous foods will quickly quash the yellowish lipids deposits, but it could be time for a cholesterol test to find out whether your levels are healthy.
White patches? Double-check for diabetes
When your bloodsugar levels max out, your body creates a series of surface-level warning signs. With vitiligo, smooth white patches appear on the skin because the cells that make pigment are destroyed – and could prefigure a diabetes
diagnosis.