How Toxins Affect Your Skin

Whatever your skin type, toxin exposure is a primary trigger. If you want beautiful glowing skin, it has to be healthy. It is important to remember that your skin is your body’s largest organ. Just like all your other organs it is affected when toxins are inhaled, ingested or absorbed. It does a great job of keeping out up to 65% of outside toxins through absorption but it can't keep everything out.

The average person is exposed to hundreds of thousands of chemicals every day. From cleaning products, beauty products, preservatives and fillers in foods, environmental toxins – both indoor and outdoor and so many more. There are also toxins that your body creates, like in the case of stress hormones. Some of these toxins are hard to avoid, like the smog that lingers in the air and pesticides that end up in our ground water. The good news is that there are many that can be avoided.

Signs You Have Toxic Buildup

Your body is designed to handle toxins and when they are in limited amounts, your body can safely remove them, so they don’t cause further damage. However, the long term effects can lead to harmful, even life-threatening conditions.

Below are some of the common symptoms of toxic buildup in your body:

• Brain Fog
• Hair Loss
• Fatigue
• Brittle Toenails
• Bad Breath
• Nausea
• Weight Gain
• Eczema & Other Skin Ailments

How Toxins Damage Your Body

Substances are considered toxic because when they encounter the human body, they cause harm. There are many ways that this can happen but one of the main ways is by poisoning your enzymes, this prevents the body from functioning properly.

Every physiological function in your body relies on enzymes to function. When enzymes are damaged, they prevent the production of hemoglobin in your blood. This is known to cause accelerated aging and can lead to failure of energy production and your body’s ability to protect against oxidative stress. When these functions begin to fail, it increases your risk of diseases like:

• Cancer
• Chemical Pneumonia
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Auto-immune Diseases

How do Toxins Affect the Skin

Toxins don't only wreak havoc on your internal organs, they seriously affect the health and appearance of your skin. Below are a few of the ways that toxins show up on your skin:

• Premature aging
• Decreased collagen production
• Wrinkles
• Age Spots
• Skin Eruptions
• Allergies
• Dry Skin
• Eczema
• Psoriasis

How to Safely Remove Toxins

Removing toxins is one thing but safely removing them is yet another. Toxins are usually stored in fat cells, so if you have toxic overload and you have some extra weight on you, it may be for the best. On the other hand, if you have a low BMI, your body will resort to storing toxins in your organs like the liver and kidneys.

The main detox pathways of your body are the lungs, liver and kidneys. Most everything that your body deems to be bad is filtered through these organs. This can cause damage to your organs and will make it more difficult when trying to get those nasty toxins out.

Easy Ways to Cleanse

What most people think of as detoxing, are just ways in which we can assist our body with its naturally occurring detox processes. There are a few ways in which to do this and while one blog isn’t nearly enough to get into all of them here are a few key things you can do to get started.

• Avoid Toxins – read your product labels to avoid chemical dyes, preservatives, processed foods, fragrances, coloring, parabens…the list goes on…you can do this by using natural cleaning & laundry products, natural personal care products and eating organic foods.

• Drink Lots of Water – water helps to flush toxins from your body, trying to detox and not drinking enough water can wreak havoc on your kidneys, so stay hydrated!!
• Only Use the Good Stuff – use natural personal care products, eat organic foods as much as possible, use natural cleaning and laundry products. Even making small adjustments at a time will make a difference.
• Support Your Organs – making sure you have the right balance of vitamins and minerals in your system is so important for overall cell functioning. Sea Moss is a great option for mineral balance. Be sure to check with your physician before using of course.
• To Chelate is Great – Chelation is the ability of a substance to attract heavy metals. One of the gentlest chelators is cilantro, so pile it on top of your taco or add extra to your guac. There are other chelators like Bentonite Clay and Zeolite that are also amazing but be sure to check with our physician because they can have contraindications with many pharmaceuticals.

Making the changes above is a great way to kick off your detox. Just remember that a detox is not a quick process, it is more akin to a lifelong journey. Because even if you have the cleanest possible lifestyle there are still the unavoidable toxins to contend with. It is also important to remember that there are symptoms associated with cleansing. I will get deeper into that in another blog but just remember that the most important part of this journey is becoming more intune with your body.