We forget sometimes, but the skin is a living organ, and it draws nutrients from the bloodstream just like the heart, liver, and lungs. That’s why sometimes, if something’s going wrong with your skin, it may be related to a nutrient deficiency.

The best solution is to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and to drink plenty of water. That’s not always easy, however, and several of us may be walking around shy of a few key nutrients for the skin. Sometimes upping your intake of a few key foods (or supplements) may help improve your skin’s condition. Here are a few common skin conditions and the foods/nutrients that may help them improve.

Dryness. The obvious one here is water. If your skin is dry, make sure you’re getting enough water every day. Skin also stays hydrated through it’s own natural oils, however, which are supported by good fats like those that come from fish (tuna, salmon, sardines, and trout); nuts (walnuts and almonds); avocado; olives and olive oil; and sunflower seeds. A regular omega-3 supplement may also be helpful.

Easy bruising. There are many things that can cause your skin to bruise more easily. Cancer treatments like chemotherapy definitely can. If you’re not going through treatments, however, and you have skin that bruises easily or gums that bleed, you may be a little short on vitamin C. Add more citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and dark green vegetables to your diet, and choose a supplement that comes with bioflavnoids. Another benefit of vitamin C—it helps protect against damage from sun exposure.

Flaking and psoriasis. A more serious symptom of dry skin, flaky skin can signal a low level of vitamin A. This fat-soluble vitamin is key in maintaining and repairing skin tissue, so if you don’t have enough, skin will more easily lose moisture as the structure breaks down. Some studies have also connected foods high in beta-carotene (a form of vitamin A) with a reduced risk of psoriasis.¹ Consume more sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy greens, butternut squash, lettuce, dried apricots, and cantaloupe. It’s best to get this vitamin from food, as excessive vitamin A (which you may get from supplements) has been linked with increased risk of fracture.

Dermatitis. Find yourself itching and scratching? You may need more vitamin B—specifically, biotin. Even a mild deficiency of this vitamin can cause symptoms, as biotin helps form the basis for skin, hair, and nail cells. Most people get enough biotin in their diets, but if you’re taking medications that deprive you of B vitamins (like birth control, diabetic drugs, or antibiotics), you may be experiencing a deficit. Eat more bananas, eggs, oatmeal, and rice.

Acne and eczema. Repeatedly fighting acne? Plagued by eczema? You may be coming up short on zinc. Sometimes either of these conditions can actually be a direct result of a zinc deficiency. This useful mineral is involved in inflammation control and tissue regeneration. It also helps tame oil production, so particularly if you have oily skin, or if you’re on medications that rob your body of zinc (like antacids, antiobiotics, birth control, hormone replacement drugs, or acid-blocking drugs like Nexium), or if you have diabetes (which affects zinc metabolism), you may want to increase your intake of zinc. Try more oysters, wheat germ, low fat roast beef, sesame seeds, veal liver, dark chocolate, lamb, and peanuts.

Have you improved your skin condition through nutrition? Please share your story.

Source

1. Naldi L, Parazzini F, Peli L, Chatenoud L, Cainelli T. “Dietary Factors and the Risk of Psoriasis. Results of an Italian Case-Control Study,” Br. J. Dermatol. 134 (1): 101-6 (January 1996).

Photo courtesy M.SheldrakeSkin via dignitana.com.

The solution? According to this doctor, anyone taking Naprosyn should supplement with folic acid. But most doctors fail to suggest such a thing, so patients suffer side effects, which may then be addressed with more medications, which can then cause their own side effects…you get the picture.

If you’re going through chemotherapy, you know all about side effects, and you probably wouldn’t argue that the drugs are robbing your body of nutrients. “Patients undergoing chemotherapy need to receive high-quality nutrition to get through that period,” says Ross Pelton, co-author of The Nutritional Cost of Drugs (Morton Publishing, 2004). According to Dr. Vagnini, even minor nutrient deficiencies can cause all kinds of problems, including depression, muscle weakness, itchy skin, sleep disturbances, bleeding gums, and much more. A study on patients with ovarian cancer showed that those on a nutritional supplement protocol tolerated the chemo much better than those not receiving the supplements.

“I saw with my own eyes the difference between patients who were on supplements and those who were not,” said oncology nurse Leigh David. “It was very obvious.” Supplementing seems to make a lot of sense, but what, and how much?

First of all, always check with your doctor. Vitamin and herbal supplements can sometimes interfere with medications or decrease their effectiveness—antioxidants are specifically suspect—so you want to be sure you won’t be deterring your progress. Do some research on the medications you’re taking, and check with a naturopath for guidance on how to start restoring the nutrients you’re losing. (You can also read Dr. Vagnini’s book.) We’ve put together a few general recommendations to get you started, taken from Oncologychannel.com and other sources.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Protein Powder: to keep up your strength, supplement with protein powder twice a day. Go with those that have a low sugar content. You can choose from whey, soy, rice and hemp protein powders.
Ginger: ginger supplements or tea can help reduce treatment-related nausea.
Spirulina: helps maintain healthy weight and it is a super food!
Soy: check with your doctor especially on this one—may enhance the immune system.
B12: may help with anemia.

FOR SOME SPECIFIC DRUGS
5FU—vitamin B6 and CoQ10.
Taxol—vitamin C.
Tamoxifen—soy isoflavones.
Adriamycin—CoQ10, vitamin E, riboflavin, vitamin C, antioxidants.

Do you take supplements to offset chemo depletions? Have you received expert advice? Please share your experiences.

Photo courtesy of Luv 2 Flickr via Flickr.com.

“My sis-in-law had the surgery,” says caregiver Anna, “and she will begin chemo but her deep wound won’t heal….”

Chemotherapy, radiation, and lack of nutrition during cancer can cause delayed wound healing, where typical cuts, scrapes, scratches, and punctures—and particularly surgical incisions—take much longer than normal to repair themselves.

According to Wyatt G. Payne et al., of the Institute for Tissue Regeneration, Repair, and Rehabilitation at the Bay Pines VA Medical Center in Bay Pines, Florida, “Many factors impede the ability of patients with cancer to heal: the disease process itself, the timing and invasiveness of the treatments…, and host factors including mental outlook, nutritional status, and social situation….”

Researchers go on to explain that radiation, because it damages healthy tissues as well as cancer cells, complicates wound healing. Chemotherapy—because it targets rapidly dividing cells—interferes with wound healing as well, since immune cells involved in tissue repair also divide rapidly. Finally, 40-80% of cancer patients are clinically malnourished, which makes them increasingly susceptible to infections and delayed healing.

What can you do? Researchers recommend delaying radiation treatment for a minimum of 3 weeks after surgery to give surgical wounds time to heal, so if you’re scheduled for radiation, you may want to talk to your doctor about the healing of any surgical incisions. Since chemotherapy drugs create so many varying effects on different individuals and at different dosages, it’s more difficult to give a blanket recommendation. Timing, dosage, and type of drug used can all make a difference, so it’s best to monitor yourself carefully as you go and report any difficulties to your physician.

There is one area where you can take more responsibility for your own health—nutrition. Payne references a study by Ondrey FG et al. and says, “The relationship between optimal wound healing and positive nutritional balance is well documented.” Though it’s best to see the help of a naturopath or dietician to target your particular nutritional needs as you’re going through treatment, below are a few general recommendations:

• Make sure you’re getting adequate calories and protein
• Vitamins C and A optimize healing and recovery (studies show a 50% reduction in tensile strength of healing wounds in patients suffering from vitamin C depletion)
• Vitamin E has been shown in several studies to support wound healing, though exactly how it does so is still in question
• Zinc deficiency impairs protein production—restoring zinc to healthy levels returns wound healing to a healthy rate (take extra zinc only if you are deficient—excess zinc can be detrimental)

If you do have a wound that is stubbornly not responding, get help. “A simple wound can move down to the bone and cause a bone infection,” says Dr. Gerald Mouton with Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. “It can spread up and down muscle tendons and the larger the wound gets…the more difficult it is to heal.”

Other tips for wound care include:

• wash your hands thoroughly before and after changing dressings,
• remove dressings carefully (to avoid reopening the wound),
• clean wounds daily (don’t rub),
• always use new dressings and bandages,
• don’t pick at scabs,
• and eat vitamin-rich foods like citrus fruits, leafy vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, and eggs.

Have you had an experience with a stubborn wound? Please share with us.

¹ Ondrey FG, Hom DB. Effects of nutrition on wound healing. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1994;110(6):557–9.
Photo courtesy of MikeBlyth via Flickr.com.