For years, I have suffered with Keratosis Pilaris (KP) and eczema, granted as I have got older my eczema has improved, but my chicken skin has always been a bitch to deal with. I have it all over my legs, especially by butt – sexy I know, but sometimes shit happens. And I think it has been getting worse over the past six months or so (oh to my delight); I have tried every skin product under the sun that claims to help (they don’t), researched chemical peels, booked myself to see a dermatologist many a time – most of whom have given the same answer, “it will get better with age.” Well fuck waiting, there is nothing like bad skin to make someone feel shit about themselves, but I think I have found the solution!!!
It’s easy to forget that your skin is a vital functioning organ. With an average surface area of more than 21 square feet and 6% to 10% of your body weight, your skin is actually your largest organ! When I wanted to treat my KP/eczema I always tried to treat it from the surface down, rather than internally. . . When something shows on our outside 9/10 times it’s due to something not being quiet right within. One of the main areas our skin conditions stem from is our gut, bizarre I know, but it really is true. I spoke to many doctors, functional medicine advocates and nutritionists and they thought I might be suffering from a condition called ‘leaky gut.’ But what on earth is it, isn’t that just something some holistic little yogi would say to try and make me just eat leaves? The answer is no.
What is Leaky Gut?
The gut is the gateway to health. If your gut is healthy, chances are that you’re in good health. However, leaky gut can lead to a host of health problems. The gut is naturally permeable to very small molecules in order to absorb vital nutrients. In fact, regulating intestinal permeability is one of the basic functions of the cells that line the intestinal wall. In sensitive people, gluten can cause the gut cells to release zonulin, a protein that can break apart tight junctions in the intestinal lining. Other factors — such as infections, toxins, stress and age — can also cause these tight junctions to break apart.
Once these tight junctions get broken apart, you have a leaky gut. When your gut is leaky, things like toxins, microbes, undigested food particles, and more can escape from your intestines and travel throughout your body via your bloodstream. Your immune system marks these “foreign invaders” as pathogens and attacks them. The immune response to these invaders can appear in many different forms, for me it was with skin conditions and allergies.
But what causes it?
Well anything from gluten, consuming too much alcohol to dairy, toxins etc etc – it is really dependant on your body and what you are sensitive to, so I must recommend getting tests done!
What I have done. . .
For the past month I have followed a gut restorative programme and removed as much alcohol, sugar and gluten from my diet as possible (I am only human so this wasn’t 100%). And here it is:
Steps 1 – soap & moisturiser
Replace soap with Welleda calendula body wash (yellow shower tube)
Replace moisturisers and emollients with Welleda calendula face cream (yellow tube)
Steps 2 – supps
1. Rhodiola tincture from Natures Answer (Revital on the Kings road)
Dose: take 1 whole tube squirt in water 1st thing
2. Glutamine 10g x 2 a day – 1 month approx. £10.00
https://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/l-glutamine/10636931.html (500gram sachet)
3. Collagen 1 scoop per day – 1 Month approx. £18.00
Purchase: https://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/hydrolysed-collagen-peptide/11067704.html
Dose: Mix Glutamine & collagen together in a morning down it drink
4. Bimuno prebiotic – 1 month approx. £10
Purchase: https://www.bimuno.com/bimuno-powder
Research: https://www.bimuno.com/what-is-bimuno
Dose: Mix Glutamine & Bimuno together in an evening down it drink
5. VSL3 probiotic – 1 month approx £35
Purchase: https://www.vsl3.co.uk/basket.php
Dose: take 1 x AM with food
6. 1 x table spoon of organic apple cider vinegar
Dose: tale a spoonful before each main meal
I have been following this programme for a month and I can not describe how good the changes have been in my skin; my back of legs and butt is also most clear of chicken skin and I am noticing the changes more and more each day. I believe it took about 2 week before I saw any changes, but since then I have seen dramatic improvements!
