By Michael Sharp | January 23rd, 2018

When I was 14 years old, I can still say to this day, that I had the worst case of acne I have ever seen. Acne, an issue that a majority of teenager’s experience? Tell that to my 14 year old self and I would have told you that no one had it as bad as me. I used to think it would never disappear either, that it was a curse that will be stuck with me for the rest of my life. Like anyone else would have done, I sought out the support of a dermatologist, who then put me on a common acne medication called Accutane, which I now know is a contraceptive like medication, YES, you read that right! However, when your acne was as bad as mine, you would be willing to do whatever it took to get rid of it, and we really knew of no other solution at the time. After being on Accutane for about 3 months and seeing more dis-improvement than improvement with my acne, my Mom, who absolutely hated seeing me suffer through this issue and always does everything possible to make sure I’m happy, thought that something wasn’t adding up. So, she began doing heavy research. What my mom discovered through hours of research was that the health of the internal system is the KEY to the health of your external skin, and boy was she ever right about that! In less than three months of modifying my dietary choices and including a select few supplements into my daily regime (A shorter time than I was on Accutane), I had the clearest complexion I had experienced in my entire life! I was finally released from the strong grip that Acne had on my life and it felt incredible. This is the reason I studied to become a Holistic Nutritionist, and my passion truly lies with skin health.

The above is the cold hard truth, what the dermatologists refuse to tell you out of fear that it will help people get better and relive their need to see a dermatologist. However, it is true, skin issues are mainly derived from the health of your INSIDE! I know it sounds a little crazy that to have glowing skin on the outside you need a glowing and healthy inside, but it is the truth, and here’s why.

Humans are like huge, weirdly shaped donuts. Like donuts, we have an external surface that goes inward, twisting into a hole in the middle and coming around the other end back out. The external part of the human donut is the outside of our bodies, the skin we look at every day in the mirror. Then, through the mouth starts our internal human donut, inward through the digestive system and out the other end, the anus, where we meet the surface of our external donut once again.

I know this all sounds very strange right now, I just finished explaining to you that humans are donuts, but hear me out, let me get a little more anatomical with you all. Our skin (on the outside surface of the human donut) is made from soft connective tissue. This connective tissue protects the inside of our donut from damage and is constantly regenerating to stay as strong as possible. Well, going back to my human donut analogy, our external connective tissue donut skin doesn’t stop on our external surface, it continues inward at the mouth and continues through the entire digestive system. Think about it, the round outer surface of a donut loops inward to form the hole in the centre of a donut, but this is still the external surface of the donut (our bodies external surface, the skin, loops inward through the digestive system to form the long hole in the centre of humans, but this is actually still the external surface of humans, just like a donut!). The internal surface of the donut is actually all the puffy dough inside, the outside barrier is there to protect all of that dough, just like the external surface of humans, that extends inside the digestive system is used to protect the inner surface of the human body, being where the blood and vital organs live. That’s right, the digestive system is made up of the exact same connective tissue as our external donut skin!

So why is this of any relevance you might ask? Well, now that we understand that the digestive tract is still considered the external skin of the body, and the external skins main role is to protect the internal body from damage, I may now go on to explain how much trouble we’re having with our external digestive skin and why this is such a detriment to our health. The digestive system is exposed to a great number of irritants not only from drugs and alcohol, but also from irritating food substances such as chemical preservatives and additives, food dyes and colors, gluten, dairy, sugar, grains, legumes, yeasts and more! Besides this, we are exposed to a constant amount of psychological stress, and the digestive system cannot operate with efficiency when the body is experiencing stress.

So, as you can tell, the external digestive donut skin is under a lot of pressure and is constantly being damaged. It’s a good thing that our skin is constantly regenerating, BUT if we are constantly exposing our digestive skin to so much irritation, it will never get a good opportunity to properly heal itself. What is the result of all the damage with little repair? The digestive donut skin begins to have holes through out its surface, an issue we call leaky gut. With holes on its surface, the digestive donut skin is no longer able to fully protect the internal donut, allowing these irritating substances to have access to the blood stream and now the rest of the body, wreaking havoc on many parts of the body, including our external surface skin on the outer surface of our donut. Because the body is so wise, it will give you a little (or big) warning sign that there has been a breach into the internal donut by producing acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea for you to see. And what does the dermatologist do? Puts you on a birth control like medication and a skin cream used to heal the damage to the outside donut skin without allowing the digestive donut skin (the main issue) to heal, leading people to experience the same skin symptoms once again.

This is a vicious cycle, and one that I was stuck in for what felt like an eternity, but TRUST ME, there is another way! We must start by assessing what kinds of irritating foods make up our diets and begin reducing these to lesson the damage to the digestive donut skin, allowing it proper time to heal itself. Give your body the raw materials it needs to repair such as nutrients from fruits and vegetables, water, and healthy protein. Find ways to reduce the stress you experience in your day to day life and by the end of this, you to can experience a glowing complexion on the outside of our donut, but only when the inside of our donut is shining!

So, the next time you have a visit with your dermatologist, consider booking a consultation with a qualified Holistic Nutritionist who can educate you on your internal human donut skin and how it can support the health of your external skin!

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Keep on living holistic,

Michael Sharp.

DISCLAIMER: The information listed above is for educational purposes and discussion of general health information only. The information, opinions, ideas, and suggestions listed above are in no way intended to diagnose disease/health issues or act as a treatment for disease/health issues and is not to act as a substitute for medical advice from your doctor. Before taking part in any natural or alternative approach to health, these approaches should be reviewed by your doctor for approval especially if there are existing health conditions and if prescribed and or pharmaceutical medication is being taken due to the potential for interactions between medications and any natural approaches to health.