The Clear Skin Myth

Posted June 25th, 2007 by Karen Fischer

DID YOU KNOW? The skin you have today will be totally renewed within two months. Yep. Those wrinkles and that crop of whiteheads will be gone and new skin will be in its place in a matter of weeks, and it can either look exactly the same, worse or better depending on the instructions and building materials you supply for it.

• New skin cells form at the bottom of the epidermis and when they're ready they move towards the outer layer. This trip takes about four weeks.

In fact, the body you have today, all your cells and tissues, will be totally new within a year. That's because your body turns over approximately six BILLION cells each day and new ones are made to replace them. This means the skin rash you have right now is not the same one you had last month: you just haven't changed the underlying cause of your skin problem so it reoccurs over and over again.

Factors that affect your skin's appearance:

1. Genetics
2. Diet
3. UV radiation from sunlight
4. Organ health
5. Blood and lymph circulation
6. Stress
7. Sleep
8. Chemicals, cigarette smoke and drugs
9. The weather

When you have an undesirable skin condition, your body is trying to warn you that one or several of these factors are out of balance. Let's consider your genetics as they're often blamed for those blemishes, bumps and scales…

YOUR GENES are what you inherit from your birth parents. They determine things like the colour of your eyes, if you have freckles and whether you'll get a golden tan when spending a day at the beach.

Scientists, medical experts and nutritionists alike talk about how our genes play a role in our susceptibility to skin conditions and diseases. People talk about being blessed with 'good' genes - they rarely get ill and can eat truckloads of chocolate without getting a single pimple. In the past I've cursed my 'bad' genes whenever my skin has broken out in a peeling, crimson rash. Our genes have a lot to answer for and there is no doubt that they can affect our skin but are our genetics entirely to blame?

It's becoming clearer to researchers around the world that our genetically determined biology may not have had enough time to catch up with the radical dietary changes that have occurred over the past ten decades.

CONSIDER YOUR HISTORY. It's more than likely that your ancestors spent much of the day looking for food and making sure there was adequate shelter. Fast food outlets and soft drink were unheard of and artificial flavours and colours didn't exist. The traditional hunter-gatherers had diets that varied from region to region but taking these differences into account, scientists have worked out the basic universal characteristics of primitive diets:

• It's estimated that our ancestors snacked on nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and wholegrains and they hunted for fish and chased after wild game. This is a bit like the low GI diet without all the fatty junk food.

Of course, your ancestral diet may have varied from this one, especially if you're of Eskimo descent. The primitive Inuit's ate loads of seafood so they consumed higher ratios of fat and omega-3 essential fatty acids. Grains weren't a staple part of their diet.

Whatever your ancestry may be, I'm guessing that you no longer have to search for berries or sprint after a wild pig to get your tucker. You simply drive to the shop and select from rows and rows of fresh and packaged foods.

There is no doubt that the modern Western diet varies greatly but it usually looks something like this:

The modern Western diet

• Farmed and processed meats such as beef, mince, ham, salami and sausages.
• Dairy products such as full-fat and low-fat milk, cheese, ice cream and butter.
• White bread, pastries, cakes, biscuits, packet cereals, refined sugar and syrups.
• Refined cooking oils, fried foods and margarine.
• Water, juice, soft drink, coffee, tea and alcohol.
• Fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, wholegrains and legumes.

As a general rule, the more processed foods you eat, the less fresh and healthy foods you end up consuming.

You've got to admit that packaged foods and pre-made meals are a Godsend at the end of a busy day when you're too exhausted to prepare fresh food. Modern convenience has its place in our society however this expediency may come at a heavy price and your skin could be the first thing to suffer.

Many scientists now suspect that slow genetic adaptation to modern diets could be the reason diseases such as cancer, heart disease and acne are found in modern societies and are practically absent in traditional societies where processed foods aren't available. Maybe many of us aren't victims of our genetics after all - we're just confusing our poor little genes by eating foods that are unrecognizable to our bodies!

Population studies show that acne is rare or non-existent in traditional cultures that eat unprocessed foods:

• Inuits who eat a traditional diet are acne-free, whereas Inuits who make the transition to modern diets develop acne similar to that in Western societies.
• The native inhabitants of Okinawa, an isolated island in the South China Sea, eat traditional diets and don't have any signs of acne.
• In modern societies more than 79% of teenagers suffer from acne AND approximately 40% of men and women over the age of twenty-five have acne.

Our dietary changes began with the introduction of agriculture and animal farming about ten thousand years ago but this may have occurred too recently for our human genetics to adapt. Our biological makeup hasn't had time to become accustomed to the barrage of chemical preservatives and artificial sweeteners, not to mention heavily processed foods that are way too low in vitamins and minerals.

THE FINAL WORD ON GENES: You can have a genetic predisposition to getting eczema, psoriasis, hives and cellulite but this doesn't mean you have to suffer with these conditions forever. A healthy diet and good lifestyle habits influence your genes every day and your skin will let you know if you're on the right track.