Love The Skin You're In

Episode 201

In this Episode we visited with Dr. Yue Ying Li a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Dermatologist. Dr. Li has over 20 years of experience as a professor, clinician and creator of some of the best skin care products made. (And she still makes them all by hand enitrely out of herbs. No chemicals or drugs!). She studied in China with some of the leading dermatologists in the country and also practices in England before settling here in the US. She is currently a professor of TCM at Yo San University in Culver City, CA.

We visited with her and discussed some tips for healthy skin and some herbal treatments for some of the most common skin conditions. Be sure to watch the program to see Dr. Li's demonstartion of a traditional technique called Gua sha. This is a gentle scraping of the skin (done with a bone or horn implement, hers is made from the horn of a water buffalo) Below you will find a recap of our discussion with lots of great information. Enjoy!

Some General Tips for Healthy Skin:

Don't smoke.

Smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your skin. Even in young people smoking causes damage to the skin. Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin, depleting it of oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Smoking also damages collagen and elastin — fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely.

Limit the Amount of Sugar You Eat

Sugar has been shown to accelerate aging and as you will see below is a causative factor in many common skin conditions. At blame is a natural process that's known as glycation, in which the sugar in your bloodstream attaches to proteins to form harmful new molecules called advanced glycation end products (or, appropriately, AGEs for short). The more sugar you eat, the more AGEs you develop.

Most vulnerable to damage: collagen and elastin, the protein fibers that keep skin firm and elastic. In fact, collagen is the most prevalent protein in the body. Once damaged, springy and resilient collagen and elastin become dry and brittle, leading to wrinkles and sagging. These aging effects start at about age 35 and increase rapidly after that, according to a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Hydrate Your Skin

Drinking lots of water won't do this. Your skin is composed of mostly dead cells. If you want to hydrate your skin, exfoliate it weekly with a sea-salt scrub or other exfoliator to remove dead skin then apply a rich moisturizer while skin is still damp. If you want to hydrate your insides, then by all means, drink your 8 glasses of water a day.

Reduce Stress:

As with so many issues, we know that stress has a significant impact on both skin conditions, your immune response and the body's ability to heal itself. You would be well advised to incorporate stress relieving activities into your daily life. Meditation, regular excercise, yoga, tai chi or qi gong are all great activities to make part of your regular routine.

Common Skin Conditions:

The common factors which cause acne are:

Hormones
Bacteria
Emotional Stress
Chemical factors
Diet

Foods to avoid: too much pungent, spicy, oily food, too many dairy products, too much sugar.

In Chinese medicine, one of the principle factors involved in various types of acne is what is termed "damp heat". This basically refers to an internal environment that is full of mucous and is more acidic. Foods like dairy products and sugar can make this worse. Most commercial dairy products are also loaded with antibiotics and hormones. Since hormonal issues are a factor, eliminating dairy will help remove this problem as well.

Herbs for Acne: Herbs that begin with "huang", which means "yellow"are commonly used, these herbs are quite effective in relieving accumulated dampness and heat from the body. Huang bai (Cortex Phellodendron), huang qin (Radix scutellariae), huang lian (Radix Coptidis), da huang (Radix et Rhizoma Rhei)- da huang is an herb that can move the bowels quite effectively (use it with caution). These are used topically and internally.

Herpes:

Herpes simplex 1 (80-90%), 2 (10-20%) sexually transmitted, is caused by herpes virus which has affinity for nerves, esp. the facial nerve.

Foods to avoid: Caffeine, chocolate, foods with arginine (breads, nuts, grains). Caffeine will make things worse because of its effects on the nervous system.

Helpful supplements and lifestyle approaches: Lysine, Vitamin C, relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga or Emotional Freedom Techniques- see Episode 108

Herbs for herpes: The following Chinese herbs are frequently used to treat herpes and have been found to have anti-viral properties, some of which are found in The Healer, a product made by Oessencials. Ma chi xian (Portulaca), ban lan gen (Radix Isatidis), da qing ye (Folium Da Qing Ye), yi yi ren (Semen Coicis Lachryma-Jobi) , zi cao (Radix Lithospermi). These are used topically and internally.

A popular formula that is often used to treat herpes is Long Dan She Gan Tang.

Note: Dr. Li also pointed out that one of the best things you can do to prevent herpes outbreaks is to strengthen your immune system. How do you do that? Practice Yoga or Qi gong, take herbs which boost your immune system like Astragalus, Reishi mushroom, and Dang gui and Yi yi ren (see above). There is an excellent traditional formula called Yu Ping Feng San that is a suberb formula for Boosting Immune function, in fact, our guest in Episode 106, Joe Bright's company Secara makes a great version of this called Herbal Immune Booster.

Fungal Infections:

Caused mainly by dermaphytes and yeast. Dermaphytes are most common, they survive on dead keratin found in the stratum corneum, the hair and the nails.


Candida is a common yeast.


Must be tenacious when treating: all clothes, bedding, hats and combs need to be sterilized. Fungal infections are some of the most difficult to treat and can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to fully eradicate.

Foods to avoid: Dairy, sugar, fried foods, mucous forming foods.

Red flags: The following are all things we look for in clinical practice that predispose people to fungal infections: previous anti-biotic use (destroys good bacteria that keep fungus at bay), excessive sugar consumption, indoor air pollution, coffee.

Herbs for fungus: Herbs with "xiang" are commonly used to treat fungus in the digestive tract: huo xiang (Herba Agastaches seu Pogostemi), xiang fu (Rhizome Cyperi Rotunda), bai xian pi (Cortex Dictamni, Dasycarpi Radicis), lain qiao (Fructus Forsythiae Suspensae). These herbs are commonly used internally. To treat fungus externally try using essential oils like Tea Tree Oil, Ravensara and Laleshwa (See Episode 107 of Green Health Live for more information).

Eczema (Dermatitis):

Chronic pruritic inflammation of the epidermis and dermis. Onset can be as early as the first 2 months or first year in 60% of patients.

Over 2/3 have a personal or family history of hay fever, asthma, allergic rhinitis. Since allergies are often intertwined with eczema, be careful of the following foods and substances that may cause anallergic reaction and make the outbreak worse.

Foods which may be a problem: sea food, shell fish, beef, lamb, milk and dairy products

Other problem allergens: pollen, dust, animal feathers, parasitic infection

Chemicals: cosmetics, perfumes, detergents

Herbs for eczema: Ku shen (Radix Sophorae), bai ji li (Fructus Tribuli Terrestris), bai xian pi (Cortex Dictamni Dasycarpi Radicis). Dr. Li makes an eczema creme that is among the most sucessful I've ever used in the clinic.

That's all for now. Be well and be good to your skin. Everything you do to benefit your skin will also help the rest of your body quite significantly. Its a win win scenario.

Your intrepid host,

Marc