Healthy Nutrition and Your Skin - Yale School of Medicine

1 HealthyNutritionandYourSkinIusedtogetter riblerashesonmyarmsbutIchangedmydietandh aven' ,39, ,mostofusdon' good, ,andyou' ,moreofusthaneverpatronizehealthfoodstor esthesedays, ,wherea per-sistingmisconceptionisthat"chocolate causesacne."Whileitisinsomewaystruethatw earewhatweeatwhenitcomestoheartdisease(t oomanylow-densitylipidsandtoomuchcholest erolarebad,high-densitylipidsaregood), societywherefoodhasbecomea fetishandgoodnutritionisexpectedtohealal l. Copyright 2000, David J. Leffell. MD. All rights ,inbothhealthanddisease,wherenutritionpl aysanimportantrole, ,it'sclearthatnutritionisimportanttothes kin-althoughnotinthewayssomereadersorvit aminpusherswi' ,gener-allyspeaking, generalinterestinmacrobioticdietsandtheu seofdiettocontrolhigh cholesterol,osteo-porosis,anda , ' ,whiledietcanhelpcontributetoitsoverallh ealth,itusuallywillnotmakea dif-ferencewhenitcomestoa ,forexample-wenowknowthatgreasyfoods,sal t, ,undernormalcircumstances,canchangesindi etinfluencethecolor,texture,appearance,o rnatureofourskin?

2 Third,inconditionswheretheskinisnotfunct ioningproperly(thatis,whencertaindisease shavedeveloped)canchangesinnutritionprov ebeneficial?Therestofthischapteraddresse sthesethreequestions. SWEAT,NUTRIENTS,ANDTHESKINU ndernormalcircumstancessmallamountsofnut rientsarelostinsweatthroughtheskinandint hehornylayeroftheskinsurfacethatflakesof fona weaksaltsolution,consistingofsodium,chlo ride,potassium,calcium, (ayoungadultmalewillloseonly360mgofnitro genand149mgofcalciumina twenty-four-hourperiod).Wheresweatlossis extreme,therecanbeenoughofa depletionofsodiumtoproducea life-threateningsituation. Copyright 2000, David J. Leffell. MD. All rights a fewrareskinconditions, ,therecanbemassivelossofproteinfromthese rum(thefluidorliquidpartofblood).

3 Thishighlightsthefactthatwhentheskinlose sitsnormalbarrierfunction,importantcompo undscanescapefromthebody,thuscreatinga ,however,itisimportanttorealizethatunder normalcircumstanceswhenwesweatthereisnos ignificantlossofimportantnutrientsthroug htheskin. VITAMIND,ANATURALWONDERA mostfascinatingandunexpectednutritionalr oleoftheskinistheoneitplaysinthemetaboli smofvitaminD,a veryimportantnutrientformaintaininghealt hybones,teeth, ~ resultofamajorsocioeconomicchangethatocc urredintheprecedingcentury, , , ,butitwastheIndustrialRevolutionthatmade thisdiseasea bone-deformingconditionthatmakeslegsbowe d, serioussymptomofrickets, ,bythebeginningofthetwen-tiethcentury, ,otherssuggesteditwascausedbyaninfection ,andstillothersthoughtthateithera ,a Polishscientisthadsuggestedthatricketswa scaused Copyright 2000, David J.

4 Leffell. MD. All rights ,buthistheorylanguishedobscurelyinscient ificjournalsforabouta ,ina smallexperimentin1921,eightchildrenwithr icketswereregularlyexposedtonaturalsunli ghtontheroofofa NewYorkhospital; ,presentincodliveroil, ,artificiallight,intheformofthemercuryva porlamp, ,inthe1930s, ,vitaminD wasn' , 'tworkedoutuntilthe1970sand1980s:whenvit aminD intheskinis exposedtoultra-violetlightfromthesun,one formofvitaminD ,withtheheavysupplementationofmilkandfoo dwithvitaminD,thepos-sibilityofa poordietandnovitaminsupplementswitha lifewherethesunis alwaysshutout,however,andtheriskofvitami nD go,thisis a primeexampleof"moremaynotbebetter.

5 "Somepeoplemightthinkthatsincea littlebitofvitaminD is goodforbones,whynottakea wholelotmore?Orwhynotstayoutinthesunanda llowyourbodytomanufacturemorevitaminDtha nitmightactuallyneed?Theproblemisthatvit aminD is verylongtime, ,youcoulddeveloptoxiclevelsbytakingtoomu chartificialvitaminD supplement. CANVITAMINAANDITSDERIVATIVESIMPROVESKIN? Anothercompoundthathasa ,itwasoriginallycalledfat-solublefactorA andknowntobeimportantforthenormalgrowtho f Copyright 2000, David J. Leffell. MD. All rights ,asitscriticalroleingrowth,vision,reprod uction,andskinmaintenanceemerged, ,vitaminAreferstoa wholehostofcompounds, ,vitaminAderivativeshaveacounterpartinna ture:carotenoids,socalledbecausetheyaref oundincarrots,anaturalsourceofvitaminA,a sBugsBunnyhasknownfora , ,knownasAccutane, ,noder-matologistorotherphysicianshouldp rescribeisotretinoinwithoutcare-fullymak ingsurethepatient,ifofchild-bearingage, ; , , wholerangeofeffects, ,vitaminA ,wheretheskinproliferatesveryrapidlyandt hickscalypatchesofskincanaccumulate.

6 Copyright 2000, David J. Leffell. MD. All rights i tionandYourSkin109 ,sailorsweresubjecttoscurvy,a ,themoremenwoundupwithswollen,discolored limbs,bleedingmouths,andlooseteeth; (1716-1794),a navalsurgeon,suggestedsupple-mentingthed ailyfarefedBritishsailors-meat,ale, 'sideaprovedasoundwaytopreventscurvy;wen owknowthatitwastheabsenceofvitaminC,foun dinfreshfruits, dailyrationoflemonsorlimes,whichishowthe Britishsailoracquiredthenicknameof"limey ." ,vitaminCplaysanimportantroleinwoundheal inginnormalamounts,butI ,whatyourbodydoesn'tuseisexcretedinurine . ,byweight-notcountingthewaterthatwemostl yconsistof-wewouldbemainlymineral, stillbeinginves-tigated,itisknownthatzin cplaysa , ,fortifyitsstrengthanddurabil-ity, ,butthereisconflictingevidencethatzincin amountsgreaterthannormallyconsumedinthed ietenhanceshealing.

7 Copyright 2000, David J. Leffell. MD. All rights WATERANDYOURSKINF irstoff,letmesaythatthereisnodirectconne ctionbetweendrink-ingwater-orsprayingito nyourface, ,however,a "purify"orimproveyourskin, day,yourfluidstatusshouldbeoptimal. ALLERGIESRELATEDTOFOODH owoftenhaveyouheardofsomeonewho,havingea tenstrawberries,shellfish,ornuts,thendev elopedhives? , , ,SUN,FUN,ANDRASHA nunusualbutnotuncommonskinrashcandevelop whena com-poundinlimes,figs, ,therashis ,whichtheysqueezealldaylong,containa com poundcalledpsoralen,whichis activatedbysunandcancausea , drugthat,combinedwithartificialultraviol etA radiation,cancontrolthedisease. Copyright 2000, David J.

8 Leffell. MD. All rights reserved.