4 Nutrition Tips for Combating Melasma

The Skin Detox Guide

The foods we eat play a major role in either reducing or increasing inflammation in our bodies. That means our diet also impacts skin health and appearance. Adopting an inside-out approach to beauty means we can foster more even-toned, radiant complexions through what we eat. When we opt for whole, real foods, limit consumption of harmful additives, and include a variety of antioxidant-rich vegetables and herbs into our diet, we support the vitality of our internal organs and the functioning of our innate detoxification pathways. The skin is our largest organ, after all.

That’s why I enlisted the help of Certified Nutritionist Rebecca Maas to identify both the most beneficial foods for your skin. We partnered up to create this quick Skin Detox Guide as a template to support skin-centered eating habits.  
 
The liver is the primary organ of detoxification and the appearance of melasma sometimes indicates impaired liver function. Understandably, an overburdened liver can’t properly perform its 500+ functions. Maas shared with me that a central tenet of Chinese medicine asserts that supporting the liver equals supporting optimal overall health, and practitioners of Chinese medicine learned centuries ago that certain organ systems express dysfunction through specific areas of the face and skin. In short, the health and tone of the face can reflect a burdened liver. The line of thought is that if detoxification pathways are impaired in the liver, our body will use the skin—its largest organ—as a backup excretory system to eliminate toxins. 
 
Even in the absence of other symptoms, the emergence of melasma may indicate a possible liver imbalance. The imbalance can be caused or exacerbated by use of a variety of prescribed medications, including antibiotics, hormonal contraceptives like birth control pills, and other pharmaceuticals. Even commonly prescribed acne medications like Accutane can cause liver damage if used for extended periods of time. Any prescribing physician should caution us about these side effects, but we can always take the power into our own hands by asking some extra, liver-focused questions about anything a doctor prescribes.
 
Many common affective states can stress our livers as well—like chronic anxiety, depression, and anger issues to name a few—it’s important to  keep mental health on the list of priorities for more liver balance and overall wellness. The correlation between pregnancy (especially in people over age 30) and the emergence of melasma is super strong as well, underscoring the connection between hormones, the liver, and the skin. As an example, our livers have the job of ridding our bodies of hormonal waste products like inflammatory estrogen metabolites as one of its many functions.
 
Here are four action steps that have helped me personally in reclaiming my vitality and healing my skin. These approaches all work by supporting the essential functions of our vital organs and by aiding in our body’s innate detoxification processes.

1. Take a morning shower—from the inside!

Just like we shower in the mornings for personal hygiene, we can also cleanse our bodies internally at the start of each day. Since toxins accumulate overnight, it’s just as important to rinse them away as it is to clean our external bodies. One way to do this is by treating yourself to a little concoction upon waking and on an empty stomach. Drinking a tall glass of warm water or  ginger tea (~10 oz) with some fresh organic lemon juice (~¼ of a lemon or 1 tsp. squeezed juice) and a pinch of Himalayan or Sea Salt (⅛ tsp.) first thing in the morning is a daily ritual your skin will thank you for. This internal bath both hydrates and gently stimulates the liver’s bile production. More bile helps the liver flush out toxins and fat-soluble nutrients through the bloodstream and bowel. “In addition to the increase in bile, having warm lemon water in the morning, also increases in essential enzymes, immune function, digestion and assimilation of essential nutrients, excreting waste products from the cells, calming hunger signals due to blood sugar instability and decreasing cellular uric acid as well as fighting inflammation”. Says Maas
 
(Nutritionist Tip: Make sure the salt is “melted” into your drink. When fully incorporated, salt changes the molecular structure of the water, making it fully mineralized. Also, Himalayan pink salt has higher iron content, making it the best choice for menstruating women who lose blood monthly. Male-bodied folks may want to opt for Sea Salt as their blood ferritin levels can spike with excess iron. We always recommend getting these levels tested annually by your physician!)
 
This practice is most effective when incorporated with consistency, so kick off your day with some instant self care through this easy-to-make morning detox beverage!

2. Go green!

Bitter vegetables like arugula, radishes, watercress, endive, mustard greens, and dandelion greens support both digestion and detoxification. Leafy greens in general are great sources of calcium and minerals, so see if you can find ways to incorporate Swiss chard, bok choy, collards, and beet greens into your regular diet. Kale and spinach are great to incorporate occasionally, preferably when cooked down to reduce lectins. Cruciferous veggies like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and collard greens provide high levels of sulfur and phyto-nutrients, which are immune and detox-boosting (a perfect aid to overall health). On top of that, we can widen our nutrient spectrum and contribute a variety of necessary prebiotics into our guts by eating more artichokes, beets, squashes, and onions. Prebiotics are a type of insoluble fiber that act like the soil and foundational structure for probiotics and other beneficial gut flora. Each is needed for optimal gut health and functioning. All of these veggies together provide high vitamin and mineral content and are also high in soluble fiber, a substance that acts as a broom in our digestive tract, sweeping out waste and toxins. 

3. Calm the inflammation response!

We can get some powerful benefits for the health of our skin and organ systems by avoiding refined sugars, gluten, and unfermented cow’s milk dairy products (grass-fed butter is okay) as well as omega-6 oils, fried foods, alcohol, and processed packaged foods. But don’t worry! Swapping sweets for Swiss chard doesn’t have to mean giving up food as pleasure. In fact, these nutritional treasure troves activate the taste buds on our tongue that detect bitterness, which is the taste most absent from the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.), as it’s dominated by the tastes of sweet and salty. Retraining our taste buds in this way reduces cravings for the processed foods that trigger inflammation. When the cravings start to fall away after dietary modifications, we find we no longer have to fight our will and cravings to avoid the foods above. We start to actually want and crave the foods that support our body and its deep nutritional needs. 

4. Spice things up!

There are many herbs and spices that promote wellness and deliciousness. Adding turmeric, ginger, cilantro, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, or fennel into our cooking gives our meals tantalizing, unique flavor profiles and helps our bodies regulate the metabolism of hormones. Not only that, but these spices assist in digestion, assimilation, absorption, and detoxification processes, improving the overall functioning of our organ systems. We were meant to avail ourselves of all the flavors and spices that the natural world offers—and they each serve a unique nutritional purpose. For instance curcumin, the active constituent in turmeric, fights systemic inflammation. (Pro tip: Curcumin must always be paired with a good fat like coconut oil and some black pepper to activate and optimize its beneficial properties.) Additionally, cilantro facilitates our detox pathways, rosemary supports cognition, and garlic is a mighty antimicrobial. The list goes on and it can be a lot of fun to learn what each spice does beyond packing a powerful flavor punch.
 
Remember, melasma doesn’t develop overnight and there is no quick fix. That said, diving beneath the surface of symptoms to consider the underlying causes is a worthwhile endeavor that helps shed light on deficiencies or imbalances that might be untreated. Irrespective of the possible causes of our melasma, it can likely be connected to suboptimal liver function. Investing in our health by eating whole and nourishing foods while incorporating strategies that benefit our organs will provide invaluable returns for long-term health outcomes. Those daily choices and dietary changes add up so let’s work on building melasma-soothing habits together!

Resources
1. dermascope.com/skin-care/why-hyperpigmentation-is-your-best-friend