why your skin is dry no matter how much you drink
A : lack of fats + salt + poor digestion (and a bit too much moisturiser)
dry skin doesn’t start in the skin, it starts in the metabolism. firstly, if there isn’t sufficient bile secretion, then fat soluble vitamins and minerals are not going to be absorbed leading to nutrient deprived skin tissue. why? because bile is a fat, and only fats can absorb fats, and some essential vitamins (a,d,e,k) are purely fat-soluble. your skin is also made of fat.
the same thing will happen with generally low-fat diet : low fat = low mineral absorption.
But it’s more than that : low fat also = low hormone metabolism and transportation because the only way hormones can move around, do their job, and then get safely eliminated (instead of hanging around and becoming toxic) is with fat. if there is low fat intake or uptake, a hormone imbalance can occur that could be aggravating skin issues.
Lack of fat movement to the tissue is eventually going to create dryness and inflammation -and this is where the itchy / inflamed skin conditions arise.
there’s another part to skin hydration - salt.
Matthew Wood famously says “water follows salt” and what he means is that, sure, you’re drinking enough and the water’s getting to the cells but it’s not getting IN to the cells because if you lack salt (and the minerals potassium, magnesium in salt) then water cannot effectively pass into the cell wall.
dry skin can also arise -as most of us have found- from external environmental changes. often these are easy to change and pick up on, but if it’s chronic, it might be worth applying a topical astringent rather than topical moisturiser. a moisturiser will tell the skin to stop producing its own oils as the area is already oily, a topical astringent ,such as rose, will encourage the skin to retain the moisture it has.
so, chronically dry skin?
start with salt water, increased good fats and oils, and supporting effective bile secretion with herbs. stop applying moisturiser, and try an astringent.
herbs
burdock root is very effective at mobilising fats, and burdock seed contains its own important fatty acids. it’s also great at stimulating bile flow.
if you think bile flow might be part of the issue, a bitter complex such as swedish bitters can support this. milk thistle also supports bile production and mobilises fats, and like burdock, the seed is a great source of fat itself.
marshmallow root’s mucilagenous quality can increase moisture retention in the cells, soothe dryness, and therefore cool heat.
