Naturopathic Beauty's Clear Skin Sessions
Clear skin and aging beautifully conversations, trainings and challenges by Dr. Stacey Shillington ND.
Naturopathic Beauty's Clear Skin Sessions
The Four Pillars of Radiant Skin with Dr. Stacey Shillington ND
Clear skin is more than just surface-deep. Join me, Dr. Stacey Shillington, as I share my personal journey from struggling with acne to becoming a naturopathic doctor dedicated to helping women achieve radiant skin from within. In this episode of "The Clear Skin Sessions," I unravel the four essential pillars of clear skin and reveal how intertwined our body's systems truly are. By understanding and addressing the root causes of acne, you can move beyond the limitations of conventional medicine and find a path to lasting, vibrant skin.
Ever wondered why stress seems to make your skin worse? Learn how cortisol dysregulation can trap your body in a relentless fight-or-flight mode, wreaking havoc on your liver, digestion, and hormones. Discover the pivotal role of balanced insulin levels in maintaining healthy skin and the dietary choices that can keep your insulin in check. Together, we'll dissect the intricate links between stress, diet, and acne, offering you practical solutions to break free from the cycle of hormonal imbalances.
Gut health is the cornerstone of glowing skin. Find out why detoxification, drainage, and a thriving gut microbiome are crucial for clear skin. We'll explore how poor gut health can sabotage your complexion and share insights on functional medicine testing to pinpoint gut issues contributing to acne. Finally, I'll introduce you to the Clear Skin Group Program—an affordable, comprehensive approach with a 90% success rate, designed to support you every step of the way. Visit naturopathicbeauty.com for more resources, including testimonials, a free acne quiz, and details on how to schedule a free consultation call.
Click here for the parasite kit I love. (Code to order is jwJq6IcY). Always be sure to consult with your primary care practitioner before implementing any new supplements.
Check out my new FREE Training: The 'Acne-Free Blueprint', where I share the different types of acne and how to treat each one. Click here to watch it now.
If you are ready to start your clear skin journey with me, there are two options:
1. My Clear Skin Group Program, which delivers my complete clear skin strategy and 4 months of LIVE Group Coaching Calls. Click here to learn more.
2. My 1:1 Advanced Clear Skin Program, where I work with you personally to discover the root cause of your acne through gold standard functional medicine testing and design a protocol to clear your skin and balance your body as efficiently as possible. Click here to book a free call to talk with a Clear Skin Advisor now.
Welcome to Naturopathic Beauty's Clear Skin Sessions, where we heal your acne from the inside out. Hello, beauties, and welcome to the Clear Skin Sessions. This podcast is to help you navigate your clear skin journey. My name is Dr Stacey Shillington. For the past 18 years, I've been helping women clear their skin by balancing their bodies from the inside out. I've been there. Not only have I suffered with really awful acne myself, but I became a naturopathic doctor so I could learn to heal my own skin and help other women learn how to heal their own acne. And it's been 18 years now. I've helped thousands of women clear their skin and I know a lot about acne. But one of the most important things that I've learned is the root causes of acne, what's really underlying acne and what we need to balance in order to get clear skin for good. And that's what this podcast is about. I am going to teach you about the four root causes of acne and I'm going to invite you to take a quiz where we can figure out what your root cause of acne is, so that you are better equipped to really start to heal your acne from the inside out. So what is the root cause of your acne? So I want to introduce the four pillars of clear skin to you. So these are the four main root causes of acne, and I'm going to invite you to take a quiz a little bit further on in this podcast and it's going to help you determine what the root cause of your acne is.
Speaker 1:But it's very likely that you're going to have more than one root cause, because the body is a holistic organism. Everything works together and every system in the body influences each other. So for many, many decades we've now been working within a reductionist model of medicine, and this model really teaches us that different organ systems operate in isolation. For instance, the cardiac system. The heart, it's its own system and you have a cardiologist and cardiologist deals with that. If you have difficulties with your digestion, you work with a gastroenterologist and they're just working with the gut. But nobody's really understanding the connection between the different organ systems and working holistically, and that's unfortunate because that's how the body operates. For instance, if your cortisol is dysregulated, there's a really good chance that your insulin is going to suffer from that as well, and if you're not detoxing properly, then there's a really good chance that your gut may not be in great shape, and vice versa, if your gut's not in great shape, then you're not going to be detoxing right? So all of these root causes of acne, they really work together. They can become very closely and deeply entwined, and we have to understand that as we start to navigate your clear skin journey and we start to determine exactly what we need to balance in order to get you to have clear skin for good. Because that's what happens when we start to balance the body, when all the organ systems start to work harmoniously. That's when you experience optimal health, optimal vitality, and your skin is always going to be a reflection of your health and vitality. That's what the skin is. The skin is a mirror and it shows us the level of health that's within your body. So let's go through these clear skin pillars one by one quickly.
Speaker 1:So the very first pillar of clear skin is dysregulated stress and dysregulated cortisol, and I see this all the time. I mean, I've worked with thousands of acne patients throughout my career. I've done a lot of testing with all my acne patients and I definitely see trends, and one of the biggest trends that I see is dysregulated cortisol. Most acne patients and I definitely see trends, and one of the biggest trends that I see is dysregulated cortisol. Most acne patients are stuck in their fight or flight nervous system. This is their sympathetic nervous system. They're in a state of survival and one of the very first things that we need to do is we need to allow the body to feel that it's safe so we can start to transition out of the sympathetic nervous system into the parasympathetic nervous system where the body can actually heal. When you're in a state of stress, you're just not able to heal. So this is one of the very first things I address with all my patients and it's a really big part of my acne program.
Speaker 1:So when there is a stress response and stress can be psychological, it can also be physical certain chemicals are released from the brain in the pituitary gland and these stimulate the adrenal glands to produce cortisol and adrenaline. And when we have an overabundance of cortisol and adrenaline being produced, especially for a long period of time, of cortisol and adrenaline being produced, especially for a long period of time, this is going to affect so many different organ systems in the body. The liver is going to convert glycogen to glucose and this can really affect insulin imbalances and I'm going to talk more about that in one minute. It can also increase sweating, our breathing, our heart rate, our vision, and it also affects our digestion. Our digestion is going to slow down and, as we're going to talk about in a moment, the digestion really is another pillar of clear skin. And when digestion is not working optimally, then acne can definitely become more of an issue. So stress and acne are so strongly correlated.
Speaker 1:And cortisol, which is one of those hormones that's released by adrenal glands, it has the ability to affect almost every other hormone in the body. I really call it a bully in the body, because when there's too much of it, when it's dysregulated, when there's not enough, all the hormones are going to be affected. It's going to affect estrogen levels. It's going to affect estrogen levels, it's going to affect progesterone levels, it affects luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone. It also creates dysregulation in the feedback loops of our hormonal system as well. So when cortisol is dysregulated, we are really going to experience hormonal acne even more.
Speaker 1:And, as I said before, when we're trapped in our fight or flight nervous system, when we're experiencing dysregulated cortisol, we cannot heal. It is not a time for us to heal, because we're in survival mode. When our bodies are trying to survive, they're constantly trying to perceive a threat that's surrounding us. We are going to be in a place where we're ready to fight that threat or flee from that threat. It's not a time for our bodies to heal, it's not a time for our bodies to repair, and our skin is an incredibly important organ in the body. It's my favorite organ in the body, if you can have a favorite organ but it's really a reflection of what's going on inside. There's more vital organs within our body and as we start to heal the body if you can have a favorite organ, but it's really a reflection of what's going on inside there's more vital organs within our body and as we start to heal the body, those vital organs are going to get preferential treatment. So that's one of the reasons why it can take a bit of time to heal acne, because preferential organs are going to heal first, and then the skin is going to follow, and that's why the skin is always a reflection of how the rest of the body is operating. Okay, let's talk about clear skin.
Speaker 1:Pillar number two, which is insulin levels. So we saw just a moment ago how dysregulated cortisol can impact insulin levels, and this is especially important because insulin and androgen levels the hormones that actually cause acne are very closely related, so I'm going to explain quickly how this works. So insulin is a hormone that attaches to a receptor on the cell wall. It opens a channel that allows glucose into the cells of the body, and this is really important because glucose is food for the cells and when we have a buildup of glucose in the bloodstream, it's going to stimulate more insulin production. So if insulin is not working properly, glucose continues to build up in the bloodstream. We are going to create more and more insulin production. We have more and more insulin that is in the blood, and when we have high insulin that's in the blood, what happens is certain hormones are created, such as IGF-1, and this directly stimulates androgen production. So high insulin leads to high IGF-1. This leads to high androgens. Androgens are the hormones that lead to increased oil production in our skin, dysregulated keratinocyte shedding, and that's the top layer of our skin. It's not shedding properly, and they also inhibit ovulation. So when our insulin levels are dysregulated, it's like a perfect storm that can lead to acne. That's why it's so important to regulate insulin levels when you have acne, and some of the ways that you can do this are by not eating sugar. This is a really big one, because sugar can really imbalance glucose levels, which can affect insulin levels. Eating regular meals at regular times this is really important. When cortisol is dysregulated, insulin is dysregulated. We have to manage our blood glucose levels manually by eating three meals a day, and the meals have to include protein, they have to include fat. They cannot be high carbohydrate meals, because these high carbohydrates are going to send your glucose and insulin just spinning and it's going to lead to more acne. So those are two tips that I really want to strongly emphasize that are so important to attaining clear skin and balancing this pillar of clear skin.
Speaker 1:The third pillar of clear skin is supporting drainage and detoxification. So drainage is everything that facilitates the movement of toxins from the cells to outside of the body. This is an ancient practice. It's been practiced for thousands of years and it simply helps the body remove congestion and toxins. And detoxification, on the other hand, is processing toxins at a cellular level and it's characterized by a step of chemical reactions. This happens in the cell. So detoxification and drainage are very different things. They both need to be addressed to get clear skin. First we need to work on drainage, then we need to work on detoxification. This is a process that needs to be instituted very mindfully, and naturopathic medicine really excels at helping the body process and release waste. So one of the most important things is to ensure that the colon is working properly. When constipation is being experienced, it is going to back up, the entire system is going to inhibit proper drainage, and if detoxification is not working properly, it's just going to create a storm that can absolutely worsen acne, because if these main organs of detoxification are not working properly, the skin is going to have to assume responsibility for eliminating toxins from the body, and when the skin starts to eliminate toxins, this is when irritation happens on the skin. We see rashes, we see eczema, we see psoriasis and we also see acne. So really, we have to ensure that the body is detoxifying and draining properly.
Speaker 1:And how do you know if detox and drainage is not something that's happening for you? There's a broad range of symptoms, such as feeling bloated, itchy ears, water retention, anxiety, depression, fatigue, sluggishness, lethargy, restlessness, headaches, dark circles under your eyes, dizziness, insomnia, pain or aches in your joints, stiffness, congestion, asthma, difficulty breathing. What else is there? Sore throat, frequent need to clear your throat, cravings, canker, sores, stuffy nose, sinus problems, excessive mucus the list actually goes on. So if any of the symptoms that I've just mentioned, if they resonate with you, chances are you may need to address your body's ability to detox and drain.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to give you one really great tip that you can start instituting right now. It's so simple, and that is drinking warm water and fresh squeezed lemon every morning when you wake up, before you eat anything on an empty stomach. What this does is it stimulates your digestive system to start working, and lemon is really great to stimulate bile production, so it really stimulates bile release from the gallbladder and this bile is going to stimulate a bowel movement to get things moving. So try a cup of warm water with lemon when you first wake up. That's a great first step, and, of course, there's so many other techniques that I use in my program to really support drainage and detoxification and get these systems moving so that the body stays really clear.
Speaker 1:Okay, so the final pillar of clear skin, which is my very favorite, is healing the gut, skin access, and I really truly believe that when it comes to clearing skin, it's the most important part of the puzzle. Of course, everything works together, so we can't ignore balancing cortisol, we can't ignore balancing insulin, we can't ignore supporting drainage and detoxification. But if we do all three of those and we don't address the gut, it's very difficult to heal the skin completely. So when the gut is in poor health, this can increase stress. And the gut produces more than 90% of the body's serotonin. So when you have constipation, when you have bloating, if you have diarrhea, chances are your gut is not in great shape and you're not producing enough serotonin and this can lead directly to anxiety, to overwhelm, to depression, to more stress.
Speaker 1:And so many of my patients they come to me and they're experiencing extreme anxiety. And of course acne can drive this anxiety. But sometimes the anxiety is just, you know, it's really overwhelming and the patient does not know how to manage this. And this can be a consequence of the gut being in poor health. We're not having enough serotonin produced. So once we start to heal the gut, the anxiety becomes more manageable. But it's kind of like a chicken or egg scenario, because in order for me to really heal the gut, we need to start to manage the anxiety. So you can't just wait for your gut to be healed to start to manage anxiety and to manage stress. You have to learn how to do it while we're healing the gut. So I do have many techniques that I share with my patients to really help this process be successful.
Speaker 1:So when we have poor gut health, this can cause insulin imbalances, so gut infections increase. Glp-1, and GLP-1 is a hormone that leads to insulin dysregulation. So sometimes I have patients and they're just not able to manage their insulin levels, even though they are eating really, really well, and they are truly perplexed by this, and often the underlying cause can be gut infections so something that we really have to pay attention to and poor gut health. It also leads to drainage and detoxification congestion. When the gut's in poor health, we are not able to detox optimally. So all the pillars of clear skin are interrelated and we really need to treat all of them at the same time in a step-by-step manner to get the best success possible.
Speaker 1:So here's something really interesting that I want to share when the gut's microbiome is healthy, the skin's microbiome is going to be healthy as well. They are intimately connected, they reflect one another, and the most important microbiome to regulate is the gut microbiome, because it is going to influence the health of the skin's microbiome when we have gut microbiome dysbiosis meaning there's more pathogenic microbes than beneficial microbes, meaning there's more pathogenic microbes than beneficial microbes we're going to notice some really important changes in the skin. There's going to be more histamines, there's going to be more inflammatory cytokines that are being produced, the moisture barrier is not going to be intact and we're going to experience more water loss. We're going to be more susceptible to infections, and this is often the underlying reason for acne. So focusing on the gut microbiome is essential for clear skin and the microbiome is important. It's a community of trillions of different microbes and not only do these microbes protect against pathogens, they also help synthesize many important vitamins that our body utilizes, such as vitamin K and vitamin B12. And the microbiome helps develop the immune system and it also promotes the production of short-chain fatty acids. And, of course, as we've already mentioned, it modulates the central nervous system. So the microbiome really helps produce a lot of neurotransmitters that are important for us to just feel good. So the gut is really the center of everything. When we get the gut healed, the skin is going to really start to clear up and glow, and that's when you're going to get your dream skin. So what are the things that cause imbalances in the gut. So sugar, stress, toxins, alcohol, pathogens, food sensitivities, damage from NSAIDs such as Tylenol or Advil, other drugs, antibiotics, radiation so many of these things that we are exposed to every single day. It's impossible to avoid all of these things just because of the environment that we live in. So that's why we have to take steps every single day not only to heal our gut, but then to maintain the health of our gut. It's not just like we fix it once and then it's fixed forever. We really have to pay attention. We really have to take care of our gut on an ongoing basis.
Speaker 1:I love doing testing with my patients. I'm very proficient at functional medicine testing. I've been doing it for almost 20 years and the more I test, the more I love it, because it allows us to really focus the treatment, understand exactly what we need to accomplish and get the very best results. So my very favorite test that I really encourage you that you get done for yourself if you're suffering from chronic acne, and you can either do it with myself and my team or you can find a naturopathic doctor near you that does a GI mapping test. This is a great test because it identifies pathogenic microbes that specifically cause acne. So after looking at really thousands of these tests over many years, I know the microbes that if I see them, I'm like we need to get these microbes under control first in order to really heal your acne. It also lets us know if H pylori is present, and H pylori is an important bacteria that acne patients can be very sensitive to.
Speaker 1:It also gives us a look at the beneficial microbes in the gut. Is there a deficiency of the beneficial microbes or are they adequate? Overgrowth of opportunistic microbes, whether it's bacteria, viruses, candida or even parasites. And the test also tells me how you're digesting. It shows me if you're digesting your fats properly, your proteins properly, if you're sensitive to gluten, what the immune system in your gut looks like. And these are really important parameters to look at when we are healing the gut. It's almost impossible to heal the gut well when you are just guessing, because there are so many different factors that determine the health of the gut.
Speaker 1:If you have really resistant, chronic acne, you need to get a test done so you can identify how to heal your gut. All right, so those are the four pillars of clear skin Cortisol dysregulation, insulin dysregulation, drainage and detoxification and the gut. So once we get those four pillars of clear skin balanced, that is when your skin starts to clear. And the amazing thing is is this works for all types of acne. It works if you want to get off the birth control pill without experiencing post-pill acne, and these secrets work if you want to get rid of hormonal acne. Or if you want to heal PCOS, if you have deep, you know, cystic acne and gut issues, and these secrets work even if your acne is genetic. So even if everybody in your family your aunts, your uncles, your parents, your siblings they all have acne, epigenetics shows us that we can turn genes off by implementing dietary and lifestyle practices. And that's exactly what this work is. It's targeted to people that have genetic acne and really helps to turn those genes off, and I've cleared many cases of genetic acne, so don't feel hopeless. If that's your scenario. These secrets work for that.
Speaker 1:And these secrets work if you've tried to get off acne medication or if you want to get off acne medication, whether it's spironolactone, whether it's antibiotics, whether it's the birth control pill, even Accutane I've had so many patients that I've worked with over the years that have been on multiple courses of Accutane, their acne continues to come back, but once we've bounced these four pillars, their acne goes away for good. So this is the work that needs to be done. Even if you've tried different diets, different supplements and many different skincare products I know most of us have tried a million things and by the time patients start to work with me, they've exhausted all the options. But by properly implementing these four pillars of clear skin, that's how we get to where they want to go. And if you want to hear from the women that have gone through this process, that have worked on clearing their skin by implementing these four pillars of clear skin, go to my website. I have so many success stories there. I have before and after pictures, I have videos of women telling their story and I would love for you to take a look at those just to give you some hope, to really motivate you to heal your body from within, to clear your acne, because I know how traumatic and how paralyzing acne can be. I know when I had acne, it completely changed the way that I interacted with the world, and it's not necessary to suffer because we now know how to clear acne At least I know because I've been doing this for so long and if you want to just jump right in and start your clear skin journey right away, you may want to consider my Clear Skin Group program.
Speaker 1:This is based on my 18 years of experience as a naturopathic doctor. It's based on my experience working with thousands of women with acne. It has a 90% success rate and I've tried to make it as affordable as possible so everybody can have access to this program. It includes a Facebook group where we answer questions daily. It also includes a weekly live group coaching call with me and this is something that is incredibly important because when you have questions, when you run into roadblocks, you're able to actually ask me questions and I've able to answer them once a week on the call, so you're never alone. This is really a supportive program. I love my Facebook group so much and so many women have had success going through this program. I also do a one-on-one a clear skin program as well If you want to work with me and get all your testing done.
Speaker 1:There's again so much support and I feel that when you know it comes to healing acne, the support is so important, because acne is a traumatic thing to go through. You feel alone, you feel confused, you feel overwhelmed, and healing is not always linear. I'm going to be really honest with you. Healing takes time, it's not always linear, and you need the support as you go through the healing process. And that's what I'm so proud of in my programs that I really am able to offer that support that really helps women get past, you know, the fear and the trauma of acne and cultivate self-love and really learn how to heal themselves. That's what I'm doing. So, again, check out my website, naturopathicbeautycom. Look at my testimonials. I want you to see the before and after pictures. I want you to listen to the videos of the women that have already cleared their skin All right.
Speaker 1:So I hope that this podcast has helped you, because I really want to help you on your clear skin journey. I want you to know you do not have to live with acne. There is a solution, and, of course, the solution isn't for everybody. You have to be ready to make a change. You have to understand that healing isn't linear. You have to be ready to learn. You have to be ready to learn. You have to be ready to ask for support and accountability and if you're tired of short-term results, if you finally want to solve the problem and leave your acne behind you. If you're ready to invest in yourself, these are the patients that I'm ready for. That I want to take to the next level. So if this is you, click the link in my show notes. You can book a free call. You know we can talk you through what to expect in the program. There are options. So if you've enjoyed this podcast, if it has helped you learn more about how to heal your acne, please leave a review.
Speaker 1:This is the way that we're reaching women and letting them know they can heal their acne, and they heal it by healing their body from the inside out. Not everybody knows this. There are thousands of women out there that are suffering from acne. They're trying skincare, they're trying medication. Money is just sifting through their fingers and they're not getting the results they want. They want and I also have an acne quiz.
Speaker 1:The link to the acne quiz is in my show notes. You can go through that quiz and it will tell you what root cause of acne is most likely to pertain to you and, as I said, it's probably multiple, but there may be one that really stands out and that root cause of acne that really stands out for you. That's likely the place that you can really start to get results, and this quiz is a really great quiz. I've had it going on for many, many years and a lot of women have got a lot of insight from going through this quiz. So the links in the show notes it's completely free. It'll give you a lot of insight. So thank you so much for joining me for this podcast episode. I so appreciate you and thank you for allowing me to guide you on your clear skin journey and have a beautiful day, and I will see you in the next episode.