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 8-Week Clear Skin Challenge: Week 3
Unlock the secrets to flawless skin with Dr. Stacey Shillington as we journey into week three of our Clear Skin Challenge. Can protein be the missing link to acne-free, radiant skin? Join us as we unravel the powerful role protein plays in repairing body tissues, stabilizing blood sugar, and supporting the immune system—all crucial elements in preventing those pesky breakouts. Discover how incorporating protein into every meal could be your game-changer in balancing insulin levels and enhancing skin health.
Be part of our community and explore the benefits of leaving a review, which could grant you free access to the first module of the Clear Skin Group program. Plus, get introduced to Dr. Shillington’s free training, Clear Skin Mastery, offering a comprehensive approach to acne healing that fits seamlessly into your daily life. With gratitude and excitement, Dr. Shillington invites you to continue this transformative journey toward the skin you've always desired, promising more insights and solutions to come in the weeks ahead.
Check out my new FREE Training: Clear Skin Mastery, where I share the different types of acne and how to treat each one. Click here to watch it now.
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Welcome to Naturopathic Beauty's Clear Skin Sessions, where we heal your acne from the inside out. Hello, beauties, and welcome back to Naturopathic Beauty's Clear Skin Sessions. I'm Dr Stacey Shillington, naturopathic doctor. For almost 20 years I've been helping women clear their acne, and this podcast is for you If you are suffering with acne. My mission is to help you clear your skin as quickly as possible so you can get on with your life. I've been an acne sufferer myself. I know exactly what it's like, and life is too short to deal with acne, so let's get to the bottom of it so we can get rid of it for good. So this is week three of my eight week clear skin challenge. If you haven't had a chance to listen to the previous two weeks, be sure to do so, because this challenge is designed in a very methodical way a step-by-step process. Each week builds upon the next so that we can get you to clear skin as quickly as possible. So let's just do a review of what you've done so far in the challenge.
Speaker 1:So the first week of the challenge, I talked about reducing inflammatory foods. We did a deep dive into that and we really specifically talked about dairy, because dairy is an especially aggravating food. When it comes to acne, there's a lot of research to back it up and I've shared that with you. I've also shared the most triggering dairy foods for acne and also great clear skin substitutes. So hopefully, just by implementing the suggestions in week one, you started to notice a reduction in inflammation the next week. Last week, we talked about foods that actually nourish the body when it comes to healing acne. We talked about the vitamin deficiencies that are usually present and how we can overcome this. And even though I gave you the list of my very favorite clear skin foods, we also have to take a look at other factors when it comes to determining how well we're actually absorbing the nutrients that we're consuming. So that's something to keep in mind. So, hopefully, you have discovered some great new foods. You've been filling your diet with clear skin foods and you're starting to feel really, really good.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're noticing, there's still digestive issues. There's a lot of reasons why you may not be absorbing your food properly. That's when you have to reach out to an expert so we can start to heal your gut, so you can actually absorb the nutrients that you are working so hard to consume. So in this week, we are going to talk even more about our diet and how we're going to use the diet to really tackle one of the root causes of acne, which is metabolism, and, specifically, we're going to talk about including protein at every single meal. I'm going to give you the top two reasons why this is so important.
Speaker 1:If you struggle with acne, bottom line protein is essential for clear, healthy skin. Often my patients come to see me they have not been eating enough protein. This is something that I see again and again and again. So let's talk about why protein is important for clear skin. So there's a lot of reasons. Number one it repairs body tissues. It makes hormones.
Speaker 1:Proteins also make enzymes, and this makes protein the most important macronutrient that we consume, because when proteins make enzymes, these are the building blocks of our entire body, of our skin, our bones, our blood, our collagen, our muscles, and when we're not able to consume enough protein to fortify and nourish these systems in the body, our bodies are just not going to thrive. They're going to start to break down. Protein's also important because it balances blood sugar and insulin levels. Protein stabilizes our mood, and protein also assists in energy metabolism and cellular function, and most of our immune system is made up of protein. So, as you can see, if you're not eating enough protein, all these systems in your body are going to suffer.
Speaker 1:Protein is the single most important food that we have to consume. Mind you, we have to consume it properly. If you just consume protein, you're going to run into issues. But there are ways to balance the diet, get enough protein, feel amazing and nourish all the systems in the body. So the number one reason why I encourage protein consumption if you have acne is because protein is the food that regulates insulin levels. So protein does not raise glucose levels rapidly, and when we do not raise glucose levels rapidly, we avoid a spike in insulin, and insulin is key in triggering acne. When you eat adequate protein at each meal, these spikes are going to be avoided, and this is supported by a ton of research.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about insulin resistance, because this is what's happening when you're experiencing acne. So when a diet high in carbohydrates is consumed, the amount of blood glucose is going to be elevated, and in order to get this glucose into the cells of the body, we need insulin. Insulin is like a key and it opens channels in the cell that allows glucose to enter when there's too much insulin in the blood, these receptors get overwhelmed and they stop working. What happens is blood glucose starts to build up in the blood and insulin starts to build up in the blood. And this is really important because when there's high insulin levels in the blood, we're gonna get high amounts of IGF-1 and, and this is going to increase androgens, and androgens increase oil production and they also affect the way that our skin cells shed. Another really important thing is when there's high insulin in the blood, this increases androgen production in the ovarian theca cells and again, this leads to increased oil production in the pores and it affects the way that our cells exfoliate. So this is such a critical piece of the acne picture.
Speaker 1:If your insulin is dysregulated, acne is going to present itself in susceptible individuals, and altering the way that you eat can really have an impact on this, and the number one thing that you can do is to have protein at every single meal. So the second reason why protein is critical in people with acne is because it repairs the skin. It's fundamental in RNA and DNA synthesis. It's also fundamental in collagen and elastin formation in the immune cells in epidermal growth and also instrumental in the way that the skin exfoliates itself. There's a lot of research behind this.
Speaker 1:If we do not have enough protein, we're not able to repair the skin. So if you have acne, that's very slow to heal. That just takes a long time, and once it's gone, there's a lot of pigmentation that's left over. Take a look at the amount of protein that you eat. When you increase your protein, it's likely that the skin's ability to heal is going to increase. So without enough protein, the skin cannot heal. So how much protein should you be eating? If you're going to give a rough estimation, about 25% of each meal should be a protein. So if you're looking at a plate, a quarter of the plate should be taken up with your protein.
Speaker 1:However, there is a formula as well, and I'm going to walk you through this formula step-by-step, so that you can determine exactly how much protein you should be eating at each meal. So the first thing you do is you take your weight in pounds and you divide it by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms. So, for instance, if you weigh 125 pounds, you divide that by 2.2, you weigh 56.8 kilograms. So now that you have your weight in kilograms, you're going to multiply it by 1.5. And this gives you the amount of daily protein in grams. So if you weigh 56.8 kilograms, multiply that by 1.5. It means you should eat 85 grams of protein in every day and you're going to divide that by 3. And if you're eating three meals a day which you should be you're going to eat 28 grams of protein in each meal. That is how you're very specific in how much protein you eat. If you don't want to be that specific, then you can use your plate as a guide and 25% of that plate should be a protein. But bottom line eat protein every single day.
Speaker 1:Can you eat too much protein? And this is a really excellent question, because if you eat too much protein and this is a really excellent question because if you eat too much protein and you're not balancing it with fruits and vegetables, the protein can create a lot of acidity in the body and this can do a lot of damage. That's why protein always has to be balanced with fruits and vegetables, and this is something that you can absolutely follow and understand. So there's an app. It's called Cronometer. Download it and it is going to give you the potential renal acid load of what you're currently eating, so it will take into consideration how much protein you're eating, how much fruit and vegetables you're eating, and it will let you know if you need to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you're eating. How much fruit and vegetables you're eating, and it will let you know if you need to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you're eating by telling you what your PRAL score is. So this is a really important thing. Now, you don't have to input this information forever, but if you do it for one or two weeks, you will get an idea of the amount of fruit and vegetables you need to eat to offset the amount of protein that you require. So this is a really good way to understand exactly what you need to eat for your body.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, there are some really great tips when it comes to eating protein. Number one choose quality over quantity all the time. If you have to make that choice, the best quality protein sources are grass-fed and finished beef, lamb, bison, pasture-raised eggs and clean wild seafood. Do not choose protein that's from a poor quality source. This is not going to be able to nourish your body. You are going to be potentially consuming different toxins and hormones that are going to aggravate your skin as opposed to heal it. So always invest in the best quality protein that you can, because, think of it this is food that's actually building your body and you want to build your body with the highest quality building blocks that are available to you.
Speaker 1:Number two choose animal protein over plant protein. So animal proteins are much more bioavailable than plant proteins. So plant protein sources tend to come with lots of anti -nutrients that can actually suck your minerals and weaken you, and some of these anti-nutrients include saponins, phytates, tannins, polyphenolic compounds and protease inhibitors. So you know vegans that do a diet really well. They know how to utilize plant proteins so that they do not reduce the amount of nutrients in the body. But many times in North America we don't always soak our legumes properly, we don't treat our nuts properly, and this can result in a deficiency in really important nutrients. So utilizing animal proteins is going to be far easier and overall it's just more bioavailable.
Speaker 1:And number three you want to balance muscle meat with collagen. So methionine is the amino acid found in muscle meat and glycine is the amino acid found in muscle meat, and glycine is the amino acid found in collagen and organ meats. Of course they contain a lot of other amino acids as well, but these are the ones that are really quite prevalent. So if you have too much methionine, so too much muscle meat, and not enough glycine, which is found in organ meat and collagen, you can actually accelerate aging. That's why it's important to balance your muscle meat intake with collagen. You can actually accelerate aging. That's why it's important to balance your muscle meat intake with collagen, bone broth and organ meats. This is something to be really cognizant of, because you're going to be eating a lot of protein and you want to know how to balance it properly.
Speaker 1:So that's a wrap on week three of the eight-week clear skin challenge, and I hope that you are inspired to include more protein in your diet this week. When you start to make the changes that we're discussing in each different week, it's gonna add up to something incredible. Your body is going to start to shift, it's going to heal, it's going to balance, and including more protein is your task for this week. So hopefully, this podcast has given you some aha moments. It's inspired you.
Speaker 1:If it has, please be sure to leave a review when you leave. When you do leave a review, I'm going to give you free access to the first module of my Clear Skin Group program. If you want to know how to do that, the link is in my show notes. And if you want to learn more about my complete method to healing acne, be sure to check out my free training Clear Skin Mastery. I walk through my entire strategy, how I approach acne and how you can incorporate some of that stuff into your day-to-day life. So thank you very much for joining me today. I am sending you so much love and so much healing, and I will see you next week for week four of the Clear Skin Challenge. Have a great week.