Natural Skin Defence
By Sandy Sanderson B.A. (Uni NSW)
CEO - Elektra Magnesium
much better way to stay young and
beautiful for as long as possible is to
nurture your cells by protecting them from damage and supplying them with high quality nutrients using ‘real food’. Good health and its resulting beauty is all about nutrition and environment – whether the environment of cells on the inside or the outside of the body (comprising your protective skin barrier).
We appreciate something is beautiful when all the components are in the right place, balanced, functional and glowing with life force. Beauty unfolds naturally from the wellspring of health, energy and vitality. Even just feeling good, energetic, inspired or relaxed on the inside will reflect as a more beautiful countenance on the outside. Your emotional state is a psychological consequence of the state of health of your cells and how they respond to stresses. The question always to ask is, “How well can your body recover?”
Recovery and resilience is the key. If you lose the battle and environmental toxins get the better of your defence systems, you will age prematurely because pollution can’t be removed sufficiently and damaged cells won’t be replaced like they should. The body’s tubes then get blocked, tissue cells become dehydrated, hard and crunchy and energy metabolism declines with ever-decreasing magnesium status.
Why magnesium? Because it is directly involved with mitochondrial energy production which drives enzymes, nerves and our whole electrical power system. Stress is the biggest drainer of magnesium stores. Magnesium deficiency means you lose your mojo. You can feel extra tired, fatigued, sleep deprived and overly sensitive or emotional with foggy brain. It will also show on your face with signs of premature ageing.
It’s very important to support your skin barrier defence system so it can protect the cells on the inside of your body. Many chemicals in cosmetics can breach the skin barrier, entering the body as pollution and causing stress, oxidation and free radical damage. On the other hand, we can also feed the body with certain nutrients that pass through the skin – such as magnesium chloride and plant fats. The skin in this way acts as a kind of dinner plate where we can serve up substances. Are you going to feed it junk or healthy nutrition?
To get a deeper understanding of how to maintain natural beauty and vitality we first need to take a closer look at how our skin functions as part of the whole ‘body corporate’ – our body.
The Skin
The skin is part of the Integumentary system - the largest organ of the body and includes hair and nails. It protects us from various kinds of damage such as loss of water, attack by pathogenic microbes or abrasion from the outside. The skin can excrete water, toxins and electrolytes and it can also absorb them via the same channels. It’s like a house with windows and doors that open and close as needed – if healthy. Our skin is a defence system which needs to be defended!
Remember the old saying, “Beauty is only skin deep”?
Really? I beg to differ. Make-up magicians have shown us how we can cover over blemishes, shadows under the eyes and dry wrinkles. However, these are only temporary fixes and can quite often exacerbate a skin disorder or the ageing process due to the chemicals they can contain.
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