Top 6 Ways To Beautiful Skin
Top 6 Ways To Beautiful Skin according to Traditional Chinese medicine
Beautiful skin comes from within! The health of our skin comes from our internal environment, our body’s internal balance.
There is a place for skincare routines with various creams, serums and skincare products but what is happening inside your body is even more important to the health of your skin.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been helping to beautify skin for centuries and has a lot to say about the importance of hydration, circulation, digestion, rest & sleep, stress, and overall constitution.
Here are six everyday habits that I recommend to my patients that can make a huge difference in the health of your skin. These habits are simple but powerful and remember that consistency is key!
1. Eat warm cooked nourishing foods to support a healthy digestion
Healthy digestion helps us to transform foods that we eat into vital energy (we call it Qi in TCM) and blood. Qi and blood nourish our bodies, including our skin. Consumption of warm cooked foods is easier for our digestive systems.
In TCM we use a concept called “digestive fire” to describe the warmth and activity needed to break down and transform food. Warm cooked foods are easier on digestion and help support the digestive fire. In contrast, cold raw foods can essentially ‘put out’ the digestive fire and weaken the digestive system, making it more difficult to properly transform and utilize the nourishment it receives.
If you are someone who experiences bloating, gas, poor appetite, or irregular bowel movements, you may already have a weaker digestive system and lack of digestive fire. Warm cooked foods are even more important for your constitution.
Try incorporating these foods into your diet:
- Cooked root vegetables including sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, yams, and squash. Try roasting, steaming, or lightly sauteeing.
- Congee: Congee is a rice porridge that is incredibly nourishing to your digestion and easy to break down. There are many recipes online but you can make it sweet (think adding dates, raisins, cinnamon…) or savoury (add chicken, cooked veggies, ginger, green onions).
- Soups and stews. Soups and stews are easy to digest and can be packed full of nutrients like protein, fiber and iron.
- Nourishing proteins like eggs, fish, red meat, tofu, beans and lentils
You don’t need to eliminate raw foods entirely but the majority of your diet should certainly be warm cooked foods.
2. Drink warm/hot fluids throughout the day
We all know that proper hydration is good for your skin but in TCM, the temperature of your fluids is also key! Fluids should be hot/warm and believe it or not, even room temperature fluids are considered too cold.
Try to drink warm fluids throughout the entire day. You will never see me without my thermos next to me on my desk at my clinic!
Again, similar to above, the idea here is to avoid putting extra burden on your digestive system with cold fluids or iced beverages. Start your morning with a large cup of hot water. You will notice a positive difference if you often experience bloating and it will help your morning bowel movement too.
3. Nourish your blood with Blood-Nourishing Foods
In Chinese medicine, when we talk about blood, we don’t just mean the blood measured in laboratory tests. Blood has a much broader meaning – it nourishes and moisturizes the body, including the skin, hair, and nails and contributes to a healthy glowing complexion.
When a person has a pattern of blood deficiency, they may also be experiencing hair loss or dry breaking hair, nails breaking with ridges, cold hands and feet, and a pale complexion.
Here are some great examples of blood nourishing foods to incorporate into your daily diet:
- Bone broth: this one is by far my favorite! Bone broth is packed full of collagen, protein, and other nutrients. It nourishes your skin but also heals your gut lining. Bone broth can be drunk by itself or used as a stock for soups and stews. You can use chicken or beef bones or veggies if you are a vegetarian.
- Fish, eggs, tofu, beans, and lentils
- Dark leafy greens and other colored vegetables
- Nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, butter and other good fats
- Chinese red dates and/or goji berries steeped as a tea or made into a soup
4. Nourish your yin and fluids to support skin moisture
If your skin is dry, withered, dehydrated and you feel you’re noticing more fine lines and wrinkles lately, your skin could need more moisture and hydration. In TCM, dryness is a lack of yin and fluids. Yin and fluids nourish and moisten the tissues and skin.
When a person has a pattern of yin deficiency, they may also have a dry mouth and throat, night sweats, a feeling of heat at night, or disrupted sleep.
It’s one pattern that may be considered part of perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen is a yin hormone and decline of estrogen means decline of yin fluids. This causes skin dehydration, lack of elasticity, and less collagen production.
Here are some foods that helps support our yin and fluids:
- black sesame seeds
- Steamed pears and apples
- Tofu and soy products
- Eggs
- Congee and soups
- Nuts and seeds
- Snow fungus (bai mu er in pinyin): This one you may have never heard of. You can get it dried from any Chinese grocery store. This is incredibly yin nourishing adding moisture to the skin. It has a long history in Chinese medicine food therapy and is often added to soups and desserts. You can add goji berries and red dates to make it extra nourishing.
5. Move your body every day
The body needs the smooth flow of Qi (vital energy) and blood. When there is a lack of free flow, there is physical and emotional stagnation. When there is stagnation, the qi, blood, and yin (fluids) can’t reach the various organ system, tissues, and skin. These become undernourished.
Things that negatively impact the free flow of Qi and blood are stress, unfulfilled desires, anger, overwork, and not enough rest. A dull dark complexion and/or hyperpigmentation is a clue that your Qi and blood are not free-flowing.
Caring for your nervous system and overall health is key to counteracting Qi and blood stagnation. Here are some tips:
- Go for daily walks and get plenty of fresh air
- Try Qigong or gentle stretching
- Prioritize sleep and get at least 7 hours of sleep per night; Go to bed no later than 10:30 pm.
- Make time for relaxation, breathing exercises, and meditation
- Make time for social connection and laugh more
6. Try Cosmetic Acupuncture Facial Rejuvenation
I have been giving cosmetic acupuncture to my patients since 2004. One of the most rewarding things about cosmetic acupuncture is that my patients notice significant results with their skin but also their overall health. It is truly a holistic process as it takes into consideration all aspects of your health – your nervous system, hormone health, mood, stress, and digestion for example – and treats the whole body in addition to the face.
Cosmetic Acupuncture facial rejuvenation stimulates the production of collagen, improves blood flow and lymphatic drainage, and relaxes the tight facial muscles.
Frequency of treatments: I recommend ten visits of cosmetic acupuncture for best results. These are done on a weekly basis. The treatments are gentle and relaxing and you can enjoy a restful nap while the needles are doing their magic! In your first visit, I will ask about skin health and your overall health and do a TCM constitutional pattern diagnosis. I will have time to answer all of your questions and explain what you can expect from the treatments.
If you are interested to find out more about cosmetic acupuncture facial rejuvenation or would like to book an initial cosmetic acupuncture appointment, please visit my website and online booking calendar.
I hope these simple tips are valuable to you. Please reach out to me if you have any questions about how Traditional Chinese medicine can play a role in your skin and overall well-being.
Yours in health,
Dr. Maryam
Discover the deeper, holistic approach to radiant skin with our Chinese Medicine Skin Type Assessment. In just a few simple yes or no questions, you’ll uncover your unique skin type and gain personalized, in-depth recommendations tailored to your body’s needs. With guidance on diet, lifestyle, and self-care practices rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine, this assessment is designed to help you achieve healthy, glowing skin from the inside out.
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