Skin getting drier and drier

[cleverhandle]

Hi- This is an issue I don't see come up all that often in the forums, but I know it has something to do with my dietary change over the past couple of months. Starting about mid way through my first Whole30 I noticed my skin getting drier. Yes, it's winter and yes, I'm 46 but I know my skin and it has to be related to the new diet. I am about a month out from completing my Whole30 and have remained compliant except during the reintroductions, which I am approaching ever so slowly and only with a selection of foods.

 

The thing is, I have noticed some improvement to my general sense of health (better sleep and energy- not great, but better), but my skin is dry like it has never been before. Hands are cracked and sand-papery/ crapey, and my face, which has been pretty wrinkle free, clear, and fairly well moisturized and youthful looking is now very dry and dull. It's not only the surface of my skin that seems dry but almost like the subcutaneous layer is shrinking before my very eyes. It's weird because my hair, which has been very dry these last few years is fine, but my skin, which has been great, is now dull and dry and almost leathery looking sometimes. What is going on?

 

A few extra things worth noting:

-I have a known autoimmune thyroid disorder (Hashimotos Thyroiditis) BUT, this was the case prior to Whole30/Paleo and the skin stuff has only just been happening with the diet stuff the last two months. Plus, I got my thyroid numbers checked at the end of my Whole30 and the numbers looked great (with antibodies in the normal range!)

 

-At the end of my Whole30 I decided it would behoove me to clean up my cosmetic bag (clean the insides, clean the outside, right?) So I have been switching over to more natural methods and products (oil washing and moisturizing, cosmetics listed as 2 or lower on EWG.ORG, etc.) At first I suspected this might have something to do with the dryness, but I have changed products a few times and the dryness keeps getting worse no matter what I apply to my skin.

 

- I am 5'4 1/2" and weigh 114 lbs. I drink about 64 oz plus of H20 a day.

- I eat fermented foods at two meals a day, and take the NOW Super enzymes with each meal

- I drink a cup of bone broth every morning

- I take about 2grams of fish oil and 5000 IU Vitamin D daily, and Natural Calm (Magnesium) at night.

 

Incidentally issues with constipation have plagued me since the start of Whole30 and has not really improved with the digestive enzymes and fermented foods. So I feel like there's definitely a gut-skin dance going on, but I'm not sure what else I can do to remedy it. I feel like I have tried all of the "usual" recommendations I've seen on the boards and they aren't much helping yet.

 

I am also wondering though if I am missing some essential nutrient now that is making my skin look and feel so bad. People mostly rave about how glowing their skin looks after doing the Whole30 and my experience is just the opposite. Any suggestions or links to any articles pertaining to this topic would be much appreciated!

 

[PamH]

Frustrating!  I am one of those who has had the opposite response.  I've gotten compliments on my skin almost daily where I never got them before Whole30.

 

Increase zinc.  Try that one.

 

I was going to jump in and say thyroid, but you say you have that under control.  Still, this could be part of the underlying problem and  just having labs within the normal range might not mean that your body is optimal at that level.  

 

I don't know where you live, but this winter has been brutal in the midwest.  I have gotten a split in my thumb that usually appears every winter (OUCH)… but this winter came twice.  Run a humidifier in your room?

 

If you exercise a lot, drink much more water.

 

The tough part about your situation and linking it to your diet is this:  why would processed food, grains and sugar give you glowing skin?  I don't think it would be anything you have omitted, directly.  You could be correct about nutrient deficiency.

 

You are tiny.  I am 5'3" and weigh 120lbs and am told I am thin.  Are you eating enough dietary fats?  Coconut oil is perfection for the skin.  Avocado helps, too.

[cleverhandle]

Thanks for your thoughts! I slathered myself in coconut oil and felt like maybe it was drying. So now I'm slathering in Avocado oil. I don't limit dietary fats at all, and for a long time have not been a believer in doing so. So in addition to the fish oil and animal fats from meat, I eat avocado often and cook with ghee, olive and coconut oil. I have laid off the nuts since Whole30 because I did the autoimmune protocol and suspect a sensitivity to them any way. But I'm not dieting or restricting any good fats. In fact I gained a few lbs on Whole30. Other than that, though, I have been roughly the same size since high school, without excessive exercise or caloric limitation.

 

I ate organic, low amounts of gluten free grains and very little in the way of processed foods pre-Whole30, EXCEPT I did eat lots of dairy in the form of cheese and some yogurt, and I probably drank too much wine and coffee. But the thyroid issue I have had since at least 2008, so, these skin issues are really puzzling to me. I guess I'm just wondering, is this something I need to "ride out", and if so, for how long? Or conversely, if it is a nutrient deficiency, are their any known nutrients lacking in the Paleo diet compared to my diet before? Given the amount of good meats and fresh veggies I eat, I can't imagine that being the case (unless there's some extra special nutrient in dairy, wine, or coffee- LOL!)

 

P.S. you mentioned water intake. 64 oz is my daily  minimum but its usually much more than that. How much is adequate, given my size? I only get a chance to do moderate exercise a couple of times a week. I am hoping to increase that but my schedule has been pretty full so far.

[GFChris]

You might need to ride it out a bit. Our local weather folks were saying just today that this is the coldest winter on record for a few places in the US. I just picked up a prescription for my husband who has had dry eyes, and the pharmacist told me they're getting bombarded with people with dry-eye issues this winter.

One side note: check your bottle of NOW Super Enzymes.  We used to recommend them, but stopped doing so when they began adding sulfites. 

 

[cleverhandle]

Great! I just checked and in "other ingredients" :

Gelatin, cellulose, Magnesium Stearate and Silica. Contains sulfites. May contain lactose (milk)!

This is pretty frustrating as I never heard about this during my whole 30 and purchased this product after seeing a link on the Whole 30 website.

Is there another brand you recommend?

[GFChris]

Great! I just checked and in "other ingredients" :

Gelatin, cellulose, Magnesium Stearate and Silica. Contains sulfites. May contain lactose (milk)!

This is pretty frustrating as I never heard about this during my whole 30 and purchased this product after seeing a link on the Whole 30 website.

Is there another brand you recommend?

I understand your frustration.

We stopped recommending specific brands after this incident.

 

I will contact the powers that be about removing the NOW Super Enzymes from the website.

 

[GFChris]

Check out this article: http://whole9life.com/2012/09/digestive-enzymes-101/

It references NOW's Digest Ultimate product. I just called NOW to confirm: this product does not contain sulfites or milk.

 

In the meantime, do you remember where you saw the link to the NOW Super Foods on whole30.com, so we can get that removed?

[cleverhandle]

I am pretty sure it was that article but you are right, the link points to Digest Ultimate. Maybe I was mistaken and got the Super recommendation from somewhere in the forums after? It's hard to remember as I have been all over the site and forums! The Super ones really weren't helping any way.....maybe they were doing more harm than good! Do you think it's worth it to try the Digest Ultimate for the constipation/irregularity issue? I have been trying to ride that one out for a while but nothing has really helped so far.

[Bet]

It's definitely a hashi's thing, dry skin. I have it. I've found that exfoliation helps, followed by a really good moisturizer (I use Curel intensive cream). A humidifier will help if you are running the heat, because that dries out the air even more.

[toriellie]

One of the things I've found since eliminating gluten from my diet about 18 months ago and since doing my first W30 a year ago is that, now that my body isn't on the prowl for gluten, it's like "Hey!  You over there!  What are you doing here?" and I'm noticing sensitivity to things I've never been sensitive to prior.  My theory is that as my inflammation from the gluten lessened, it freed up my immune system to go on the prowl for other suspects it doesn't like.  The foods I THINK I now react to are corn, eggs, coffee, rice, citrus, grapes/raisins, possibly tea, sweet potato (!), cashews, possibly bacon.  Corn and dairy always make me dry and itchy.  Oh, and maybe chocolate too. 

 

So, short version:  you may just be more sensitive to foods that are W30 compliant and that you haven't reacted to in the past.  I've done two W30s and while I have it narrowed down, I still have no idea what is causing my symptoms because I think it's a combination and if I eliminate everything I think it might be all at once, I won't have anything to eat except steak.  And while I like steak, I don't want to eat only steak for 30 days. 

 

I am going to break down and have the expensive, insurance-doesn't-pay-for-it food allergy blood testing done so I can eliminate the foods I know I'm allergic to and then try to pinpoint those that I'm sensitive to or intolerant of, but not allergic to. 

 

Oh - I am also allergic to the non-active ingredients in many generic medications - but I can't tell you which ones, since the manufacturers aren't very forthcoming and I don't have the inclination to pursue it.  I just figure out which ones work and which ones don't through trial and error.  I can almost always take brand name drugs with no reaction, unless it's to the color.  Blue coloring is not my friend.  And whatever ingredient(s) I am allergic to in the generics cause skin irritation, rash, itchiness... 

 

Good luck figuring out what's triggering the dryness!! 

 

ETA:  You might google your current medications and see if anyone is reporting the same symptoms you have in the forums.  I have seen that different brands of thyroid meds can cause different side effects for some people.  You may find some clues if you can research the brand name and dosage of the meds you take. 

[cleverhandle]

Definitely worth checking into the meds additives. I have been wondering about that. I do hope it is not an allergic response. My feeling is it is something else though. The AIP is pretty limiting and I really haven't strayed much from it, except on a few reintro days.

I have done a little poking around though and I came across this interesting article on Robb Wolf's site about women, hormones, and a too-low carb diet. http://robbwolf.com/2014/02/20/females-carbohydrates-hormones/

Now I'm definitely not an athlete but I definitely have the hormone issues. And after I gained a few lbs on the Whole30 I did cut back on the sweet potatoes and really limited fruit. So it could be the transition to a much lower carb diet is not agreeing with my skin. I then googled low carb and dry skin and got a lot of links to forums and blogs where other women were complaining of the same thing.

I don't know if this is the answer but it seems a pretty easy experiment to add more carbs back in and see if I note any improvement.

[PamH]

Interesting with hormones/women/low carb.  EACH time I attempt a Whole30 I gain some weight and make it to day 15… and wind up face first in carbs.  I can't get past the 2 week mark and I know it is much more than willpower.  I need to read this article and try upping carbs for myself.

 

Good luck with the experiment

[Robin Strathdee]

I'd also suggest increasing your sodium intake a little bit and aiming for a little more water. Without all the sodium from processed foods to help us hold onto water, sometimes we need a bit more than we think.