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Source: Kathy Sedun
Impact of oils and fats on your skin health
Of all the nutrients in your diet, none makes a bigger impact on your skin than your choices of oils and fats in your diet. If you are eating foods high in saturated fats, your skin can become clogged and the pores blocked. This leads to pimples and blackheads. If you have eczema, these may be triggers for you. Foods such as cheese, fatty meats, deep fried foods, chips, sour cream, butter, ice cream, and full cream milk are the worst offenders.
What can you do to balance this problem?
The “good oils” help to keep the sebum under your skin in a softened state, so the blocked pores are less likely to occur. These oils include Flaxseed oil, Safflower Oil, as well as the oils in raw nuts such as almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts. Of these oils, Safflower is the most effective in reducing both acne and eczema. Safflower oil is fragile, so can only be used as a salad oil, not in cooking. When choosing nuts as snacks, they must be raw to contain the healthy oils.
Oils vary in their different combinations of the “Good Oils”. For optimal health, a balance is required. If you consume omega 3 oils exclusively, you will become deficient in omega 6, and vice versa.
They are called Essential Fatty Acids because they are essential to the body, and because the body cannot manufacture them. They must be obtained from your diet. There are different types of EFA’s, having impact on specific aspects of your health.
1. Linoleic acid-is the polyunsaturated, Omega 6 oil found in highest amounts in Safflower and Sunflower oils.
2. Linolenic acid-is the super unsaturated, Omega 3 oil, with the best source being flaxseed oil. It is found in lesser amounts in canola, soy, and walnut oils.
Deficiency symptoms of omega 6 oils:
• Eczema
• Hair loss
• Decreased liver function
• Decreased kidney function
• Increased susceptibility to infections
• Poor wound healing
• Increased susceptibility to miscarriage
Deficiency symptoms of Omega 3 oils:
• Behavior changes
• Poor coordination
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Fluid retention
• Dry skin
• Low metabolic rate, leading to weight gain
Kathy Sedun
Naturopath, Nutritionist, Herbalist, Registered Nurse (RPN)
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