How Do You Know if Your Consuming Too Much Salt For Optimum Skin Health?
Have you noticed that if you have a takeaway or maybe you just go to a restaurant for dinner that you wake up with a slightly puffy face. Maybe your under eyes are swollen? Your skin looks like you’ve just trekked through a windy desert.
So What is a Common Culprit?
Consuming too much Salt. Salt is often found added to processed foods as its not only used for flavour but a preservative to extend shelf life.
When thinking of beautiful healthy skin, you automatically think of plump, hydrated, glowing skin.
Salt is the opposite of that, too much salt dehydrates the body and actually makes it hold onto water (fluid retention) which automatically dehydrates the skin. A constant excess of salt within the diet can leave the skin feeling itchy, patchy, flakey and sore. Collagen levels start to deplete which leads to premature ageing, the skin starts to lose its structure leaving it prone to fine lines, wrinkles and loss of elasticity. It can also lead to acne, the sebaceous glands can go into overdrive trying to compensate for this new dry climate producing more and more oil which can lead to breakouts.
Your body does need sodium in order to keep your body healthy, its important for vital nutrient absorption but like with everything its all about balance, too much and your body has to work hard to get rid of some giving you uncomfortable symptoms, too little and it cant perform its crucial daily tasks to keep you healthy.
At home when we are cooking a meal we personally don’t add salt and will only add a little Himalayan salt to food if needed to taste. Generally you crave salt when you’re lacking in minerals and this is more common in the summer or if you are sweating a lot after exercise or example. If you filter your water you may consider adding mineral drops to your drinking water to ensure you’re receiving the minerals your body needs from the water.
How to Avoid being ‘Salted’
If I have a client going to an event the following day, or any brides out there the night before your wedding if you want to look fresh faced and genrerally look like your best self for photos. Try and avoid the salty takeaway and load up on water, vegetables and skin loving good fats and try and get a good nights sleep, you can always make sure your getting in tips 1-5 below in the days leading up to an event to make sure your body is in tip top condition for removing toxins and any excess fluid.
What to do if you Wake Up with a Puffy Face?
So you wake up you look in the mirror and you like like Mike Tyson at the end of a fight, first things first your body is purely signalling to you that it needs a moment to get to work, and needs some input from you. Generally this can go hand in hand with a dry mouth, fluid retention elsewhere in the body, feeling bloated, lethargic maybe even a headache, if you often feel this way it may be a sign to take a closer look at your salt intake in order to care for your long term health.
Heres your 5 Steps:
1. Brush your teeth, scrape your tongue with a tongue scraper to remove any toxin build up from the night and start hydrating.
2. Get Moving, run, jump, dance, get sweating. Movement kicks your lymphatic system into gear.
3. No time to workout, or after your workout. Grab your favourite Kyushi face oil and start massaging – (Coming soon to Kyushi IGTV you’ll be able to follow along with my lymphatic drainage tutorial. I show you how to stimulate the neurolymphatic points specifically for your eyes and help to manually drain stagnation from the face into the body for removal. Keep a look out.)
4. No time for anything. Get a big bowl and get dunking your face in ice water. AKA the at home cryofacial.
5. Make sure you get in a nourishing well balanced breakfast, any vegetables you have in the fridge create a veggie hash, load it up with seeds, avocado and an optional egg. (No added salt)
Do you have anything that works well for you? Or if you would like any further help do reach out I’m happy to help. Get in touch at Alice@kyushi.co.uk
Sending Love,
Alice x