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What Your Skin Communicates About Your Health

September 18, 2023

Our Healthy Aging Month newsletter series is focused on empowering older adults by promoting ways they can stay healthy as they age. The series will consist of four articles, which will be released once a week throughout the month of September. Each article will cover different aspects of healthy aging, offering helpful tips and information to encourage readers to prioritize their wellness and wellbeing.

Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and it plays a ton of important roles like acting as the first line of defense for your immune system and regulating your body temperature. As it turns out, it also tells a tale about what’s going on beneath the surface. Here’s what your skin can tell you about your health, and why it’s so important to pay attention to it especially as you grow older.

First, your skin can give you major insights into your current nutrition and dietary status. For example, your skin requires plenty of moisture to be healthy, which means that one of the biggest telltale signs that you are dehydrated includes dry, flaky, or dull skin. Additionally, your skin can also clue you in if you’re experiencing certain nutrition deficiencies. For example, B vitamin deficiencies can sometimes manifest in skin issues like hyperpigmentation or itchy and inflamed skin. [1]

There are also some signs to look out for that can indicate that there’s something going on with your health that should be checked out by a medical professional. For example, chronic conditions like diabetes can sometimes contribute to dry or itchy skin, while unusual yellowing or bruising can be an indicator of liver issues.[2, 3] Certain medications can also affect your skin.

Your skin can also clue you into things going on in your environment. Sun damage, for example, can show up as wrinkles, dark spots, and uneven texture. Meanwhile, redness, rashes, or hives can be indicative of allergies or inflammation. Finally, your skin can even show signs of your emotional well-being! Stress-related skin conditions like psoriasis, dermatitis, or rosacea can sometimes flare up during challenging, stressful times. [4]  

Keeping your skin healthy starts from the inside and works its way out. To keep your skin healthy, moisturized, and radiant no matter what age you are, it’s important to protect it and give it the nutrients it needs to glow. Start by managing your diet, making sure to fill up with plenty of water and nutrients. Taking a supplement like Juice Plus+ Essentials can also help you fill up on key nutrients along with a healthy diet. Additionally, you can protect your skin by minimizing sun damage and finding ways to manage your stress. Altogether, these habits can support healthy, supple skin at every stage of your life.