Rosacea is a real bitch to deal with. Let me tell ya, because I have dealt with it since the age of 10. Riiiight as I began to go through puberty, I was also slapped in the face with rosacea – literally.
So since I am an expert on the topic, I have some tips for you to help you deal with rosacea.
First things first, what is it? Rosacea is a common chronic skin condition characterized by flushing and skin redness on the face. Key symptoms are facial redness with swollen red bumps and small visible blood vessels.
Fun shit, right?
There is no magic potion to treat rosacea, HOWEVER, it can be managed with diet and the right products.
SO TA-DA, my top 3 tips to deal with rosacea:
♡ Remove or reduce inflammatory foods. When I did this for other reasons (overall health), my rosacea immediately got better. I used to have textured skin where I have rosacea – which is on my cheeks – but that went way down after I cut out gluten, processed dairy, vegetable oils, and processed foods. Of course I still cheat and eat processed foods sometimes, but cleaning up my diet has resulted in big improvements for my skin. Not only for my rosacea but also for my keratosis pilaris.
I feel like in the health community, the gut and diet is not addressed first, and it really should be. You know that term ‘you are what you eat’…? It’s so true and I have experienced the positive affects of eating well to help this issue.
I could write a whole post on cutting out processed foods, but here are some important tidbits that have helped me over the last several years:
- Dairy: this food group is known to be inflammatory and I cut it out completely 5 years ago for 3 reasons: ethically I didn’t feel good about it (that has since changed), physically I felt sick eating dairy, and then the inflammation piece. Since then, I have learned that raw milk and cheese is the clean and obviously not processed. There is a gross-out factor for me, but if you love milk and cheese, look into raw.
- Cut out packaged foods with more than one ingredient.
- Eggs: totally a staple in our house. Most of the nutrition is in the yolks, so don’t leave those out. Try to avoid the carton white eggs.
- Stick to unprocessed meats: we literally JUST cut out bacon. I know, SAD FUCKING DAY. I don’t restrict when I eat out, but at home, I make breakfast sausage using spices and ground turkey instead.
- Fish: Most fish is considered clean, just be careful of the mercury content found in most fish today. Make sure that you are buying sustainably. Check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium web site for up to date info on what fish is safe to purchase in any given season.
♡ Clean your water. Yep, your water. After reading Hidden Epidemic and doing further research on disparaging minerals found in our water such as fluoride, I purchased this water filter for drinking water and this shower filter. The combination has seriously helped to improve my rosacea but also my overall skin health (and internal health), because we should not be ingesting and absorbing the shitty chemicals found in basic drinking water and bathing water. I will write a full blog post on this topic soon!
♡ Vitamin E oil and cream. Omigod this is this a skin saver. I just started using Vitamin E oil and cream after learning more about the amazing benefits of Vtiamin E. It is anti-inflammatory when ingested and it provides insane benefits for the skin when applied topically. It tones down redness and strengthens skin barrier functions. It’s also SUPER moisturizing, so I only use a liberal amount of pure Vitamin E at night. During the day, I do use a tiny amount as it protects the skin from the sun.
If you’re struggling with rosacea, try these tips. You will not be disappointed. I make it a point to share things that actually work here, and not things that are 85869603020 million dollars.
Off to slather my face with Vitamin E!
xo,
Lynn
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