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+welcome to the huberman Lab podcast
+where we discuss science and
+science-based tools for everyday
+[Music]
+life I'm Andrew huberman and I'm a
+professor of neurobiology and
+Opthalmology at Stanford school of
+medicine today we are discussing skin
+Health our skin is an incredibly
+important organ not just for our
+appearance or because it serves as a
+barrier to the other organ systems of
+the body but because it actually
+reflects the health status of all the
+other organs and systems in our body
+including our brain as well you'll learn
+today about the direct and reciprocal
+relationship between the immune system
+and our skin and if you think about it
+you've seen this relationship in action
+before when any of us is feeling
+fatigued or sick the color the tone of
+our skin tends to be a bit quote unquote
+off at least for us relative to what it
+normally is conversely when we are
+feeling particularly well rested and
+vibrant and healthy our skin reflects
+that so today we will discuss the skin
+as an organ we'll talk a little bit
+about the biology of skin so that
+everybody is on board the nomenclature
+of the different cell types in the skin
+and how they're affected by various
+things and then we will discuss those
+things such as sunlight and sun exposure
+as it relates to skin cancers we'll talk
+about sunscreens of course something
+that I know Garners a lot of interest
+these days and even some controversy we
+will talk about common conditions of
+skin that concern people such as acne
+rosacea psoriasis eczema and of course
+we will talk about so-called anti-aging
+treatments for skin that is the things
+that can be done to help reduce the
+degradation of the protein components in
+skin things like collagen things that
+you can do to improve collagen turnover
+as well as elastin these are other
+proteins within skin that give skin its
+youthful or in some cases where it's
+degenerative non- youthful appearance
+things like wrinkles and sagging skin so
+we'll talk about all of that we'll also
+talk about the various products that
+have been developed in order to treat
+wrinkles treat sagging skin reverse acne
+Etc we'll talk about which ones are safe
+which ones are not safe and which ones
+for which there still is no clear answer
+I want to make very clear here at the
+outset that while I'll discuss various
+skin products during today's episode I
+nor the podcast has any Financial
+relationship to those products I will
+provide examples of certain products and
+provide a few links in the show note
+captions but I want to point out that
+those serve merely as examples that I
+found during researching this episode
+which by the way included speaking to
+several board-certified dermatologists
+including a dermatologist expert in
+oncology cancers of the Skin So by the
+end of today's episode you will have a
+much clearer understanding about skin
+and what it is at the level of biology
+and function its relationship to other
+systems in the body including the immune
+system and gut microbiome and you will
+be armed with the knowledge to make the
+best possible decisions for you in terms
+of skin health and Skin Care depending
+on your age your goals and any current
+conditions you may have before we begin
+I'd like to emphasize that this podcast
+is separate from my teaching and
+research roles at Stanford it is however
+part of my desire and effort to bring
+zero cost to Consumer information about
+science and science related tools to the
+general public in keeping with that
+theme I'd like to thank the sponsors of
+today's podcast our first sponsor is ju
+juv makes medical grade red light
+therapy devices now if there's one thing
+I've consistently emphasized on this
+podcast is the incredible impact that
+light can have in our biology now in
+addition to sunlight red light and near
+infrared light have been shown to have
+positive effects on improving numerous
+aspects of Cellar and organ Health
+including faster Muscle Recovery
+improves skin health and wound healing
+even improvements in acne reducing pain
+and inflammation improving mitochondrial
+function and even improving Vision
+itself what sets juv lights apart and
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+convenient to use I also have a ju whole
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+ju you can go to ju spell
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+huberman today's episode is also brought
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+working on the biology of the visual
+system and I can tell you that your
+visual system has to contend with an
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+though Roa eyeglasses and sunglasses
+were initially designed for sport they
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+for sport but also for wearing out to
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+any setting I wear Roa readers at night
+or Roa eyeglasses if I'm driving at
+night and I wear Roa sunglasses in the
+middle of the day anytime it's too
+bright for me to see clearly my eyes are
+somewhat sensitive so I need that I do
+not wear sunglasses in the morning when
+I'm getting my morning sunlight viewing
+for sake of setting my circadian rhythm
+but I do wear sunglasses often at other
+times throughout the day when it's very
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+eyeglasses and now as sunglasses too if
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+purchase again that's roka.com huberman
+to get 20% off okay so let's talk about
+skin health and by extension skin care
+what should we all be doing to take care
+of this organ that we call our skin our
+skin is a very interesting organ as I
+mentioned earlier not just because it
+protects all the other organs of our
+body and I should mention it protects
+them not just by a physical barrier but
+there's also chemical things a chemical
+composition a skin microbiome to the
+skin that also provides additional
+layers of support such as neutralizing
+different bacteria that land on your
+skin there's a lot more to skin than you
+might realize but to start off let's
+just talk about what skin is at the
+level of its structure some of the cell
+types because in understanding that
+you'll be best equipped to understand
+some of the recommendations for skin
+health and Skin Care the skin like many
+other organs in the body is a layered
+structure so the very outermost layer is
+called the epidermis the epidermis has
+cells in it below that there are other
+cells that comprise What's called the
+dermis or sometimes referred to as the
+dermal layer and then beneath that you
+have subcutaneous fat now of course in
+different areas of the body the skin and
+as a consequence these different layers
+of the epidermis and dermis and the fat
+layer below it are of different
+composition and different thicknesses
+think for instance about the thickness
+of the skin on your forearm versus the
+thickness of the skin on your belly
+versus the thickness of your skin on
+your eyelid okay and as soon as you
+think about your eyelid you realize okay
+this thing that we call skin varies
+tremendously in thickness depending on
+whether or not we're with the scalp the
+eyelid the face the chin even you know
+neck versus chin body Etc so what we
+think of as skin while it may have a
+designated set of layers that have
+particular names can vary tremendously
+in terms of its overall thickness and
+therefore its vulnerability to things
+like sunlight which indeed can mutate
+the cells within the skin cause them to
+you know have disregulation of the
+expression of DNA and the production of
+other cells we'll get into that so I
+just want you to think about skin as
+having these critical components of
+layers epidermis and dermis below it and
+by the way within the dermis is where
+you're going to find the blood supply
+the vessels and capillaries that
+innervate the skin innervate simply
+means that Supply or go-to the skin you
+of course have hair follicles and hair
+growing out of those follicles in many
+cases and then of course you have skin
+that does not have hair the so-call
+glabrous skin like on the palms of your
+hands the bottoms of your feet Etc so I
+don't want to give the impression that
+skin is the same everywhere it varies in
+thickness it varies in terms of the
+presence of hair or lack of hair it
+varies according to a lot of different
+parameters including how much oil is
+produced in one region or another but if
+you just know that the skin has an
+epidermis an outermost layer a dermis or
+sometimes referred to as the dermal
+layer which is below it and then it has
+fat below that and that the vasculature
+right the vessels and capillaries are at
+the level of the dermis they come up
+through the subcutaneous fat and into
+that dermal layer but they don't reach
+into the epidermal layer that outermost
+layer and if you understand also that
+that nerve endings okay the little
+terminals as we call them of neurons
+nerve cells also go up into that dermal
+layer you've got temperature sensors in
+the skin all of this becomes very
+important for our discussions of skin
+conditions things like rosacea things
+like acne which sometimes can be painful
+or can be exacerbated by things like
+heat they can be suppressed in some
+cases or even activated by things like
+cold okay so if you just understand that
+there three layers epidermis on the
+outside dermis below it subcutaneous fat
+and that skin varies in thickness and
+that nerves that is nerve endings and
+blood vessels and capillaries are within
+the dermal layers of the skin well
+you're going to be very well equipped
+for the rest of today's discussion I'll
+throw in some additional information
+about oil production within the hair
+follicle and a few other things like
+extracellular Matrix which as the name
+suggests is extracell it's outside where
+the cells reside but gives it its
+composition as either plump and moist
+appearing on the outside or it can be
+kind of sag and wrinkled and dry
+appearing all of that relates to the
+different components of proteins and
+other things within those skin layers
+but if you understand what I just told
+you even at a crude level if you can
+just imagine it just a little bit those
+three layers you're going to be very
+well equipped for the rest of today's
+discussion I should also mention that
+there are glands within the skin this
+won't be surprising to most of you those
+glands will produce oil either more or
+less depending on certain conditions and
+there are things that live on the skin
+on that epidermal layer and within it
+that we call microbiota you've no doubt
+heard of the gut microbiome right the
+existence of trillions of little
+microbacteria that live within your gut
+that provided they are varied in their
+composition and of the right sort really
+support your immune system and other
+aspects of Health including brain
+function and health well you also have a
+skin microbiome that is the existence of
+microbiota on the outside of your skin
+that serve as a barrier to infections
+but that also provide things that are
+nourishing to the skin and give it that
+vibrant look that most people want and
+by cleansing your skin in particular
+ways that is washing it with certain
+substances and avoiding other substances
+you can support as opposed to diminish
+that skin microbiome okay so to start
+today's discussion I want to jump right
+into the deep end meaning into one of
+the more controversial issues related to
+skin health and Skin Care out there
+right now which is sun exposure and
+sunscreen now it makes sense why this
+would be such a heated issue no pun
+intended because most everyone is
+exposed to the Sun or has the
+opportunity to be exposed to the Sun to
+some degree or another every single day
+even on cloudy overcast days it's also
+the case that we've learned a lot in the
+last 10 years or so about how different
+sunscreens and their components may be
+good for us may be less good for us and
+today we're going to talk about what is
+known and what is still unknown but
+before we do that we need to take a step
+back and look at the context in which
+all this controversy is happening my
+read of the online community as a whole
+as it relates to sunscreen and sun
+exposure in particular is the following
+I think most everybody I didn't say
+everybody but most everybody out there
+seems to accept the idea that excessive
+sun exposure can cause certain cancers
+of the skin that's the general belief
+out there and there is good reason for
+that belief because indeed the Sun as
+full spectrum light includes long wave
+lengths it's probably easier to think
+about those long wavelengths as the Reds
+and oranges and yellows and so forth
+that are present in
+well they're always present from
+sunlight but they're most obvious to us
+when the sun is low in the sky so-called
+low solar angle sunlight at sunsets and
+also at Sunrise but of course as full
+spectrum light sunlight also includes UV
+ultraviolet light of different types
+we'll talk about those types today as
+well as blue light and green light and
+in midday sun when the sun is overhead
+we just see the Sun as white light right
+because containing all those different
+wavelengths so while this is not a
+discussion about wavelengths and optics
+for sake of today's discussion just
+understand that long wavelength light
+tends to be more of the red orange
+yellow variety okay Loosely speaking and
+down at the other end of the spectrum
+the short wavelength light is more of
+the blue and green and so-called
+ultraviolet light so it's well accepted
+light of different wavelengths such as
+UV Blue Light Green Light all the way
+out to Red Light even near infrared
+light can penetrate into cells it can
+actually pass through surfaces it turns
+out that long wavelength light can
+actually go deeper in into the surface
+of our skin right it literally can
+penetrate just by shining a red light on
+your skin it can actually penetrate the
+skin to a deeper layer then can short
+wavelength light like UV light and it's
+well accepted that UV light when it
+penetrates mostly that epidermal layer
+of the skin that outermost layer it can
+cause changes in the way that DNA
+functions it can cause mutations such
+that DNA which as many of you probably
+remember from high school biology DNA is
+transcribed into RNA and RNA is
+translated into proteins the proteins
+are the things that the cells produce
+they're actually made up of proteins
+well UV like can disrupt which DNA are
+expressed and how they are expressed in
+some cases leading to overproduction of
+too many cells or disruptions in the
+functions of cells and that's why people
+link UV light to skin cancer that's the
+whole idea there and that's the whole
+notion behind using sunscreens and
+notice I'm saying Sun screen so ways to
+screen out UV light or maybe all
+sunlight in some cases in order to
+prevent that penetration of the UV light
+into cells which can cause mutations
+which in some cases can lead to skin
+cancer now I realize as I'm saying this
+there's probably a group of you out
+there saying what's the evidence that
+sunlight can actually cause skin cancer
+well there is clear evidence that
+sunlight can cause skin cancer so which
+skin Cancers and how deadly those skin
+cancers are we'll get to in a few
+moments that turns out to be a very
+interesting twist in the whole story but
+I want to highlight the fact that
+there's very little controversy as to
+whether or not UV light can cause
+mutations in cells right but what you
+should be asking yourself is well why
+would long wavelength light like red
+light perhaps be good for skin we'll
+talk about that later there are
+therapies phototherapies that use that
+exploit red light which can penetrate
+deep into skin that actually can enhance
+the health of skin if done correctly
+whereas short wavelength light which
+only hits that epidermal layer on the
+outside of the skin may be bad for our
+skin and I say maybe because it's really
+a function of dose and timing and
+genetic background okay if all this is
+seeming rather complicated I'm going to
+make it very simple and before I do that
+I do want you to ask yourself a question
+I want you to ask yourself where you
+reside on the Continuum of beliefs about
+sunscreen UV light and skin cancers so
+here it goes my read of the landscape
+out there is that there are some people
+it's a small minority but there are some
+people who feel that sunscreen in any
+form is bad for them they think okay sun
+is great for them and sunscreens of any
+kind chemical or physical barriers bad
+for them okay some people believe this
+I'm not saying I believe this in fact I
+don't believe that I'm a big believer in
+sunlight and the power of sunlight for
+health but I am not what is called a
+sunscreen truther okay I'm not somebody
+who thinks that sunscreen has no value
+in fact quite the opposite under certain
+conditions and certain sunscreens I want
+to say that for the record other people
+out there believe that certain
+sunscreens can be valuable but only the
+sunscreens that lack certain chemicals
+because they are concerned about
+chemicals in certain sunscreens being
+so-called endocrine disruptors or maybe
+even causing cancer on their own okay
+other people are so afraid of sunlight
+and believe that it causes so many
+issues as it relates to skin cancer that
+they basically create beekeeper uniforms
+for themselves so that anytime they're
+out in sunlight they want to have
+sunglasses on they want to have a hat
+they want to cover their neck every part
+of their body okay they sit at the
+opposite extreme of the people who don't
+believe in using any sun protection
+whatsoever and now of course there's the
+backdrop of how much natural melanin
+production we each make that is how dark
+our skin happens to be according to our
+genetics and of course there's the issue
+of where we live on the planet and how
+much sun we have available to us in
+order to potentially expose ourselves to
+and perhaps also ask yourself if you are
+in what I believe is the largest
+category of people out there which is
+the category of people who probably
+don't wear sunscreen every day maybe
+they put it on occasionally but only if
+it's very bright out very hot out
+because they don't want to get a soall
+sunburn and I believe most people fit
+into that General category of a not
+wanting to be burned B not wanting to
+age any faster than they would were they
+to not wear sunscreen at least that's
+their belief and C they've just been
+told that sunscreen's good for them and
+they'll reach for whatever sunscreen is
+on the shelf or that was recommended to
+them either by their dermatologist or
+that they they happen to find in the
+pharmacy or when they're out skiing and
+they you know they notice it's a bright
+day and so they buy some sunscreen and
+slather it on so before I go any further
+just ask yourself those questions you
+know where do you reside are you afraid
+of sunscreen do you love sunscreen are
+you in The Beekeeper category like you
+think all sun is bad it's going to give
+you skin cancer it's going to age you
+faster we'll get to the Aging component
+in a few minutes but just ask yourself
+that question as we wade into the
+material I'm about to cover so what's
+the story with sun exposure sunburn
+sunscreen skin cancer and aging I spoke
+to several different dermatologists
+about this including one expert in skin
+cancers specifically and what I was told
+is the following first of all sun
+exposure will disrupt the collagen and
+elastin but mostly the collagen
+composition of your skin in a way that
+makes it appear as if you're aging
+faster okay so sun exposure yes ages the
+skin now that does not mean however that
+you want to avoid all sun exposure
+because the same dermatologist said that
+some sun exposure is healthy for us why
+because our skin is also an endocrine
+organ it's involved in making various
+hormones it's part of the vitamin D
+production pathway although a little bit
+later we'll talk about the fact that
+most people get their Vitamin D from
+their diet and in some cases also from
+supplementation but it is a good idea to
+get some sunlight for sake of vitamin D
+production but also the production of
+other hormones like testosterone and
+estrogen okay so every single dermat
+ologist that I spoke to said that some
+sun exposure is good for us but that too
+much sun exposure will accelerate the
+appearance of Aging in our skin so let's
+pin that up on the wall as fact okay
+this again is not saying you should
+avoid Sun completely it's also not
+saying you should get excessive sunlight
+exposure it's saying sunlight exposure
+by virtue of the UV wavelengths ability
+to cause mutations in the epidermal
+layers of the skin and to impact the
+collagen composition of the dermal
+layers below it as well as some of the
+other proteins present in the cartinos
+sites okay one of the major skin cell
+types and other cell types of the skin
+does lead to the appearance of aged skin
+which is one rationale for wearing
+sunscreen now when I say sunscreen
+everyone including myself thinks about
+lotions or in some cases sprays but
+let's pay attention to the one fact that
+I do think everybody regardless of what
+category they are in the general
+population or what background training a
+dermatologist has
+believes which is a physical barrier a
+shirt a hat a jacket a physical barrier
+can provide in some cases very good
+protection from the Sun and I don't
+think there's any controversy whatsoever
+as to whether or not the composition of
+the physical barrier is having negative
+effects on the skin okay you will find
+those Niche communities out there that
+are saying okay certain chemicals
+present in certain materials that
+clothing are made with can be problems
+for the endocrine system but we're not
+talking about that here okay what I'm
+saying is that all dermatologists I
+spoke to and I think most every rational
+human being on Earth would say that a
+physical barrier can help to a great
+degree in order to protect our skin from
+the Sun as it relates to sunburn but
+also acceleration of the appearance of
+Aging in our skin okay so I don't think
+there's any dispute about physical
+barriers for protecting the skin how
+much you want to protect your skin from
+the Sun well that will depend on what
+category you decided you were in from
+the earlier discussion we'll get back to
+that
+what else did all the dermatologists and
+skincare experts that I spoke to also
+agree upon well they all said that
+indeed excessive sun exposure can
+increase the propensity for certain skin
+cancers I want to go on record by saying
+I believe that why well because of this
+ability of UV light and some other
+wavelengths of light potentially to
+cause mutations in skin cells that can
+lead to certain skin cancers okay I
+don't think that's a debated topic out
+there there might be a few people out
+there who are going to hang their hat on
+a study that I'll go into a little bit
+later which is that the relationship
+between sun exposure and all-cause
+mortality is a tricky one it's one that
+will parse okay meaning I'll just give
+it a little you know hint into what I'm
+saying people who avoid the sun entirely
+don't tend to live as long as people
+that get some sun exposure but there are
+a bunch of confounding variables that
+have to be understood in order to really
+interpret that statement and the study
+that we'll parse a little bit later for
+now let's just accept the reality that
+the vast vast Ma majority of
+dermatologists out there and skincare
+experts really understand that sun
+exposure can accelerate aging of the
+skin but most will also tell you that
+some sun exposure is good for you not
+just for skin Health but for overall
+brain and body Health now as it relates
+to skin cancer the dermatologist
+oncologist that I spoke to all right who
+did his training at Stanford and I'll
+provide a link in the show note captions
+to his clinic and you can learn more
+about some of his work he's published
+some really nice
+papers said following and this was
+surprising to me he said it turns out
+that the skin cancers that sun exposure
+causes while they can be serious and
+should be taken seriously they should be
+treated those generally are not the most
+deadly of the skin cancers now why would
+he say something like that okay he said
+it because it turns out that there are
+lots of different kinds of skin cancer
+some of them arise or can arise through
+sun exposure others and indeed some of
+the most deadly of skin cancers are
+independent of sun exposure and this is
+where things can get a little bit tricky
+you'll hear out there oh you know Sun
+can cause skin cancer but not the skin
+cancers that kill you I don't think
+that's really a fair statement you'll
+also hear however that all the skin
+cancers that are out there are the
+consequence of sun exposure and that
+also is not true and if anything this
+provides motivation not just on the part
+of the dermatologist but it should be
+motivation from within all of us to make
+sure that we understand our background
+genetics not just how much pigmentation
+We Carry in our skin by virtue of our
+genetics but we should know by asking if
+you're not going to get genetically
+sequenced which you can do nowadays of
+course but you should know whether or
+not your family your genetics tends to
+carry certain mutations that make you
+more prone to skin cancers in general
+not just the type that can be
+exacerbated by sun exposure what I'm
+basically saying is that if you have
+particular genetics in your family even
+if you avoid all sun exposure you know
+nobody should do that of course you need
+some sunlight I mean like all other or
+most all other uh creatures on Earth
+sunlight is important for us it's
+important for setting our circadian
+rhythms that's why I'm always telling
+people to get sunlight in their eyes
+early in the day which by the way when
+the sun is low in the Sky low solar
+angle sunlight the UV index tends to be
+very low okay so you are at the lowest
+possible risk of getting burned of
+getting any kind of mutations to your
+skin that doesn't mean you should overdo
+it it doesn't mean you should stare at
+the Sun and damage your eyes I've talked
+about this a lot on other podcasts how
+to get morning sunlight exposure
+properly but when the sun is low in the
+sky that's generally a safe time to get
+sun exposure it's that midday Sun
+typically between the hours of you know
+11:00 a.m. or even 10: a.m. Depending on
+time of year and where you're at and 2
+or 3 or 4 p.m. that the sun is overhead
+and at its greatest intensity and where
+the UV index can be very high it's very
+easy to look up the UV index and when
+the UV index is very high right I was
+down in Australia earlier this year and
+the UV index down there is so high you
+can almost feel it you actually can feel
+it you step outside and you immediately
+feel like wow my skin is really being
+bombarded with the sunlight and I'm
+somebody who tolerates sunlight pretty
+well because my dad's fairly um you know
+dark pigmentation just Naturally by
+virtue of being South American normally
+I can tolerate the skin pretty well but
+you should not rely on just that
+subjective feel you should look up the
+UV index and we'll provide a few Links
+of good UV index sites that you can look
+up the UV index and where you might want
+to be extra cautious about providing a
+physical barrier or a chemical barrier
+to protect your skin now a lot of people
+out there also believe that if you avoid
+sunburn you're avoiding skin cancer
+perhaps you're very pale or it's the
+early phase of the summer season or you
+have a susceptibility to sunlight such
+that you know you step outside and you
+get too much sunlight on a given day and
+you get a sunburn that reflects an
+immune reaction an inflammatory reaction
+within the dermal layers of the skin so
+that means the vasculature right those
+vessels and capillaries they're going to
+dilate you often times will get
+infiltration of things like cyto coses
+which are of the immune system you get
+an inflammatory respon that's why it's
+red that's why it's tender to the touch
+the nerve endings there can be overly
+activated so the reason why your skin
+actually feels warm right when you touch
+your sunburn is because in fact you have
+an activation of some of the nerve
+endings at that site as well as the
+activation of the local immune system
+properties that give rise to again
+vessel and capillary dilation it's a
+wound of sorts induced by excessive sun
+exposure now does sunburn cause skin
+cancer there's no direct relationship
+between Sunburn and skin cancer except
+the fact that sunburn reflects excessive
+sunlight exposure and yes as I mentioned
+before it's conclusive that excessive UV
+sun exposure to the skin can cause
+certain mutations in skin cells that
+give rise to certain skin cancers why
+are we parsing things at this level of
+detail right is this all just semantics
+no it's not just semantics many people
+believe that if they didn't get a
+sunburn they are not at additional risk
+for inducing skin cancer or other issues
+with skin right we're not just talking
+about skin cancer we're talking about
+accelerated aging of the skin according
+to sun exposure so let's make this very
+simple you don't need a sunburn for the
+sun to accelerate the Aging appearance
+of your skin you don't need a sunburn to
+induce the kind of mutation that may
+again I want to highlight may give rise
+to a skin cancer it's also not the case
+that if you got a sunburn or even
+multiple sunburns that you'll
+necessarily develop skin cancer although
+by virtue of the fact that sunburn
+reflects UV exposure
+multiple sunburns would reflect
+increased UV exposure and therefore
+increased risk for certain skin cancers
+so all this to say avoid sunburn however
+you can and if you're somebody who just
+loes sunscreen that doesn't want to even
+hear the discussion we're about to have
+next about which sunscreens are safe and
+which ones appear to be less safe if
+you're just one of these people that
+does not want to put sunscreen on
+because you're very concerned about
+whatever chemical might be in sunscreen
+well then consider that the physical
+barrier of an article of clothing or a
+hat or a bandana of sorts can indeed
+Shield you from the Sun to some degree
+often to a great degree and again I
+don't think there's any controversy as
+to whether or not those are safe as many
+of you know I've been taking ag1 for
+more than 10 years now so I'm delighted
+that they're sponsoring this podcast to
+be clear I don't take ag1 because
+they're a sponsor rather they are a
+sponsor because I take ag1 in fact I
+take ag1 once and often twice every
+single day and I've done that since
+starting way back in 2012 there is so
+much conflicting information out there
+nowadays about what proper nutrition is
+but here's what there seems to be a
+general consensus on whether you're an
+omnivore a carnivore a vegetarian or a
+vegan I think it's generally agreed that
+you should get most of your food from
+unprocessed or minimally processed
+sources which allows you to eat enough
+but not overeat get plenty of vitamins
+and minerals probiotics and
+micronutrients that we all need for
+physical and mental health now I
+personally am an omin and I strive to
+get most of my food from unprocessed or
+minimally processed sources but the
+reason I still take ag1 once and often
+twice every day is that it ensures I get
+all of those vitamins minerals
+probiotics Etc but it also has
+adaptogens to help me cope with stress
+it's basically a nutritional insurance
+policy meant to augment not replace
+quality food so by drinking a serving of
+ag1 in the morning and again in the
+afternoon or evening I cover all of my
+foundational nutritional needs and I
+like so many other people that take A1
+one report feeling much better in a
+number of important ways such as energy
+levels digestion sleep and more so while
+many supplements out there are really
+directed towards obtaining one specific
+outcome ag1 is foundational nutrition
+designed to support all aspects of
+well-being related to mental health and
+physical health if you'd like to try ag1
+you can go to drink a1.com huberman to
+claim a special offer they'll give you
+five free travel packs with your order
+plus a year supply of vitamin D3 K2
+again that's drink a1.com
+huberman okay so before we dive into our
+discussion about sunscreens and the
+chemicals in
+sunscreens let's just take a moment and
+talk about vitamin D vitamin D is
+important for a great number of bodily
+and brain functions as I mentioned
+earlier most people get their Vitamin D
+from the foods they eat if you eat dairy
+in most countries the dairy is fortified
+with vitamin D many people nowadays
+supplement with vitamin D anywhere from
+a th000 IUS to 5,000 IUS that folks out
+there who perhaps even take 10,000 IUS
+seems a bit high for most people but
+it's going to depend on how much sun
+exposure you get the pigmentation of
+your skin but there are a number of
+people especially in countries where
+they don't get a lot of sun exposure in
+particular times of year and maybe
+they're not eating enough Dairy
+fortified with vitamin D who would
+benefit from vitamin D supplementation
+and many people find they feel better
+when they supplement with vitamin D but
+I encourage you that if you're going to
+supplement with vitamin D to probably
+start at the lower end of
+supplementation like a th000 to 3,000 IU
+maybe 5,000 IU best would be to measure
+your vitamin D levels many people are
+surprised to find that even if they live
+in a part of the world where they get a
+fair amount of sun exposure and they eat
+some Dairy that's fortified with vitamin
+D that for whatever reason their vitamin
+D levels are still too low and benefit
+from supplementation with vitamin D the
+dermatologist that I spoke to told me
+that yes even if you wear sunscreen or a
+physical barrier okay this is
+interesting even if you wear sunscreen
+or a physical barrier when you get
+outside into the
+sun it can still have a positive effect
+on your vitamin D levels this was
+surprising to me but then of course it
+makes sense sunlight is full spectrum
+light it's not just UV and short
+wavelength light the ability for longer
+wavelength light to penetrate the skin
+is clear and those longer wavelengths
+can also impart a positive influence on
+the vitamin D pathway okay so if you're
+concerned about wearing sunscreen
+because you're worried that it's going
+to impair your vitamin D synthesis or
+metabolism in any way probably no reason
+to be concerned now if you're somebody
+who is in The Beekeeper category who's
+completely avoiding sun exposure for
+whatever reason well then you probably
+want to get your vitamin D levels
+checked and you may want to rely on
+supplementation or something of that
+sort at the same time because of
+variation in genetic background there
+will even be some of you out there who
+are super anti-s sunscreen who are
+peeling your shirts off all the time who
+getting lots of sun exposure who may
+surprisingly have vitamin D levels that
+are still low that's rare okay for all
+the obvious reasons but it could still
+be the case and indeed some of the
+dermatologists that I spoke to said they
+occasionally have a patient like that
+vitamin D as you may recall is involved
+in a bunch of different things it acts
+as a hormone it's involved in calcium
+absorption it's involved in some of the
+other hormone Pathways and I should
+mention that there's a study I'll link
+to this in the show note captions that
+shows that some amount of sunlight
+exposure to the skin this is an Israeli
+study where they had people you know get
+several tens of minutes of sunlight
+exposure in the afternoon during
+particular times of year uh they didn't
+have them going naked outside okay this
+was sort of like context and culturally
+appropriate um skin exposure to the
+upper body and to the legs could induce
+increases in hormones such as
+testosterone and estrogen which were
+correlated with it wasn't causal but it
+was correlated with improvements in mood
+well-being libido Etc well some of that
+probably relates to testost Stone and
+estrogen synthesis directly again the
+skin as an endocrine organ okay there
+are certain elements within the cortinos
+sites skin cells that can literally
+communicate with some of the organs of
+the body that produce testosterone and
+estrogen even some of the glands
+pituitary Etc this is through a number
+of different stations it's not
+necessarily direct but also through the
+sun's ability to impact the vitamin D
+pathway that then impinges on those
+testosterone estrogen and things like
+luteinizing hormone Pathways we don't
+have time to go into into all this now I
+covered this in an episode about
+testosterone and estrogen you have
+hormones such as lutenizing hormone
+which then stimulate the gonads the
+testes to the ovaries to make
+testosterone Endor estrogen the skin is
+a not so obvious player in this whole
+thing whereby external environmental
+stimuli such as the availability of
+sunlight which in most places in the
+world varies across the year can
+stimulate more or less vitamin D
+production luteinizing hormone
+production that can hinge on
+testosterone and estrogen
+production these pathways are one of the
+reasons why when we get the right amount
+of sunlight not too little not too much
+we feel better we feel better because
+certain hormones are being produced at
+certain levels when we're getting that
+sun exposure and when we don't get that
+sun exposure we have lower levels of
+those hormones this is well established
+and the study that I linked to in the
+show note captions which I've covered in
+previous episodes is but one example of
+that phenomenon okay let's talk about
+sunscreens now the reason I changed my
+tone of voice voice with this is that if
+you look on the internet you will see
+claims that I don't use or believe in
+sunscreen that is just false I've worn
+sunscreen my entire life I don't
+necessarily wear every day I don't tend
+to burn easily okay I have some natural
+level of pigmentation in my skin based
+on my genetics as I mentioned earlier
+but as we talked about earlier just
+avoiding sunburn is not going to protect
+me or anyone else against certain
+sun-induced mutations in skin cells and
+the aging effects that sun can have so I
+do believe in certain sunscreens meaning
+I will put sunscreen on on certain days
+on certain parts of my
+body however I do believe now having
+spoken to multiple
+dermatologists and looked into the
+literature very deeply that there are
+certain chemicals in certain sunscreens
+that are of concern I don't mean that if
+you put these on once or even twice that
+you are going to suffer negative
+consequences I mean they are of concern
+meaning we should pay attention to them
+and when given the option we should opt
+for the healthier choices and in fact
+there are known healthier choices to
+make all of this very clear I'm going to
+tell you what is very clear to the
+Dermatology community at this point in
+time okay in June of 2024 here's what we
+know there are two major types of
+sunscreens out there well really three
+we talked about physical barrier before
+no one argues about a physical barrier
+no one's worried about the chemical
+compos I of physical barriers okay when
+we talk about sunscreen so lotions
+creams sprays Etc there are two major
+types the first are organic types which
+is essentially chemical sunscreens okay
+so when you hear organic sunscreens that
+means chemical type sunscreens and then
+there are inorganic types which are
+sometimes referred to as mineral-based
+sunscreens here's what most everybody
+seems to accept that mineral-based
+sunscreens meaning sunscreen that tend
+to include either zinc oxide or titanium
+dioxide or both in some cases are
+generally thought to be safe up to
+concentrations of 25% 25% is a pretty
+high concentration you can find
+sunscreens out there that have 25% zinc
+oxide or 25% titanium dioxide they're
+rare to find however more often you'll
+find sunscreens that have 15% 10% 18%
+zinc oxide sometimes alone or in
+combination with titanium dioxide you'll
+find some pure titanium dioxide
+sunscreens out there alth those are a
+bit more rare right a little bit harder
+to find here's the story zinc oxide and
+titanium dioxide reflect back UV light
+those short wavelengths of light that
+would otherwise potentially cause
+mutations in your skin cells at the
+level of the epidermis okay in the
+outermost layers of skin remember short
+wavelength light doesn't pass very
+deeply into the skin sunscreens
+containing zinc oxide Andor titanium
+dioxide were engineered for that
+specific purpose to reflect back UV
+light this is very different than
+organic or chemical sunscreens which
+contain certain compounds these Go by
+different names
+oxybenzone avobenzone there are a bunch
+of these different chemicals that are
+contained in so-called organic or
+chemical sunscreens those chemicals in
+general don't serve to reflect back UV
+light but rather absorb UV light okay so
+when they're applied to the skin they're
+designed to absorb the UV light so that
+the UV light can't negatively impact the
+skin those chemical again chemical AKA
+organic components within organic
+sunscreens again sometimes called
+chemical sunscreens are designed to
+absorb UV light mineral-based sunscreens
+so-called inorganic sunscreens
+containing things like zinc oxide or
+titanium dioxide are designed to reflect
+back UV light why am I telling you this
+well I'm telling you this because it's
+generally believed that the zinc oxide
+and titanium dioxide containing
+sunscreens are safe up to concentrations
+of 25% whereas there is some again some
+concern about the chemicals within
+chemical AKA organic sunscreens as
+potential endocrine disruptors so
+disrupting things like testosterone
+synthesis estrogen synthesis and other
+hormones it's not all just about
+testosterone and estrogen folks other
+hormone Pathways that many people
+including some governing bodies and
+agencies that assess the safety of
+different cosmetic and sunscreen
+products are concerned about now how
+concerned they are depends on where you
+are in the world okay so in Europe they
+have different stringencies for what is
+considered safe versus unsafe or just of
+concern as opposed to in the US here's
+what every dermatologist in the US
+because those are the ones I spoke to
+told me which is that it is advised that
+on children younger than 6 months of age
+you do not use chemical based B
+sunscreens why well young skin even the
+skin on the external part of the body in
+children 6 months or younger acts more
+like mucosal skin in that it can very
+easily absorb things transdermally
+through the skin however even as we age
+so into puberty our young adult years
+and even into our elderly years there is
+still a capacity for things to pass
+transdermally through the skin although
+because of some of the additional
+barriers formed within the dermal and
+epidermal layers of the skin like
+extracellular Matrix the changes in
+collagen Etc there is less tendency for
+compounds to pass transdermally through
+the skin now that just simply highlights
+the fact that if you are a very young
+person or if you're applying sunscreen
+to a very young person maybe six months
+or younger but also perhaps older
+depending on how careful you want to be
+to avoid these chemical-based
+sunscreens there is very little if any
+evidence that the mineral-based
+sunscreens are of concern for
+transdermal pass into the skin at
+concentrations of 25% or less meaning
+sunscreens containing zinc oxide and
+titanium dioxide are probably safe or at
+least have been deemed safe enough that
+they are freely available on the market
+and we are told that they are safe for
+people of all ages so if you are
+somebody who is concerned about the
+chemicals in sunscreen most every
+dermatologist or chemist who works on
+sunscreens will tell you well
+mineral-based inorganic sunscreens are
+going to be your safer option if you're
+concerned but get this the
+chemical-based sunscreens while some of
+the chemicals in them indeed can be
+quite scary when you read the literature
+you look at some of these things like
+oxybenzone um avobenzone and some
+similar chemicals even at low
+concentrations have been shown to be
+endocrine disruptors people talk about
+how the fact when they apply these
+sunscreens they can taste them in their
+mouth there's a lot of fear around these
+and some of that fear is substantiated
+when one goes and looks at the studies
+that have been done on these
+chemical-based sunscreens you may find
+it interesting to note that the way
+these studies were done often involves
+having people apply a ton of these
+chemical based sunscreens like two full
+bottles of these sunscreens over the
+course of a very short period of time
+and then have their blood drawn and then
+it's revealed that some of these
+chemical components are within the blood
+so a big issue that's not often
+discussed because it's very difficult to
+control for in a natural setting but is
+straightforward to control for in a
+laboratory setting is how much sunscreen
+one is applying and how often and across
+how many years of time so there's no
+real prescriptive that can tell you hey
+if you put chemical sunscreens on once
+that's problematic although certainly
+pay attention to that six months and
+younger what is essentially a rule that
+I mentioned earlier and do not put
+chemical based sunscreens on really
+young kids you might want to avoid them
+entirely depending on how stringent you
+are about this stuff but when it comes
+to chemical based sunscreens personally
+I avoid them but then it becomes a
+question of if you could only use a
+chemical based sunscreen you simply look
+at the label some of these have by the
+way zinc oxide titanium oxide and
+chemical based components okay keep that
+in mind some are purely mineral based
+some are purely chemical based but if
+you look at a sunscreen label you know
+okay well this is the only thing
+available on this very hot day with a
+very high UV index and otherwise I'm
+going to get a burn well if you're
+really concerned then I would resort to
+a physical barrier if you are less
+concerned then you could perhaps tell
+yourself okay you get to put it on that
+day but you might not want to use it
+every day and you might want to use a
+small volume of it right or maybe just
+on parts of your face or your ears or
+your neck that are particularly
+sensitive to Sun okay these are the
+things that need to be taken into
+consideration but when we step back from
+all of this all of the literature
+including by the way some of the
+literature that assessed and I'll put a
+link to this review a review on the
+potential neurotoxicity of titanium
+dioxide nanoparticles I'll get into this
+in a moment it has been explored whether
+or not titanium dioxide is more risky
+than zinc oxide talk about that in a
+moment but when you step back from all
+of this here's what you get physical
+barrier no one argues About That No One
+Believes that clothing is dangerous per
+se when it comes to avoiding excessive
+sun exposure again excessive relates to
+your skin tone your background genetics
+your activities and where you are in the
+world and what time of year okay very
+specific to your needs very few folks
+are concerned about mineral-based
+inorganic sunscreen so if you want to
+use sunscreen as many people do and you
+want to make sure that it's not an
+endocrine disruptor and it's not a
+neurotoxin or something else that's been
+raised for some of these chemical-based
+sunscreens well then find a sunscreen
+that has 25% less zinc oxide and or
+titanium dioxide if you were a bit more
+concerned about say titanium dioxide and
+some of the suggestive evidence only
+suggestive evidence that maybe titanium
+dioxide is more risky than zinc oxide
+especially when it's in its Nano form
+the very small form that may indeed
+allow it for more easy Passage through
+the layers of the skin that transdermal
+passage will then find a sunscreen that
+is purely zinc oxide sunscreen and again
+they always have other things in them
+but what I mean is the only active
+ingredient in a zinc oxide only
+containing sunscreen is zinc oxide and
+then there are a bunch of other things
+that allow it to be a lotion for
+instance again up to 25% concentration
+why would somebody not want to use zinc
+oxide containing sunscreen up to 25% and
+opt for anything else you might ask
+right if that's considered safe the
+reason is the consistency of the zinc
+oxide is it's pretty sticky and thick
+and it's kind of pasty right back in the
+80s and 90s some of you may recall that
+had um zinc oxide um sunscreens that
+would actually you know color the nose
+white so you could really see it was
+really prominent on the face they tried
+to turn that into a fashion statement
+didn't go over so well over time but in
+any case the addition of titanium
+dioxide to those zinc oxide containing
+sunscreens allow it to be a bit silkier
+so that it would spread on more evenly
+and then you may say well why even put
+chemicals in sunscreen at all if there's
+risk the reason why chemical-based
+organic sunscreens even exist is that
+they can come up with compositions of
+those sunscreens that are very silky and
+that could spread on clear over makeup
+and things of that sort but there are
+these concerns about some of those
+chemical components as endocrine
+disruptors and potentially as mutagens
+that could cause other issues or you
+know any number of different things you
+you know you can find all sorts of
+concerns out there on the internet most
+of those concerns are not substantiated
+but these chemicals can be problematic
+at high concentrations and that takes us
+back to the point made earlier which is
+that in the studies of those chemicals
+and the reasons in some cases being
+banned in certain countries and other
+countries carrying uh warning
+recommendations the amount of those
+chemical-based sunscreens that were
+applied was exceedingly high so if
+you're wearing sunscreen very often
+you're wearing a lot of it probably best
+of year towards a mineral-based
+sunscreen if you are concerned at all
+about the chemicals in chemical based
+sunscreen wear a mineral based sunscreen
+and or use physical barrier and if
+you're somebody who just doesn't believe
+that sunscreens are safe whatsoever well
+you know as far as I know it's a free
+world you don't have to wear sunscreen
+but then I would say you need to be very
+aware of the fact that sun can induce
+the appearance of accelerated aging in
+the skin right that's an actual process
+that takes place there's really no
+debating that frankly and sun exposure
+can potentially accelerate or even give
+rise to certain skin Cancers and nobody
+wants that okay before we move on to a
+discussion about what can be done to to
+increase the youthfulness of our skin or
+the appearance of youthfulness in our
+skin we need to have a bit more
+discussion about skin cancers notice I
+said skin cancers plural because there
+are many different forms of skin cancer
+some of them relate to sun exposure as
+we discussed earlier others do not and
+in fact some of the more deadly skin
+cancers are independent of sun exposure
+they can relate to genetics and to other
+factors so the most straightforward
+story about all of this is that
+approximately 80 to 90 % of melanomas
+which are skin Cancers and they are very
+serious skin cancers that can indeed be
+very deadly arise in what's called
+denovo skin denovo skin is non mole skin
+now does that mean that you should not
+pay attention to the shape and any
+changes in your moles no you absolutely
+should but for people who have naturally
+darker pigmentation everywhere or who
+have very few
+moles then you aren't going to be able
+to use the monitoring of your moles as
+the only readout of potential
+development of skin cancer and frankly
+everybody should be thinking about these
+more serious skin cancers independent of
+moles or changes in moles here are a
+couple things that everyone should pay
+attention to if you have a pimple like
+lesion or you have any kind of spot on
+your skin that seems like it's an acne
+that's lasted more than a month or you
+have an area that's seeping something
+that might look like plasma or pus or
+blood and it persists over a long period
+of time like a month or more
+absolutely get that checked out by a
+dermatologist okay don't wait any longer
+than a month get it checked out in
+addition it's highly recommended that
+you go in and you get your moles checked
+by a dermatologist and frankly that you
+get all of your skin checked by a
+dermatologist at least once per year
+this is going to really protect you
+against both the sun-induced skin
+Cancers and other forms of skin cancer
+the most common form of sun exposure
+induced cancers are basil cell
+carcinomas and indeed those are less
+deadly many of the melanomas but they
+still can be exceedingly problematic and
+they can be deadly so it's very
+important to get these checked out now
+there are websites and I'll provide a
+link to one of them in the show note
+captions for which you can look at a
+bunch of different examples of different
+moles and how they change over time and
+if you happen to have a mole that
+resembles the appearance of any of the
+moles in that image gallery then you
+would be wise to go to a dermatologist
+right away because it could be again
+could be cancer of some sort you do not
+want to let these things linger for too
+long at the same time many people get
+concerned about one mole that didn't
+have an irregular border and then
+suddenly has an irregular border there
+are a lot of different features as
+you'll learn from the website or if you
+talk to your dermatologist that relate
+to whether or not something is
+predicting skin cancer or has become
+skin cancer it's not just irregular
+border it's changes in size certainly
+changes in pigmentation vascularization
+bleeding any kind of seeping there are a
+lot of different things there so don't
+be alarmed at first appearance of one of
+these things but do take it seriously
+and keep in mind that there are things
+that your dermatologist can do to help
+prevent certain skin cancers so for
+instance there's a growing Trend now
+among dermatologists to suggest laser
+resurfacing of skin that is a laser used
+to essentially disrupt that epidermal
+outermost layer turn it over so that it
+regenerates because it can indeed
+regenerate to create new cells there
+keep in mind that UV light and other
+factors in the environment can cause
+mutations within that skin layer
+sometimes they're caused by genetic
+factors but often environmental factors
+like sun and chemicals and other things
+and by encouraging turnover of that skin
+layer through laser resurfacing which by
+the way may also increase the sort of
+youthfulness appearance of your skin so
+many people are motivated to do it for
+that reason can dramatically reduce the
+incidence of certain kinds of skin
+cancer in fact the dermatologist I spoke
+to who's an expert in Derm oncology okay
+cancers of the skin said that laser
+resurfacing can cause a 30% reduction in
+skin cancers because of this ability to
+rejuvenate that epidermal layer and
+that's especially true for areas of the
+body like the face ears neck tops of the
+hands etc for which the sun often
+induces the most damage because those
+are the most exposed parts of the body
+on a regular basis and by the way this
+whole thing about skin cancer is not a
+trivially small number it's a big number
+in the us alone there are up to four
+million cases per year of what's called
+Squam cell carcinoma one of these forms
+of skin cancer so getting checked out by
+a highly qualified dermatologist on a
+yearly basis maybe even more if you're
+really concerned about this because you
+have a lot of familiar
+genetically inherited skin cancers
+things of that sort is really highly
+advised I'd like to take a brief break
+and acknowledge one of our sponsors
+element element is an electrolyte drink
+that has everything you need that means
+the electrolyt sodium magnesium and
+pottassium in the correct amounts and
+ratios and nothing you don't which means
+no sugar now I and others on this
+podcast have talked about the critical
+importance of hydration for proper brain
+and body functioning even a slight
+degree of dehydration can diminish
+cognitive and physical performance it's
+also important that you get adequate
+electrolytes the electrolytes sodium
+magnesium and potassium are critical for
+the functioning of all the cells in your
+body especially your neurons your nerve
+cells drinking element dissolved in
+water makes it very easy to ensure that
+you're getting adequate hydration and
+adequate electrolytes to make sure I'm
+getting proper amounts of hydration and
+electrolytes I dissolve one packet of
+element in about 16 to 32 ounces of
+water when I wake up in the morning and
+I drink that basically first thing in
+the morning I'll also drink element
+dissolved in water during any kind of
+physical exercise I'm doing especially
+in hot days when I'm sweating a lot
+losing water and electrolytes they have
+a bunch of different great tasting
+flavors of element my favorite is the
+watermelon although I confess I also
+like the raspberry and the Citrus
+basically I like all the flavors and
+element has also just released a new
+line of canned sparkling element so
+these aren't the packets you dissolve in
+water these are cans of element that you
+crack open like any other canned drink
+like a soda but you're getting your
+hydration and your electrolytes with no
+sugar if you'd like to try element you
+can go to drink element El spelled l
+mn.com huberman to claim a free element
+sample pack with the purchase of any
+element drink mix again that's drink
+element.com huberman to claim a free
+sample pack now with respect to
+everything we've talked about about sun
+exposure sunscreen and skin cancer I'd
+be remiss if I didn't discuss a study
+that's often used kind of as a wedge or
+a weapon in the online debates about sun
+exposure skin cancer and mortality and
+the title of this study is quote
+avoidance of sun exposure as a risk
+factor that's right sun exposure as a
+risk factor for major causes of death a
+competing risk analysis of the melanoma
+in southern Sweden cohort so the basic
+design of the study was to evaluate
+people's self-reported amount of sun
+exposure across many years and then to
+correlate that with all cause mortality
+and then to relate it to different
+causes of disease in particular
+cardiovascular death compare this to
+smokers keep in mind that some of the
+people who were reporting their sun
+exposure were smokers some weren't
+and the conclusion of this study that
+Drew a lot of attention and continues to
+draw a lot of attention is the following
+quote and here I quote from the abstract
+non-smokers who avoided sun exposure had
+a life expectancy similar to smokers in
+the highest sun exposure group okay I'm
+going to repeat that non-smokers who
+avoided sun exposure had a life
+expectancy similar to smokers in the
+highest sun exposure group so what many
+people take this to con clude is that
+avoiding sun exposure is as dangerous as
+smoking okay that's not the conclusion
+that I'd like you to take away because
+what this study basically shows is and
+here I continue quote compared to the
+highest sun exposure group life
+expectancy of avoiders of sun exposure
+was reduced by 0.6 to 2.1 years so way a
+second can this really be true that
+people that are avoiding sun exposure
+have a low life expectancy than people
+who get sun exposure and indeed in this
+particular study that does seem to be
+the case but the interpretation of this
+is not completely straightforward here's
+what we know getting some degree of sun
+exposure appears to be good for life
+expectancy that is true but is it
+directly related to sun exposure that's
+a critical question and is the increased
+sun exposure that one gets if you do get
+sun exposure linked to other issues in
+particular the development of melanoma
+as you recall melanoma was even in the
+title of the study so here's how I think
+we should think about this study it does
+appear that getting sun exposure is
+correlated with longer life expectancy
+but there could be any number of
+different reasons for that for instance
+people that are getting regular sun
+exposure presumably are also enhancing
+activation of the vitamin D Pathways
+which is related to any number of
+different things they no doubt are
+experiencing increased feelings of
+well-being I talked about papers that
+have substantiated that earlier and
+frankly we didn't even need a scientific
+study to substantiate that although it's
+always great to have it we know that
+being out in sunshine for some period of
+time each day as long as we don't get
+burned in the sun feels good why does it
+feel good it leads to the production of
+testosterone estrogen some of the
+endorphins that generally make us feel
+good it is directly related to the
+pathways associated with dopamine
+release there's a whole story there
+about seasonality both in humans and
+other animals about dopamine synthesis
+when we get sunlight there's elevated
+dopamine and serotonin and testosterone
+and estrogen and feelings of well-being
+and libido this is all well
+substantiated in animal models and
+humans so getting sun exposure makes
+people feel good when people feel good
+they tend to be lower stress when people
+are feeling good and they have energy
+because there indeed is a direct
+relationship between sun exposure
+especially to the eyes early in the day
+and our feelings of elevated mood and
+alertness and energy they tend to
+exercise more walk more and of course if
+you're outside exercising more walking
+more cycling swimming you're also going
+to get more sun exposure and we know
+that exercise is strongly related to
+improved or extended life expectancy
+okay so the study basically says getting
+sunlight as opposed to very little
+sunlight is good for life expectancy but
+it doesn't say get too much sunlight
+right because and this is interesting it
+is very clear that the people who lived
+longer because they were getting more
+sunlight also tended to have more
+cancers including melanoma but this is a
+very important point it's also the case
+that the longer one lives the more
+likely you are to develop a cancer okay
+so as you can see these studies that
+many people just draw one
+straightforward conclusion from such as
+people who get less sun exposure don't
+live as long as people to get more sun
+exposure well that's true but when you
+get more sun exposure very likely you're
+doing other things like exercise and
+feeling better that relate to living
+longer so it's very difficult if not
+impossible to isolate one single
+variable in this case sun exposure as
+the key variable however I'm happy to go
+on record saying that we know from so
+many studies of animal models and humans
+that sun exposure especially early day
+sun exposure when the sun is low in the
+sky to set your circadian rhythm and
+late day sun exposure okay I'm not
+talking about middle of the day getting
+baked in the Sun and you know sunburned
+or things of that sort but around the
+time of sunset especially sun exposure
+to the eyes is powerfully modulating
+your circadian rhythm to elevate daytime
+mood focus and alertness and improv
+sleep both of which are strongly
+correlated with improvements in mental
+health immune system function feelings
+of well-being enhanced cognition I mean
+there's this whole story about people
+with Alzheimer's and disruptions in
+circadian rhythms and sleep so sun
+exposure to the eyes in terms of setting
+circadian rhythm
+powerful powerful Improvement of life
+expectancy and immediate health sun
+exposure to the skin no doubt very
+powerful positive modulators of certain
+hormone and neuromodulator Pathways such
+as dopamine testosterone estrogen and so
+forth that make people feel good and do
+things generally that are good for them
+okay generally not all the things people
+do with elevated dopamine testosterone
+and estrogen are good for them we know
+that for sure but getting some sunlight
+that is some appropriate dosage of
+sunlight especially to the eyes ear in
+the day don't stare at the sun don't
+damage your eyes but getting some of
+that sun exposure to your eyes early in
+the day and some to the skin especially
+in the early and later part of the day
+clearly is positively correlated with
+various Health metrics in terms of
+mental health and physical health and
+not surprisingly with lifespan so I
+mentioned the study because I do think
+it's very interesting right I think it's
+really interesting that people who
+completely avoid sunlight are not living
+as long as people who get some sun
+exposure and some of this actually is on
+par with what's experienced with
+cigarette smoking I think something that
+everyone agrees is negative in terms of
+life
+expectancy and certainly is not good for
+a great number of different systems
+within the brain and body but I think
+the study sometimes is used to highlight
+the wrong conclusion which is that
+sunlight itself is extending lifespan I
+think that that very simple conclusion
+can be taken too far and can start to
+negate some of the equally important
+messages about excessive sunlight
+exposure causing certain problems as it
+relates to skin cancers which we talked
+about earlier as it relates to things
+that you can do in order to offset some
+of that risk with if I were to suggest a
+physical barrier if you need it a
+chemical based sunscreen if you choose
+to use sunscreen and of course that's an
+independent choice that each of us have
+to make for ourselves okay let's talk
+about youthfulness of skin or the
+appearance of youthfulness in skin
+before I did this episode I put the call
+out on social media for questions about
+skin and skin health and I must say that
+the vast majority of questions related
+to this topic and it's a very
+interesting one because it relates to a
+lot of decisions that people are making
+about what to do what to buy or not BU
+as the case may be and it is an
+enormous probably hundreds of billions
+of dollars industry if not trillion
+dollar industry over time this business
+of devices products and procedures to
+try and reverse aging or the appearance
+of Aging in skin or even create denovo
+new synthesis of collagen and skin and
+other things to make skin look more
+youthful okay so if we step back from
+this whole area we have to ask ourselves
+what do we know for sure about what
+makes skin look youthful and what can be
+done to make skin look more youthful and
+to understand the answers to those
+questions we simply have to go back to
+the beginning of today's discussion for
+just a moment remember that we have the
+EP dermal layer of skin we have the
+dermal layer of skin where you have the
+vascul the blood vessels and capillaries
+you have the nerve inputs there and you
+have a bunch of different cell types in
+there the cartinos sites you have
+different proteins within those cells
+like collagen elastin that over time can
+yes be mutated by things like UV rays
+from the Sun but that over time tend to
+lose their elasticity which leads to
+wrinkles and sagging skin you also have
+this issue of hydration of the skin
+right the skin has a lot of watery
+components within it actual water within
+it and those watery components are what
+give it its kind of plump moist look
+smooth look as opposed to desiccated you
+know sagging wrinkled look to speak in
+extremes and there are hundreds if not
+thousands of different chemicals out
+there that dermatologists as well as
+cosmetic surgeons as well as just you
+know frankly manufacturers of products
+assert are going to be good for skin so
+let's talk about where there is a lot of
+evidence for certain things that you can
+do if your goal is to increase the
+youthfulness or the appearance of
+youthfulness in your skin and one of the
+main ones is collagen itself now I have
+to admit I was very surprised when I
+looked at this literature but I was
+positively surprised here's why as you
+know there are various macronutrients
+present in foods you can have proteins
+fats and carbohydrates when we ingest
+proteins such as beef chicken fish eggs
+as well as some vegan sources of
+proteins like beans or lentils or tofu
+things of that sort they contain
+different amounts of different essential
+amino acids and those essential amino
+acids and other amino acids are used as
+the building blocks for proteins in our
+muscles in our tendons in essentially
+all the organ systems of our body the
+lipids are also used for cell membranes
+Etc okay this has been discussed various
+times on this podcast before people like
+Dr Lane Norton Dr Gabrielle lion and
+others it's well established that when
+these proteins are broken down in the
+gut some of those amino acids go and
+serve for the purpose of tissue repair
+others are for the purpose of other
+things what most people in the field of
+nutrition agree upon and what certainly
+I believe is that if you were to say eat
+a little bit of liver right you might
+have a little bit of cooked liver or a
+little bit of skeletal muscle in the
+form of like a steak that there's no
+selective trafficking of the amino acids
+that are broken down from the liver that
+you eat to your liver right so when you
+hear that eating liver supports your
+liver it may do that by the broad
+process of certain amino acids and
+vitamins and lipids Etc serving your
+liver and other organ and tissue systems
+of the body but not selectively your
+liver however when we talk about
+collagen this protein that forms one of
+the most essential aspects of what makes
+our skin what it is which is elastic and
+you know and and to have some tensile
+strength where we can push on it it
+returns to its uh original position
+especially if if it's well hydrated and
+makes our skin very youthful in
+appearance when we're young and then as
+it degrades when we get old makes it
+look less youthful wrinkles and sagging
+and so forth well then why would eating
+collagen protein which can come from any
+number of different sources it can come
+from fish sources it can come from
+Believe It or Not animal hoof sources
+can come from any number of different
+sources tendon Etc why would ingesting
+collagen be selectively trafficked to
+the collagen in our skin right that
+doesn't square with everything we know
+and yet when you look at studies
+including metaanalyses of studies where
+people supplement with collagen powders
+and these powders typically come from
+fish or Tender any number of different
+sources when people do this and then
+measures are taken as to skin appearance
+skin elasticity there are a bunch of
+measures that could be done in humans in
+the laboratory to do this you often will
+find studies that show statistically
+significant improvements in collagen
+composition and skin appearance and even
+the appearance of reduction in wrinkles
+and so forth
+so this is an interesting exception
+where the ingestion of a particular
+protein that naturally exists in
+abundance in certain tissues such as
+Skin but also other tissues like tendon
+ligaments Etc seems to be assisting in
+either the repair and Rejuvenation of
+collagen or perhaps some other aspect of
+collagen synthesis that leads to
+improvements in collagen composition and
+the appearance of skin in humans that's
+very interesting and the stud study that
+I find particularly interesting is one
+that I'll link to in the show note
+captions it's entitled quote exploring
+the impact of hydrolized collagen oral
+supplementation on skin Rejuvenation a
+systematic review and metaanalysis and
+the basic takeaway of this and other
+metaanalyses and the studies with in
+this metaanalyses is that when people
+supplement with anywhere from 5 to 15
+grams okay grams of hydrolized collagen
+per day in particular in combination
+with vitamin C it doesn't have to be a
+of vitamin C that one can observe okay
+not always but can observe some visible
+improvements in skin composition meaning
+less wrinkles even some reversal of
+wrinkles less skin sagging more youthful
+appearance more kind of um let's just
+call it rebound elasticity of the skin I
+realize that's not the appropriate
+technical term but uh the ability of the
+skin to bounce back from an indentation
+when you push down on it as opposed to
+saying down or or sagging so some pretty
+impressive results when one considers
+that what people are basically doing
+here is just mixing up some hydrolyzed
+collagen protein and then uh drinking
+that down once per day or so now that is
+not to say that you have to supplement
+with hydrolyzed collagen why well
+collagen is also present in various
+Foods so for instance drinking bone
+broth beef bone broth chicken bone broth
+is a rich source of collagen you can go
+online and simply look up just by web
+search you can just say you know what
+foods contain high levels of collagen
+and you'll get a list of things back
+there hopefully a few of those are not
+just palatable to you but you actually
+like and you can start to include those
+in your daily diet or you could
+supplement with hydrolyzed collagen
+protein there any number of different
+sources for these it's interesting that
+while indeed I don't believe and there
+is frankly zero evidence for Selective
+trafficking of amino acids arising from
+a particular organ source to that
+particular organ when you ingest it it
+is interesting that consuming hydrolized
+collagen in the form of a supplement or
+deriving it from foods like bone broth
+Etc does seem to be able to improve
+collagen synthesis or the appearance of
+skin making it more youthful for those
+of you that are interested in ingesting
+collagen peptides as a way to improve
+the youthfulness of your skin should
+mention that the dosages there uh come
+in a Range depending on the studies that
+you've looked at and the dermatologist
+that I spoke to said if one decides to
+go down this route of supplementing or
+getting collagen from food sources you
+want to aim for anywhere from 15 gam to
+30 gam of collagen peptide per day okay
+that's a bit higher than what was used
+in a number of uh studies but you'll
+find studies that use 30 grams and that
+that whole process can be augmented can
+be
+improved through ingestion of 500 to
+1,000 milligrams of Vitamin C as well
+but check the label on those collagen
+peptides that you might be supplementing
+with because often times they already
+include that 500 to 1,000 milligrams of
+Vitamin C I should also mention that the
+dermatologists I spoke to said that they
+like collagen protein supplement ation
+not just for the reasons discussed up
+until now but that they like them for a
+number of other reasons such as the
+potential anti-inflammatory effects of
+collagen proteins to be honest I don't
+know what the exact mechanism of that is
+maybe if you get a certain protein
+threshold the inflammation is down but
+anyway that's still cryptic to me but in
+any case they did describe some of the
+potential mechanisms by which collagen
+ingestion can do its thing in terms of
+improving youthfulness it's broken down
+in the blood into dipeptides and
+tripeptides which then are used within
+the collagen itself of the skin this is
+the hypothesis and that it can increase
+the chemotaxis the mobility of
+fiberblast which make up some of the
+skin tissue and give rise to the
+appearance of more youthful skin there's
+also evidence that ingestion of
+hydrolized collagen peptides can improve
+the elasticity of the Skin Barrier on
+the outside right make it look nice and
+taut if I guess we say nice we're sort
+of passing subjective readout on this uh
+make it appear taut um through the
+increase of certain proteins unrelated
+to collagen such as filigran elastins
+Etc what about other peptides okay so
+this is a big topic nowadays especially
+in the online communities I did an
+entire episode of this podcast about
+peptides keep in mind that insulin is a
+peptide OIC what is essentially an
+Agonist for glucagonlike peptide one
+this is a very popular prescription drug
+now for the treatment of obesity and for
+the treatment of diabetes there there
+are lots of things that qualify as
+peptides a peptide is simply a small
+chain of amino acids a polypeptide is a
+bit longer chain of amino acids and then
+proteins are made up of amino acids okay
+so when we say peptides that means many
+many things but these days when you hear
+about quote unquote peptides especially
+in online communities generally people
+are referring to exogenously given okay
+so pills ointments or more typically
+injections of peptides that are designed
+to achieve some specific biological or
+physiological outcome and one of the
+more common of these peptides being used
+nowadays is one that I've talked about
+before called bpc157 body protection
+compound 157 which is essentially a
+synthetic version of something found in
+gastric juice in all of us it's known
+that certain peptides within the gut
+that bpc 157 is known to mimic or
+actually is a synthetic version of that
+exact sequence or a portion of that
+sequence can assist in tissue and wound
+repair of different kinds tendon
+anything involving fiber blast all of
+that has been well demonstrated in vitro
+in a dish okay so not in Vivo as well as
+inv Vivo in certain cases but only in
+animal models to my knowledge there's
+only one study and frankly it's not a
+very good study at all on bpc157 in
+humans and yet a lot of people are
+taking bpc157 either orally in the form
+of a capsule or pill or more typically
+injecting it what does it do or what
+does it likely do in humans we know from
+animal models that pc-1 157 increases
+angiogenesis the growth of capillaries
+in blood vessels we know this it can
+accelerate wound healing by virtue of
+increasing fibr blast motility for this
+reason it's used post injury in sports
+it's used by people who want to build
+more muscle it's used by endurance
+athletes it's used for cosmetic purposes
+anytime people are using bpc157 for any
+of those purposes it's likely that
+they're using it in part to increase the
+blood flow that's available to a given
+tissue and the repair of that tissue now
+again I do want to caution people that
+there is very little basically no
+evidence in humans besides the anecdotal
+evidence that people say they healed
+faster what I do know is that anytime
+you get vascularization of tissue you're
+going to get improved blood flow so it
+all makes sense mechanistically I also
+know that vascularization due to bpc157
+even if it's injected locally into a
+given tissue is likely to occur globally
+throughout the body this is why some
+people taking oral bpc157 or injecting
+it you know just subcutaneously at the
+level of you know their stomach a little
+bit you know Under the Skin at the level
+of their stomach report faster wound
+healing even in a distal limb or like a
+hand or a nerve injury in their foot or
+something like that that also tells us
+that there's going to be increased
+vascularization of other tissues such as
+Skin such as tumors if tumors exist so
+you need to be very careful I need to
+say that upfront as a cautionary note
+because it is very clear that many many
+people are starting to either inject
+bpc157 or apply in the form of a topical
+cream in effort to get more
+vascularization of skin in order to make
+that skin appear more youthful and more
+and more products are out there that
+contain bpc157 I can't in good conscious
+recommend those products I can only
+offer to you the likely mechanism by
+which they work if they work and also
+offer you the caveat that it is unclear
+that bpc 157 can go transdermally if
+it's applied topically so if you put on
+a say wrinkly portion of your face so
+like I've got crow's feet crow's feet
+come from either aging smiling or both
+um you know crow's feet are the kind
+wrinkles that extend out the corners of
+your eyes when you smile or for me
+because I'm you know 48 you know
+probably do that even when I don't smile
+the the logic would be that if you take
+a cream containing bpc157 and you put it
+on there that you'll get increased
+vascularization of that area delivery of
+more growth factors in nutrients and
+those wrinkles will either be halted in
+their aging progression or that they
+will reverse that's the logic to my
+knowledge there are no clinical studies
+and I'd love to know from you if you've
+tried these products please put your
+experience of those in the comments on
+YouTube so we can get a sense of whether
+or not people are having good um results
+with this that of course is not a
+controlled study but I'm very curious as
+to know many of the products that
+contain bpc157 by the way also contain
+copper copper is a trace mineral it's
+found in your diet there is some
+evidence that copper is important for
+some of the collagen and other elements
+of skin synthesis Pathways and so the
+mechanistic logic and the biochemical
+logic is there on paper however it's
+also clear that ingesting too much
+copper can induce an inflammatory
+response and would lead to the exact
+opposite desired effect that people who
+are using copper and usually copper bpc
+containing products are taking them for
+which is to Halt or reverse the
+appearance of Aging in their skin why am
+I going through this whole gymnastics of
+you know bpc157 and copper well because
+nowadays many many products are starting
+to include quote unquote peptides for
+skin Rejuvenation and most often those
+peptides are of the copper variety of
+the bpc 157 variety and often times also
+with things related to collagen
+synthesis sometimes collagen directly so
+you'll find oral products that one takes
+by pill form that are bpc157
+copper and or things that promote
+synthesis of collagen you'll find
+ointments that are pure bpc157 still
+unclear if those go transdermal okay so
+this is still a very very young science
+and most of this is not being explored
+in randomized control trials however I
+know some of you out there are pretty
+experimental you like experimenting with
+this kind of stuff you like hearing
+what's working for other people here's
+what I suggest if a sunscreen or a
+lotion or a pill or an injection is
+asserted to contain peptides to help
+with skin Rejuvenation make sure you
+look and see which specific peptides are
+included know the risks associated with
+bpc-157 it's uncertain risk about
+acceleration of tumor growth but the
+mechanistic logic is just as strong for
+that with bpc-157 as it is for bpc157
+encouraging vascularization of any other
+tissue muscle tendon ligament or skin
+for that matter so I'm not telling you
+what to do just know what you're doing
+and understand the likely mechanisms
+behind it um in the absence of any of
+these randomized controls trials I will
+say in service to making sure that your
+diet and/or supplementation includes
+enough Trace mineral copper copper has
+been shown to play a key role in DNA
+repair which is a critical component of
+the turnover of collagen and other
+proteins in skin it has been shown to
+reduce so-called reactive oxygen species
+so it serves as a so-called antioxidant
+and and this relates to what I just said
+reduced inflammation but too much copper
+is a problem so I wouldn't run out and
+start supplementing with excessive
+amounts of copper please don't do that
+but you want to make sure that you're
+getting sufficient amounts of copper
+from your diet and you can simply look
+up online what sufficient amounts of
+copper are given it's a trace mineral
+and it's very likely that if you ingest
+any kind of supplement that is a
+multivitamin mineral supplement or a
+foundational nutrition supplement that
+includes at least some copper so it's
+likely that you're sort of quote unquote
+topped off in terms of the amount of
+copper that you need but very unlikely
+to be excessive amounts of copper but if
+you start supplementing with copper
+beyond that again you can induce an infl
+inflammatory response so it's a dosage
+uh kind of Middle Ground issue there you
+don't want your copper too low you don't
+want your copper too high you want it
+right there in the middle okay as I
+mentioned before we will talk about
+other components of food that are great
+for skin health and we'll also talk
+about components of certain foods like
+Advanced glycation end products I don't
+know if you've heard of those before but
+very interesting not good stuff that you
+want to avoid if you can especially if
+you're concern is youthful looking skin
+and healthy skin and frankly Health
+overall but before we do that I think
+it's worth paying attention to a few
+things that you can potentially take
+that can really improve the youthfulness
+of your skin for which there is
+excellent science to support it okay so
+when I spoke to board certified
+dermatologists who trained at excellent
+institutions what people can do to
+improve the youthfulness or the
+appearance of youthfulness In Their Skin
+and that there specifically be
+peer-reviewed studies to support their
+statements they mentioned hydrolyzed
+collagen protein in combination with
+vitamin C we talked about that earlier
+they mentioned a bunch of dos and don'ts
+as it relates to sun exposure and
+nutrition Etc some of which we've
+covered some of which we are yet to
+cover but will soon and they mentioned
+supplementing with
+niacinamide niacinamide is a form of
+vitamin B3 it is also sometimes referred
+to as nicotinamide and I was told that
+when taken at twice per day at a dosage
+of 500 milligrams per dose for a total
+of 1 gram or 1,000 milligrams per day
+that niacinamide supplementation can
+increase the production of ceramides
+which relate to the lipids in skin that
+improve the moisture in skin and by the
+way moisture in skin is a key component
+of the youthfulness or plump appearance
+of that skin and when I say plump I
+don't necessarily mean outwardly rounded
+plump I mean the fact that the skin
+looks like the outermost layer of the
+skin which you now know as the epidermis
+is kind of taut and the skin looks
+hydrated and smooth at the level of its
+outer appearance all of that
+is improved by niacinamide
+supplementation but that the
+supplementation has to be carried out
+for 3 to six months or more before that
+effect is noticed now the origin of the
+niacinamide effect on the youthfulness
+of skin could also be related to the
+fact that there's evidence that
+niacinamide supplementation can reduce
+inflammation of skin overall we haven't
+talked so much about the immune skin
+relationship although as I alluded to at
+the beginning of the episode this is a
+key relationship but for those of you
+suffering from rosacea from acne so
+rosacea being a rening of the skin we're
+going to talk more about it later and
+specific things that can be done for it
+acne almost always involves some rening
+often painful rening of specific pox on
+the skin sometimes even the appearance
+of you know pus-filled bumps this sort
+of thing that nicomide supplementation
+may also assist there because of the
+reduction in inflammation and we'll talk
+all about the relationship between
+inflammation and acne regardless of
+whether or not you suffer from rosacea
+acne or not at all that ninite
+supplementation May benefit you also
+because nicomide supplementation appears
+to balance the level of oil production
+in the skin you need oil in the skin you
+need oil down in those pores but not too
+much and that it can definitely help
+reduce the appearance of clogged pores
+and if you're concerned about pores that
+appear too large this typically happens
+in the face around the nose on the upper
+cheeks although other regions of the
+body as well nicomide supplementation
+May assist with that as well there's
+also a number of people out there that
+are concerned with specific spot spots
+that they see as hyperpigmented spots so
+regardless of whether or not overall
+your skin is very light or very heavily
+pigmented supplementation with nicomide
+can reduce the appearance of
+accumulation and maybe even the actual
+accumulation of melan in at particular
+spot so-called dark pigmented spots that
+some people decide that they don't want
+for whatever reason usually just
+cosmetic reasons although there may be
+reasons why hyperpigmentation in a given
+area could relate to skin cancers we
+talked about that earlier another reason
+to go get not just your moles but all of
+your skin checked at least once per year
+now if you decide to supplement with
+niacinamide you have the option of
+either taking that th000 migs and 2 500
+Mig dosages per day you also have the
+option of using any number of different
+topical niacinamide ointments or serums
+that exist out there keep in mind that
+many skincare products already contain
+niacinamide so check the label and there
+the dermatologists tell me that to be
+effective the nicomide needs to be
+present at at least a two and as high as
+10% concentration within those ointments
+or serums keep in mind that many serums
+and ointments also contain what's called
+hyaluronic acid hyaluronic acid is a
+natural component of the skin that
+provides a physical substrate for
+holding in water so moisture within the
+skin it does a bunch of other important
+things too within the extracell Matrix
+and elsewhere the regions between the
+cells that is and supplementation with
+hyaluronic acid or ointments or serums
+that contain hyaluronic acid and
+niacinamide are pretty common out there
+because of the already stated effects of
+niacinamide and the fact that hyaluronic
+acid can serve as what's called a
+humectant something that serves to S
+barrier in moisture at the level of the
+skin okay so it gives that kind of um
+Plumping uh moist look of skin that's
+characteristic of youthful skin as
+opposed to aged skin the dermatologists
+and the cosmetic surgeons that work on
+faces that I spoke to I told you I
+consulted with a fairly large and
+Diversified Group of folks um in
+preparation for this episode all agreed
+that supplementation with collag vitamin
+C niacinamide and hyaluronic acid was
+something that they suggest to their
+patients the other supplement well
+actually it's a prescription treatment
+most often that dermatologists recommend
+if the goal is youthful appearing skin
+are things within the so-called retinoid
+pathway such as retinol okay many of you
+have perhaps heard of this and it's a
+whole story related to the relationship
+between vitamin A and skin okay so
+Trenton Noah is the common name for it
+although some of you may know it as
+retina and prescription drugs that are
+similar to that are basically
+derivatives of vitamin A why why are
+these used for skin care why are they
+used to increase the youthfulness of
+skin well vitamin A gets into skin cells
+and is converted into something called
+retin aldhy then into something called
+retinoic acid now very important to know
+that retinoic acid is involved in a lot
+of different cellular processes
+especially during neural development
+this is why and please pay careful
+attention to this this is why women who
+are pregnant or breastfeeding should
+avoid taking these products because it
+can seriously disrupt the development of
+the fetus okay and keep in mind that
+many times people don't realize they're
+pregnant for some period of time so this
+is of Paramount concern okay we could
+have a whole discussion as to the role
+of retinoic acid in fetal development
+but you don't want to tamper with that
+pathway okay very serious consequences
+can occur okay so when retinoic acid
+gets into cells it can activate what's
+called transcription factors
+transcription factors bind to DNA okay
+your genetic code and can induce the
+transcription and translation of DNA
+into RNA and RNA into proteins of
+particular types so think of
+transcription factors is sort of setting
+a menu of different proteins that
+ultimately will be formed okay by
+binding to DNA and then you get DNA to
+RNA rnate a protein and you're getting a
+set of proteins related to a particular
+process that's generally how
+transcription factors work and retina
+Treno and things similar to that are
+going to induce the formation of
+collagen protein within skin as well as
+other proteins that relate to the
+formation of denovo skin new skin and
+can replace old degenerated skin so the
+dermatologists that I spoke to were
+really bullish about the fact that
+believe it or not they felt that people
+starting in their 20s could very well as
+long as they're not pregnant or
+lactating or planning to get pregnant
+could take a or things similar to it in
+order to stimulate the production of
+more skin and look more youthful now for
+people already in their 20s you know by
+my RAID they're already youthful but
+that they could initiate the use of
+these compounds at least in one's 20s
+and continuing on really as long as they
+wanted through life and they told me
+about quote remarkable results so I said
+well why isn't everyone aware of this
+why isn't everyone taking them well it
+turns out that these different compounds
+can also increase sensitivity to life
+make you more prone to sunburn to some
+of the other effects of light on skin
+even from screens or from artificial
+lights so one has to be careful about
+inducing too much skin sensitivity to
+light of all kinds not just sunlight
+that they can also induce some redness
+or dryness so one has to get the dosage
+right the frequency of use right they
+can be a little bit tricky to work with
+but that if one can home in on the right
+dosages the right frequency Etc the
+dermatologist felt like this was one of
+the best things that one could do to
+improve the youthfulness or the
+appearance of youthfulness in one's skin
+now I find this interesting for a number
+of reasons first of all I've heard of
+retina right I've heard of these
+compounds before um but I hadn't heard
+about all these you know reportedly
+spectacular things like improved
+angiogenesis vascularization of the skin
+this is why people are taking the rather
+um experimental untested bpc157 that I
+talked about before um the improved
+elasticity of skin which somehow seems
+related to the ability of these
+compounds to remove degenerated elastin
+within the skin to clear that out as
+well as to induce denovo synthesis and
+even the number of different fiber
+blasts that are present in skin so more
+new skin clearing away of old skin
+improved vascularization and while all
+of this sounds a little bit too good to
+be true the mechanisms by which it's
+asserted to work all hold up so that's
+always reassuring right mechanism isn't
+everything but it's really nice to see
+there for instance these compounds are
+known to get into the nucleus of cells
+right to impact gene expression and we
+talked about that before you have
+receptors on the surface of cells okay
+so cell surface receptors you also have
+nuclear receptors and the ability of
+certain things we call them ligans but
+these are chemicals right in this case
+you know in the vitamin A pathway to get
+into the nucleus of cells and impact
+gene expression this is actually how
+hormones like testosterone and estrogen
+change the way that people look so
+dramatically during puberty they
+actually you know they operate by
+binding the cell surface receptors they
+also get into the nuclear compartment of
+the cell they bind to nuclear receptors
+and they turn on entire genetic program
+prams that cause for instance deepening
+of The Voice or the growth of hair or
+breast tissue Etc so these are powerful
+compounds now I talked to a cosmetic
+surgeon expert in face specifically uh
+remember cosmetic surgery is done for a
+number of different areas of the of the
+body but for face specifically who also
+specializes in these sorts of treatments
+for skin and they've started using and
+are frankly quite confident in the use
+of retinoid Esters that can be applied
+to the surface of the skin these things
+are available not by prescription
+there's far less research on these sorts
+of compounds but these compounds get
+enough positive support from the people
+that have tried them reporting improved
+youthfulness of skin Etc that some of
+them are becoming quite sought-after and
+um people let's just say are very
+enthusiastic about them and I will say
+that in discussing the various
+mechanisms of this with these cosmetic
+surgeons and some dermatologists the
+logic holds up so you're starting to see
+more and more of these now as I
+mentioned at the beginning of today's
+episode there is zero
+business relationship between me the
+podcast or any of these um people that
+have marketed serums or creams or
+prescription drugs for that matter
+related to skin health and skincare
+however I have provided a couple links
+in the show note captions of some of the
+different sources of these obviously if
+you need a prescription for something
+like Trent noan or something similar
+because you're interested in this whole
+retinol retina um vitamin A pathway
+story you need to talk to a board
+certified dermatologist who could
+potentially prescribe that for you if
+they decide it's right for you but in
+terms of these topical ointments and
+serums and creams and things like that I
+do provide a link to at least one source
+of those that uses the retinoid Esther
+just keep in mind that these various
+ointments and serums do not yet have the
+randomized control trials to support
+them that some of the other compounds
+that we were discussing do have now I'd
+like to talk about things that one can
+do to improve the health and appearance
+of one's skin that don't involve taking
+anything or putting on any kind of
+ointment or serum or anything like that
+and what I'm referring to is
+phototherapy now at the earlier part of
+the episode I talked about how different
+wavelengths of light like UV light and
+long wavelength light can penetrate skin
+to different depths and some of the
+negative but also positive things that
+that can do so for instance we talked
+about UV light mutating DNA in cells and
+potentially causing cancers accelerating
+the aging process and so forth but as
+you also recall long wavelength light
+so-called red light and near infrared
+light which is even longer wavelengths
+of light can penetrate deep into the
+skin tissue so pass that outer epidermal
+layer into the dermal layers of the skin
+and can access the vasculature the
+neurons some of the glands located
+deeper in the skin and of course the
+cells there like cells in the epidermis
+I should point out contain things like
+mitochondria for which red light has
+been shown to be beneficial why red
+light and near infrared light
+phototherapy has been shown to reduce
+reactive oxygen speed species and
+thereby to improve mitochondrial
+function in cells and that in turn has
+been shown to be beneficial for all the
+different processes within cells that
+involve mitochondria which of course
+include energy production but a bunch of
+other things too so when I say that
+photo therapy has been shown to be
+beneficial for cells of the body it's
+not just cells of the skin in fact a
+Nobel Prize was granted in the early
+1900s for the use of phototherapy for
+the treatment of Lupus so this is not a
+new technology at the same time
+while there are many studies exploring
+the use of phototherapy for improvement
+of skin health and appearance most of
+those Studies have fairly low sample
+sizes but there are a lot of those
+studies and fortunately by now there are
+a few metaanalyses and reviews that take
+into account lots of different studies
+using slightly different wavelengths of
+light appli to different portions of the
+face for different purposes treatment of
+acne U maybe even um putting red light
+near infrared light on one half of the
+face to have a so-called within person
+control to compare you know the changes
+in skin or lack of changes in skin as
+the case may be between one side of the
+face and the other um I'll put links to
+some of these studies and some of the
+metaanalyses and reviews of these
+studies one that I like in particular
+was published in 2018 entitled light
+emitting diodes in dermatology a
+systematic review of randomized control
+Trials of course randomized control
+trials being one very powerful way to
+analyze the utility of a practice or a
+compound it's not the only way to assess
+the utility of something I know some
+people argue that they are very use ful
+but keep in mind in the field of
+medicine we often have entire fields or
+even entire chapters of medical books
+that are based on case studies for
+instance we implicate the so-called
+hippocampus of the brain for its
+function in human memory which it
+absolutely has and that fact largely
+Grew From one major case study that then
+exploded into a number of different
+animal model and then human studies
+later on so we all love randomized
+control trials reviews of randomized
+control trials and the uses of the
+phototherapy for treatment of skin
+conditions and improving the quality of
+skin are wonderful and point to the fact
+that phototherapy can indeed improve the
+appearance of skin in conditions like
+acne can accelerate wound healing can
+improve the youthfulness appearance of
+skin but these effects tend to be
+somewhat mild to moderate when they
+occur and certainly there are many
+studies that show no significant effect
+no statistically significant effect that
+said I'm of the belief based on my read
+of the literature and this is a
+literature I've spent a lot of time with
+frankly because I did an episode all
+about light and health I've also been
+very interested in the use of
+phototherapy for the treatment of eye
+diseases and offsetting age related
+decline in visual function there's some
+interesting evidence there again mild to
+moderate effects but that can be
+meaningful in the real world and when I
+step back from all of the literature
+here's what I see and this is what I ran
+by a dermatologist to make sure that
+they they thought that this protocol
+would be useful or not useful right I
+asked them I didn't tell them do you
+think this will be useful tell me yes I
+asked them and what we basically
+converged on was that if somebody
+decides to do phototherapy the use of
+phototherapy that involves long
+wavelengths of light so red light Plus
+near infrared light typically at a
+distance of about a foot to 2 feet from
+the light source depending on the
+intensity of the light source although
+that doesn't seem to be so critical but
+one can't be across the room from the
+red light source nor should one get
+right up next to the red light source so
+that there's a lot of heat generated
+from the red light source that one can
+feel but at a distance of about a foot
+to 2 feet away at fairly High
+intensities done for anywhere from 10 to
+15 minutes 5 to 7even days per week on a
+consistent basis does seem on average to
+lead to improvements in the youthfulness
+appearance of skin why this would be the
+case isn't exactly clear but there are
+number of different logical
+interpretations such as reduced
+inflammation improved mitochondrial
+function all Downstream of reduced
+reactive oxygen species improved blood
+flow to that particular area because of
+the effect that long wavelength light
+can have on vasod dilation of expansion
+as opposed to contraction of blood
+vessels and capillaries all of this
+makes mechanistic logical sense and the
+effects that one sees in these various
+peer-reviewed papers randomized control
+trials seem pretty good meaning there
+are mild to moderate none of them are
+sort of jaw-dropping like wow complete
+reversal of severe acne or you know
+massively accelerated wound healing and
+we also of course have to take into
+account that many people who are doing
+phototherapy often are combining it with
+other things sometimes in today's era
+like injections of bpc-157 or the use of
+hyaluronic acid or niacinamide Etc so
+these things aren't always being
+examined in isolation but when we look
+at this literature I think it's fair to
+say that there is now substantial
+evidence for the use of phototherapy y
+for improving the quality of skin and in
+some cases for reducing the symptoms of
+acne reducing the symptoms of psoriasis
+basically any condition where improved
+blood flow lowered inflammation fewer or
+reduced oxygen species improved
+mitochondrial function delivery of
+nutrients anytime some or all of those
+things are going to be involved
+phototherapy makes logical sense and so
+it's no surprise that we're seeing
+increased evidence for phototherapy in
+these conditions now I've provided a
+link to the review of the random control
+trials that I mentioned a bit ago I also
+provided a few links to some specific
+studies that show pictures of before and
+after some cases on two sides of the
+very same
+face I did an entire episode about light
+and health I'll also provide a link to
+that episode and if you don't want to
+listen to or watch that entire episode
+you can go to specific um timestamps in
+that episode to learn about the uses of
+phototherapy for the treatment of skin
+eye and other conditions related to
+mental health and physical health now
+keep in mind that when people hear
+phototherapy they almost immediately
+think about a device and that makes
+sense right red light near infrared
+light however if you recall there's this
+thing called the Sun that emits full
+spectrum light which of course
+includes red light and longer
+wavelengths of light okay so just
+because you can't see those longer
+wavelengths of light that doesn't mean
+they're not there just like UV light you
+can't sense UV light with your eyes by
+the way ground squirrels and some other
+animals can it's thought to be the case
+that they have photo receptors to detect
+UV because they actually this is sort of
+strange but interesting you'll never
+forget this that they'll take their
+urine and they'll spread it on their
+stomach with their little paws and
+they'll stand up and they'll like signal
+flash one another from across the
+Prairie or whatever it is across the
+lawn to signal to one another so they're
+sending uvp signals across the lawn I'm
+not making this up I actually studied a
+little bit of this when I was an
+undergraduate but not at the level of
+the urine and the signaling at the level
+of the retina any discussion about skin
+has to include a discussion about
+nutrition why remember the fact that I
+mentioned at the beginning of today's
+episode that your skin and your immune
+system have a very intimate relationship
+it's bidirectional your skin reflects
+the status of your immune system in many
+ways and this is why many people with
+autoimmune conditions things like lyen
+planis you can look it up or if you you
+know mind uh particularly you know
+striking photographs please don't look
+it up but people that have autoimmune
+conditions that often manifests in skin
+conditions we'll talk more about this in
+the context of psoriasis in a little bit
+but anytime we're talking about the
+immune system or skin we need to take
+into account the gut microbiome and
+nutrition so many people asked what are
+the things that they should eat to have
+healthy appearing youthful
+skin they also asked what are the things
+that one eats that could exacerbate
+things like acne and what can one eat in
+order to reduce their acne so let's just
+start off with the basics and here I'm
+going to be fairly brief because I think
+we all know the big take-home message
+about nutrition nowadays we hear over
+and over again and we should pay
+attention to the fact that the vast
+majority of our food well I should say
+if one desires to be healthy mentally
+healthy physically healthy and a high
+performing individual in any number of
+different things cognitive physical or
+otherwise we want to consume the vast
+majority of our foods from nonprocessed
+or minimally processed sources so-called
+Whole Foods so fruits vegetables if
+that's within your diet some people
+include grains some people don't I'm not
+here to discuss that meat eggs fish
+chicken and so forth if that's within
+your diet plan or your nutrition or if
+you're a vegetarian or vegan you make
+the associated adjustment so that you
+can make sure you're getting enough
+protein and amino acids but it's in
+keeping with your ethical and maybe your
+health goals okay so we're not here to
+discuss vegan vegetarian omnivore of
+which I am or carnivore okay that's not
+the discussion I think all of those
+groups agree that getting the majority
+of your nutrition from nonprocessed or
+minimally processed foods is going to be
+best and that of course if you're human
+sometimes you'll ingest processed foods
+but really trying to avoid highly
+processed foods is critical now with
+respect to the specific foods that can
+improve skin appearance and skin Health
+it's very clear that diets that are of
+the so-called lowi inflammatory type
+that don't spark inflammation so these
+would be things that sometimes are
+referred to as the Mediterranean diet or
+a Paleo like Diet you hear these terms
+but what what are we really talking
+about mostly Whole Foods minimally
+processed foods okay and then there's
+variation depending on whether or not
+you emphasize or deemphasize meat and
+fish or emphasize or deemphasize
+vegetables this kind of thing again I'm
+an omnivore I love fruit I love
+vegetables I do like rice oatmeal and
+some pastas I like a great sourdough
+bread I like butter I like olive oil I
+like meat I like fish I think I am
+representative of most people out there
+because I eat most all those things but
+I also eat the occasional croissant I
+also eat the occasional slice of pizza I
+don't eat a lot of that stuff but I eat
+it now and again and then of course you
+have people that are super strict what
+do we know about the relationship
+between specific foods and skin health
+and skin appearance well
+anti-inflammatory diet we've more or
+less spelled out what that represents
+without getting into too many specifics
+and then there are the specific
+components within Foods so vitamins
+minerals and
+micronutrients as well as things like
+collagen present in bone broth that can
+be really useful to include so one one
+of the I think best accounts on
+dermatologic health and skin health and
+appearance on the Internet is Dr Andrea
+Suarez she's a medical doctor board
+certified dermatologist and she has a
+wonderful video that describes the
+various foods that one can eat to
+promote skin health and skin appearance
+and rather than repeat that entire video
+because a that wouldn't be right and B
+um it already exists out there in
+excellent form I'll just give a brief
+synopsis of some of the things that she
+suggests because I entirely agree and
+again there's no need to be repetive
+and she does an excellent job so she
+certainly mentions collagen and bone
+broth she also mentions various sources
+of omega fatty acids that are often
+lacking in people's diets that they
+should pay extra careful attention to
+get so things like walnuts flax fatty
+fish I personally am a big believer in
+supplementing with liquid form fish oil
+that's what I do why am I a big believer
+in that well I don't tend to cook much
+fatty fish I love the taste of it if
+it's prepared right but I don't tend to
+do that very often so I use a liquid
+form fish oil or capsules but the liquid
+form is generally more affordable this
+was discussed in episode that I did with
+Dr Ronda Patrick so we can put a link to
+that particular segment in the show note
+captions it's also suggested that we eat
+a lot of leafy greens so dark leafy
+greens you're probably noticing a lot of
+these recommendations are kind of
+typical for what people describe anytime
+they're talking about nutrition for
+health she highly recommends people get
+enough folic acid for the role that
+folic acid plays in DNA synthesis is and
+repair of skin cells as among other
+cells and cell proliferation and of
+course we should get our colored fruits
+and veggies so our oranges our
+strawberries the Reds and oranges are
+critical out there and she also
+highlights something very important that
+I want to reiterate which is that we
+have a critical need for Vitamin A for
+our skin health and this was covered
+albeit through the lens of exploring the
+pharmacology of trentino and those retin
+A compounds but vitamin A is crucial for
+a number of different processes with in
+the cell types that make up skin she
+appropriately cautions against
+supplementing with vitamin A because
+it's a fat soluble vitamin it's very
+easy to overdose vitamin A if one is
+supplementing with too much of it she
+recommends rather getting enough vitamin
+A from things like oranges carrot sweet
+potatoes she recommends as much Berry
+intake as is appropriate for someone and
+one can afford the berries are so
+delicious but they tend to be expensive
+Depending on time of year ingesting
+things like garlic because garlic has
+sulfur which is key for collagen
+synthesis and repair and she talks about
+the critical role of torine anyway she
+does such a terrific job of describing
+the nutrition for skin health and skin
+appearance those are just a few of the
+highlights I do encourage you to check
+out that video and her other content is
+spectacular as well again she has an
+Instagram account YouTube channel that
+are really wonderful so again without
+doing a deep dive into nutrition decide
+whether or not you're going to be vegan
+vegetarian omnivore or carnivore and
+then make sure that you're getting
+enough of the vitamins and minerals and
+micronutrients from your Foods or
+supplement if necessary but note that
+caution about vitamin A supplementation
+in excess and also make sure you're
+avoiding excessive amounts of Highly
+processed foods you know I mentioned
+earlier these Advanced glycation end
+products these are things that are
+present in a lot of processed foods like
+crackers and chips and things like that
+that make those Foods inflammatory so
+you're getting the theme now
+inflammation is bad not just for the
+skin but for all organ systems of the
+body it's not just about the high
+density of calories
+and the high density of taste present in
+highly processed foods those are
+problematic but a lot of the issue with
+these highly processed foods is the high
+heat conditions used to make those Foods
+stable on shelves or stable in packaging
+over time okay so there's a whole
+discussion to be had here that frankly I
+don't think iy had enough but that is
+outside the scope of today's episode the
+point is that when these highly
+processed foods are basically made right
+they're constructed um they involve the
+interactions between sugars and proteins
+and fats at high heat that make them
+stable on the shelf or in packaging and
+those can be very inflammatory and that
+can show up in the form of reactive skin
+it can make your psoriasis worse yes it
+can make your acne worse it can make
+your skin more tender and painful it can
+make your skin basically more reactive
+to some of the underlying
+predispositions you might have either
+because of genetics or other things
+you're doing or not doing maybe you're
+going through a particularly stressful
+time maybe you're getting a little a
+little bit of extra sun and you're
+eating more highly processed foods and
+those things are combining and making
+your skin break out or flush more than
+it would ordinarily again there's so
+many reasons to eat most of your foods
+from non-processed or minimally
+processed sources and of course and now
+I sound like a broken record because you
+can hear this all over the Internet
+ingesting foods that are excessively
+high in sugar excessively high in sugars
+combined with fats just not good to do
+pro-inflammatory it's going to cause all
+sorts of issues and we're going to get
+into this more as it relates to acne in
+particular because as you probably know
+when you ingest foods that are high in
+sugars or even just carbohydrates
+generally that also contain a lot of
+fats and in particular when those foods
+are highly processed well then you
+initiate an inflammatory response and
+you often can initiate additional things
+happening in the pores of cells that can
+start to really aggravate acne and cause
+more acne this has to do with the whole
+insulin pathway so when we talk about
+acne I'll talk about diets that create a
+high glycemic load we're not necessarily
+talking about the glycemic index of food
+you may know that when people measure
+the glycemic index of food they're
+looking at the blood sugar response
+after eating that food typically in
+isolation and not in combination with
+other Foods what I'm talking about is
+eating combinations of foods that induce
+high levels of insulin high levels of
+blood glucose that then lead to all
+sorts of things in the hormone Pathways
+and cell growth Pathways that exacerbate
+acne so we'll get there in a moment but
+I think the Takeo message around
+nutrition is pretty clear so much so
+that I don't want to to spend any more
+time on it we all know what the best
+nutrition really is for us regardless of
+whether or not you're vegan vegetarian
+omnivore or carnivore it's nonprocessed
+or minimally processed foods
+representing probably anywhere from
+let's say 75 to 100% of your food intake
+depending on how strict you want to be
+and then sure make some room if you want
+for some processed foods but just know
+that those Advanced glycation end
+products and the high glycemic load that
+comes from those processed foods can
+really exacerbate inflammatory responses
+in skin and set for it a whole domino
+set of issues related to hormone
+Pathways and cell growth Pathways that
+make everything acne psoriasis and
+overall appearance worse yes your skin
+will appear to age faster and on the
+positive side most of the foods that we
+think of as healthy and
+anti-inflammatory are actually quite
+delicious so enjoy ah and I forgot to
+say what's absolutely clear you know
+that myth that they told us when we were
+teenagers they eat a lot of fried food
+would make you break out would make your
+skin worse guess what it's true that
+high heat preparation required for
+creating things as delicious as the
+doughnut or french fries right there's a
+reason people love these Foods they're
+so delicious they do cause problems
+they're pro-inflammatory does that mean
+you can never have a french fry no you
+decide what's best for you but know what
+you're doing as a segue to talking about
+acne we need to talk about the gut
+microbiome and this is a direct
+outgrowth of our discussion about
+nutrition here's the simple takeaway
+that I believe everyone should follow
+not just for sake of healthy appearing
+skin but also for sake of every organ
+and tissue system in your body which is
+the data clearly show that ingestion of
+sufficient amounts of fiber so Prebiotic
+and probiotic fiber so fruits vegetables
+sometimes this can also come from grains
+some people will supplement with
+additional fiber if they feel they need
+it as well as ingestion of low sugar
+fermented foods talked about this before
+so regular listeners of this podcast may
+have heard this things like kimchi
+sauerkraut the sort of sauerkraut that
+has to stay in the fridge so not the
+stuff that's stable on the Shelf at room
+temperature anything containing a brine
+that salty brine so pickles but not the
+pickles that are stable at room
+temperature the ones that have to be
+kept in the refrigerated section of the
+grocery store these low sugar fermented
+foods are powerful enhancers of the gut
+microbiome and when the gut microbiome
+is healthy you have reduced overall
+inflammation in the body this is often
+reflected at the level of the skin and
+basically skin health and the
+youthfulness appearance of skin is
+enhanced okay this can also help with
+conditions like acne or psoriasis
+especially in conditions where there's a
+direct immune system skin relationship
+that we'll talk about more in a little
+bit okay so I highly recommend people
+have anywhere from 1 to four servings of
+low sugar fermented foods per day or try
+and enhance the health of their gut
+microb biome generally maybe you take a
+pill probiotic although those can be
+very expensive there's a little bit of
+data suggesting that if you chronically
+take pill probiotics that yield very
+high levels of bacteria well then maybe
+there's some Associated brain fog that's
+a little unclear pun intended but you
+know they are very expensive they have
+to be kept refrigerated and let's face
+it low sugar fermented foods if you find
+the ones that you like are really great
+to ingest cuz they're tasty and they're
+good for you now why am I talking about
+this in part because we keep coming back
+to inflammation as a general issue for
+skin health and that points us also
+towards some specific dos and don'ts as
+it relates to
+Lifestyle let's face it pun intended if
+you sleep well so maybe you need six
+hours maybe you need seven maybe you
+need eight maybe you need nine but if
+you sleep well on a consistent basis
+your skin is going to look so much
+better so much healthier more vibrant
+than if you are not getting enough sleep
+if you drink alcohol and you wake up the
+next morning you know your Skin's going
+to look puffy it's not going to look
+good but many of you can ingest alcohol
+without issues I've an entire episode
+about alcohol yes it's a poison up to
+two drinks per week for adults who are
+non-alcoholics is probably safe zero is
+better than any but let's face it
+alcohol is going to exacerbate most skin
+issues this is just clear from the
+literature doesn't mean you never have a
+glass of wine doesn't mean you never
+have a beer or a cocktail if that's your
+thing but alcohol consumed in excess and
+it doesn't take much to get there is
+going to cause sleep issues microbiome
+issues so indirectly and negatively
+impact the skin appearance and health
+and indirectly and negatively impact the
+health of other tissues in your body but
+it's clear some of that is reduced to
+increase inflammation some is related to
+decreased Sleep Quality or duration so
+get great sleep avoid alcohol in excess
+maybe avoid it allog together drink
+plenty of water this sounds like such
+basic advice but proper hydration is key
+get enough water in electrolytes it
+absolutely will impact your inflammation
+Levels by reducing them it absolutely
+will impact your skin health and
+appearance in a positive way so these
+are just basic things that I'd be remiss
+if I didn't mention the other one is
+smoking and nicotine from non-smoked
+sources so it's very clear that smoking
+vaping dipping or snuffing is bad for
+skin appearance and health bad bad bad
+every dermatologist said this why well
+with smoking you can imagine why okay a
+lot of carcinog and toxic end products
+generated from smoking even from vaping
+yes even from vaping it will make your
+skin age faster that's clear but it's
+also the substance itself why all of
+those things in addition to increasing
+inflammation nicotine itself is a
+vasoconstrictor so you're doing the
+exact opposite of what you want when it
+comes to skin health and appearance and
+that's why people take things like bpc
+157 that's why people take nicotinamide
+that's why people are trying to improve
+the hydration status of their skin so if
+you're somebody that's vaping nicotine
+or even taking nicotine in some other
+form pouch or smoking nicotine and
+you're interested in having youthful
+appearing skin you are really shooting
+yourself in the I know face and as we
+all know our emotions impact the
+appearance of our skin and yes it can
+exacerbate so-called breakouts and we'll
+get to that in a moment as to what the
+exact pathway is but I've done entire
+episodes about controlling your stress
+we have a master stress episode that
+talks about real time tools that you can
+use like the physiological sigh provide
+a link to a clip about the physiological
+sigh it's the fastest way that I'm aware
+of to reduce one's levels of stress this
+is something my laboratory has studied
+in detail at Stanford there are also
+things you can do and we're all aware of
+what they are proper sleep meditation
+non-sleep deep rest we'll provide a link
+for that all things that we can do that
+are zero cost very minimal time
+investment physiological side takes
+about 10 to 15 seconds uh non-sleep deep
+breast AK Yoga Nidra sometimes called
+takes anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes per
+day and that reduced stress can
+dramatically improve not just the health
+but the appearance of your skin and it
+makes perfect sense as to why that is
+the stress hormones such as cortisol but
+other hormones too such as adrenaline
+when they are chronically elevated
+because of the fact that adrenaline
+impacts Vaso constriction in the skin
+it's going to reduce blood flow to the
+periphery to the skin it can cause all
+sorts of issues at the level of nerve
+endings that can lead to believe it or
+not enhanced Flushing when we're under
+stress this is why we measure the
+galvanic skin response so not just
+sweating but also blood flow and other
+things to the skin when we are studying
+stress okay so direct relationship
+between stress and skin appearance learn
+to control your stress stress is part of
+life but learn to control your stress in
+real time and through tools like
+non-sleep deep rest that are zero cost
+that can help you reduce your overall
+levels of stress get great sleep don't
+use nicotine if you do use nicotine know
+what you're doing maybe use it sparingly
+and please don't smoke or vape it dip it
+or snuff it there are other form forms
+and I don't recommend those forms
+because they're very very addictive and
+keep in mind that things that improve
+blood flow reduce inflammation give you
+lower stress better sleep all of that is
+going to make you look more youthful
+it's not an imagined effect it is real
+let's talk about acne acne is very
+common it impacts anywhere from 80 to
+90% of young people at some point some
+people get very bad cystic acne you know
+deep acne in the cheeks on the back of
+the neck the back it can be very
+uncomfortable very painful some people
+only get the oal pimple but they get
+them very deeply they're very painful
+and look nobody likes acne nobody likes
+the appearance of acne on themselves it
+can be very distressing for people it
+can cause additional stress that then
+feeds back in terms of inflammation and
+you know I guess my first uh you know
+request I suppose I I can't tell people
+what to do and never do but you know for
+people that have acne you know be
+compassionate okay young people be
+compassionate I remember when I was
+younger some of the kids with bad acne
+got teased and it it really upset me as
+is really frustrating especially when
+going through puberty because there's
+this hormonal component to acne now
+fortunately there are things that we can
+do for acne I'll provide a link to one
+of the major sources I used for
+researching this episode I also of
+course spoke to dermatologists one of
+whom really knows an exceptional amount
+about acne and its relationship to the
+immune
+system the paper that I'm referring to
+now is a systematic review and network
+metaanalysis of topical pharmacological
+oral pharmacological physical and
+combined treatments for acne GIS which
+is the technical name for acne there are
+a lot of things that impact acne let's
+just briefly talk about what acne is
+anytime you talk about acne you're
+usually thinking about pus or oil that's
+called sebum the sebum accumulates in
+essentially the follicle around the hair
+this also occurs on non-hairy skin or
+where they're just tiny little hairs
+that often aren't uh visible that's why
+it's very unusual to get acne on say the
+glabrous skin of the Palms I suppose it
+could happen but it's very rare at any
+given moment 10% of people worldwide
+will have acne as I mentioned up to 90%
+of young people have acne so very common
+very distressing the accumulation of
+that sebum in the follicle can be due to
+a number of different things some of it
+can be related to androgens things like
+testosterone increasing the amount of
+sebum that's produced okay this is why
+you often see acne during puberty in
+addition the anabolic the progrowth
+effects of androgens such as
+testosterone and by the way these occur
+in both males and females because both
+males and females have testosterone and
+estrogen the androgenic effects of
+testosterone can also cause hypertrophy
+growth of the hair follicle right so an
+increase in the number of catinos sites
+the cells in and around the follicle
+which can compress that and hold some of
+that additional sebum beneath the
+surface and that's why you're getting a
+swelling of what looks like a pimple or
+a cyst so there's the potential for a
+hormonal influence on increasing acne
+now if someone going through puberty you
+just have to deal with that increase now
+if there's a sudden increase in acne
+when one is post puberty you may want to
+look at levels of androgens that are
+being produced and nowadays with
+increasing numbers apparently of things
+like polycystic ovarian syndrome which
+in part relates to increases in
+androgens this is becoming an additional
+concern so getting a quality blood test
+looking at Androgen levels over time can
+be very beneficial for both males and
+females now in addition insulin that is
+related to our diet so insulin and
+glucose generally go up together or down
+together depending on whether or not
+we're ingesting Foods or amounts of
+foods that greatly increase our insulin
+and blood glucose so insulin is part of
+an anabolic pathway as well a cell
+growth pathway progrowth pathway we
+should call it that involves mtor
+mamalian Target of
+rapamycin that is a general growth
+signal for cells so this occurs in the
+eye this occurs in the liver you know
+mtor is involved involved in growth of
+cells of all kinds including cells
+within the skin when our
+diet increases the amount of insulin and
+glucose to a degree that is in excess of
+some threshold that's going to be
+different for everybody depending on
+your activity levels your metabolism the
+way you manage insulin when that happens
+you get increases in mtor that then can
+feed back on those Androgen receptors
+increase the levels of things like
+testosterone further that then feed back
+on the production of increased SE
+okay that oily stuff increased kosy
+proliferation and you get more acne in
+other words having a diet that has a
+high glycemic load or evokes a large
+insulin response can be problematic so
+what to do well we talked about it
+before you want to eat mostly
+nonprocessed minimally processed foods
+you definitely want to exert portion
+control right you don't want to eat much
+sugar or sugar in excess you don't want
+big spikes in insulin and blood glucose
+you want to avoid inflammatory diet so
+again fewer if any highly processed
+foods because of those glycation n
+products that we talked about before and
+on the positive side if one exercises
+something like say intermittent fasting
+and here I don't necessarily think young
+people especially people going through
+puberty should do this because they're
+growing they need nutrients so you have
+to strike that balance between getting
+enough nutrients and not overloading the
+system with insulin glucose and calories
+but things like intermittent fasting
+could be useful or making sure that if
+you ingest complex carbohydrates as I
+mentioned I do okay I'm an omnivore that
+you don't do it in excess to the point
+where you're getting big spikes in
+insulin and blood glucose all of this
+the dermatologist tell me can help serve
+to reduce acne and while it might seem
+indirect you know this relationship
+between testosterone and sebum
+accumulation the relationship between
+insulin and mtor and increased
+testosterone and SE sebum accumulation
+and growth of the carattino sites these
+are real Pathways that have been
+established and some of those are
+discussed in detail in the review
+so much so that there has been the
+exploration of specific Foods in
+particular Dairy and Whey you know we
+hear a lot about ingestion of whey
+protein it's a very high quality protein
+High bioavailability high in the amino
+acid Lucine which for those of you that
+are interested in muscle building and
+repair there's a lot of discussion about
+Lucine being a critical component there
+you want Lucine but it does appear that
+people that overc consume whey people
+that over consume Dairy can run into
+issues now does that mean you shouldn't
+consume whey protein no I take whey
+protein do I suffer from acne no if I
+did would I reduce my whey protein
+intake well I might decide to run a bit
+of an experiment where I reduce the
+amount of whey protein that I eat for a
+little bit and see how that goes should
+I reduce the amount of dairy I ingest ah
+well here's where things get interesting
+so in discussing this with a
+dermatologist who also happens to know a
+lot about nutrition they told me
+something very interesting a lot of
+people think that high-fat Dairy will
+exacerbate their acne
+but here's the
+situation nonfat and low-fat Dairy has
+emulsifiers this actually based on work
+I believe some of which was done at
+Stanford that can Spike insulin more
+than full fat Dairy so some people in an
+attempt to reduce the amount of acne
+they're getting will move from high fat
+dairy or full fat I should say to
+non-fat milk or non-fat dairy or low fat
+Dairy and their acne will actually get
+worse and that could be because of the
+insulin Spike associated with some of
+the Ulsa fires in that non-fat and
+low-fat Dairy so what this means is that
+you don't have to avoid Dairy altogether
+but you might be better off ingesting
+full fat Dairy you might be best off not
+ingesting any dairy at all maybe you
+want to run that experiment on yourself
+and just see what works and what doesn't
+work or if there's no change at all in
+addition if you're consuming a lot of
+fried foods so those french fries you're
+ingesting cheeseburgers and things of
+that sort it may not be so much the fat
+content of those meals but rather the
+big insulin response that occurs when we
+ingest high fat meals in common with
+things like sugary milkshakes or fried
+foods like french fries and things of
+that sort that's leading to the acne by
+way of increased inflammation right so
+there are a lot of different Pathways
+inflammation androgens like testosterone
+insulin leading to increases in
+testosterone and inflammation a lot of
+Pathways converge to exacerbate acne and
+often times it's just the removal or
+even just the reduction of some of this
+food intake or types of food intake that
+can really lead to Big improvements in
+one's acne so all of these things
+combined to support lower inflammation
+appropriate amounts of sebum production
+because you do need sebum production you
+do need cartinos sites in and around the
+hair follicle but you don't want too
+many of them and so on but what can be
+done to directly address acne well there
+are a number of different prescription
+treatments that your dermatologist can
+suggest but one thing that all the
+dermatologists agree upon is first of
+all getting adequate sleep reducing
+stress taking care of your gut
+microbiome the nutrition recommendations
+that we've been talking about up until
+now but also get this this is
+interesting not over cleansing a lot of
+people with acne will start to wash
+their face constantly and we'll often
+use harsh cleansers that can exacerbate
+that acne either by virtue of removing
+some important skin microbiome
+components that then lead to even other
+infections like fungal infections or
+additional inflammation because you're
+removing that microbiome barrier but
+they all recommend regular cleansing of
+the skin usually two or three times per
+day but not in excess of that using a
+gentle unscented unfragranced
+cleanser okay so they're number of
+different types of these I personally my
+basically my entire life that I at least
+as far as I can remember I've always
+used unscented unfragranced Dove soap
+okay I have no relationship to Dove soap
+I'm sure people out there are going to
+say oh my goodness you know it contains
+a bunch of things that are bad for you
+but that's what's worked for me and not
+the liquid form just bar soap and there
+are things like Cetaphil these are some
+brand names and there are a bunch of
+other more sophisticated gentle
+cleansers that one could use there are
+also a lot of products out there that
+contain what's called salicylic acid
+okay this as often as um you know clear
+fluid that you put onto a cotton ball or
+a tissue and then you you spread on on
+the face it's very important very very
+important that if you're going to use
+these products that you do it on clean
+skin that is skin that's been cleaned
+with a combination of mild zero
+fragrance soap and lukewarm water okay
+because of the relationship between
+inflammation and acne that's what gives
+it its red appearance you don't want to
+use extreme temperatures of especially
+hot water when washing your skin so
+lukewarm water mild soap and then and
+only if it's been recommended by your
+dermatologist the salicylic acid
+salicylic acid comes from the same class
+of drugs as aspirin so it tends to
+reduce cattiny stickiness right the
+extent to which um those cells stick
+together why do I mention aspirin well
+you may have heard that people will take
+aspirin to reduce the stickiness between
+their platelets and an attempt to
+improve heart health we'll cover that on
+another episode at some point but
+salicylic acid reduces the stickiness of
+the coratin oyes so it can lead to less
+clogging of the pores by accumulation of
+carattino sites or I should say by less
+accumulation of the cortinos sites and
+it can reduce swelling in and around the
+area related to the acne sometimes if
+people get an acne pimple especially if
+they have an event or they don't want to
+be seen with that pimple the use of a
+little bit of corticosteroid cream put
+on there can reduce the redness or
+swelling the dermatologists tell me you
+should absolutely not pop your pimples
+part of the problem when you pop a
+pimple I know there entire videos about
+this online I know please don't go look
+at them these uh the whole communi is
+around this is super gross but I know
+people find it very satisfying in some
+cases to pop these pimples get the
+infection out while there are certain
+use cases for that where someone has an
+infection it just absolutely needs to
+get out then be cleaned then covered
+with a bandage and maybe some topical
+antibiotic that would be a use case for
+that the dermatologist practically
+begged me to tell you don't pop your
+pimples because a they will go away in
+not too much time if you leave them
+alone and B you can always put a little
+bit of corticosterone cream on top of
+them to reduce the redness or swelling
+but most importantly they tell me that
+when you pop those pimples what ends up
+happening is you get a mechanical a
+physical disruption of that area which
+to you might just seem like okay
+whatever it turns a little bit red and
+that's transient but you get the influx
+of what are called Matrix
+metalloproteases these are enzymes
+remember anytime you hear an ace it's
+usually an enzyme Matrix Metallo
+proteases that then and go eat at The
+extracellular Matrix and then you can
+get an indentation scar that is
+permanent okay so if you're concerned
+about the appearance of your skin avoid
+popping those pimples I know it can be
+hard to do but really try and avoid
+popping pimples it can lead to scarring
+because of the Matrix metallic proteases
+and the eating away of the exellar
+Matrix keep the area clean cover it up
+if you need to get some cortico stero
+and cream on there if you want to reduce
+the redness if it's really bad and you
+have some big important event like
+you're getting married tomorrow and it's
+right on the tip of your nose or
+something like that then you can
+potentially go to the dermatologist and
+get it injected with a corticosteroid to
+reduce the redness um in a more potent
+way but they did ask that I ask you to
+please not pop your pimples and if
+you're somebody that suffers from acne
+I'd like you to know I provide a link to
+a paper in the show note captions
+entitled acne and diet a review of
+pathogenic mechanisms and I also provide
+a link to the review I mentioned before
+that covers all of the other aspects of
+treating acne topical pharmacological
+oral pharmacological physical and
+combined treatments for acne vulgaris
+because again I do sympathize with the
+fact that acne can be very distressing
+very painful fortunately there are a
+number of different avenues that you
+without a dermatologist but ideally you
+and a dermatologist can use use to
+attack acne at the level of inflammation
+through diet through lifestyle if needed
+prescription medications and again
+gentle cleansing and thinking about the
+various things that indirectly will
+impact that acne so much so that a few
+of the derms told me that they have
+patients young and old who will be
+suffering from really bad acne that will
+sometimes just make a few adjustments to
+their diet the exclusion of certain
+things mainly highly processed foods
+maybe reducing Dairy a little bit or
+weigh a little little bit or completely
+and increasing the amount of things that
+reduce inflammation so more fruits and
+vegetables and meat fish eggs from
+healthy sources and seeing dramatic
+improvements in acne so that's always
+reassuring to hear doesn't always
+require prescription medication but if
+you need it you should take it okay
+let's talk about rosacea rosacea is
+rening of the skin and some people
+suffer from this pretty severely other
+people mildly some people transiently
+but it tends to be kind of distressing
+for people and the reason it's stressing
+is that it can look like blushing or
+flushing of the face when in fact one
+isn't emotionally embarrassed however
+being embarrassed or having any flushing
+of the skin can exacerbate existing
+rosacea so it's thought to be caused by
+a combination of genetics there can
+perhaps be some again over inflammation
+of the skin which probably reflects
+inflammation more globally at the level
+of the gut and body Etc we've been
+talking a lot about that today and there
+are things that can exacerbate rosacea
+such as alcohol intake or anything that
+acts as a vasod dilator that dilates the
+vasculature innervating the skin so the
+approach to treating rosacea is pretty
+much similar to the other things that
+we've talked about consuming a low
+inflammation low glycemic low diet
+trying to get enough sleep keeping
+alcohol intake in particular to a
+minimum or cutting out alcohol
+completely the reason I say in
+particular is that a lot of people that
+suffer from rosacea who cut out alcohol
+completely essentially eliminate the
+rosacea or dramatically reduce it so
+often times it's alcohol that's the
+culprit either directly or indirectly we
+don't know again alcohol is a poison but
+could be the indirect manner in which
+alcohol impacts sleep and the gut
+microbiome negatively that's causing the
+rosacea without knowing the direct or
+indirect mechanism reduce or even
+eliminate your alcohol for a bit and see
+if your rosacea improves that will give
+you a strong indication of what might be
+going on and even better it could give
+you a potential solution to the problem
+now now for those that don't experience
+a reduction or elimination of rosacea If
+you eliminate alcohol get your sleep
+right get your diet right there are some
+additional things you can do first of
+all you want to follow the same
+recommendation we talked about for acne
+which is also the general recommendation
+for skin care use lukewarm water not
+excessively hot or cold water a gentle
+unfragranced cleanser you want to use
+sunscreen regularly remember sun damage
+to the skin is also inflammation so
+that's going to exacerbate rosacea and
+of course sunlight because of the
+release of nitric oxide is also going to
+act as a vasod dilator does that mean
+you have to go full beekeeper mode no it
+doesn't you can if you want to I suppose
+but use a quality mineral-based
+sunscreen which we talked about earlier
+in the episode and you should use some
+sort of moisturizer to help lock in the
+moisture within your skin you could use
+things like hyaluronic acid or use any
+kind of gentle moisturizing cream that's
+not going to cause inflammation or kind
+of irritate the skin in any way and can
+keep the moisture within the skin and
+there are a lot of different versions of
+these available out there and frankly a
+lot of them are not terribly expensive
+you can find super expensive varieties
+of any and all these things but many of
+the things that meet the criteria of
+gentle unfragranced
+cleanser SPF 30 mineral only sunscreen
+as well as a quality moisturizer are not
+necessarily the most expensive available
+and you know what justifies the higher
+expense in some cases could be I don't
+know the silkiness or the um packaging
+it could be any number of different
+things I'm not going to say that the
+cheapest varieties are necessarily as
+good as the most expensive varieties but
+I do think and the dermatologist that I
+spoke to definitely confirmed that
+there's a lot of price inflation out
+there related to kind of the overall
+milu of packaging and ex and purported
+exclusivity of certain skincare products
+look for the things that meet the
+criteria you are trying to establish for
+your skinc care but just like with acne
+just like with General skincare if you
+have rosacea you want to think about
+mild treatments for the skin at the
+level of cleaning at the level of sun
+protection at the level of locking in
+moisture and then there's some
+additional things that if you can spare
+the expense could also be beneficial
+like nicotinamide niacinamide as it's
+also called or there's also been some
+evidence that things like licorice root
+can be of benefit okay these things are
+typically found as a topical ointment or
+in a topical ointment but in the case of
+niacinamide nicotinamide talked about
+how this can be available in an ointment
+form a topical form or it can be taken
+as 2 500 milligram dosages per day I
+gave you the long list of the various
+mechanisms by which it can improve skin
+Health reduced inflammation production
+of collagen Etc all of that still holds
+for the potential treatment of rosacea
+be sure to avoid any kind of things that
+are acting as strong astringents or that
+increase heat so people who have rosacea
+will often try to avoid hot peppers so
+spicy foods of any kind I know that's
+tough I'm somebody who really enjoys
+spicy foods so if you have to avoid
+spicy foods I sympathize with you um
+that's rough um anything that acts as an
+EST stringent or can you know really
+irritate the skin from the inside or
+from the outside so think not
+excessively hot foods as it relates to
+spicy or temperature things of that sort
+now I should point out there are
+different types of rosacea the
+dermatologist I spoke to who is expert
+in rosacea told me there are four major
+types of rosacea many of them respond to
+the sorts of guidelines that we've been
+talking about up until now some of them
+that also include acne need some
+additional treatment we talked about
+acne treatments that can be easily
+folded into the treatment for
+rosacea there are people who have very
+stubborn rosacea this may be due to
+excessive use of cleansers and again
+we're talking about how over cleansing
+can really be a problem so we're not
+saying don't wash your face we're not
+saying don't take a shower please do in
+fact and I should have said this earlier
+by the way for a lot of reasons related
+to your comfort and appearance and other
+people's
+Comfort after you work out at a gym
+regardless of whether or not you're
+rolling around on the floor with a foam
+roller or you're rolling Jiu-Jitsu or
+you're lifting weights or you're doing
+cardio it is a good idea to take a
+shower and cleanse with a gentle
+cleanser as soon as possible I know this
+sounds like just basic advice but a lot
+of people just throw on a clean shirt or
+they don't rinse off or they don't wash
+their face and they're wondering why
+they're getting all sorts of skin issues
+well there's a lot of bacteria gyms a
+lot of sweating people um there are a
+lot of bacteria on you a lot of bacteria
+on the equipment and yeah you can spray
+down the equipment and do these various
+things but it's a good idea to shower as
+soon as possible or to bathe rather as
+soon as possible wash your face after
+going to a gym for your sake and for the
+sake of others now some rosacea is very
+stubborn meaning it does not go away
+even if somebody makes all the
+appropriate LIF style adjustments tries
+any number of different Medical
+Treatments and by the way rosacea is a
+medical condition and in some cases
+people will get angomas um you know the
+accumulation of blood vessels near the
+surface of the skin that can be you know
+for them something they don't want so we
+could say unsightly but they just don't
+want it or in some cases they'll treat
+their rosacea and then they'll get an
+accumulation of Broken Vessels near the
+surface of the skin this is pretty
+common for people that experience
+rosacea and treat rosacea for these
+people there is a treatment it has to be
+done in a dermatologist office called
+pulse die laser where they use a laser
+of a particular wavelength that can
+penetrate excuse me The Superficial
+layers of the skin and now you know how
+different wavelengths of light can
+penetrate to different depths within
+skin and destroy the blood vessels or
+the broken blood vessels that then call
+in immune system cells to clear out the
+destroyed endothelial cells and other
+stuff around it and take it away get rid
+of those blood vessels that sit beneath
+the surface let's talk about psoriasis
+so when I was researching this episode I
+asked the dermatologist is psoriasis
+related to yeast or overproduction no
+skin cells and what they told me was
+really interesting they said for more
+than 80 years within the dermatologic
+community it was thought that psoriasis
+was just an over production of skin
+cells but it wasn't really known what
+the source was and it turns out that now
+almost all the derms at least the ones I
+spoke to said that it has something to
+do either directly or at least
+powerfully and indirectly with the
+immune system so what can be done to
+treat psoriasis you can probably guess
+things that reduce the overall level of
+activation in the immune system not so
+much that you become susceptible to
+infections because that's not good but
+you treat this like any other autoimmune
+condition there are now drugs these are
+prescription drugs that directly Target
+the inter lucans the components of the
+immune system that are directly involved
+in psoriasis such as interlukin 17 and
+interlukin 23 and I'm told that these
+drugs are very effective in the
+treatment of psoriasis so that's very
+reassuring you know I know um especially
+in communities online that are focused
+more on behavioral tools and nutrition
+based tools or supplementation based
+tools of which I am right we focus on
+those but as you probably noticed in
+this and other episodes of The hubman
+Lab podcast we also talk about
+prescription drugs that have proven to
+be very effective in certain conditions
+so it's very reassuring to hear that
+there are excellent prescription drugs
+that can Target the specific inter
+lucans that are
+overactivated in psoriasis because
+psoriasis is now known as an
+overactivation of the immune system and
+a kind of uh turning of the body on
+itself if you will to create this itchy
+scaly uncomfortable and in some cases
+unsightly uh overproduction of skin
+cells at the scalp and elsewhere Okay so
+we've covered a lot of topics thus far
+we've talked about skin biology we
+talked about various skin conditions
+that are very common such as acne
+psoriasis and so forth we talked about
+ways to increase the youthfulness or the
+appearance of youthfulness in skin that
+are based on data some that are a bit
+more
+experimental and we talked about even
+some laser procedures and phototherapy
+things of that sort and at the same time
+I acknowledge that there are many topics
+and conditions related to skin health
+and skin care that we did not talk about
+we didn't talk about Eczema we didn't
+talk about Botox we didn't talk about an
+enormous number of topics that I know
+are of interest and relevant to many of
+you so as a consequence the plan is to
+host various expert guests both
+dermatologist expert in particular areas
+as well as yes a cosmetic surgeon who
+believe it or not does not like to cut
+but rather likes to use fairly
+non-invasive procedures that touch on
+some of these very same mechanisms yes
+injections of certain things things that
+operate at the surface level of the skin
+and sometimes surgical procedures that
+you know I know when people hear
+cosmetic surgery they think oh people
+just trying to improve the youthfulness
+of their look or something of that sort
+but you know that also relate to certain
+serious skin conditions for which
+surgery and non-surgical approaches can
+assist in so the point is that any
+discussion about skin health and Skin
+Care is going to be an ongoing
+discussion one that I do plan to
+continue on this podcast in the form of
+expert guest episodes maybe even another
+solo episode we've occasionally done
+so-called toolkit episodes where we
+summarize some of the main points of
+previous solo episodes and that arrive
+with guest episodes and that reflect the
+latest knowledge that gets published in
+between episodes I do plan to cover this
+topic in more detail going forward
+meanwhile I like to think that what I've
+covered today provides at at least an
+introduction to the biology of skin and
+an understanding about the various
+things that we all can and should do for
+our skin health and appearance as well
+as ways to attack certain pain points
+related to certain skin conditions that
+come from expert sources from excellent
+literature that has been established
+over many many decades and I personally
+find this organ that we call skin to be
+infinitely fascinating not just by
+virtue of what it does but by virtue of
+all the different organ and tissue
+systems that it interacts within our
+body and by virtue of the fact that our
+skin is this incredible living organ on
+the outside of our body that tells us oh
+so very much about how we and others are
+doing in terms of our immediate and
+potentially our long-term Health if
+you're learning from Andor enjoying this
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+please put those in the comment section
+on YouTube I do read all the comments
+for those of you that haven't heard I
+have a new book coming out it's my very
+first book it's entitled protocols an
+operating manual for the human body this
+is a book that I've been working on for
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+experience and it covers protocols for
+everything from sleep to exercise to
+Stress Control protocols related to
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+book is now available by pre-sale at
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+thank you for joining me for today's
+discussion all about skin health and
+skin care and last but certainly not
+least thank you for your interest in
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+[Music]
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