Does dehydration cause dry skin?
This article will discuss how to make a homemade face moisturizer. Many people wrongly assume that dry skin is a result of dehydration. The belief is that not drinking water causes the skin to dry up. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
It is important to note that the more water you drink, the drier your skin will be because the water will dilute the electrolytes. So, dehydration causes many symptoms, but not the dryness of the skin.
What causes dry skin?
Dry skin is low EFA. EFA is an acronym for essential fatty acids. It is an uncomfortable situation characterized by itching, scaling, and cracking. Dry skin can occur for a variety of reasons. Some people might have naturally dry skin. Sometimes, even when the skin is oily, one might develop dry skin from time to time.
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Dry skin can affect any part of the body. However, parts of the body commonly affected include the arms, legs, and hands.
I’ve said dry skin is low in essential fatty acids. The fatty acids here refer to unsaturated, not saturated fats, i.e., omega-3 fatty acids. It is important to note that essential fatty acids are omega-3 and omega-6. Still, I’ll not discuss omega-6 in this article because there are chances that you may already have too much of it in your diet (corn oil, canola, soy oil, and cottonseed oil), and we are deficient in the omega-3 fatty acids.
So, your skin gets dry and flaky when you don’t have enough omega-3 fatty acids. There are three types of omega-3;
· EPA — Eicosapentaenoic acid
· DHA — Docosapentaenoic acid, and a precursor
· ALA — Alpha-linolenic acid
ALA can turn into DHA and EPA to a certain degree. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids can protect the skin against the sun’s rays — like UV light. So, these fatty acids do plenty of things for your skin, not just keep it moist.
Now, what is the best way to get omega-3 fatty acids? You can get omega-3 fatty acids from foods like:
· Sardines
· Cod liver oil
· Fish oils like salmon
· Algae
I’m very sure no one would rub cod liver oil or oil from sardines on the face. It’s probably not a good thing. Yes, you could rub algae on your face, but I recommend chia seeds and seaweed.
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The best homemade face moisturizer for skin
Let’s discuss how you will make this facial mask moisturize your face more. Here’s what you need:
· Six teaspoons of water
· Two teaspoons of ground chia seeds
· One teaspoon of olive oil
· A teaspoon of seaweed.
Combine all and apply to your face. Please leave it to stand for 15 minutes, then wash it off.
You’ll find that the omega-3 fatty acids in the chia seeds and the seaweed directly go into the skin. So anything you put on your skin gets absorbed because all these chemical products have petroleum products; alcohol rubbed on the hands or face gets right into the skin like a sponge, so you have to be careful about what you put on your face.
I have to emphasize that what I’ve shown above is a quick fix. First, you want to find the real cause of why your skin is dry in the first place. You should also ensure plenty of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. Finally, you should also isolate other reasons you think your skin might dry.
Other causes of dry skin
· Perhaps you’re a smoker, or you inhale second-hand smoke
· You may be drinking too much alcohol
· You take sugar in excess
· Stress
· You are not having enough microbiome or good bacteria in your gut for specific reasons, for example, after taking an antibiotic.
· Perhaps you’re on a typical American diet where you consume a lot of seed oils, corn oil, soy oil, canola, and cottonseed oil which are very high in omega-6 fatty acids that will create a deficiency of the omega-3 fatty acids.
· You may be using a soap that dries out your skin.
· Tap water from your shower may also have a drying effect on your skin. In addition, tap water exposes you to chlorine and fluoride, which is extremely harsh on your skin.
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Takeaway
Dry skin is low in essential fatty acids. Dry skin can affect any part of the body. The body’s most affected details include the arms, legs, and hands. Your skin gets dry and flaky when you don’t have enough omega-3 fatty acids. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids can protect the skin against the sun’s rays — like UV light.
Try out the homemade face moisturizer, and let me know how it goes the comments below.
Disclaimer: Dr. Berner does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical diseases or conditions; instead, he analyzes and corrects the structure of his patients with Foundational Correction to improve their overall quality of life. He works with their physicians, who regulate their medications. This blog post is not designed to provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment, or services to you or any other individual. The information provided in this post or through linkages to other sites is not a substitute for medical or professional care. You should not use the information in place of a visit, consultation, or the advice of your physician or another healthcare provider. Foundation Chiropractic and Dr. Brett Berner are not liable or responsible for any advice, the course of treatment, diagnosis, or any other information, services, or product you obtain through this article or others.
References
Akdeniz, M, Tomova-Simitchieva, T, Dobos, G, Blume-Peytavi, U, Kottner, J. Does dietary fluid intake affect skin hydration in healthy humans? A systematic literature review. Skin Res Technol. 2018; 24: 459– 465. https://doi.org/10.1111/srt.12454
Shaheen NA, Alqahtani AA, Assiri H, Alkhodair R, Hussein MA. Public knowledge of dehydration and fluid intake practices: variation by participants’ characteristics. BMC Public Health. 2018;18(1):1346. Published 2018 Dec 5. doi:10.1186/s12889–018–6252–5
Warren JL, Bacon WE, Harris T, McBean AM, Foley DJ, Phillips C. The burden and outcomes associated with dehydration among US elderly, 1991. Am J Public Health. 1994;84(8):1265–1269. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.84.8.1265
