Dry January! What are the effects and why the liver is important to your skin health?

If you’re partial to a prosecco or need a glass of wine with your dinner now and then, the thought of no alcohol for an entire month probably seems impossible. But Let’s face it, if there was ever a time to quit alcohol, dry January is the ideal opportunity! Especially as there is absolutely zero going on in the world right now. 

As most of you know, alcohol has negative effect on our liver, but the health of the liver is vital to the vibrancy and clarity of the skin. It’s role is to remove toxins such as pesticides from food, medication, pollution, alcohol and caffeine. It re-packages them so that they can be safely removed via the digestive system. It is also responsible for processing hormones get re-circulated around the body. This is why the liver plays such a key role in acne, breakouts and problematic skin types. 

A common reason why the liver becomes overloaded is constipation. When this happens, toxins get stuck in the gut and are re-routed back to the liver, so they end up being detoxified-twice! The best thing is to get the digestive system moving by increasing your intake of fibre and probiotic-rich foods and eliminate the alcohol and coffee. 

By not drinking Alcohol you will see a huge improvement to your skin. Is causes dehydrating effects and your skin will appear duller and fine lines and wrinkles will be more visible.

Alcohol also reduces your vitamin A levels, which is a powerful antioxidant and also has a key role in the production of collagen. As we age, we lose collagen and elastin, which causes the face to “sag” and so alcohol is speeding up the aging process of the skin. 

Plus, if white wine and cocktails are your drinks of choice, you’re also consuming a huge amount of sugar, which means you’re more likely to suffer breakouts. 

How to support the liver and indirectly your skin:

•  Step 1 – cut down on anything that will aggravate your liver next to alcohol, like sugar, hydrogenated fats and caffeine. 
• Step 2- Kick start your liver and begin each day with a cup of the following: hot water with lemon, turmeric and cayenne pepper or fresh ginger
• Step 3 – Eat more ‘clean foods’ that help the liver break down toxins. This means cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and dark green leafy vegetables (watercress, spinach, rocket, kale and spring greens). Other foods or food groups that optimize liver healthy include berries, citrus, fruits, fresh herbs and spices.
• Step 4- Supplements such as milk thistle and chlorella help to restore liver function and act as an anti-inflammatory. 

The good news is that If you’re following above steps you will be able to see an improvement on your skin. It takes approximately 28 days for your skin to renew itself. This process varies from person to person and is age dependent. To see a difference in the condition for your skin you would need to give up drinking and/or Caffeine for at least a month to see an improvement.

To get even more visible results we recommend to use a face mask on a weekly base to keep hydrating your skin. Discover our sheet mask collection here.