How Our Skin Is Damaged

—How the Skin Is Damaged—

Our skin is made supple and beautiful by collagen. Collagen is a long-living protein that is subject to free-radical (unstable oxygen) attack. A chemical change in the collagen (called cross-linking) due to free-radical exposure leads to hidden inflammation, calcification, and eventually wrinkles and damaged skin.

Free-radical damage causes a change in the lipid characteristics of the outer layer of the epidermis. These lipid characteristics are often improved and healed by applying healing oils such as hemp oil, stone-crushed olive oil and/or coconut oil directly to the skin daily, if appropriate and necessary. Another option is to do nothing to the skin for several weeks or months in order to let the skin breathe and allow the natural balance to be restored.

The primary causes of free-radical collagen damage and skin aging are poor nutrition, internal toxicity, dehydration, overexposure to sunshine, using commercial chemical soaps, smoking, bathing in hard tap water, exposure to extremely dry and cold weather, and fungal invasion.

Facial wrinkles are deepened by the free radicals caused by smoking. Crow’s feet wrinkle patterns around the eyes and on the upper lip are indicative of smoking marijuana and/or cigarettes.

Our skin’s health depends greatly on the presence and retention of moisture. The epidermis (the top, thin layer of our skin) has the ability to hold on to moisture if we stay properly hydrated by drinking high-quality water and ingesting the proper nutrients.

If the body is toxic, the liver, the blood’s filtering system, will be toxic. Instead of filtering and neutralizing the poisons and toxins in the blood, the toxins remain, get circulated through the body, and are deposited primarily into the fatty tissue. The toxic load eventually causes the cells to degenerate and begin to die for lack of oxygen, water, and nutrients. The aging process is thus accelerated. The longer this process continues, the more malnourished the cells become. The long-term effects can again be seen in wrinkled, spotted, leathery, gray, lifeless skin.

Eczema is often the result of the organs being so filled with toxic materials that the body is forced to push excess toxins into the bloodstream, making it necessary to eliminate them through the skin.
Men have thicker skin than women due to the influence of the dominant male hormone testosterone. Also, men produce more oil on their skin than women. These factors make women more likely to experience dry and damaged skin.