June 11, 2022

The Importance of Supporting Skin Health from Within. Part 5: Ingestible Herbs to Support Skin Health

In my new Skin Series Blog posts, The Importance of Supporting Skin Health from Within, I go deep into internal factors that contribute to the health of skin. In Part 1, I discuss the structure function of the skin and why beauty and topical products may not be enough for holistic skin health. In Part 2, I looked at skin from a TCM perspective and in Part 3, I point out the how the impact of dysbiosis in in the gut disturbs the equilibrium in the gut-skin axis. In Part 4, I give additional lifestyle tips that impact the glow and resilience of skin. In this final segment, I highlight some herbal remedies that has been used in supporting skin health for centuries.

by Dr. Anna Gold

Ingestible Herbs to Support Skin Health

Herbal remedies for skin health have been around as long as there has been folk medicine. East Asian medicine organizes herbs into a multitude of categories. There are groups of herbs that tonify Qi, Blood, Yin, and Yang. There are sets that purge, drain, cool, and warm. Within each grouping, each herb enters different organ channels and has innate temperatures.

Each person’s disharmony is ideally prescribed an individualized formula for their specific situation. However, in this day and age, this type of individual attention may not be available to everyone. DR. ANNA GOLD Herbal Tinctures for skin issues are based on decades of successful clinical experience. They are derived from the most commonly seen TCM patterns for specific dermatological complaints like acne, eczema, aging skin and rosacea.

Some of the herbs are highlighted below:

Licorice is a well known root that aids in digestive function. It has anti-inflammatory and immune modulating properties similar to the action of Hydrocortisone. Because it can abate itchy skin irritations it is included in our DISPEL Herbal Tincture.

Ginseng is another well-known adaptogenic root from East Asian Pharmacopeia. It decreases inflammatory markers in skin cells and boosts immune function. It enriches fluids and cellular regeneration, improves mental focus, and has been shown in research to reverse telomere degeneration. These functions of ginseng are one of the reasons why it is included in ELEVATE.

Calendula is a western herb that is easily accessible in supermarkets and herb shops. It is a flower used for its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is often used topically to soothe skin irritations. In DR. ANNA GOLD’s CLEAR Herbal Tincture, calendula is utilized to help heal scar tissue that results from deep-seated chronic acne.

Herbs for skin repair are different from prescription medications in that they take time to work. This is because the nutrients in the herbs infuse processes of healing in the cellular turnover which takes up to a month. But once the skin texture improves or inflammation subsides, the results tend to stick.

You can read more about herbs and click on links to see research on our ingredients page.