Loving Your Skin Microbiome in the Summertime

As someone who grew up surfing, I truly love a sunny day at the beach. Actually I love any kind of weather at the beach, especially when the surf is good. 

Now that I am a 52 year-old surfer, I am also acutely aware of the potential for skin cancer that all of that sun exposure may have promoted, especially as some of my surfer buddies that I grew up with are starting to get diagnosed with it.

As we enter the summertime in the northern hemisphere and people naturally gravitate to oceans, lakes, and rivers to stay cool and enjoy the sun, skin health becomes really important. The truth is that while skin care is individual, there is a lot of confusion of what really supports the health and healing of our skin.

Here are some tips that are not simply going to make your skin look better but can help prevent serious issues like rashes and  skin cancer by supporting your skin microbiome.

First a little info to set the context:

Your skin is your body’s largest organ and colonized by a diverse milieu of approximately 1 trillion microorganisms: bacteria, fungi, mites, yeasts, viruses, and protozoa, most of which are harmless and even beneficial to you. That’s right 1 trilliion…. so it is good to think about how you feed your skin through your diet and topically. Here are a few facts:

  • Microorganisms on your skin are natural, sterility is not.

  • Less than one percent of microbes that we have identified on our skin are pathogenic. 

  • It is important to avoid thinking of the microbial ecosystem in terms of good guys and bad guys. Think of it as a forest ecosystem and work to promote a diverse ecosystem.

  • Common sense precaution: I am not advocating that we stop sanitizing our hands, kitchen sinks, bathrooms, hospitals, clothes or other areas where bacteria, fungi, or viruses could pass along infection and disease.

Some things that you can do:

  • Eat a diet rich in diverse plant fiber and fermented foods to promote a healthy gut microbiome.

  • Avoid overusing antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers.

  • Use plant based oils to cleanse, nourish, and protect your skin all at once. Examples of “skin mimetic”oils  that share qualities of the oils that your body naturally produces are oils that both cleanse and nourish skin are sesame, jojoba, and sunflower oil.

  • Get dirty and go jump in a lake to promote AOB’s. (If that sounds crazy or gross check out the science here.

  • Use only sunscreens with ingredients that you can eat or, my favorite is to cover up with hats and clothes when you have had enough sun.
  • Avoid sunburns. However, too little sun is just as bad as too much. 

About the Author

Written by Scott Blossom at https://www.doctorblossom.com/.