How I improved my skin

One of the main reasons I started studying nutrition was my skin. I'd had spots for years and couldn't get to the bottom of why - I'd tried medications, homeopathy, every skincare product under the sun and nothing worked. It's been a slow process but I'm SO happy to say my work is paying off!!

Also, if you don't make it to the end (I recommend you do though) use this link for £30 off your own continuous glucose monitor.

Now let me take you down memory lane...

August 2020

I'd started studying nutrition a few months before these pics were taken. I remember learning about the 'typical' presentation of somebody with PCOS and thinking 'hmm acne yes, the rest is not me so that can't be why I have spots' - little did I know PCOS comes in many guises and that very much was the reason... more on that later.

I'd been living at home in Devon for a few months because it was lockdown and I was eating my usual diet. Not super 'healthy' but also not terrible - always home-cooked meals, never fizzy drinks or sweets, very rarely any fried food, but quite a lot of chocolate and biscuits and probably a glass of wine a day... I was active in that I walked a lot, but my exercise didn't really extend beyond that.

April 2022

By now I'm pretty far into my nutrition course and have started to connect my skin, alongside other symptoms like weight gain, cravings and energy dips in the afternoon with dysregulated blood sugar. I decided to try a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to see how my body was responding to what I was eating and doing. Spoiler: not very well!!!

You can see that after I eat, my blood sugar regularly spikes (the orange ups and downs) and goes above the recommended levels (7.8 mmol/L) which shows my body wasn't handling sugar well. This causes the pancreas to release more insulin to try and get the glucose into the cells, and high levels of insulin cause the ovaries to produce more testosterone - aaaand you guessed it, high testosterone is one of the telltale markers of PCOS, along with insulin resistance.

You can also see my average glucose (for this day at least) was 6.3 mmol/L which is not great -- to put it into context, 3.9 - 5.5 mmol/L is optimal.

Around the same time, I did blood tests with Thriva (they're great) and they came back with high levels of testosterone. Surprise surprise!

By this time, I was back in London and my skin had improved slightly, but it still wasn't great. I was doing more exercise, going to TRX and pilates and on (very) occasional runs, I was eating smaller portions (not at all restrictive, just not consistently having seconds like I had been at home in Devon!), working on my gut health, including more protein and a wider variety of veg, and I was drinking less alcohol.

A few months after this CGM I was also told I had PCOS. The only option my GP gave me was to start taking Metformin, a drug for Type 2 diabetes which lowers blood sugar by improving insulin resistance. I didn't fancy this, so, once again, decided to take matters into my own hands!

Getting there!!!

May 2023

CLEAR SKIN BABY! (still not perfect...) Since my frankly pretty poor performance with my CGM and my PCOS diagnosis I decided I'd better take this a bit seriously. Having 'bad skin' was one thing, but when you actually see it as a sign from your body that there's something not quite right, it becomes more important to sort out.

My main focus was improving my blood sugar response and insulin signalling so that my body would be making less testosterone. Muscle is like a sponge for glucose and massively increases its uptake, so I started by doing more strength and resistance training. I now go to 1Rebel 2-3 times a week and do Reshape (weights and running) and reformer pilates.

In terms of diet, I started doing lots of blood sugar balancing hacks, like apple cider vinegar in water before carb-heavy meals, eating protein with everything, eating carbs last, and walking/moving after eating carbs. I'm generally a lot more conscious about eating adequate amounts of protein - I no longer see a nice big bowl of salad just filled with loads of veg as 'healthy.' I drink a lot less - as in I have a couple of drinks a week on average - and have fewer Deliveroo pizzas. I definitely haven't cut anything out though and very much do not deprive myself!

I also initially took a range of supplements to support insulin resistance and PCOS from a few different angles but have now been able to cut back. Taking so many supplements was getting a lil untenable!

After all these changes, I thought I'd test myself with another CGM. I was so pleased to see my body deals wayyyy better with food now and my glucose levels are generally much lower and more steady. My average glucose for the last 7 days (in case you were wondering!) is 5.1 mmol/L, which is optimal, rather than 5.6, which is not, which is what it was a year ago. I've also had barely any spikes, even when I have gnocchi, chocolate, and pastries!

This graph shows what happened when I had a Gail's chocolate almond croissant (delicious) last year vs this week. Last year I had a huge spike and then my glucose continued to go haywire, whereas this year I would go so far as to say my body responded like it was a healthy breakfast?!

Since doing all of this in the last year, I've lost about 3kgs, I have more energy, fewer cravings for sweet stuff (specifically baked goods...), I have an almost perfect cycle length, as well as clearer skin.

All this is to say: it's always worth getting to the root of what's causing your issues, whatever they are! Symptoms (in my case spots) are just a signal that something's not quite right, so instead of just treating the symptoms we have to look deeper and see what the cause is.

Excuse the puffiness, I'd just woken up...

If any of this has resonated with you, please send me a message or book a session - I'd love to help you too!

As my parting present to you, follow this link to get £30 off your own CGM with Veri.