Dear Nutritionist,
I have two questions. Do you know any natural treatment for people with strong foot odour and do you know how to help with dry skin in the winter months like the lips? I know there are natural lip balms but they don’t solve the problem. As soon as they wear off my lips are cracking and dry again. Is there anything you recommend? — Matthew
Dear Matthew,
I have found solutions to both of these problems during my years as a clinician. I will cover them below, as well as others I believe are rather common and relevant in the winter months.
Dry, cracked lips and dry skin:
I suggest never using anything but all natural lip balm on the lips, as we swallow the product we put on our lips and petroleum products are not regarded as safe or beneficial to ingest. I also suggest not licking the lips or touching or biting the lips excessively. These will worsen the chapping until you have reached the healing stage.
In terms of diet, I see low zinc and B complex vitamins correlated to chapped and cracked lips so it’s good to have these checked. Increasing Omega 3s will help with the inflammation, as will identifying any food intolerances. If you have dry lips all the time, you likely have food intolerances or deficiencies and adding water with raw apple cider vinegar will help the body better handle these toxins. And with dry skin you want to stay well hydrated. It’s also beneficial to check medications to ensure it’s not a possible side effect of any you may be taking.
Adding quality coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil to the diet daily helps some people with dry skin overall, and coconut is an exceptional lip emulsifier when added to calendula to help facilitate healing. You can mix a little jar of it and add shea butter if you want a thicker consistency for lip balm.
For skin, I suggest bathing in epsom salts, which is incredibly detoxifying, then slathering damp skin with coconut oil with a few drops of added essential oils like a blend of rosemary (reduces pain, helps stiff muscles, anti-inflammatory, helps with headache) and lavender (anti-fungal, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and soothing to the nerves). It takes about 20 minutes for this to soak in so the skin doesn’t feel oily, so it’s best to do it at night.
I also suggest removing harsh and fluoridated toothpaste and drying facial and body wash products like soap and switching to all natural products that are non-drying and ph balanced for the skin. If these don’t solve the problem, there are homeopathic remedies that will clear the issue. The remedy natrum muriaticum, when taken in very low potency as a tissue salt, can be helpful for lips that are always dry and chapped and crack right in the middle, top or bottom.
For other lip and skin-related dryness, a blend of tissue salts or specific remedies work best, strengthening immunity and overall vitality, as well. To find the blend or remedy that suits your particular symptoms it’s best to see a licensed practitioner.
Acne-prone skin:
I have never met a person with acne that doesn’t have low zinc and low stomach acid, as well as serious food intolerances. We tend to think acne in teen years is “normal” now, because it’s so common with our modern diet, but it’s not normal at all. The skin is the largest organ in the body and often the one that first expresses any disregulation or imbalance. As such, in holistic medicine we don’t suppress skin outbreaks but treat the underlying cause to address the problem at the root.
I speak from experience on this as I had horrible cystic acne for over a decade, then residual acne until I was almost 30 when I learned to address it through diet and herbal and homeopathic supplements. Nothing is as powerful as an anti-inflammatory diet and herbal/ homeopathics in combination to address acne — not even Accutane. I tried it all!
As a first line treatment at home I would recommend fish oils, a quality zinc supplement, digestive enzymes with HCL at mealtimes, and removing all wheat, dairy, grains, and sugar for a period of eight weeks. The person has to be eating ample protein and supplementing B vitamins if they are a vegetarian, and the gut biome has to be balanced, especially if contraceptive medication has been involved. The gut biome is usually involved in skin problems.
Suntanning also helps if undertaken with care not to burn the skin.
It’s important for someone with acne-prone skin to discontinue using all topical washes and medications and creams and lotions and discontinue any suppressive efforts if they want to heal the problem. Ninety percent of self-care products are loaded with chemicals that only increase the toxicity in the body, since the skin is an absorptive organ.
Safe face products include all natural ph balanced face wash, a lemon and honey mask as an exfoliant 1x per week, raw apple cider vinegar diluted in water as a toner, bicarbonate as a scrub if the skin tolerates scrubbing, and shea butter as a nighttime moisturizer. Avocado and shea butter can be whipped into a mask to use once a week for deep moisturizing. In short, if it’s not safe to eat, you shouldn’t be putting it on your skin.
Itchy rashes:
Itchy rashes can be caused by a number of things and each requires the proper treatment, but for the symptom of itching a cotton ball soaked in raw apple cider vinegar almost always works. It stings then stops the itch immediately. I’ve seen it work for bug bites, eczema, scabies, poison ivy and poison oak. You have to reapply every couple of hours.
Superficial burns on the skin:
By this I mean burns you get from cooking or from the curling or other iron or other burns that don’t require emergency intervention. And this is going to sound totally contrary to everything you think you know, but I have tried it over and over and it works. Run it under hot, not cold water. Yes, you heard me right. Run it under hot water and the burn will subside within a few minutes, then let it dry and slather it with an all natural calendula cream.
Prepare for your mind to be blown at how fast this burn stops burning and then heals. If you don’t have all natural calendula cream, this is one item I suggest you get for your first aid kit. There is nothing better for burns, abrasions, scrapes, and skin irritations. It’s even effective for radiation burns! Like I said, this is a product you want to have on hand.
Red, tearing, itchy eyes:
You have food intolerances. You can get tested by a practitioner like myself or just hydrate much better and remove the dairy and wheat. All dairy and wheat. After two weeks, introduce one and wait and see what happens. Then wait several days and introduce the other. Your body will speak to you. Often such people can handle a little of each, in moderation, but if they get too much they get symptoms. That’s because these foods are inherently inflammatory.
Post nasal drip:
Remove all dairy as above and get tested for food intolerances. Use a neti pot with sea salt daily as part of your hygiene and add to that a spray of 3% food grade peroxide or colloidal silver if you suffer blocked sinuses. Both work equally well. Again, you will be amazed.
Strong foot odour:
For this, I find bathing the feet in a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 1 part hot water to be effective. Sit with it for about an hour and repeat about 1x a week. This is usually sufficient. Shoes can be washed in a vinegar water wash and the gut biome should be balanced by adding quality fermented foods to the diet.
Thick, callused skin on feet:
This is a sign of type II diabetes, or pre-diabetes, so it’s essential to get your levels checked by a medical professional if you suffer this. Poor circulation is a sign of insulin resistance and that’s what leads to the excess callus formation. To remove the calluses you are going to make the hot water vinegar solution as above and soak some thick socks in it. Two pairs. Now put both pairs on your feet at bedtime and wrap your feet with plastic bags. Usually medium sized white garbage bags will do. Tie them up the leg so the socks are totally encased. You may also want to lay down towels under your feet to protect your mattress from any leaks. Make sure the bag is not tied so tight that your circulation is cut off. You may need to double bag it. In the morning remove them in the shower or bath and much of the callouses will simply rub off the foot. Repeat if necessary. If you suffer from extreme cracking of the feet in addition this can be painful and you should see a homeopath to treat the cracking first and go to your doctor to get your blood sugar tested.
These are just some of the miraculous ways in which nature provides remedies for us. Food really is medicine! There are also natural remedies for heart disease, depression, type II diabetes, and more. I believe every illness has a remedy in nature — we just don’t understand them all yet.
As always, you can send your health questions to me by email. And if you’re looking for more specific health information, check out my website and sign up for my free newsletter at nonienutritionista.com. I offer 1:1 health coaching and several group classes, including a weekend KETO workshop, a hands-on fermenting class, and a six-week sugar detox. Upcoming events are posted in the newsletter, as well as delicious recipes that are guaranteed to be guilt and gluten-free.
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista
Nonie De Long is a registered orthomolecular nutritionist with a clinic in Bradford West Gwillimbury, where she offers holistic, integrative health care for physical and mental health issues. Check out her website here. Do you have a question about health and wellness? Email [email protected]
