Susan Allen, a registered dietitian and clinical nutritionist in Chicago specializing in nutritional biochemical approaches to health problems, sees many clients seeking help to clear their skin. They're looking for something that will finally take care of it because nothing else has. Not Just Skin Deep Allen contends that skin disorders are symptoms of bigger problems going on in the body. Ninety-nine percent of the time we can narrow it down to three things. All of these are related directly to what we put in our mouths although stress, as Allen puts it, is an underlying factor that can aggravate the condition.
Antibiotics are a mainstay in conventional treatment for skin disorders.
Candida, in turn, may actually make acne worse. They understand the nutritional implications in skin disorders so they'll look at food allergies and yeast. I wanted to interview a dermatologist who could speak with an eye toward integrative treatments. Interestingly, in a number of calls to integrative hospital clinics and health clinics around Chicago, I couldn't track down a dermatologist who has a holistic bent. One integrated medicine clinic director, an M.D. who asked for anonymity, said that finding one was going to be tough, as dermatologists rely routinely on antibiotics, steroids, and other anti-inflammatory drugs to treat patients.