In this fascinating interview with Doctor Morgan, general practitioner and homeopath specializing in integrative nutrition.
Cécile Morgan explains to us how the children's skin is now being put to the test and gives us her advice to overcome the inconvenience she may be going through!
A little water and Marseille soap, and voila, the hydrolipidic film of toddlers that regulates itself? True or false?
In the past, at a time when the 4 pillars of Health were not so abused: nutrition, breathing, elimination, sleep, the self-regulation of the hydrolipidic film did not pose a problem, except for children who presented with weakened skin by eczema, psoriasis, acne or atopic dermatitis…
To address the first pillar, how does nutrition impact children's skin?
The skin, a reflection of our intestines, is impacted by any dietary imbalance, whether deficiencies or excessive consumption of so-called inflammatory foods.
How has the quality of nutrition changed over the past 30 years and what is its impact on the skin?
Already in 1984, the Suvimax study observed in the majority of adults a magnesium, vitamin B6, zinc, vitamin D and omega 3 deficiency. Note that the supplementation of pregnant women is still imperfect, still focusing only on folic acid. According to studies by Pierre Weill, a famous French agronomist (creator of the Bleu Blanc Cœur label), children born to mothers deficient in Omega 3, immediately express the genes of inflammation : manifestation in "itis" of the respiratory, digestive spheres, skin ...
Needless to say, the soils are not really richer in minerals these days. And the consumption of omega 3 in the form of fatty fish, or walnuts from Grenoble or Périgord (for example), remains insufficient. These factors are therefore likely to have worsened.
In addition, there is an addiction of children to refined foods: made from white sugar, hydrogenated fats, refined cereals, industrial dairy products, these overconsumption foods stimulate the production of insulin, thus exhausting the pancreas and releasing the body's most inflammatory hormones.
Let's add to that environmental pollution for city dwellers and water quality, more or less "bleached", more or less calcareous... which weakens the skin barrier.
With the covid we know that wearing a mask is compulsory for children from 6 years old, what impact does this have on their still fragile and under construction skin?
Mandatory wearing of mask for children from 6 years old adds an external physical constraint which is unfortunately not physiological in the required wearing times. In addition to the very resounding aspect on their psyche (according to the German study Corona children studies "Co-Ki", carried out on more than 25,000 children throughout Germany: more than 50% show behavioral disturbances of the type irritations, mood disorders, difficulty concentrating, 30% sleep less well...), this tissue barrier creates a local increase in heat and humidity, which stimulates sebum production and clogging of pores, creating the appearance of acne-like pimples, but also local irritations. All this reflects an attack on the skin barrier and its consequence, the inflammatory cascade with microlesions at friction points and itching.
What is Integrative Nutrition?
Integrative medicine is based on the principle that the body is a set of systems that constantly communicate with each other and not isolated parts from each other.
Will an imbalance somewhere have repercussions elsewhere? What is the connection between the skin and our brain?
Let's also not forget that skin and nervous system come from the same embryonic tissue and any disruption of the nervous system can therefore also have an impact on the skin.
Interface between our environment and our interiority, the skin also symbolically expresses a psychic suffering with respect to the external environment. Thus eczema symbolizes a conflict of separation, during the divorce of the parents for example. All people with chronic skin problems have already made the connection with concomitant psychological stress. For several decades, we have entered an era of hyperstress, made up of small accumulated and repeated stresses that push us into chronic systemic inflammation called "low grade", the terrain of all chronic inflammatory diseases.
All of these factors together inevitably affect the skin microbiota, children as well as adults, with more or less sensitive grounds of course.
How to overcome the inconveniences that the skin can go through? What are the criteria of cosmetics that we must favor to protect it?
- Avoid products derived from petroleum, containing paraffin.
- Limit endocrine disrupting chemical preservatives (such as parabens), or allergens (phenoxyethanol), exit aluminum salts.
- A natural gentle cleansing base.
- A soothing floral or thermal water for irritated skin.
- A light moisturizing cream, based on at least 90% natural or organic active ingredients.
- A protective and regenerating lip balm.
- Associate the olfactory brain to regulate the nervous system, with perfumes in resonance with the emotional universe of children.
- Playing with a playful galenic that fits into a cuddly toy, cocooning ritual.
- Sun protection is finally absolutely essential, which can combine effectiveness and pleasure, in order to preserve the skin's sun capital of children, neglected for decades and often associated with an unpleasant protocol, and also not applied if the child is deceptively "out there". 'shadow ".
- Finally, let's not forget that the skin feeds above all from the inside, and that the future is in "nutri-cosmetics", in order to preserve or restore the status of membrane fatty acids and the quality of the skin barrier, with:
- "nourishing" ingredients: borage oil, vitamins E, C, phyto-ceramosides, antioxidants...
- often probiotics which by balancing the intestinal microbiota will also regulate an inflamed skin microbiota.
- nutraceuticals or supplements to restore the acid-base balance of the ground, the skin being the external barometer of the internal climate...
Preservation, regeneration of skin tissue, but also a way to regulate emotions, skin cosmetics for children now have a necessary place in everyday life.
Many thanks to Doctor Morgan!
Dr Cecile MORGAN
General Medicine and Integrative Nutrition
Doctorate in General Medicine, University of Paris VI, Broussais-Hotel Dieu
Master of Biological and Medical Sciences in Psycho-physiology
Diploma in Homeopathy from the CFSH, Dr Sananès
General Medicine Thesis "The personalized diet: how to combine Science and Tradition?" », with the support of Pr Joyeux
Diploma from the Stélior Scientific College, Geneva, on Metals and Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
Training in Micronutrition with various laboratories in Nutritional and Functional Medicine for 15 years
Training in various energy treatments and Orthoenergetics with Dr. Christian Roche