Last Updated on July 24, 2018 by Marc Seward
Everything You Need to Know About Skin Detox Tea
Today’s society seems to be obsessed with “detoxes.” They may seem to be just trendy health fads but detoxifying your body is actually very important to promote better health and prevent various health conditions and illnesses. With that said, many people think that a detox can only be done internally. Skin detoxes are also just as necessary and convenient, though, and they can be done with a variety of delicious teas.
Why Detox Your Skin?
When your skin is exposed to a number of pollutants, such as sugar, drugs, alcohol, and other things, it all builds up pretty quickly. Scientists have even linked air pollution with signs of visible skin damage; this might include things such as smoke, fumes, and ultraviolet rays. Basically, you can’t avoid most of the pollutants that will build up in and on your skin so you should take care and detoxify frequently.
Here are a few facts that may surprise you….
- Your skin is your body’s biggest organ. It is able to naturally detoxify itself but it still needs help to stay completely healthy and pure.
- Air pollution is a major enemy. Polluted air contains Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. These PAHs can cause dehydration, poor skin barrier function, weakened skin and poor elasticity and even cancer.
- We all know that smoking is bad for you but did you know that smoking a single cigarette could constrict your blood flow for around 90 minutes?
- Many of us suffer from acute and chronic stress in today’s world. Did you know that high levels of stress could cause your skin to produce more oil as well as causing more redness and a slower turnover of cells?
- Using too much make up or sunscreen can cause an unwanted buildup especially if it is not frequently and thoroughly washed off. This product buildup can lead to unhealthy looking dull skin, congestion, redness and irritation.
- The skin sheds around 30,000 skin cells every single minute and it generates over 3 fluid ounces of sweat each and every day.
- Considering the last point, it comes as a shock that the average woman spends no more than 20 seconds washing her face each day.
Teas for Skin Detoxifying
You may be surprised by the fact that herbal teas can actually help detoxify your skin. Many people assume that topical applications, such as creams or serums, are the only way to get the job done but that assumption would be incorrect. Teas can address detoxification from the inside out, which can also help detoxify other areas of the body as well. With teas, you get an all-in-one detoxification, which is pretty convenient compared to having to use a bunch of different products for different things.
Overall, there are many different types of teas and each of them may provide different benefits for your skin and body. When it comes to detoxing, specifically, some teas may be better than other. When it comes down to it, however, there are several teas for you to choose for a skin detox that could all get the job done quickly and efficiently (with a tasty delivery method, too).
Burdock Tea
Burdock, which is scientifically or botanically named Arctium lappa, is often referred to as the best herb for skincare. It flushes your system from the inside, allowing your skin to become fresh, clean, and free of pollutants.
Burdock root tea brings positive benefits to several internal parts of the body, including the kidneys, liver, gallbladder, and the lymph system. The benefits for all of these areas promote the more efficient removal of waste from the cells.
Basically, burdock detoxifies the inside of your body so that your skin doesn’t have to do the work for you. The skin is often the organ that does most of the detoxifying of your body through sweating, which often causes a lot of skin conditions due to all the toxins making their way through your pores. Burdock could help address skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis. It could also even help clear up boils, styes, and carbuncles.
Calendula Tea
Calendula, also known as pot marigold, is another herbal tea that does a great job of clearing up your skin from the inside. Generally speaking, the herb itself is very popular for its ability to heal wounds and it also provides many health benefits for digestion and the lymphatic system.
Digestive issues may cause related issues with the liver and that could then turn into toxic skin conditions. This makes calendula a great tea for treating and preventing those types of skin conditions by detoxifying the skin.
Calendula is widely respected as a healing herb, thanks to its powerful anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral properties. The herb also provides a lot of other benefits including cancer prevention, better oral health, candida treatment, menstrual symptom relief, and the calming of muscle spasms. This herbal tea is pretty well-rounded overall, making it a perfect choice for more than just a good skin detox.
Oregon Grape Root Tea
Oregon grape, scientifically or botanically known as Mahonia aquifolium, is an herb that is often used as a tonic to help the digestive tract. When the digestive tract is healthy, the skin is generally a lot healthier and free of toxic conditions as well.
Oregon grape root tea can help clear up congestion in the liver and boost the general function of digestion.
Because of its work inside the liver and kidneys, Oregon grape root tea is perfect for addressing the actual internal causes of certain skin conditions. This might include conditions such as acne, psoriasis, or eczema. Dermatology studies have shown that the tea is actually a great treatment for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.
Nettle Leaf Tea
Nettles may often be associated with the rash that you get when the fresh version touches your skin but dried nettle leaves are totally safe and actually provide a lot of great health benefits for both your body and skin. Nettles, also sometimes called “stinging nettle,” contribute to healthier skin and hair as proven by experienced, professional herbalists.
When it comes to the skin, it has high concentrations of vitamins and minerals that help to clear up the skin and make it more firm. Those vitamins and minerals include several B vitamins, vitamin K, zinc, selenium, boron, and chromium.
Nettle leaf tea also has strong anti-inflammatory properties that can help the digestive tract. It is also considered to be beneficial for purifying the blood, cleansing out any toxins that may be present. This would in turn help to detoxify the skin as well. Despite the dangers of fresh nettles, nettle leaf tea is actually pretty significantly beneficial, especially for skin detoxification.
Kombucha Tea
You may have heard a lot about kombucha as people typically tend to either love it or absolutely hate it. This mostly has to do with the way it tastes; kombucha tea is actually made from black tea that has been fermented. The tea has actually been around and consumed for thousands of years and it is a great source of probiotics and antioxidants.
For the appearance of the skin, it can help to improve elasticity and make your skin look more firm; it may also sometimes be used topically to treat sunburns.
Kombucha tea can kill bacteria present inside your body and it is often used primarily to fight against candida and bacteria that cause infections. Other benefits include the reduction of heart disease risk, the management of Type 2 diabetes, and the prevention of cancer. With that said, you need to make sure that your kombucha tea is made correctly as contaminated or over-fermented kombucha has been proven to cause serious health problems.
Matcha Tea
Matcha tea is another very popular tea that is often used in other recipes, such as ice creams or baked sweets. It’s easily recognized for its bright green color and popularity in Japan, which is where it originated. Matcha powder has become very common lately as an addition to skin products such as lotions, creams, and facial masks.
With that said, drinking it as a tea is still the best way to get its internal benefits, which can in turn help to detoxify the skin from the inside.
Matcha tea has high concentrations of antioxidants, natural antibiotics, chlorophyll, and catechin. All of these powerful nutrients help to fight infections caused by bacteria. It also protects the liver and helps to boost its performance in flushing toxins from the body. Other benefits of matcha tea include improved brain function, cancer prevention, prevention of heart disease, and weight loss encouragement.
Ginger Tea
Ginger itself is commonly known as a food that can help digestion. Ginger tea provides the same benefits in a convenient form. An unhealthy digestive tract can negatively affect the skin, causing toxic skin conditions such as acne, eczema, or psoriasis. Because ginger addresses the health of the digestive tract, these conditions could be treated or prevented.
Most of the benefits of ginger tea have to do with the stomach and digestion overall. For example, drinking ginger tea can help relieve and prevent nausea and it also generally improves the performance of the stomach. Other benefits include the reduction of inflammation, treatment of respiratory conditions, stimulation of blood circulation, relief for menstrual symptoms, improvement of the immune system, and general stress relief.
Dandelion Tea
You may be surprised that something considered to be a weed could be used to brew such a beneficial tea. Dandelion tea is very healthy and has many positive health effects for your skin and body.
As with many of the other teas mentioned, this tea provides many benefits for better digestion, which greatly affects the way your skin looks. It is also often used as a liver tonic, which would provide similar benefits in detoxification for the skin.
Dandelion tea is very rich in antioxidants and has properties that enhance the immune system, all of which works together to make your skin look more young, fresh, and vibrant. It may also reduce bloating and water weight, which could reduce puffiness in the face, slightly affecting the way your skin looks. Other health benefits of dandelion tea include cancer prevention and the treatment of urinary tract infections.
Red Clover Tea
And last but by no means least, we have red clover tea. The ability if this tea to detoxify the body and the skin comes from its very high antioxidant content. These antioxidants play a very important role in the body by neutralizing the effects caused by free radical damage from environmental pollutants and poor diets.
Not only do the antioxidants found in red clover tea protect your body from disease, they also play a huge role in your skin’s health and appearance. By drinking plenty of red clover tea, you may prevent and even reverse some of the signs of aging like wrinkles and fine lines and you can be sure that your skin will be cleansed and refreshed and free of toxins.
Red clover actually grows wild pretty much everywhere so there is a good chance you can harvest your own. It is the flowers that are mainly used for medicinal purposes and for cleansing the body. If you dry them, you can use them for at least a year and still glean their benefits.
Traditional Chinese practitioners used and still use red clover as a cleansing herb to remove harmful toxins from the liver and the blood and these properties can have an equally powerful effect on your skin.
Red clover is also a great natural expectorant that can help treat coughs and congestion. It is a rich source of vitamin C and contains a number of the B vitamin family.
If you can not find any red clover growing near you, don’t worry. It is readily available in dried form from many health stores and online.
More Tips to Detox your Skin
As well as drinking the herbal teas we have reviewed in this article, there are a number of other measure you can take to detox you skin and ensure it is glowing and healthy.
- Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol. Both of these habits contribute to the build up of toxins in your skin.
- Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of fresh water throughout the day. This will help flush the toxins out of your skin from the inside.
- Make sure that you thoroughly remove any cosmetics from your skin with a deep cleanse. It is better if you clean your skin several times a day to avoid product buildup.
- Exfoliate your skin several times a day. By using a gentle exfoliating formula each day you will purge dead skin cells and toxins from your skin.
- Before you shower, try firm bristled brush to a dry brush your entire body. This helps remove dead skin cells, improves circulation and stimulates the lymphatic system which further helps flush impurities from the skin.
- Use a detox masque. A product containing ingredients like activated charcoal or bentonite clay can help refine your pores and balance your skin’s tone.
- Make sure that your skin stays well hydrated. Use a good natural moisturizer to lock in the moisture and keep your skin properly hydrated through the day.
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