I'm 54 and Have Had Cystic Acne for a Year. What Test Should I Take?

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Columbia engineered for whatever I'm 54 and have acne.

I eat no dairy, gluten free, and I fast. I've made improvements to my fasting insulin, but I've had cystic acne for the past year. What test should I take? I suspect hormones. This is JJ Virgin, four time New.

York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert.

And fitness hall of Famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions, and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert Vets. Esther from Instagram asks. I'm 54 and have acne. I eat non dairy, gluten free, and I fast. I've made improvements to my fasting insulin, but I've had cystic acne for the past year. Which test should I take? I suspect hormones. I do too. Especially at your age. Or in that that like the stormy age. So I will be right back with some things that you can look at. Stay with me.

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Alright, so Vevster A on pulling that dairy out, the first thing that you want to do when you've got anything going on with acne, I'm always going to look at it and go, has this always been or is this new? And if this is new and over the past year and you're in that time where you're really probably getting to rock and roll into menopause, you are right on to start really looking at what's going on. Now we always want to go through and say let's clear out the obvious, right? And get Captain Obvious out of there. So what would that be? Dairy, gluten, soy, eggs, but especially for skin, dairy gluten, eggs. And we got to clear for eggs. And that's what the virgin diet does, is see if they're an issue or not. Eggs, pastured eggs I think are one of the greatest foods out there, but not if you have an autoimmune disease and sometimes for some different skin issues. Now another thing that can impact your skin, acne and especially rosacea, is low stomach acid. And that happens as we age. And so again I'm kind of being putting my detective hat on. And remember you're your best nutritionist here. Put your detective hat on. You said something changed. I always like to look at diet and then what else has gone on. I'm always going to think enzymes here because you're having challenges as you age digesting your protein and your fat. So give enzymes a shot. You want one that's going to digest both proteins and fat. Trial on that. The only person who wouldn't be trialing on that is someone who has got any kind of ulcers. That's the next thing. All right, now you talked about hormones. So if you are 54 and female, you know anytime from really 42 up, but let's say as soon as you start to, you'll start to notice like maybe cortisol going up, you're not sleeping as well, you feel like you'd like to unzip your skin and get out of it. You're getting more irritable than you used to. You walk into the bedroom to get something but you have no idea what it was you were going to get. You're happy, you're sad, your skin starts doing wonky things, your periods are all over the place. They come, they go, they go, they go. And of course, as this is going on, yes, your skin could be wreaking havoc with the shifts in estrogen, progesterone. I mean, we already know that when you've got regular cycles, you can pretty well see what's going on with your skin during that. So one of the things that I would recommend is going to a functional medicine doctor, making sure your thyroid and adrenals are going well and having a Dutch test to look at your hormones to see where things are, to see, you know, if you've got the issues there that are creating the hormone imbalance that's creating the acne. Because again, that's what you suggested. The things you'd want to do on your own is everything you can to help achieve that hormone balance so that you have the least amount of work to do with them. Making sure, of course, get your thyroid tested, that your thyroid is an optimal, not normal range. Normal is not optimal. Normal for me is I'm hypothyroid. Making sure that you're really being kind to yourself and taking time out for self care because your estrogen, your body's gonna really lean on your adrenals during this time. So if your adrenals aren't in tip top shape because you've been overtaxing them, you're going to be in trouble. So now's the time, if it hasn't been before, to put yourself first and take time out. Look at some products that can help your skin, like retinols are a great one topically, probiotics internally and gla, the omega, the, the fatty acid GLA can be super helpful here. And zinc, so some good supplements to help as well. And then going and having a Dutch test to really look at what's going on with your sex hormones. Those are all the things that I would try and I love the fact that you're so aware and make sure you're using a diary to really kind of target this so you can get a better idea of what's going on as well. All right, hope that helps. And if you're watching live on Instagram right now, if you've got questions. You can drop them here and also you can go over to subscribetoj.com and that is how you subscribe to Ask the Health Expert. It is my daily show. I answer your questions. I also do deep dive, great interviews with my pals. And we're actually getting ready. I'm not telling you yet, but in September we're doing something super cool. We're doing something new. All right.

This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert.

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