What the heck is ingestible beauty?
Posted
Updated October 06, 2025
Posted
Updated October 06, 2025
Ever heard of ingestible beauty? We’ve all heard the adage “beauty comes from the inside”, and science agrees. Despite how much beauty companies want us to believe otherwise, having smooth, glowing skin and strong hair and nails is much more a product of optimal internal health than it is a result of the hair products, cleansers or moisturizers we use. Our hair, nails and skin can be viewed as an external expression of our internal health; if our insides aren’t happy – if our hormones are unbalanced, our immune system is struggling, our digestive system is not working well, or our nervous system overwhelmed - it often shows up on the surface, as brittle nails, dry fragile hair, or skin that is dry, congested or uneven. The cells that make up our hair, nails and skin divide very rapidly, which is why we need to trim our nails and get hair cuts, and why we can heal small cuts and abrasions quickly or shave every day without causing damage. However, to facilitate this rapid division, the cells require a high level of fuel and nutrients to make healthy new cells. So if you are deficient in a particular nutrient it will often show up in your hair, nails and skin first. The most important nutrients for these tissues are water, healthy fats and the protein collagen, which all work to keep your skin hydrated, vital, strong and smooth.
Another key component of keeping your skin, hair and nails healthy, strong and clear is your lymphatic system. It’s a system of vessels that circulates lymph fluid, a clear, water-like substance that picks up waste products and toxins and filters them so they can be removed from the tissues and eliminated from the body in the urine via the kidneys. The only catch to the lymphatic system’s function is that you need to be moving; the lymphatic vessels rely on the contraction of nearby muscles to pump the lymph fluid to where it needs to go. So if you’re not moving, neither is your lymph fluid, and therefore waste products and toxins are accumulating in your tissues and causing cellular dysfunction, that can also start showing up as skin issues. As you start to move around, your muscles contract, the lymph fluid starts moving and the tissues get flushed out, clearing the congestion. Sweating also flushes out toxins and waste products from the skin, clears out pores and the sweat itself has a gentle antimicrobial action on the skin, so it can decrease risk of infection. So the more exercise and the more sweating, the better!
Dr. Jessica Eastman is a licensed and registered naturopathic doctor in clinical practice in Vancouver BC. She is an experienced faculty member at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition, and the founder of Thrive clinical mentorship. Jessica strongly believes in integrative medicine and the value of a supportive community.
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