My favourite test for acne
I am always striving to give my clients the best experience possible on their True Skin Transformation. Although I never make any promises about timelines for expected results, I know that ultimately it’s the sooner the better as far as my clients are concerned.
Getting good results is dependent on a thorough assessment of each client.
As a nutritional therapist I have many tools at my disposal when it comes to assessing a clients acne and testing has always formed part of this assessment. Investing in testing was one of the biggest changing points in my acne journey and it’s such an honour to be able to offer this to clients at True Skin Nutrition.
Over the years I have used various different testing options including stool, urine, saliva and blood. Each has their own benefits and drawbacks, unfortunately there is no one single perfect test for acne!, but a Comprehensive Metabolic Blood Profile has become a staple at True Skin Nutrition and I wanted to share with you why.
A comprehensive metabolic blood panel (let’s call it CMBP for short) is the single most efficient and effective tool for evaluating your health, and remember acne isn’t something that just happens on your skin! It screens for a wide range of conditions including several types of anaemia, indications of gut, viral and bacterial infections, insulin resistance and hypoglycemia, liver and kidney issues, and thyroid and adrenal function.
Having all these markers run collectively rather than disparately allows me to move forward with a clients case in the most strategic and efficient manner possible by identifying underlying foundational mechanisms at play with their acne and overall health.
Testing saves us time, energy and money as we stop the guess work and start working strategically and smartly. The more CMBP’s I run in clinic, the more strongly I feel that every woman should be regularly running a CMBP to assess their overall health and wellbeing and it is something I invest in every year. True preventative medicine.
But what is a CMBP and how can it help your acne? A Comprehensive Metabolic Blood Profile includes 80 markers, all of which are markers accepted by the medical profession as blood is generally gold standard when it comes to testing within the NHS. This is particularly important to me as means I can refer any results back to a clients GP for further investigation and we can work collaboratively in a clients best interests.
How a CMBP can help me in identifying the root causes and triggers for a clients acne are vast, but here are the 10 headlines I can tell about the root causes of your acne from a CMBP:
If a gut, viral or bacterial infection is driving your acne
A full white blood count included in the test lets me know how busy your immune system is and what could be driving inflammation.
If anaemias are driving your acne and symptoms
This includes iron, B12 and folate. Particularly important if a client is on a vegan or predominantly plant based diet.
If blood sugar imbalances are driving your acne and symptoms
Blood sugar imbalances are at the core of most modern diseases and the CMBP includes fasting blood glucose and insulin levels as well as HbA1c to give a thorough assessment of how well you are managing your blood sugar levels.
If your liver and kidneys are doing their jobs properly
Particularly relevant if you are currently taking any form of medication, or have historically for your acne.
If your thyroid is driving your acne and other symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, constipation, hair loss
It is estimated that one in 20 people in the UK have a thyroid problem, but that statistic could be much higher with many individuals unaware they have an issue. Typically a GP will just run one marker for assessing the thyroid, TSH, but that does not give a full and complete picture as your TSH could well be within range but you could be making thyroid antibodies and be in the initial stages of developing thyroid disease. This is something I commonly see in my clients so I always includes a full thyroid assessment in our initial blood work up.
If you are eating enough protein
Many of my clients aren’t, or if they are they aren’t absorbing it very well due to digestive deficiencies and a CMBP can give us clues as to why.
How well you are managing stress
Often it can be helpful to see things in black and white to help prompt a change in lifestyle and several of the markers included in the CMBP can be useful motivation for clients when it comes to prioritising self care and stress management.
If your acne or other symptoms are being driven by nutrient deficiencies or depletions
Including B12, Iron, Folate, Vitamin D, Magnesium, Selenium, Copper. Particularly relevant for those still on the pill and want to work preventatively against post pill acne.
How inflamed you are
We all know acne is an inflammatory process yet your GP might have tested your CRP (a commonly used marker for inflammation) and its come back ‘fine’. The CMBP we use in clinic includes 5 different markers that can guide us on your overall levels of inflammation and where it might be coming from.
If your diet is driving your acne
Using the CMBP results alongside a full diet review allows me to create a truly bespoke food plan to optimise any nutrient depletions that might be driving your acne as well as calm inflammation and support microbiome health.
So hopefully you can see that you get MEGA bang for your buck from investing in appropriate blood testing. More information about the blood test can be found here, or you can book in a free consult with me here to talk about the test in more detail and how it might be helpful to you on your skin journey.
