What are topical steroids? Often prescribed for chronic skin conditions, I’ll bet you’ve probably used them at some point during your treatment.

Sure, they work quickly, but are they without side effects? To answer that question, we need to talk about glucocorticoids, which are hormones naturally produced by the adrenal glands as part of the stress response.

Topical steroids fall under the glucocorticoids category, and due to those who’ve experienced something called topical steroid withdrawal, some people are described by physicians as “steroid phobic.”

While there are serious downsides, glucocorticoids can have some incredible anti-inflammatory effects on various health conditions. That’s why it’s crucial for us to have a nuanced conversation about this!

Dr. Luis Franco joins me to discuss everything you’ve wanted to know about topical steroids, types of glucocorticoids, and concerns about side effects from using topical steroids.

Dr. Luis Franco is a Tenure-Track Investigator at the National Institute of Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). He was born in Colombia and grew up between Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. He attended medical school in Colombia before returning to the United States, initially as a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University. Dr. Franco attended Baylor College of Medicine for specialty training in internal medicine and medical genetics. In 2014, he moved to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

In This Episode:

• What are topical steroids versus glucocorticoids?
• Are topical steroids + glucocorticoids bad?
• Cortisone vs cortisol (and glucocorticoids examples by name)
• Side effects of glucocorticoids
• What is topical steroid withdrawal?
• How glucocorticoids modulate your immune system

Quotes

“Glucocorticoids exist naturally. They are hormones that are produced by our bodies. And they're produced by this very particular gland that's above our kidneys, that's called the adrenal gland or the suprarenal gland. And so our adrenal glands produce these chemicals called glucocorticoids. And those chemicals have many, many roles in biology and the one that is sort of best understood is that they are part of the stress response.”

“I think the side effects that are important to know for topical glucocorticoids are one, something called skin atrophy, which is kind of a thinning of the skin that people notice when they've been applying glucocorticoids for a long time. Some people also notice little, kind of red, blood vessels that come up. These are called telangiectasias. These are like reddish blood vessels that become very visible on the skin of people who have used topical glucocorticoids.”

Links

Find Dr. Franco online

Healthy Skin Show ep. 344: NEW RESEARCH On Topical Steroid Withdrawal Symptoms + TSW Red Skin Trigger

Topical Steroids Potency Chart

Immune regulation by glucocorticoids can be linked to cell type–dependent transcriptional responses

Glucocorticoid-induced eosinopenia results from CXCR4-dependent bone marrow migration

If you’ve wanted to start growing your own sprouts, this is for you! I learned how to grow sprouts after becoming fed up with the expensive packages from the store getting slimy a day or so after buying them.

I’ve continued to sprout different types of seeds and encourage clients to also do this, since sprouts (especially broccoli sprouts) are so good for your liver detoxification.

So if you think that sprouting is hard to learn – it’s not!

In fact, it’s so easy that my husband who doesn’t even eat sprouts helps me. It takes less than a minute to care for them, and they add so much nutritional value to your meals.

To help you learn more about how to grow sprouts in a jar, the difference between sprouts and microgreens, AND how to keep the mold and slime away, I’m joined by Doug Evans, who is considered to be an early pioneer in the natural food industry.

In 2002, he co-founded Organic Avenue, one of the first exclusively raw, organic, and plant-based retail chains in the country. He then founded Juicero, the first fresh, farm-to-glass automatic cold-press juicer. Doug is now the founder of The Sprouting Company and lives in the Mojave Desert at Wonder Valley Hot Springs. He wrote The Sprout Book to teach people about the power of sprouts and how to start sprouting.

So let’s dive in!

In This Episode:

• Why sprouts are so nutritious
• How to grow sprouts at home (to avoid the slimy store-bought ones)
• Difference between sprouts, shoots + microgreens
• Best method to grow sprouts (jar vs tray vs paper towel)
• Picking the right seeds to sprout to avoid glyphosate + low nutrients
• Food-borne illnesses + sprouts
• How to store sprouts so they last to avoid MOLD!
• Tips to add sprouts to your diet
• Beginner-friendly options to start your sprouting journey

Quotes

“For me, there's nothing better, fresher, healthier than consuming sprouts that you get to grow on your own.”

“So the sprouting seeds, you can have top shelf and bottom shelf. So just getting a seed from a bulk bin…in a grocery store. We don't know where it came from, we don't know how old it is, we don't know what it's been exposed to. So since we're using these seeds to grow food for you know ourselves and our family, we want to have the best.”

Links

Find Doug online | Instagram | Instagram | Tiktok

Get Doug’s book, The Sprout Book

Healthy Skin Show ep. 177: Liver Detox – Skin Rash Connection, PT 1

Ever heard of immunoglobulins? While colostrum is experiencing a renaissance, you should seriously weigh the immunoglobulin supplement versus colostrum benefits.

Partly because colostrum is a LOWER potency option, that sometimes isn’t even standardized (depending on the brand) to guarantee how helpful it will be.

That said, immunoglobulins (aka. IgGs) can be incredibly helpful for things like leaky gut (gut permeability), histamine intolerance, recovering from a stomach bug or food poisoning, and supporting your immune system during cold + flu season.

Plus, I’m going to share why I prefer immunoglobulin supplements over colostrum, what the difference is between the two, and how to use them.

Also, I want to how you how to avoid the fake, over-hyped colostrum + immunoglobulin supplements found online (even on Amazon)!

Let’s dive in!

In This Episode:

• How I learned about the amazing benefits of immunoglobulin supplement
• Why you should use immunoglobulins
• Difference between immunoglobulins and colostrum benefits
• How do immunoglobulins work?
• Benefits of immunoglobulins
• How to take an immunoglobulin supplement
• Best immunoglobulin supplement + where to get it

Quotes

“[Immunoglobulins] were traditionally used and still are actually for more diarrhea-dominant problems. So if you've got a lot of loose soft stools, diarrhea, or even something like inflammatory bowel disease.”

“IgGs can be found in the serum of your blood, and they also can be found in the serum of the blood of cows. And so historically, when people supplement with colostrum, that's derived from dairy, and it contains IgGs. So they are similar in that colostrum has IgGs and it's one of the major components that makes it so helpful, but it's not as potent.”

Links

GET REAL, VERIFIED IMMUNOGLOBULINS HERE

Healthy Skin Show ep. 188: Histamine Intolerance + Skin Rashes (PART 1)

Healthy Skin Show ep. 192: Histamine Intolerance + Skin Rashes, PART 2