6 Natural Remedies To Reduce Skin Discoloration

As you age you may start to experience skin discoloration, aka hyperpigmentation. This can be in the form of developing spots on your face, hands and occasionally other parts of your body. Sometimes called liver spots (although it has nothing to do with the liver) skin discoloration can also be caused by sun damage, diet, medications, skin procedures, and trauma such as old scars.

Spots and splotches that develop are often the result of extra melanin being produced in that area. Melanin is the natural pigmentation of your skin, hair, and even eye color. For whatever reason, sometimes your melanin seems to respond to environmental and sometimes internal sources.

These 6 natural remedies to reduce skin discoloration may help lighten and in some cases eliminate hyperpigmentation. Use them directly on your skin (starting with small amounts to determine reaction) or look for them added to creams, oils and other beauty products.

Kiwi

The extract from kiwi fruit has shown to inhibit tyrosinase, the enzyme associated with melanin production. Topical application has been linked to reducing the effects of sun damage and dark circles under the eyes according to two studies cited by Kiwi Natural Cosmetics.

Licorice

It’s not the candy but the root from the licorice plant that has been linked to reducing age spots and other dark, hyperpigmented areas. Due to its active ingredient called glabridin, licorice root has shown significant whitening that decreases melanin production and rebalances skin cell malfunction.

While lying down place a wet teabag of licorice root on the area or open the teabag and spread wet contents over the spot. You can also grind raw licorice root into a powder, mix into a paste with distilled water and spread over the area. Leave on for about 30 minutes twice per day for six months.

Lemon

Fresh lemon juice topically applied to your skin could work as a natural acidic exfoliant. It is capable of sloughing off old, discolored skin cells and brightening the area back to its normal color.

Be careful with lemon juice as it can be irritating so use it sparingly by applying with a cotton tip or mix it into a paste with oatmeal (leave on for 30 minutes, may take several months of applications).

Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide)

Root vegetables and yeast contain vitamin B3 aka niacinamide which has been linked to reducing skin discoloration.

In a double blind, randomized clinical trial, Mexican researchers concluded that topical application of niacinamide is, “an effective, integral, and safe therapeutic alternative in the melasma [hyperpigmentation] treatment, since it not only reduces pigmentation and inflammation, but also may reduce solar degenerative changes with minimal adverse events.”

Green Tea

Green tea continues to be an ancient remedy applicable to a variety of modern day ailments including skin discoloration. Application on the skin of green tea (dab a wet teabag or use a cotton ball) before exposure to the sun, shows a reduction of sunburn and DNA damage.

Also, drinking approximately 250 mg of green tea polyphenols per day (one cup can have 50-100 mg depending on brand potency) showed significant improvement in broken capillary veins, redness and sun damage after six months.

Detox – Avoid and Replace

Your skin is your largest organ and when it presents an imbalance such as skin discoloration it could be telling you something. If you are not taking medication (many can cause hyperpigmentation so check side effects if you are) and you have clearance from your health practitioner, going on a detox may do the trick.

A detox protocol is tricky because some feel your body constantly detoxes and attempting to do it through other means is fruitless. Therefore, a detox for reducing skin discoloration is more like an ‘avoid and replace’ protocol.

Avoid processed foods that can tax your system with manipulated fats and carbohydrates and replace with nutrient rich organic, whole foods like raw produce, legumes and whole grains. Make sure you only drink clean, filtered water, with fresh lemon juice squeezed in. If you can, add in a weekly sauna and/or a massage to enhance circulation bringing much needed, oxygenated, nutrition rich blood to the skin.

In a 2007 study of dietary nutrient intakes and skin-aging published in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, it was concluded that, “Higher intakes of vitamin C and linoleic acid and lower intakes of fats and carbohydrates are associated with better skin-aging appearance.”

If you have a skin discoloration or two, before turning to conventional means such as chemical peels, medication or even surgery, try these 6 natural remedies to reduce skin discoloration.