Lindsey: So can you tell me about your history with skin issues that led you to focus on skin as a nutritionist?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah. So probably when I was 18, 19, my ear was super itchy, and I went to the doctor. She said I had eczema in my ear, and of course prescribed the steroid creams and all that stuff, but I didn’t want to put goop in my ear, and I’ve always taken a more natural approach to my health.
So I went down the Google rabbit hole of trying to find a solution, but everything was still topical. It was aloe vera and colloidal oatmeal and bleach baths. It was hard to find the solution that really helped. Back then there wasn’t really anything about gut health or how it’s more of an internal issue, so I did struggle with it for over 10 years.
It spread from my ear, went to my face and scalp, and it wasn’t something that I could hide. It wasn’t put clothes on and it’s gone. It was something that people always saw in me, and that was hard. I always thought, are people staring at me? Or they’d be like, “Ew, what’s going on?”
So it wasn’t until November 2018 that my dad came across a documentary on the microbiome, and we’d always had some kind of knowledge of nutrition. My dad and I were making kombucha since I was eight years old, decades before anybody had heard of it. I don’t even know how he found a SCOBY or anything like that. So it was when pieces started coming together, pieces of the puzzle were like, oh, now this is starting to make sense. The microbiome just explained so much for us.
So I wanted to learn more. I became a functional nutritionist. I started healing my eczema, and that also led to learning how our thoughts and emotions and nervous system all contribute as well.
Lindsey: Okay. Thanks. So when you proposed coming on the show, your proposed topic was why the skin is always the last to heal, and that resonated with me because I have found in working with people with tricky skin conditions that skin is often one of the last things to heal.
Not in every case. Some people just say, “Yeah, my main issue is my gut, but, seasonally I have some eczema.” So yeah, not those people. But for most people it is, does seem to be the last thing to heal. So why do you think that is?
Krysta Harcus: I struggled with acid reflux and all those sort of things. Doctors said I had GERD, and it was really just when I started eating better, not living off of pierogis and Mr. Noodles and all the gluten-filled things like that certainly changed before my skin. I started feeling better. My gut wasn’t so upset. I wasn’t getting acid reflux all the time.
And obviously our food has a lot to do with how we’re feeling, and I think that the skin is last because there’s so much more to it. Everybody’s heard of the placebo effect, but there’s also a nocebo effect. So our beliefs are controlling so much of our biology. We can literally get better by believing a pill is helping us.
So when we’re constantly thinking “My skin is never going to get better. I’m going to be stuck with this forever,” we can just perpetuate it just from that. So I think that the skin is also the last thing, just because the process of how everything’s fixed, you’re going to look at your diet, your hormones, and all those sort of things, and then the skin just follows in place after all that because there’s deeper layers to be fixed and healed.
Lindsey: Yeah. So how are skin issues different from gut issues in how people feel about them?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, having eczema and psoriasis, it’s a chronic visible skin condition. It’s a whole lot more … I work with a lot of people, and myself included, that shame was a big thing, a big part of it.
So it’s different in the sense that you’re presenting with this visible skin condition and there’s so much shame, embarrassment, people making random comments all the time “Oh, are you contagious?” … there’s just so much that people are judging us by, and that’s why skin conditions are so different than a lot of other autoimmune conditions.
A lot of autoimmune conditions are invisible in some ways. So yeah, I think that’s the big reason. I had eczema, so I’ve healed it for six years, no flare-ups or anything, and that’s a big reason why I want to help people with this is because it’s unique in that sense.
Lindsey: Yeah. So can you go into the different common skin conditions and what they look and feel like?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah. So eczema, it’s super itchy. They’re both itchy in that sense. But eczema’s going to be on the inside, so like the inside of your elbow, the back of your knee, that sort of thing, whereas psoriasis is the opposite, so it’s going to be on the outside of your elbow, the front of your knees. So they do present differently in that sense. I’m still trying to figure out; Louise Hayes describes these things, like how one side of your body is maternal and one side’s paternal.
There’s hands, if you have eczema on your hands, there’s different kind of past trauma issues that are linked to that. So I’m still trying to figure out if you have eczema on your elbows, it means this. If you have eczema on your hands, it means this. Because so many people think maybe there’s a link there, so I’m still trying to connect those dots.
But yeah, there’s definitely … it can be all over. Like for me, it was just my face. For some people, they can have dyshidrotic eczema, which is just on your hands. And again, with psoriasis as well, it can show up wherever. It could just be on your scalp. It could be on your body.
It could be guttate, which is more on your torso in little spots instead of big patches.
Lindsey: And they’re red and itchy, both of them?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah. I think for a lot of people there’s more of an immunity issue, which is interesting because of course, psoriasis is considered more autoimmune. But with eczema, a lot of people with eczema will have allergies. They’ll have asthma. All those can be linked as well.
Lindsey: Yeah. My son, when he was born, had some eczema, and then he also had an incident of asthma. It was just one time, thank goodness. . .
Krysta Harcus: Yeah …
Lindsey: Yeah, no I recently saw a friend whose baby had eczema and I thought “you need to get on those baby probiotics,” and I told her.
Yeah. So do you treat people differently depending on what the skin issue is? Or do you find that they all have common origins?
Krysta Harcus: There are different approaches in a lot of the foods, focusing more on autoimmune and inflammation for psoriasis. And eczema can be a little more general, like healthier diets, healthier products and stuff like that.
Probably the supplements are more focused for each individual for eczema and psoriasis. Yeah, I go through all that in my programs, just the specific supplements for each condition. But in a lot of senses, I work with both because there are lots of similarities and just the whole visible skin condition, so going into the whole thoughts and nervous system and those sort of things can really help a lot of people because not a lot of people talk about that side of things.
Lindsey: Yeah. Yeah, we’ll get into that but you mentioned the supplements, so are you testing people for nutrient deficiencies or things like that when you’re recommending supplements?
Krysta Harcus: I don’t do any specific testing. What, sorry, what’s that?
Lindsey: Or food questionnaires or tracking or…?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, I do partner with a couple outside companies that do some testing if people want to go down that route. But yeah, for the most part, I just focus on the same supplement stack for each eczema or psoriasis.
Lindsey: And whose testing do you use?
Krysta Harcus: Viome and Self-Decode.
Lindsey: Okay, so one DNA and a microbiome level test.
Krysta Harcus: Yes.
Lindsey: Okay. So then those, I think the Viome tends to – do they recommend supplements or just foods that people should eat?
Krysta Harcus: All of their products, packages, whatever you want to call it, do food, but depending on which level you get, if you get the higher ones, they’ll also do a specific supplement stack for your results.
Lindsey: Okay.
Krysta Harcus: Yeah.
Lindsey: Okay. So yeah, let’s talk about the nervous system issues and, when did you discover that there’s nervous system issues behind skin issues, and what’s the order of healing and like what kind of modalities are you using to then heal the nervous system?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, ironically, I discovered it in myself after healing my eczema.
I started realizing, hey, I was doing the diet, I was eating the right things, and it wasn’t until I addressed more of the self-beliefs, the limiting beliefs, all those sort of things, until I addressed those things, that was really the game changer for me. And nervous system, yeah. To me it makes sense.
People are talking about it more nowadays anyways, and it’s more known. But I think that, yeah, there’s always been that connection, again, like I said with the placebo effect, the nocebo effect, like it’s just this nervous system thing where if you’re going to be stuck in fight or flight, how are you going to heal in that sense? They always say if you’re in this fight or flight mode that digestion goes down, everything, all your resources are in your muscles and in extremities, in your heart, whatever else. You’re not going to digest foods properly in that state. So that is going to lead to nutrient deficiencies and whatnot.
And so many people are stuck in this fight or flight even though you’re going about your day to day. Yeah, there’s stress. Everybody has stress, but there’s, I think, more people stuck in that chronic stress state than a lot of people realize.
Lindsey: Yeah, so how do you get them out?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, there’s different modalities and stuff like that.
I like breathwork. I like just simple things, you know, breathing, getting outside. I really connect with nature myself, so I think that so many people have been disconnected from nature, and that’s a big thing of why we’re so stressed out. You go camping or you go for a walk and it’s just “Oh, I feel so relaxed.”
There’s a reason for that, because grounding is a big thing. Just getting your hands, feet, whatever you can on the earth really does promote those kind of stress relief things. There’s scientific evidence that inflammation goes down. So yeah, connection with nature is a big one for me.
I’m the weird person that goes on a hike and hugs trees.
Lindsey: So yeah, what is your Reclaim Radiance method?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, so the Reclaim Radiance method is Regulate, Remove, Repair, Repattern.
Lindsey: Can you dig into the details a little bit?
Krysta Harcus: So many people, you’re starting with diet, but when you dive into diet first, then you don’t know what’s causing inflammation when everything is reactive, and so many people try to do an elimination diet or something.
When you dive into that first and you’re cutting out all these foods, you’re just adding more stress to your body, thinking “I have to be perfect. I have to follow this diet. I have to cut out everything that I normally eat and stick to this strict diet,” and that sort of thing. So we always start with nervous system first, because then you can let your body relax.
You can get out of that chronic stress a little bit more, even if you’re not totally stress-free, just allowing your body to regulate first. And then we dive into diet, so you know, making sure that we’re cutting out foods that cause a lot of problems for people, gluten, dairy, sugar, and processed foods.
And I like to do a lot of swaps, so you’re not necessarily, “I’m never eating gluten,” it’s addressing different meals at different times because that makes it a whole lot more accessible for people. So starting with, maybe breakfast, where it’s easy if you’re having a muffin and coffee and running out the door maybe have some eggs and coffee or something like that.
So just making simpler swaps like that because a lot of people, dinner is a family meal. You want to make the whole meal together, and you don’t want to make just a meal for you and a meal for everybody else. So making accessible changes. And then next we dive into lifestyle and products. So
This is where you might add in grounding and yeah, just going over all the products that you’re using.
And then focusing on more of the mindset stuff, so the gut-brain connection, how what you’re thinking literally affects your cells, and yeah. That’s why that’s the last one, because it can be more of a process, you’re not going to be like, “Okay I’m getting better,” and the affirmations and those sort of things, they take a long time. It’s not like one day and you’re fixed. So the last process could be a shorter process, or it could be years, and that’s just dependent on what you’ve been through.
Lindsey: Yeah. So I have recently been looking at my HRV from my Apple Watch, my heart rate variability.
And so I noticed that over the course of a given day, I could have a random HRV anywhere from the 20s to the 50s, say, maybe 60s on occasion. When I meditate, if it actually catches me while I’m meditating, I’ve seen numbers in the 120s, even 130s, as high as that. This is a 20-minute meditation that I do in the morning.
Krysta Harcus: Yeah.
Lindsey: And so then that, if it catches that, then of course that pulls up my average. But, I was getting numbers, when I had a ring that was also measuring, I was getting numbers in the 50s on average. Now my numbers are in the high 30s. So I’m just curious, like, how many times a day does somebody have to do something like that to impact what’s in between?
Because the in between seems to be… Like, if I’m stressed while I’m working, I’m stressed while I’m working. Like the fact that I meditated in the morning or meditated in the evening doesn’t probably change that number. I’m just wondering, like, when you see people who succeed in making real changes to their stress levels, is it a couple bouts of something, or is it more addressing their whole life situation that’s causing the stress?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, again, I like baby steps. It makes it so much more accessible to people. So yeah, maybe you’ve never done any meditation or anything before, so just starting that once a day or something. A lot of the times, we’re stuck in this shallow breath, so just as often as you can remember, take a deep actual healing breath, shorter inhale, longer exhale, and just reconnecting with that nervous system in that sense.
I don’t like to promote this whole, “I got to change everything in my life, my diet, my lifestyle, my products all in one go” type of thing. But yeah, just making those changes, like something daily when you haven’t done it before can certainly help, and then compounding. So if you’ve done the short meditation in the morning, maybe another one in the evening once you’re got that as a habit.
Lindsey: Yeah. Okay. So what are some of the supplements that you’ve found particularly useful for skin issues?
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, I’ve started with the normal ones, omega-3s, because so many people are using vegetable oil and all those sort of things that increase omega-6s, which can be inflammatory. So omega-3s*, vitamin D because a lot of the times we’re stuck indoors so much more than we used to be, and just balancing those essential vitamins and stuff like that.
And then as I go on, you start learning more interesting things, like I started taking black seed oil* every day, so that’s a big one that I like promoting.
Lindsey: Black, right? Or flax. You said black, right?
Krysta Harcus: Black seed. Yeah. That used to be considered the God supplement or something like that, whatever they call it, but it just, it fixes, it helps, it heals so many different things.
So yeah, I started incorporating stuff like that. Evening primrose oil*. And then yeah, depending on if stress is a big issue, maybe ashwagandha*, probiotics of course. Those sort of things.
Lindsey: Okay. So are there other modalities or lifestyle changes that you’ve found helpful for skin issues?
Krysta Harcus: I think the big one is just getting outside.
So many yeah … we live our lives and get stuck in a routine, and it’s work, eat, sleep. So I’ve seen tons of people change so much just from getting a daily walk. I’ve helped people with topical steroid withdrawal, and yeah, it’s super uncomfortable. There’s so many things just beyond the skin.
Temperature regulation is a big one for people that struggle with topical steroid withdrawal, and depression, all those sort of things. So just getting outside daily, even for 10 minutes to start with, 5, 10 minutes, has really contributed to healing
Lindsey: Yeah, I know. Whenever I take a walk, if it’s nice out anyway, I just feel so lucky and happy. It’s just such a simple thing that brings me such joy.
Krysta Harcus: Yeah.
Lindsey: That and a good bath, which I am also addicted to.
Krysta Harcus: It’s one of those free things, just… Yeah, so many people are, you don’t want to spend all the money, get outside. Super easy. Yeah.
Lindsey: So you’re not doing any food sensitivity testing, are you?
Krysta Harcus: Just the Viome, if people want to do that it’s an extra thing. But yeah, I don’t have anything within my own program.
Lindsey: Okay. And how long do you typically see it taking for people to permanently resolve skin issues when they work with you?
Krysta Harcus: A lot of people start seeing massive results in two to three months.
Yeah, probably three to six months is common. Even topical steroid withdrawal, that can typically take a couple years to see results, and I’ve had people get results in a couple months. So depending on, obviously, it’s going to depend on how dedicated you are, if you’re making the changes because a personal trainer can’t do your pushups for you, I can’t do all these changes for people I’m helping. So yeah, if you’re making changes, then two, three months is normal to start seeing big results.
And then clear skin, yeah, I’ve had six months to a year, depending on what you’re doing, again, that it’s totally gone.
Lindsey: Okay. So are you working with people only in groups, or do you also work with them one on one?
Krysta Harcus: More so one on one right now. I love groups because you can feed off each other, and you may have a question that you’re too scared to ask or you never even thought to ask, so group does help.
But I like one on one right now, just because in this AI age, we’re missing that human connection, and I really love connecting with people more one on one.
Lindsey: Yeah, okay. So that’s an interesting question, since I’ve begun to approach this with almost everybody I’m interviewing. How have you been handling AI, and are people coming to you with, “Oh, here’s my AI solution. What do you think of this?”
Krysta Harcus: Yeah, it can help in some ways. It’s got all the answers, but again, it’s got all the internet answers. And, you can change your diet depending on what it says, but it’s just looking back at what everybody’s saying on the internet. Cut out all these different foods, gluten, dairy, sugar, eggs, nightshades, red meat.
They list so many things depending on the week, the year. The list just seems to get longer. And yeah, I definitely think there’s the four main things, like I mentioned before, gluten, dairy, sugar, and processed foods. But a lot of these other ones, red meat and stuff like that yeah, it may be contributing because you’re so inflamed, there’s everything else going on, but in a lot of ways, you cut down the inflammation and these foods don’t bug you anymore.
So AI can recommend these things, can spot patterns really well, but there’s just no comparison to people like someone like me who’s been through it, who’s helped other people through it, and knows more of the emotional side. There’s so much in the emotional side that AI just will never understand.
Lindsey: Yeah. Okay. Tell people where they can find you.
Krysta Harcus: Yeah. I’m on Instagram and YouTube @krystaharcus. My website’s krystaharcus.com*.
Lindsey: Okay. Great. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us.
Krysta Harcus: Thanks for having me.
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