The Secret of Sea Buckthorn in Helping Eczema – The Eczema Podcast (Season 1, Episode 2)

Welcome to Episode #2 of The Eczema Podcast! (check out the first episode here, if you missed it)

I wanted to dedicate an episode to sea buckthorn because of the great things that I’ve heard about it. In fact, when I used to work at a health food store, people had come into the store asking for sea buckthorn because it had helped with their eczema.

Sea buckthorn comes in the form of an oil (internally), oil (topically), tea, and even as a salve! It’s full of 190 bioactive compounds  – which is why some people experience great healing from it. You can order the products on Amazon or on SBT Seabuckthorn’s website.

I just want to caution that not all products may work the same for everyone – so find out which products work best for you.

On today’s episode, I interview Crystal Laughlin from SBT Seabuckthorn, which is a company that makes Seabuckthorn products in at least 600 retail stores across Canada. Crystal is the Skin Care Formulator for SBT Seabuckthorn, and the amazing thing is that she hand makes every single one of these products by hand! How amazing is that?!

Click to listen to the 2nd episode of The Eczema Podcast:

Sorry about the poor audio quality for this episode! Video will be up and running on the 3rd episode – so stay tuned for that 😉

Did you know you’ll get all the podcast updates for every episode of The Eczema Podcast by entering your email address in the box on the side header of this page? 

See below for the interview notes:

Today we’re going to talk about how sea buckthorn can heal and help your eczema. It’s definitely really powerful in helping it. Welcome to The Eczema Podcast.

Hi Abby, thanks for having me. My name’s Crystal Laughlin and I’m the Skincare Formulator for SBT Seabuckthorn and we are a Canadian company and we make and we have Health Canada-approved supplements for sea buckthorn as well as a full line of skincare products all around the sea buckthorn plant.

I’m especially excited to have Crystal on the show today because of her knowledge and she makes all of the skincare products by hand. Plus, she has tons of knowledge about sea buckthorn. So Crystal, why don’t you give us a bit of a background on how you got into this and what you do for SBT Seabuckthorn.

I’ve always kinda had a passion for healthy, natural living and skincare especially. My nephew actually has really bad eczema on his forearms and forelegs and that’s how I first heard about SBT Seabuckthorn. After years of trying everything, it gets very frustrating. And the very first thing that ever worked for him and actually healed his skin and didn’t make him cry, was their eczema and dermatitis soothing salve. And it’s the only thing that works.

I started looking into the company and it just so happened that they were hiring in their business developments. I got the job and absolutely loved what I was doing. And then a position opened up as our skincare formulator. I think it’s really, really amazing being able to help people as much as our products do. So I definitely take a lot of pride in everything that I make and it’s a really cool feeling knowing that it helps so many people.

So what is sea buckthorn and where does it come from?

Sea buckthorn is a shrub and it grows primarily in Asia, Eurasia, and some in Canada. It was first introduced in Canada in 1938. It was brought over from Eastern Europe and it was planted in Manitoba. The very first sea buckthorn plant that was ever brought over to Canada actually still stands today. It mainly grows in cold climates and high altitudes. It grows quite a bit across the prairies because it was used in shelter belts, because it has 3 metre deep roots. So it’s really great for the environment too because it’s actually a botanical erosion control which is really, really cool.

So what’s so special about it and why does it help eczema?

Sea buckthorn contains 190 bioactive compounds and the key is really the synergies between the nutrients. They accomplish so much by themselves, but it’s really the anti-inflammatory power when they’re together. And it packs a one-two punch for healing various conditions from the inside out, when taken internally. And when used topically, it just does really really great things for a variety of skin conditions because of all of the nutrients in it.

Do you have any specifics for the types of nutrients that are in sea buckthorn?

The main things that you will probably hear about with sea buckthorn is it contains Omega 3 and 6 in a 1:1 ratio, which is really really crucial when taken internally for reducing inflammation. This is one things that makes sea buckthorn for great for eczema. The other thing that it really contains that you’ll hear quite a bit about is Omega 7.

There’s only two plant sources of Omega 7. Once is macadamia nut oil and the other is sea buckthorn oil. Sea buckthorn oil tests quite a bit higher in Omega 7, which makes it a little more superior than the macadamia nut oil. It also has several carotenoids in the fruit oil as well. And the other great things is the Omega 9 is really really great for heart health, and digestive health to. With eczema, a lot of the time comes leaky gut a digestive problems. The oleic acid in Omega 9 really goes to helps digestive problems and really helps soothe and heal mucus membranes and epithelial membranes, so it’s really great for that.

So the combination of the different Omegas and the nutrients help to make sea buckthorn a powerful healer in helping eczema?

Yes, but it also has ton of carotenoids, phytosterols, phospholipids, full complex vitamin E, which are really great for your skin.

And I know there’s different ways to take sea buckthorn. What forms does it come in and any forms that you recommend for people taking it?

The main forms that you’ll find with sea buckthorn are going to probably be oil. Oil can be taken as a straight oil or as capsules. You can also add it to smoothies, as the leaves are plucked right from the tree in the beginning of the season to keep the nutritional profile. It also comes as a tea which has a lot of anti-inflammatory power there too. It’s almost endless how many different parts of the plant you can use.

Is there a specific that you particularly recommend as the best form?

I recommend taking it internally. However I would say the oil is probably what you would want to go for, just because it’s usually a bit more economical and it’s a lot easier to find. A big thing with seed oil is that you want to find seed oil that’s been CO2 extracted. It really helps keep the nutritional profile intact and there’s no solvents in it, so it’s a really nice, pure oil. The other thing is that Omega 7 is really great for epithelial membranes and I would say taking that in the oil as well.

Can you tell our audience what you mean by epithelial membranes?

Epithelial membranes are basically the membranes that are kind of all throughout your connective tissue. All your veins and your capillaries are covered by epithelial membranes, along with other parts of the digestive and respirtatory tract as well.

That’s probably why I’ve heard so many people say that their eczema cleared up after using sea buckthorn and they noticed considerable differences in their skin as well. A funny thing is that I used to use sea buckthorn oil on my face a lot and because it’s an orange tint, my face started turning a bit orange as well.

Yeah, you can look a little too bronzed if you use too much of it!

So where does the sea buckthorn that your company use come from?

We actually try and source as much from Canada as we can, but in all honesty, Canada doesn’t even grow enough to sustain our needs for a year. So we actually have been sourcing ours from the very same farm in Eurasia for the last 20 years and it comes back consistantly tested the highest quality for the nutritional profile year after year. It’s all organically grown which is a really big deal to us, and that’s not always easy to find.

How do you products compare to other sea buckthorn products on the market?

It’s tough to compare, but what really sets ours apart is the quality. We use the highest quality oil that we can find, which just happens to come from our same farm year after year. Even when we source everything as close to home as possible to cut down on our footprint to help the local economy, it really comes down to the quality in the ingredients, which sets us apart. With 190 micronutrients it’s pretty hard to compete with that.

Are there any specific sea buckthorn products that you do recommend our readers to use or look into?

For eczema, single-source is really really amazing. You heard me talk earlier about how there’s the seed and the fruit oil that you can get. We have capsules, as well as a vegan oil option. It contains the seed and the fruit oil so you get your Omega 3,6,7, and 9, plus almost all the bioactive nutrients that you want from the sea buckthorn. For a nutritional supplement, I would recommend the single-source because it works: it helps your skin, helps you heart and you digestive and your mobility health. It’s really great from head to toe, and you get the best of both world with the seed and the fruit oil.

And the other thing is sea buckthorn tea really helps reduce inflammation. It contains Omega 3,6,7, and 9 and kersatin which is a natural anti-histamine. Anybody that kinda has some allergies (with their eczema) will find help with that. It also contains a lot of protein, which is great. So essentially, I would recommend the single-source and the tea to take internally.

For topical, I would recommend you to use our eczema and dermatitis soothing salve. It has had great feedback, and it’s our number one seller month after month. It’s helped a lot of people and it’s worked so well for my nephew.

The salve also contains great ingredients that help against pretty radical damage. It’s great if you put it on right after your bath because the salve itself helps protect your moisture barrier and sea buckthorn oil is transdermal, which means that it pulls all those healing oils down through the layers of the skin and conditions every layer.

We also have a tea bar for cleansing, which c0ntains sea buckthorn extract in it to give it a big inflammatory power house. It’s really great soothing and conditioning so that it doesn’t irritate your skin.

Do you have any testimonials that you can share with our audience about your products or sea buckthorn in general?

We always have testimonials coming in all the time. For our eczema and dermatitis soothing salve, it is anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and contains analgesic oils to help reduce the pain, reduce the itch and keep the moisture barrier in. Our products have also helped lower LDL cholesterol, thyroid issues, and diabetic neuropathy.

You can check out SBT Seabuckthorn’s products at www.Seabuckthorn.com.

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Thanks so much for listening to the 2nd episode of this podcast! I hope that you learned something new and that it’s helped you in your eczema journey.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe on iTunes (or your podcast feed) to receive regular episodes and be sure to leave a review.

Thank YOU for listening! 🙂 For future topics that you want to hear on The Eczema Podcast, please share in the comments below.

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P.S. Check out my resource page for a full list of Products I Love! Or check out “The Eczema Cure” book for more information on healing eczema from the inside out.

Biography

Abby is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist who helps clients achieve optimal health. She is passionate about seeing people use health and nutrition to transform lives. She hopes that her experiences and knowledge can help educate others on natural remedies that will help eczema. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or YouTube for more updates!

 

 

Disclaimer: All the information found on this website should be used for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace proper medical advice. Always consult a qualified health care provider before embarking on a health or supplement plan.