Everyone knows you are what you eat, er, drink. When it comes to preventative skincare, what you put in your body is as equally important as what you put on your body! No skincare regimen is complete without adequate dietary support, which is why we’re so happy to be partnering with Japanese tea brand Juroku Cha this season.

Over 2 millennia ago, the ancient Chinese discovered the benefits of drinking tea for physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Tea made its way into Japan as early as the 8th century, and the island nation developed its own distinct tea culture. Fast forward to present day, and Japanese tea lovers still find ways to incorporate tea into modern lifestyle. Juroku Cha is a prime example of this. It is a blend of 16 grains and botanicals, with a crisp, refreshing taste and fragrant aroma reminiscent of the Japanese countryside.

So where’s the connection between skincare and Juroku Cha tea? Let's take a look at the effects of drinking tea on your skin.

Tea and blood sugar levels

A notorious culprit behind breakouts is sugar. When we indulge in high-glycemic foods like potatoes, white breads, and sugary desserts, the body converts them into glucose and spikes your insulin (a hormone secreted by the pancreas to regulate blood sugar) levels. Inflammation circulates throughout the body, which can cause your skin to excrete oil and form clogged pores. Inflammation-inducing enzymes additionally deplete the body’s natural reserves of collagen and elastin, which can cause premature wrinkles and skin sagging.

It sounds scary, but not everyone is able to cut out high GI foods from their diet completely. Thankfully, Juroku Cha is loaded with ingredients that have anti-inflammatory properties, such as pearl barley and barley, to help curb insulin spikes and inflammation levels. Although Japanese cuisine often features white rice, we see that meals are almost always accompanied by tea, which is touted as a reason for the longer lifespans and - you guessed it - healthier complexions of the Japanese.

Tea and your gut health

In the west, the gut is something we don’t usually pay attention to until something goes amiss, but the ancient Japanese understood that health begins in the gut. Whenever indigestion occurs, the skin often signals the first warnings. The skin is the first line of defense against harmful toxins, and also a key way the body first disposes of toxins, so poor gut health can wreak havoc on the skin. On the flip side, if the skin is chronically inflamed or clogged, it is likely that there is something awry in the gut as well. It would make sense to address skin issues inside-out, by reforming our diet. Juroku Cha aids digestion with ingredients like guava leaves, shiitake mushrooms, and kelp, and helps to expel toxins from the body with ingredients like loquat leaves and habu tea leaf.

In fact, many of Juroku Cha’s 16 ingredients are central to Japanese herbal medicine (aka “Kampo”), which dates back to the 7th century. Before tea became a staple in the Japanese diet, it was originally used solely for medicinal purposes. This was especially true for monks, who were highly aware of tea’s healing properties.

Tea and preventative skincare

Tea is one of many preventative skincare measures we can learn from the Japanese. Rather than waiting for skin problems to emerge, curb them before they happen with a small lifestyle change. It’s so easy to approach preventative skincare from the inside-out, when you’ve got something so dandy and delicious as Juroku Cha.

Eager to try Juroku Cha? You can find a bottle in our holiday gift set, the J-Beauty Box.