22 Jan Get glowing skin by dialing in on your gut health.

“Health starts from within”

Dialing in on your gut health could be the answer to freeing you from your skin issues.

Most people have heard this saying… but (speaking from experience) it’s hard to believe when you are suffering from a debilitating skin condition. Skin issues can take a huge blow to your self esteem (especially acne on the face). It’s especially hard when you are trying your absolute best to “eat healthy” without seeing results because skin health can take some time to heal.

It is a weird connection to wrap your head around BUT your microbiome and your gut health is the major player when it comes to healthy skin. When you clean up your internal health you WILL glow on the outside.

It is not normal to have skin rashes, acne, hives, eczema, psoriasis. These issues are merely messages or symptoms that something is out of balance internally so don’t shoot the messenger, pay attention and listen to your body. You need to get to the root cause to heal and get that healthy clear skin you so desire.

So throw out all the expensive creams you think are helping!! They are just a band-aid because the work you need to do is within not on the exterior. Save you money for good (real, high quality) food and maybe a few targeted supplements that will be more beneficial than the chemical laden cosmetic skin creams.

I have suffered from acne and also weird skin conditions and it does flare up at times (thank you stress). I have never had a specific diagnosis apart from food intolerances to egg, mildly sensitive to dairy and at times gluten. However it always shows up as rashes and hives. My skin appears to be the weakest link for me. When I came off the pill it was acne and then i developed food intolerances thanks to a horrendous leaky gut issue I began breaking out in these weird rashes, welts and super sensitive skin. While i have them under control now there were times it was completely out of control. Know your limits and triggers and you will have a better chance at overcoming them or controlling them and it makes life so much easier to navigate when you have your high days, your low days, your hormonal days or your stressful days. Just think of it as another tool in your kit.  

This will not be the case for everyone, but for those of you that suffer skin issues, your skin might be your warning sign. Everything from acne, eczema, psoriasis, rashes, welts and rosacea are symptoms to the bigger picture… they are NOT the root cause. The root cause for ALMOST all skin issues is gut health. Sometimes i feel like its a curse to have highly sensitive skin but in honesty at least my body is responsive to its environment so i can make real time changes. Some people don’t have symptoms at all but still might be doing their body harm and pay the price years down the track.

It is well knows that your gut has a huge influence over skin disorders. You have a skin microbiome which is a collection of specific beneficial bacteria that live on your skin but also a gut-skin axis. The gut skin axis refers the the direct correlation between your gut microbiome and your skin health and that’s what we are talking about. You may (or may not) have heard the term “leaky gut”. A leaky gut is when the barrier of your gut wall becomes damaged and remains open, it naturally has the ability to open and close to perform certain necessary tasks (like filtering nutrients, pathogens etc however when it becomes damaged it becomes ‘leaky’. This is bad for your skin because when you have a leaky gut it causes local and systemic inflammation and acne, eczema, psoriasis are very sensitive to inflammation. So controlling a leaky gut is a great place to start especially considering that leaky gut can mean you have decreased gut bacteria diversity or you might have issues absorbing vital nutrients required for healthy skin like zinc, vitamin a and vitamin c.

Items that can damage the gut lining are also inflammatory and associated with foods to avoid for people with acne and skin issues, coincidence? I think not. Foods like dairy, sugar, gluten, vegetable oils, food additives etc should be avoided for both gut and skin issues. Cleaning up your diet is a great place to start but you can also refine it and make it a more useful tool than just “eating clean”.

When most people think of gut health they immediately think probiotics. Reestablishing a proper balance of gut bacteria is a great place to start, however before popping some probiotics there is a little housekeeping to take care of first. SIBO (aka Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) is strongly connected with acne because an overgrowth of bacteria can produce inflammatory byproducts. The right probiotics can be hugely beneficial for controlling inflammation and repairing the gut lining, however if you have SIBO taking probiotics (or fermented foods) is the worst thing you can do. Starting on a low FODMAP diet for 2-3 weeks can be helpful to cull any overgrowth of bacteria before you try ANY probiotics. Probiotics can be very beneficial however acne and skin conditions are a symptom so we need to address the root cause before jumping the gum with easy over the counter probiotics. 

Once you have tried a low FODMAP diet for a few weeks you can then start at looking to repair the gut lining with supplements like collagen and a clean diet rich in vegetables and moderate meat, no sugar, no gluten/grains, no dairy, no junk food, no alcohol! It’s easier than you think… just try adopting a meat and veg style diet for a few weeks.

Next try slowly introducing collagen for skin health which can be healing for both the gut lining and also your skin. Last but not least introducing probiotics and fermented foods are definitely going to be part of the road to amazing skin health. Probiotics have been shown to reduce inflammation in the gut and help to repair the gut lining (which is where the bacteria actually live) but don’t be fooled because a new study has show probiotics don’t increase you gut diversity, instead you receive all the benefits of the bacteria but they don’t colonise. You will get the majority of your gut bacteria from your environment and from your foods.

Fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut and kimchi are rich in vitamin c, k2 and sulfur which are all very important for strong healthy skin health (amongst other health benefits) and can be made at home or bought raw and unpasteurised in a health food store. So a really cheap option but definitely the last step to your skin healing journey.

Hopefully this has given you an understanding why “eating healthy” or “clean eating” isn’t enough for healing a serious skin disorder like eczema or acne, it might help with some people… but there might be other people that need a more targeted approach (like me). Eating clean IS going to be beneficial but being strategic with your approach could be the make or break for YOU to overcome your acne or your itchy eczema or your annoying psoriasis.