The Gut-Skin-Connection Part 2- How your Gut Microbiome can boost your Skin.

How Your Gut Microbiome can boost your skin!

Are you concerned with breakouts? Have you been labelled with ‘hormonal acne’, or ‘hormonal issues’? Perhaps you have been advised that Roaccutane or topical antibiotics is your only option? Or maybe you’re experiencing red, flushed skin? Has the colder weather made your skin more dry, and more prone to flaking and scaling compared to normal?

Whilst we’re often quick to try a new treatment or cosmetics to help treat the skin, much of our skin concerns may be a result of an internal imbalance or inflammation.

Here are a few tips you can implement which will help to support you on the inside, and show on the outside!

                                      
Inflammation is our body’s natural response to protect us from foreign invaders and pathogens in the body. However, if our body has been exposed to too much bacteria or inflammation, this can lead to an over production of inflammation, which is a driver for problematic skin.

Gut health, our microbiome and our skin has become a hugely popular topic in recent times, and here I will explain these and how it impacts our health.

As the skin is the most topical organ of our body, any imbalance internally shows up externally. Our gut microbiome is basically a host of microflora made within our gut, playing a major role in our overall health and wellbeing.
Therefore, the importance of having a healthy gut microbiome goes beyond just digestion; it also helps your immune system, your mental health, weight control and skin health.
Just like our gut has its own microbiome, so does our skin. The increase in research over gut-skin axis over recent years has become largely popular, showing the health of our skin is directly related to the health of our gut. 

Here I have listed the key nutrients to assist gut healing, helping reduce inflammation, leading to these conditions, as well as the key ingredients to help maintain and maximise optimal, glowing skin!

Fibre
Fibre helps to increase the growth of beneficial or “good bacteria”. It helps to reduce inflammation within the gut, which in turn helps to support and improve your skins microbiome and complexion. It also helps to support and protect the integrity of our gut lining, which is essential for reducing any inflammation within, that can lead to inflammation externally.

Essential fatty acids
Essential fatty acids are just that, essential! As our body cannot synthesise these by themselves, we must obtain them from our diet. These play a vital role in protecting our cell membrane and maintaining the integrity of our gut lining. They are also an anti-inflammatory, which helps to reduce inflammation internally and topically. 
Omega 3 fatty acids particularly provide a vital role in supporting our cell membrane and protecting our skin. As fats make up an important part of our skin cell membrane, it helps to protect the cell membrane, improving the texture and structure of our skin. Some sources of Omega 3 fatty acids include salmon, mackerel, chia seeds, flaxseeds and walnuts.

Zinc 
Zinc is a vital mineral which provides multiple benefits and functions within the body, particularly when it comes to wound healing, hormonal support and skin health!
Zinc is found in foods such as oysters, chicken, beef, nuts, seeds, chickpeas, oats and legumes. This is important for normalising the oil flow, and strengthening the skin integrity, which helps to protect against wound healing and reduces your risk of scarring. It helps support the lining of the gut by assisting cellular repair, which helps to reduce any potential internal inflammation. Zinc is particularly beneficial for hormonal skin conditions, as it helps with hormone production, reducing elevated androgens which is a common driver for acne. 

Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant which helps to improve the skins tone and texture. Its functions help to support collagen production, providing an important component for both our cellular repair and structural integrity for the skin and gut lining. It is also vital for collagen production and synthesis, and is a potent antioxidant which helps to improve skin tone and texture. 

Glutamine
Glutamine is an essential amino acid which supports the integrity of our gut lining. This helps to reduce inflammation within the gut, helping to strengthen the integrity and improve the quality of our gut lining.  It supports the gut microbiome and helps to prevent any overgrowth of bad bacteria within the small intestine. Ensuring we have adequate glutamine, along with Vitamin C helps with collagen production and enhancing cellular renewal, which assists skin health repair! 

So, there you have the five foods to support your gut health, and in-turn reap benefits for your skin health. 
I hope you found this helpful, and if you’d love to hear more about how to maintain optimum skin, gut or hormonal health, please subscribe to the email to receive weekly tips on all things skin health and wellness weekly!

If you would like further support for your skin health, gut health or even hormonal support, I can assist you further. Simply send an email enquiry, or get in contact below and I will be in touch to help you on your health journey!

Till next time,

Dominique,

Skin Nutrition Co. X

Contact@skinnutritionco.com.au
http://www.skinnutritionco.com.au
Instagram: @skinnutrition_co

How your gut health impacts our skin, and is the key to optimal health, inside and out!

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Did you know, much of your skin health is largely impacted by the health of your gut? In fact, your gut microbiome has a direct link to your skin, known as the gut-skin axis. Just like our gut microbiome, our skin has its own microbiome too!

As our skin is the most external organ of the body, it is often the first place to show any signs or indications of an imbalance within. Likewise, being the most external organ, it’s important to look not only externally, but internally as well for achieving healthy, glowing skin.

“Our gut health is actually said to be the foundation for optimal health. Our gut hosts trillions of cells (more than our own bodies DNA), which is called the microbiome. ”

— Dominique - skin health co.

Within this is a balance of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria, which are both essential for optimum health. However, when we have an increase in poor bacteria, known as ‘dysbiosis’, this can lead to inflammation within our body, which shows up as inflammation on our skin. These often contribute to conditions like acne, breakouts, eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, and rosacea.

Here are 5 key ways for repairing our gut health to support both optimal health and clear, glowing skin:

1. Reduce Sugar

   Sugar increases the growth of beneficial bacteria and increases inflammation within the gut. This overgrowth of inflammation and bacteria can lead to conditions like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and candida. Sugar also increases insulin levels. High insulin levels can cause IGF-1, which is a common trigger for acne. In fact, acne is so closely related to blood sugar, it has been labelled the ‘diabetes of the skin’. Tip: avoid refined sugar and sweetened, processed foods, and opt for natural sweet foods like fresh fruit.

2. Increase Fibre

   Fibre (particularly in the form of green leafy vegetables), is vital for achieving optimum skin and gut health. It will help support the growth of beneficial bacterial, which will assist the clearance of any excess bacteria or pathogens from the gut. This is key for rebuilding the microbiome of the skin and gut, and is essential for optimum health. SCFA (short chain fatty acids) provide anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties as well, and is key for maintaining overall health.

3. Prebiotics and Probiotic Rich foods

   Again, this goes back to supporting and rebuilding the quality of the microbiome, and assisting rebuilding the health of the skin. This will help reduce inflammation within the body, and can actually assist in repairing a healthy gut lining. The use of probiotics has actually been found to be a beneficial treatment for inflammatory skin disorders including, psoriasis, dermatitis and acne.

4. Reduce Inflammatory Foods

   That’s right, there are some foods that cause a direct inflammation within the body! Refined sugar, processed foods, overly oily or smoked takeaway foods can cause inflammation in the body. Having a high amount of these in the body causes an increase in inflammatory compounds such as ROS (reactive oxygen species), AGES (aged-glycation end products) and lead to increased oxidative stress. These all literally affect and impair our cell membrane quality. ROS (reactive oxygen species) are oxidative compounds which literally disrupt stable skin cell membranes, and cause cross linking between collagen and elastin, leading to increased wrinkle formation. Consuming a high amount of sugar causes AGEs, which forms a ‘sticky coating’ over our collagen cells, and increases the breakdown of collagen and increases aging and free radical damage within the skin.

5. Maintain and Support a Healthy Intestinal Lining.

   The health and condition of your gut microbiome integrity largely impacts the integrity and health of your skin. If you feel you are struggling with digestive issues such as bloating, constipation or other issues like candida, SIBO, leaky gut (a term formally known as intestinal permeability), these will disrupt our bodies ability to breakdown and absorb nutrients properly. If we are not breaking down and absorbing foods properly, this can lead to undigested foods in the blood stream and increase stress within the body, again contributing to inflammation within the skin.

Tip: If you feel you may be experiencing either of these digestive issues, but not quite sure where to begin, I recommend working with a functional practitioner such as myself to help understand and piece together an individualised treatment plan to address and treat the root cause of your digestive issues.

This is why the health of your skin is so closely related to your gut health. To sum up simply, a healthy microbiome, free from any ‘gaps’ or damage to cell lining, adequate nutrient absorption and a healthy diet is key for optimal skin health, and really is the foundation for achieving clear skin from the inside, out.

I hope you found this helpful, and if you know anyone who you feel would benefit from this, please share this post with them.

If you are ready to get to the root cause of your chronic skin issue, and achieve optimal health from the inside out, or are ready to improve your health but not sure where to begin, then I’d love to help you!

Please feel free to contact me via the email form below, and we can have a chat on how I can help you.

I hope this was helpful, and look forward to helping you improve your health journey, from the inside, out. 

Skin Nutrition Co. X

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