Am I suffering with ‘leaky skin?’

How to tell if your gut is driving your chronic skin issues.

Have you been experiencing flaking or sensitised skin?


Do you find your skin is easily irritated, dry and sensitive?

Perhaps you have heard your skin health has a large connection with your gut health, but have don’t have any obvious ‘gut symptoms?’

Well if this is you, or if you feel your skin conditions may be from an issue beyond skin deep, here is some support for you!

Often chronic and inflamed skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis have been labelled ‘leaky skin’, as they have been shown to have a strong connection to the health of the gut.
In particular, the health and quality of your gut lining has been shown to have a strong connection to the integrity of your skin microbiome.

Particularly a condition commonly known as ‘leaky gut’, or intestinal permeability. 

This refers to the quality of your gut lining.

If there are any ‘gaps’ or ‘leaks’ within the tight junctions of the gut, this can lead to food being leached out into the bloodstream, which leads to inflammation in the body.


This inflammation has been shown to have a strong connection to these inflammatory skin conditions, hence where the term ‘leaky skin’ comes from.

So, how can ‘leaky gut’ lead to flaking and sensitised skin?

Your gut is composed of your microbiome. The health of your gut microbiome has a large role in your skins health, as your skin too has its own microbiome. This connection between your gut health influences the skin and changes on the skin, including; the health and quality of your microbiome, as well as the quality and integrity of your gut lining.


Now interestingly; there has been an increase in research over the last few years about the connection and relationship between inflammatory skin conditions and gut permeability, hence where the term ‘leaky skin’ comes from.

Intestinal permeability is when there are gaps or ‘leaks’ in the gut lining, which leads to food particles being leached out into the blood stream. As food particles are not able to be broken down properly, this causes undigested foods to leach into the blood stream, further driving inflammation in the body.

As our gut health is so important for our skin health and integrity, if there is this inflammation internally, this is going to show up and exacserbate this inflammation showing up externally.
Particularly in chronic skin issues and conditions like intestinal permeability. This leads to food particles, which have not been able to break down properly, literally ‘leaching’ into the bloodstream, which can trigger many symptoms, and particularly skin issues.

So, how does ‘leaky gut’ impact my skin?

Inflammatory skin conditions are often due to the overproduction of the inflammation occurring internally, which shows up externally. This includes T cells, cytokines and interleukins, and a gene called flaggerin gene, which plays a vital role in skin hydration.

Now, these are normal cells that are produced when the body perceives it it is being invaded by a foreign pathogen, virus or bacteria. 
The issue is when there is an overproduction of these, or in the case of auto-immune conditions, this leads to ongoing inflammation in the body, which can drive these excessive skin issues like eczema, and dermatitis.

So, how can intestinal permeability can impact your skin:

Mutations in the flaggrin Gene (FLR).

Fillagrrin is part of the structural component of the skin, and is an essential part of maintaining the skins barrier function and hydration. 
However, if there is a mutation or deficiency in this gene; this can lead to an overproduction of inflammation and loss of hydration on the skin.
 This has also been shown to have a strong correlation with inflammatory skin conditions like eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis.

This increases trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) 

This causes an overproduction of T cells, interleukins and inflammatory cytokines. These are what our body sends out to signal when a foreign pathogen or invader is entering the body (like a virus, bacteria, or pathogen), which helps to fight off against this bacteria from entering the body.

However, the problem is when there is an overproduction of this gene, the body begins to perceive some of its own cells and tissues of the body as ‘foreign’, and sends out these cells, which creates an overproduction, or excess inflammation in the body, commonly driving these skin conditions .


Excess inflammation increases Cortisol

High cortisol also causes an increase in TEWL which reduces moisture in the skin.
 This excess inflammation in the body essentially increases stress in the body, and shifts the body into ‘flight or fight’ mode. This increases the bodies cortisol production. 
High cortisol can lead to sensitised skin conditions, as the skin begins to loose its moisture content, and looses it water in the skin, further contributing to this dry and inflamed skin.

Dysbiosis or low hydrochloric acid (HCL)
If we do not have a healthy gut microbiome, or if our gut is in a highly dysbiotic state (higher in inflammatory bacteria), this also impacts our skin microbiome.
Low HCL has also been shown to have an impact on our skins health, as this affects how well your food is able to be digested or absorbed.
If this process is not happening properly, this can also lead to nutritional deficiencies and contribute to chronic skin issues.

What are some tips to support these conditions?:



• Include key nutrients like Glutamine, Vitamin C and Zinc

  These are essential for supporting and repairing the cellular lining and lining of the gut.
  Vitamin C and Zinc also provide anti-oxidant properties, and work hand in hand to support cellular renewal and reduce this oxidative stress. 



• Include supportive foods like bone broth, slippery elm or psyllium husk

  These help support and maintain the quality and health of your gut lining, and provide beneficial support for the healing and repair of gut imbalances.
 Bone broth also naturally contains collagen which is vital to help rebuild and repair skin tissue and integrity.



• Avoid inflammatory foods
  
This include foods like packeted, processed foods, refined sugar, and refined flours, and for some diary and gluten products. 
Refined grains and flours like crisps, processed breads, and white breads are also inflammatory foods.
  These foods can further lead to inflammation in the body, which can worsen chronic skin issues. 
These also contain emulsifiers, additives and preservatives, all of which can further impede the gut lining and integrity. As these foods are already foreign to the body, and harder for the body to break down. Therefore, in a time of healing and supporting your gut integrity, it’s best to avoid these.

• Include antioxidants
  Focus on consuming foods that is going to be easier for the body to absorb and digest. Ideally you want to focus on broths, soups and slow cooked stews. 

Include drinks like miso, green tea, herbal teas, matcha lattes and turmeric latte.
  These provide antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory which will help support and repair the gut lining!

  

If you feel your gut may be driving your chronic skin issues, or if you are ready to get to the root cause of your skin issues, but are not sure where to begin, then I am here to help you!

  Simply head to skinnutriotionco.com.au for more information, or to book an appointment. Also, if you know a friend or family member who needs to here this, then please share this with them.
 My only hope is to help empower as many people as I can experiencing chronic skin issues, with the right knowledge and guidance to help them support thier skin, from the inside out, for good.

Thank you again, until next time.


Dominique

Skin Nutrition Co.
contact@skinnutritionco.com.au
www.skinnutritionco.com.au

Rosacea?

Inevitable or Preventable? Let’s take a deeper look!

Have you been told you may have rosacea? Do you have red, pink or often flushed skin?

Do you feel your ‘rosey’ cheeks appearance have now started to develop into ongoing redness? Or have perhaps darkened and increased more heat in the skin?

Or perhaps you have family members that have rosacea, and therefore you feel your skin is prone having rosacea too?

Whilst rosacea is often a result driven from inflammation and the internal environment, there is actually much we can do to prevent the onset, and reduce and even support the severity of the condition.

Like most inflammatory skin conditions, these are largely triggered and responsible from the internal and external environment.

However, the positive news is, wether this is ‘genetic’ or you are more susceptible to this condition or not, there are ways your can help to prevent the occurrence of rosacea, to help not only improve the integrity of your skin, but also restore your health from the inside out!

As the body is so interconnected, when we focus on improving the health of one area of the body, this too impacts the health of our other body and external organs. See below for how you can support the key organs involved in your skins’s health, and heal your rosacea.

Common triggers for rosacea:

Your Immune System
Rosacea is considered to be an inflammatory skin condition,  largely triggered by activation of the immune system. Therefore treatment should focus on reducing this inflammation and supporting the immune system.
By improving and supporting the immune system, and avoiding key triggers have been shown to help reduce the severity and occurrence of rosacea like symptoms.
Including key nutrients such as vitamin C, Zinc and B vitamins, as these all play a role in improving the quality of the skin integrity, however they are also essential for our immune system and function.
Vitamin C works by fighting off against free radical damage and protecting the cells against foreign pathogens, and the bacteria that can reduce the quality and strength of our skin.
Zinc supports our adrenals and protects us from being run down. It also helps to reduce against bacterial build up in the skin and body.
B vitamins play a large role for our immune system, including vitamins B6 and B12. These help with the strengthening and integrity of our immune system.
Vitamin B3 and B5 are also key for strengthening our cell membrane, providing a natural coating and lubricating the skin.


Gut health
Gut health is another key foundation for restoring optimal skin health, as the gut microbiome is the key foundation for a healthy skin microbiome!
Quite often when there is inflammation on the skin, this is a result of inflammation internally which usually stems from the gut. This includes conditions like dysbiosis, nutritional deficiencies, or potential gut issues like SIBO or ‘leaky gut’, (properly known as intestinal permeability), which affects how well our nutrients are absorbed and broken down in the system.
If we are in a state of dysbiosis (too high pathogenic bacteria), or experiencing IBS like symptoms including; intestinal permiabilty (known as leaky gut), or SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), again, this could be some hidden drivers of inflammation internally. 

Infact, Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) was found to be much higher and prevalent in patients experiencing rosacea, compared to the general population. One study found  that SIBO was 13x more prevalent amongst those experiencing Rosacea  compared to the general population.  Low stomach acid HCL has also been shown to also be another key driver behind inflammatory skin conditions, including rosacea, and acne rosacea. This can contribute to other gut symptoms like bloating, irritable bowel, indigestion and IBS symptoms. HCL is important for the breaking down, and digestion of food and nutrients within the digestive system.

Liver support

This is essential for the health of our skin! Our liver helps reduce inflammation and potentially elevated toxins within the body, showing up topically. As the liver is essential for the clearance of toxins and waste from the body, our liver plays an important role in our immune system, as it helps with the filtering and detoxification of products, toxins and hormones in the body. 

However, if our body is being overloaded with excess toxins, or is not receiving enough key nutrients to help support this process, this can lead to accumulation of toxins within the body, and often triggers inflammation internally which shows up as inflammation on the skin. Often alcohol is a large trigger for rosacea as alcohol  increases blood vessel dilation on the skin, and increases heat in the skin. It also reduces wound healing and collagen repair and integrity.
Increasing vitamin C rich foods and cruciferous vegtables is essential for supporting phase 1 of liver detoxification. It also helps support the integrity of the skin and collagen renewal.
Crucifiers vegetables are also essential for supporting the liver function and detoxification, as these are high in fibre which helps to rebuild the microbiome integrity within the gut.

Environmental triggers and Inflammation
As rosacea is largely a heat sensitive conditions, often triggers include heat, alcohol, caffeine, and smoking can trigger rosacea flare ups, as many of these further add head into the body and increase oxidative stress.
Reducing these inflammatory foods, and environmental factors (whilst in recovery), are essential to helping heal and support your skin!


Some key ways to support rosacea:

Increasing fibre rich foods, particularly in the form of vegetables (kale, spinach, broccoli, watercress), will help improve the health, quality and function of our gut microbiome. Fibre also helps prevent the ‘recirculating toxins’ that were not able to be broken down by the gut to the liver, reducing the load on the liver and helping reduce toxins within the body.
Fibre also helps strengthen and support your immune system!

Include pre and probiotics foods - these are key for supporting the health of the gut and growth of the beneficial bacteria. These include foods such as sauerkraut, chia seeds, bananas, leeks, artichokes, miso and fermented vegetables.

Increase bitter foods as these help increase HCL (hydrochloric acid) which helps increase the digestive enzymes that help to break down the foods which enables better absorption. (Dandelion tea, rocket, chicory root, bitter melon, kale, green tea are some natural sources.)

Reduce inflammatory foods including sugar, alcohol and coffee. Refined sugar increases the growth of poor bacteria (dysbiosis) often leading to inflammation on the skin, and increases the breakdown of collagen formation. Alcohol also has a direct impact on the health of the skin that can lead to the wakening and break down collagen formation.

Eat through the rainbow!
Increasing your amount of fresh fruits and vegetables will help provide you with a wide range of nutrients and vitamins, especially antioxidants like Vitamins C, Zinc, A and B vitamins, which are all helpful for regenerating skin cells, collagen production and protecting against free radical damage, both internally and externally.

So, I  hope that provide some help and insight into some natural ways to support and reduce rosacea, and in turn improve your health and reduce the risk of a flare up again!

If you would like to know more about healing your chronic skin issues, from the inside out, or want to know more about supporting your gut further (including functional testing), then please get in contact and I will be happy to discuss with you the next best step to take!

Also, if you know a friend or family member who needs to hear this, please share this with! My only hope is to help as many people as I can with the knowledge, guidance and support to help equip them on their health journey.

Thank you again,

Until next time, please take care!

Dominique

SKIN NUTRITION CO.

www.skinnutritionco.com.au
contact@skinnutrtionco.com.au

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An Introduction into the Gut-Skin Connection


Our skin is a barometer for our inner health, meaning, many symptoms or inflammation externally is often a reflection of our internal health. 
If you are experiencing mild or chronic skin issues, such as acne, hormonal breakouts, redness, rosacea, eczema or dermatitis, this can be an indication of an imbalance internally. 

What is the ‘Gut-Skin Axis?’

There has been a large increase in studies over recent years in regards to the impact our gut health has on our overall internal health, and particularly its role with skin. 
In fact, our gut health has a bio-directional link with our skin, known as the gut-skin axis. Similarly, more research has shown that as our gut has its own microbiome, so does our skin!

Therefore, if we want to get to the root cause, and properly treat inflammatory skin conditions, whether it’s a recent flare up or a chronic skin issue, we need to look at the gut!

Here are five key ways to optimise and improve the integrity of your gut health, and in turn, support the health of your skin.

1. Increase Fibre
Fibre helps to support the growth of beneficial bacteria within the gut, which is essential for reducing any inflammation and supports optimum health.
Fibre helps to increase the removal of waste products and prevents accumulation of toxins in the body. It helps reduce the harmful bacteria within the gut, and helps increase the clearance of toxins from the body, as it binds them up and ‘flushes’ them out of the body/

2. Include Fermented Vegetables
Fermented foods are high in prebiotics, which help to support the growth of the good bacteria. This is particularly beneficial for gut health as it helps to support the increase of healthy bacteria, essential for providing a healthy foundation for our gut health to thrive. This is key for optimal health, and particularly vital for the health of our skin!

3. Reduce Inflammatory Foods
Common inflammatory foods include processed foods, pre-packaged foods, or foods high in refined sugar. These often contain high amounts of additives and preservatives, which can impair our cellular integrity and cause oxidative stress within the body. If these are being consumed in a high amount, it can lead to inflammation both within the body and our skin, and quite often is a large trigger for breakouts, acne and redness in the skin.

4. Include Cruciferous Vegetables 
Cruciferous vegetables in particular provide an array of health benefits, with multiple benefits for the gut and our skin! Their high fibre content helps to support digestion and detoxification, they also contain an active constituent called indole-3-carbinol, which helps with clearing out elevated hormones, which is particularly beneficial for hormonal skin issues. 
They also are high in phytonutrients vitamin C and vitamin A which are beneficial for skin cell turnover and cell renewal, as well as strengthening the cell lining of the gut. 

5. Increase Hydration
Lastly, but definitely not least, hydration! Often it’s the simplest things that are often overlooked, yet they provide a significant difference!
Hydration plays multiple benefits for our internal health and skin.
Ensuring we are drinking enough water helps to keep our cells nourished, it assists with flushing out toxins from the body and helps keep our skin hydrated.
Ensuring we are drinking enough water is particularly important for our digestive system, as it helps to bind with the fibre to flush out and excrete any waste within the system, helping supporting the detoxification and removal of toxins within the body.
Tip: If you find it hard drinking plain water, add a squeeze of lemon or lime, or try herbal teas. This will help with increasing your nutrients and other health benefits by adding in the polyphenols, and helps make water more appetising to ensure you are drinking enough throughout the day.

So there are the key foundations for maintaining optimum gut and 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, then 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 am here to assist you further, and am here to support you! Simply send an email enquiry, or get in contact below and I will be in touch with you to help you in your health journey!



Dominique,

Skin Nutrition Co. X

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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