Gut Health and Your Skin

Over 2,000 years ago, Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) suggested that all diseases begin in the gut. Although it has since been proven that not every disease starts here, the gut plays a huge role in maintaining your body’s natural balance and overall health. This includes your skin!

For better skin, look to your gut. According to Dr. KellyAnn, your gut is home to trillions of bacteria that help regulate digestion and nutrient absorption, bowel regularity and the workings of your immune system. In addition, both the gut and skin play a significant role in keeping toxins from entering your body, as well as eliminating them.

An unhealthy gut is linked to many other health concerns including obesity, frequent illness, emotional distress, and skin inflammation. By incorporating the following items into your diet, and excluding other foods, you’ll promote the most ideal balance between good and bad gut bacteria and get healthier skin in the process.  

High-Fiber Diet: High-fiber foods help feed the healthy bacteria in our system, reduce inflammation, and improve immune function. You can get fiber by eating lots of fruits and vegetables such as brussels sprouts, avocado, oranges, broccoli, green peas, chickpeas, and whole grains.

Fermented Foods: Fermented foods have also proven to be beneficial in reducing bacteria associated with inflammation. According to the healthline, fermented foods contain beneficial bacteria that thrive on the naturally occurring sugar or fiber in the food.  Yogurt, kombucha, kimchi and sauerkraut are all foods rich in lactobacilli, a type of bacteria that converts sugars to lactic acid.

Prebiotic-Rich Foods: Finally, make sure you’re incorporating prebiotic-rich foods such as garlic, onions, spinach, oats and soybeans into your diet. Prebiotics differ from probiotics because they are a type of carbohydrate that humans can’t digest; the beneficial bacteria in your system eat this fiber. Probiotics, on the other hand, are live cultures that are the same or very similar to the bacteria already in our body.

Avoid Artificial Sweeteners: Recent research found that artificial sweeteners may influence your health by changing the balance of bacteria in your gut for the worse. You can read more about how artificial sweeteners harm your good gut bacteria here. We suggest avoiding artificial sweetener for healthy skin as well as a handful of other health reasons.  

By monitoring the foods in your diet, you’ll begin nourishing your microbiome for beautiful skin. You may find that in addition to making your skin healthier, your overall health will increase as well.

Interested in learning more about your skin health? Give us a call at (540) 953-2210 to schedule an appointment today.