Confidence gives us many opportunities. However, if you’re dealing with skin breakouts, it can be hard to put on your most confident game face to take on the day. If you’ve gone to the doctor for skin ailments, they may ask you about your diet and stress levels, which might seem strange. Does my gut cause my skin to break out? That’s what we will be answering in this article.
Why do medications and creams only work for a little while for skin conditions?
If you’ve gone to the doctor to help with any skin conditions, you’ve likely been prescribed creams, washes, or medications to improve the appearance of your complexion.
While they might work for a while, a flare-up typically ends up happening again. Some doctors might ask you about your diet and stress levels to figure out an underlying cause for your skin conditions. This is truly the best place to start because the appearance of your skin is a direct reflection of the balance within your gut.
If your underlying condition is dysbiosis (an unhealthy balance of the gut microbiome), then medications, creams, and washes are only going to help as you’re applying them. Once you stop and they no longer are in your system, then you’ll start to flare back up. This is often a quick and easy way to determine that your gut is causing your skin problems.
But how exactly does that work?
How the Gut Affects Your Skin
Your gut microbiome is an ecosystem of bacterial strains that live within your colon to help your body process food that isn’t easily digested. The microbes that live here can either support your health or harm it based on:
- What you are feeding them (healthy whole foods vs processed junk)
- If you’ve come into contact with pathogenic foods/bacteria
- Lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, stress levels, habits, etc.)
As the bacteria ferment the foods to break them down they give off metabolic byproducts. Some of these are really good for your body like short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), while others can contribute to inflammation throughout your body.
These metabolites then go to different areas of your body to help with cellular processes. Healthy ones help reduce damage and inflammation while improving health while the dangerous ones cause more damage and inflammation.
This process is how the gut affects your health as a whole. It directly impacts your immune and inflammatory responses which can push the scale in either direction of health or disease.
Throughout your body, you have multiple microbiomes. You have microbiomes in your eyes, mouth, genitals, gut, and (you guessed it) on your skin.
The bacteria within the gut can cross-talk with the bacteria in these other microbiomes and influence them. While researchers still haven’t quite cracked the code on why certain areas get “attacked” in some people while other areas are the problem in other people, there is a lot of proof that the gut affects every other microbiome we have.
What skin conditions have been linked to gut health?
When the skin becomes affected you’ll see a lot of different skin conditions arise. Every one of these skin conditions that we will talk about is dubbed an “inflammatory condition” and as we know the gut definitely has a hand in the inflammation.
Psoriasis
An interesting study came out named “Is psoriasis a bowel disease?”. It pointed out that people who suffer from psoriasis have similar microbiomes to alcoholics. They have a low microbial diversity and often have an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. While creams are a typical treatment for psoriasis, asking your doctor about using bioflavonoids like quercetin and those from citrus in addition to bile acids can be a more helpful route.
Acne Vulgaris
In recent years, acne has become somewhat antibiotic-resistant. Antibiotics were the normal method of treatment for this type of acne, however, that has become less of an option with antibiotic resistance and the negative impact it has on the microbiome. As a way to support the microbiomes and help manage acne vulgaris, doctors are starting to experiment with probiotics as a treatment option for their patients. This is not quite an exact science, but it is helping people have fewer issues with acne.
Atopic dermatitis (Eczema)
Atopic dermatitis or eczema is an inflammatory condition of the skin. Typically creams are used to treat eczema, but recent studies have shown that modulation of the gut microbiome with probiotics can be an effective avenue of treatment.
Rosacea
Rosacea can be associated with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and H. pylori infections. As such, eradicating the bacteria in the small intestines and controlling H. pylori can help with symptom management. Getting these GI conditions under control and balancing any dysbiosis can help with long-term rosacea treatment. Research is now suggesting that probiotics are a hopeful way to improve rosacea symptoms.
Read more about how Atrantil is a great option for SIBO.
Dandruff
While many of the other skin conditions deal with bacterial disturbances, dandruff is a fungal infection. Part of the microorganisms that make up the microbiome are fungi as well. Once again, probiotics are a promising option to help manage moderate to severe dandruff.
How to Improve Your Skin Naturally
So if you want to improve your skin health, you’ve gotta get your gut in check — and by this, we don’t mean go get a six-pack. We mean do the things that support a healthy gut microbiome.
- Manage your stress. This is going to be a big one. Stress will negatively impact your gut and skin health and creates an endless loop of inflammatory responses. Get your stress under control by meditating, practicing gratitude, intentionally setting aside time to relax, and limiting stressors in your life.
- Get to bed on a normal schedule. Holidays are here and that means you’re probably going to be off your normal schedule, but try to get enough sleep as this is something that negatively affects the balance of your microbes.
- Eat healthfully. Include as many whole foods as possible while limiting processed foods. Eat what comes from the Earth, and you’ll nourish your body while positively impacting your microbiomes.
- Talk to your doctor about natural alternatives to treatments you are currently using. Certain medications and other treatments can throw off the microbiome and cause the disturbances you’re dealing with. If you can find a more natural solution, definitely try to stick with it as long as it is safely, and effectively improving your situation.
- Take Atrantil or AtrantilPRO. Atrantil was created to help with gut issues. The powerhouse polyphenols and prebiotics in it help to eradicate unhealthy bacteria while feeding the healthy strains. AtrantilPRO is all the amazing goodness of Atrantil with the added benefit of soil-based probiotics. To ensure it’s safe for you to take, AtrantilPRO requires a prescription from your doctor.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle. This includes exercising and avoiding any unhealthy habits you may have. Exercise doesn’t need to be intense to count. Daily walks are enough to improve your gut health.
These are some quick, easy ways you can improve your gut health and, therefore, your skin health!
