What exactly is the gut-skin axis? The correlation is simple: once you take care of your gut health, your skin will thank you.

What exactly is the gut-skin axis? The correlation is simple: once you take care of your gut health, your skin will thank you.

Have you ever heard that beauty comes from the inside out? Well, that’s true more than ever when it comes to our gut-skin axis.

The correlation is simple: once you take care of your gut health, your skin will thank you.

While everyone is different, in as little as four weeks your skin will radiate, glow, and you’ll notice a difference once you stop spending countless dollars at the beauty store trying different serum after serum, and instead focusing on what your skin needs, gut maintenance.                                        

Below we take a deeper dive into the gut-skin axis and share how you can take control of your gut health.  

What exactly is the gut-skin axis? 

Simply put, the gut-skin axis means that our gut health affects our skin. When we think of “gut health,” many of us only think of the gut as being a necessary component of our digestive systems. But it’s so much more than that. In each of our guts, you’ll find that it is where nutrients are made, hormones are metabolized, enzymes are detoxified, where 70% of our immune system lives, pathogens are neutralized, and neurotransmitters are made.

Why our gut can serve so many functions is because it is incredibly complex. Home to trillions (yes trillions!) of strains of bacteria and microbes, if our gut ever becomes unbalanced the microbiome will be thrown off and our skin can be affected. And usually, our skin is the first symptom we can see regarding an imbalanced gut.

What should you look out for if your gut is imbalanced? 

Our skin is a great clue-giver for what is going on internally. Why is that? Well, our skin not only rids toxins and waste from our body, but it also is the first line of defense against external harmful bacteria and pathogens that could enter our skin. 

When our skin doesn’t look or feel right, our mind will often go to anything but our gut health being the cause (for instance, when we have a patchy complexion, we may go straight to thinking that milk is the culprit). But scientists have found links between our gut health and skin conditions such as eczema, acne (or breakouts), rosacea, inflammation, rashes, redness, dryness, and even aging. So next time you notice a change in your skin, don’t overlook it. That change in your skin may be the result of an imbalanced gut and to return to your healthy-looking skin, you’ll need to treat it.

How should you nourish your gut-skin axis? 

If you haven’t heard of probiotics, it’s a term you should know. Probiotics are live bacteria that support your gut and immune health and overall wellbeing. You can consume probiotics through foods like kefir (or other yogurts), sauerkraut, and kimchi, take it in a supplement form, or even use it topically (while topical probiotics are growing in popularity, scientists still recommend for best results, take it in food or supplement form). This isn’t just a health trend or myth though; studies have shown that usage of this prevents and treats not only gastrointestinal diseases but does also treat the skin problems you can experience from poor gut health.

When you search for a probiotic, the number of options on the market can be overwhelming to sift through. There are some things you want to look out for though. Stick to a probiotic with multiple strains, because only taking one strain is the opposite of taking care of your gut!

One other tip is to not get distracted by prebiotics and postbiotics. While both also have tremendous health benefits, they are slightly different than probiotics. These supplements are focused on being more fiber-rich (like what you would intake from foods like onions, garlic, leeks, etc.) or are focused more on our immune system. And finally, when you choose a probiotic, pay attention to the directions to ensure the probiotic is working to its full potential. Some require being taken first thing in the morning, others must be taken on an empty stomach, and others may need to be refrigerated.

Beyond probiotics, you’ll want to make sure you are also maintaining a well-rounded, balanced diet of other probiotic-rich foods to ensure you are intaking a variety of strains and feeding your biome. This holistic approach to your health allows for your gut and skin to work in partnership together, while also supporting your mental and emotional wellness. 

The most powerful way to treat our skin is to give our internal system what it needs. And that starts with probiotics. At Hygieia we’ve done this research, so you don’t have to. You can purchase our probiotic supplement here, or browse our wide collection of creams, serums, and more. Whatever your skin needs, we have you covered 

 

 

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