Healthy Gut = Healthy Skin
If I told you, you could have immaculate skin for the rest of your life, would you believe me?
A connection between your gut and skin health has been labelled 'crazy talk' lately but I think its genius! It's called the SKIN-GUT AXIS.
Did you know our gut harbours a dynamic and complex population of microorganisms, approximately 100 trillion! #wow .These gut microbiota exert a large influence on our health and without them we can start experiencing skin problems and gut issues. Researchers have known about this topic for quite some time, "but why am I only hearing about it now?", you most probably saying. With a huge growth in fast food chains, economic stress and leading an imbalanced lifestyle it's becoming more and more relevant.
How important is the gut for our skin?
Some skin conditions have been associated with gut problems. Such as Rosacea (redness, visible blood vessels and little pus-filled bumps) along with dermatitis and eczema. These conditions are commonly linked to SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth.) How is that possible? After sitting in on a consultation with Dr Donna Dippenaar trying to find the cause of many stomach issues myself and my mum have, we discovered that due to adrenal stress, certain foods that we eat daily ( oats, bananas & lots of greens) have caused a decrease in stomach acidity causing our micro-organisms to migrate to other regions of our gastrointestinal tract (GI). Our little guys, the micro-organisms have become unhappy in their environment and have shifted to a more suitable home. However this causes us to not digest food correctly and certain foods such as gluten and dairy are much harder to breakdown and trigger bloating and chronic stomach ache.
Research has shown that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Crohn's disease are associated with a higher risk of certain skin conditions such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, which are often presentations of a 'gut imbalance.' This may lead to nutrient deficiencies as they are not being absorbed effectively.
Why is adequate absorption of these nutrients so essential for skin health?
Part of my daily routine is taking my vitamin C, E, Zinc and Selenium along with an Omega 3.
These are vital when it comes to maintaining skin health along with many others (Vit A&D). So what are these offering me and why should I be taking them?
Vit C, E, A & D are brilliant antioxidants, prevent skin ageing and take part in keeping the skin hydrated. Minerals such as Zinc, Copper and Selenium can help improve skin health tremendously by aiding in detoxification, maturing collagen as well as immune protection. Omega-3 fatty acids, colourful red and orange fruit & veg (carotenoids) help fight against a week immune and ensure gut continuum.
Taking probiotics for flawless skin
Researches have found that replacing the 'nasty' bacteria with 'good' ones can relieve many gut & skin issues. Certain probiotics are known to maintain a healthy microbiome for example lactobacillus paracasei helps assist in improving the guts barrier function. Probiotics are known to improve bowel movements, decrease phenols, protect against UV radiation and potentially protect against certain skin cancers.
So what are the steps I need to follow?
Most physicians who look at your body holistically will start with the standard gut protocol called the 5 R's: #Remove, #Replace , #Reinoculate, #Repair and #Rebalance.
In short we need to remove any contributing stress, toxins, food allergens out of the picture. We then need to replace with supplementation such as your digestive enzymes, gastric acid and bile acids to help with digestion and absorption. Reinoculate with 'good' bacteria (probiotics), fibre, prebiotics to attain a healthy microbiome. Repair with vitamins & minerals to assist with gut inflammation and finally rebalance through personalised lifestyle changes to pro long that health gut & skin!
I hope you can walk away knowing a little more about your gut and maybe become more aware of how important gut health is... and remember health is the real wealth! #livemindfully #guthealth #skinhealth #gutskinaxis