The Link Between Gut Health and Skin Conditions

The gut-skin connection, which is also commonly referred to as the gut-skin axis, is the technical name for the relationship between the bacteria within your digestive system and the health of your skin.

While there’s still much research to be done, multiple peer-reviewed studies prove that there is a direct correlation between the two. 

Gut Bacteria & its Dynamic Effect on the Skin (& the rest of the body too…)

 To understand the relationship between the internal and the external, we first need to delve a little deeper into the “what and why” gut bacteria matter so much. As dermatologists, we’ve been eagerly following and contributing to the emerging research between these two separate but intrinsically connected parts of the body.

The colonies of bacteria that live in your large intestine (bowel) have a name—the gut microbiome. There is also a lesser number of bacteria in the small intestine, but for simplicity, let’s concentrate on the anaerobic setting of the bowel, where trillions of bacteria break down indigestible food and extract essential nutrients.

 This is a massive job and, as you can imagine, one that goes on pretty much 24/7. Every cookie you eat, every smoothie swallowed—indeed, every morsel that passes your lips—ends up here to be processed. Now, some things are easier to break down and digest than others. Undoubtedly, you’ve heard about the big-hitter bad boy, known as ultra-processed foods (UPFs). These are pretty much any kind of food that contains a high variety of—often artificial or dramatically altered—ingredients, and are usually high in sugar and salt, low in fiber, and full of additives. 

Examples of typical UPFs include:

• Processed meats.
• Candy, cookies, and cake.
• Sugary pop and soda drinks (including diet options).
• Mass-produced bread.
• Ready-made meals.
• Flavored yogurts.
• Potato chips and other salty snacks.
• Many breakfast cereals.
• Energy bars.
• Instant soups.
• Fast foods.

Yes, we hear you groan, that list contains many tempting goodies that we’re all guilty of reaching for to a greater or lesser extent. But the key thing to understand is that these are foods that are a million miles removed from ingredients in their natural state. So, a raw pecan nut, for example, is completely unprocessed. But a pecan pie or pecan slice has undergone many procedures to turn it into the yummy, gooey mouthful that gives you that instant sugar hit…

Now, the bacteria that make up the microbiome are incredibly finely balanced. If we place too much stress on them, which happens through eating too many foods, like UPFs, we upset the delicate stasis. When this happens, the gut goes into an emergency stress response, triggering inflammation. But it doesn’t only do this inside the colon. The message is communicated via the gut-skin axis, and inflammation can then break out on the skin.

By breakouts, we’re talking problems like:

• Acne.
• Rosacea.
• Eczema.
• Psoriasis.
• Which, for anyone who suffers, you may well be aware that there is a link between what you eat, your digestion and eczema (or acne, rosacea, or any other skin breakouts).

But the connection between gut health and skin health goes further than this. An out-of-sync microbiome also causes other issues, like: 

• Systemic (whole body) inflammation: The wrong levels of bacteria in the bowel can cause it to leak, causing inflammation anywhere and everywhere in the body. 
• Problems absorbing essential vitamins and nutrients: All of which are vital for healthy skin. 
• Hormone disruption: An imbalance of these affects the quality of your skin and increases the risk of skin breakouts.
• Toxin build-up: When not adequately eliminated from the body, toxins can cause skin dryness, often because it produces fewer natural oils, and slows the natural skin cell turnover.
• A weakened skin barrier: The skin barrier, which is the outermost layer, plays a huge role in retaining moisture and preventing unwanted exterior elements from permeating through. An unbalanced microbiome fails to produce many of the required elements needed to keep the skin barrier moisturized and in good health, leading to dryness, flaking, and sensitivity.

The link between the gut microbiome, acne, psoriasis, rosacea, eczema, and general skin health in general is complex. But the vital takeaway is that the body works as a wonderful dynamic system, with the delicate balance of bacteria within the large intestine playing a pivotal role that underlines virtually every part of the body.

After all, we all know that dirty fuel in a car’s engine will affect all the other systems. Well, your body is also very similar. We need to keep the internal mechanisms running well to ensure that everything else performs as expected.

That’s why all our clinicians at Bayou City place huge importance not only on treating your skin, but also giving advice to help you keep your gut microbiome as healthy as possible too.

Find out more at Services | Bayou City Dermatology and call today to book a consultation.