Healthy, glowing skin does begin in the gut
I know it doesn’t sounds very glam, but beautiful, glowing skin does begin in your gut. So before you think about think about buying the latest miracle cream or speed dialling your facialist, why not invest your time and money into improving your digestive health?
More and more studies are coming out demonstrating a strong association between skin disorders and gut health, leading many to determine there is a gut-skin axis. Could keeping your gut healthy be the key to having flawless, radiant skin? Let’s find out.
So, what's the connection?
Without getting to scienc-ey on you, the gut and the skin are bathed in millions of bacteria. Our bodies are crawling with bacteria -- in your gut, mouth, skin, literally everywhere, and we know how important this is.
Everyone's individual collection of bacteria is called their 'microbiome' and researchers are rapidly discovering how this bacteria is actually influencing everything from sleep to digestion to skin health and moods!
Pretty good for an organism that doesn't have a brain, huh?
The microbiome has been called the next big frontier in medicine, and looking after your gut health is crucial to healthy glowing skin!
How can you improve your gut microbiome?
There are many ways to improve your gut microbiome to being benefits to you skin, including:
- Eat a diverse range of foods: This can lead to a diverse microbiome, which is an indicator of good gut health. In particular, legumes, beans and fruit contain lots of fiber and can promote the growth of healthy Bifidobacteria
- Eat fermented foods: Fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut and kefir all contain healthy bacteria, mainly Lactobacilli, and can reduce the amount of disease-causing species in the gut
- Limit your intake of artificial sweeteners: Some evidence has shown that artificial sweeteners like aspartame increase blood sugar by stimulating the growth of unhealthy bacteria like Enterobacteriaceae in the gut microbiome .
- Eat prebiotic foods: Prebiotics are a type of fiber that stimulates the growth of healthy bacteria. Prebiotic rich foods include artichokes, bananas, asparagus, oats and apples.
- Eat whole grains: Whole grains contain lots of fiber and beneficial carbs like beta-glucan, which are digested by gut bacteria to benefit weight, diabetes and other disorders .
- Try a plant-based diet: Diets high in plant based foods may help reduce levels of disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli, as well as inflammation and cholesterol.
- Eat foods rich in polyphenols: Polyphenols are plant compounds found in red wine, green tea, dark chocolate, olive oil and whole grains. They are broken down by the microbiome to stimulate healthy bacterial growth.
- Take a probiotic supplement: Probiotics are live bacteria that can help restore the gut to a healthy state after dysbiosis. They do this by "reseeding" it with healthy microbes .
- Take antibiotics only when necessary: Antibiotics kill many bad and good bacteria in the gut microbiome, possibly contributing to weight gain and antibiotic resistance. Thus, only take antibiotics when medically necessary.
Thanks so much for reading x