The correlation between the Skin and Gut
If we want perfect skin its not simply about our skincare routine, we also need to look after the inside. In addition to enhancing your general well being, taking supplements is the way forward for healthy skin.
Many clients will make a connection between their food and skin. For example with regards to Rosacea, we know that dermatologists frequently recommend diet modifications to avoid trigger foods and beverages. Many clients notice rosacea flares up with spicy foods or with hot drinks. Food allergies and sensitivities and their relationship to skin are perhaps best researched with respect to eczema. An interesting article I read recently regarding eczema and psoriasis points to a correlation with certain foods:
‘According to a presentation attended by Dr Helen Cox, clinical lead consultant paediatric allergy at Imperial College NHS Trust, children with eczema are 30% more likely to suffer from food allergies, and removing the common triggers of dairy, wheat, egg, soy and nuts has become standard practise for paediatric food allergists. She advised that this approach is just as valid for adults with eczema. With psoriasis, there is an increased correlation with coeliac disease, or non coeliac gluten sensitivity. This is thought to be due to an abnormality in the cytokine pathway, which also increases the likelihood of autoimmune conditions occurring alongside the psoriasis.’
So how does gut health affect the skin?
When we chew our food, the stomach and intestines are stimulated to release acid, bile and enzymes, if we eat too quickly there isn’t enough time for those messages to come through resulting in insufficient stomach acid, bile and enzymes, the food therefore isn’t sufficiently broken down before it passes to the small intestine. Nutrients are absorbed here but larger undigested food particles are not easy to absorb and carry on to the large intestine. This is where all the gut bacteria is found, the composition of gut bacteria largely depends on what we eat and how we digest our food. The gut bacteria can break down fibre and extract nutrients from it, including the B complex and vitamin K. The nutrients and vitamins absorbed by our body will have an impact on our skin health. The wrong bacteria can cause damage to the gut lining and toxins can pass though which need to be eliminated, this elimination can happen through the skin ……
What supplements should we consider?
I recently trained in the Advance Nutrition Programme range of supplements.They are a science led range of supplements designed to promote a healthy, youthful skin. Free from artificial preservatives, colours, flavouring, PCB’s and fillers with no added sugar, salt, soya, wheat, gluten, yeast, lactose and dairy products.
The skincare supplements are designed to target specific skin concerns and recommended to be taken alongside a multivitamin. The bestsellers within the range include:
- Skin Accumax which contains Vitamins A, C and E to support healthy skin, commonly recommended for problematic skin types.
- Skin Omegas formulated with Vitamin A and Omegas 3 & 6 for dry and dehydrated skin.
- Skin Youth Biome formulated with 4 strains of bacteria and Vitamin C, youth biome will support gut flora and improve the skins complexion
- Skin complete will compliment all the good work your skincare is doing, contains Vitamins A &D, promotes normal skin health and promotes cell renewal.
Taking a combined approach to skin health given the link between the skin and the gut is the way to go, when you body has the correct nutrients to help produce healthy cells on the inside, you have the foundations to help it look radiant on the outside.