What’s the buzz?
Is your gut the (real) fountain of youth?
What does the science say?
Your skin is your body’s largest organ, covering more than 20 square feet of surface area and acting as a frontline defender. It has a big job and plays starring roles in immune defense, maintaining body temperature, and keeping you in “touch” with physical sensations including early warning signals about potentially dangerous stimuli such as sharp, hot, or wet objects or surfaces.
To function at its best, the skin relies on balance, also known as homeostasis. As with many of our other organs, our intestinal microbiome plays a role in maintaining that happy state. This communication network links the gut, immune system, and skin through metabolic, immune, and hormonal pathways. When the gut microbiome is diverse and balanced, it helps regulate inflammation, strengthen the skin barrier, and support immune responses.
When gut health isn’t in check, these microorganisms can gain access to your bloodstream and then accumulate in the skin, eventually disrupting your skin’s equilibrium. These disruptions are associated with inflammatory skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis.
The good news is, your gut microbiome also helps to restore homeostasis after disruptions such as a wound, inflammation (ahem, acne), and ultraviolet (UV) exposure. Diet plays an important role in rehabilitating the gut ecosystem, both short and long-term. Eating for the health of your gut means including prebiotics such as onions, asparagus, barley, and oats — that help stimulate growth of beneficial microorganisms and probiotics like yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickles — that are packed with the actual live microorganisms. Getting enough of these biotics also means you’ll automatically benefit from the third biotic — postbiotics that are formed through the digestion of the other two in your diet.
What’s the takeaway?
Supporting your gut health may be an effective and holistic way to support your skin. We can intentionally impact our microbiome by eating “-biotics” for the prevention and treatment of skin diseases and overall skin health. While still an emerging field of research, the gut-skin axis has potential for both therapeutic and cosmetic applications. In other words, glowing skin might start from within.