In the human digestive tract lives and thrives an ecosystem of an estimated 100 trillion friendly and unfriendly flora. (Flora is the scientific term for a group of bacteria or plant life.) We call these flora gastrointestinal microbiota or probiotics. For both good gut health and skin health, you need to support a diverse healthy microbiota.
Our intestinal tract is so packed with bacteria that half of the stool isn’t leftover food. It’s microbial biomass. And just as quickly as they're excreted, the microbiota multiply to replenish their numbers.
The more species of bacteria in your gut the more able you are to combat sickness, disease, decline and outward signs of aging in skin. Especially for visitors to a site such as ours, your gut health and skin health and consequently, your natural beauty are directly related.
Internationally recognized educator and thought leader on the microbiome(1) Zach Bush, M. D. tells us:
At the center of human health is the microbiome: 40,000 species of bacteria, 300,000 species of parasite, hundreds of thousands of species of protozoa, three and a half million species of fungi.
All species of bacteria perform a wide variety of tasks and functions. Most of them have not yet been cultivated in a lab and many are yet to be identified.
The intestinal is the largest bacterial ecosystem in the human body.
The National Institutes of Health tell us that gut microbes occupy one to three percent of our body mass which is often heavier than an average three-pound brain.
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A well maintained inner garden creates better brain health.
The microorganisms in the intestines, the bacterial flora, make up your intestinal garden. It’s a garden that needs to be maintained just like any garden.
A well-cared-for inner terrain will make everything the brain needs and will signal that information to the brain.
By adjusting the types of bacteria in the belly, brain health improves along with many other chronic conditions.
Over a lifespan, if you don’t maintain your inner garden your inner bacterial population will slowly shift. Now it will begin to encourage rather than prevent disease.
Flora imbalance can impede the body’s ability to detoxify, metabolize calories, and handle insulin production.
Equally so, a flora imbalance can negatively impact brain function and behavior.
Kelly Burris, Ph. D, in Depression Anxiety and the Brain in Your Gut: How Thought, Emotion and Behavior Work and How to Get Back to Normal tells us this:
With over 500 million neurons (brain cells) in the gut and bidirectional communication with the brain via the vagus nerve, gut health must not only be considered in emotional wellness (mental health) but must also be measured.
Researchers find that stress and an inability to adapt to it not only makes us more likely to develop emotional imbalance, it makes the gut more permeable to bad bacteria.
Beneficial flora are good for immunity.
At least 70% of our immune system strength resides in the gut and the makeup of our intestinal bacteria.
Scientists have discovered that our intestinal good and bad bacteria are thrown out of balance when we use antibiotics, consume the Western diet, accept certain medical treatments, and live with obesity.
Intestinal flora imbalance contributes to chronic conditions like autoimmune disorders, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, and more.
But if we can balance the gut microbiome we get to enjoy a whole range of health benefits.
Studies show it helps lower the occurrence of cancer, strokes and obesity, for example.
The intestinal tract contains more chemical detection and signaling molecules than any other organ. And these microbiota offer protection against all kinds of diseases that don’t even occur in the intestines.
When in healthy numbers, they diligently work to shield us from diseases associated with aging.
Gut health and skin health are directly related.
Probiotics can help reduce inflammation that can trigger certain skin conditions. Studies very obviously demonstrate that gut health and skin health are linked. They find, for example, friendly flora very promising in the treatment of skin conditions like acne, rosacea and eczema.
To further advance the notion of gut health and skin health being inextricably linked, some evidence suggests that beneficial bacteria may help to build collagen. Collagen is the all important main protein in skin that affects both its texture and tone.
Gut health and skin health shows up as:
better hydration ability of aging skin
reduced damage from sun exposure
lessened appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
restored pH of acidic skin
oxidative stress alleviation
attenuation of photoaging (skin damage caused by UVA and UVB exposure)
improved skin barrier function; and
enhanced quality of the hair.
Epidemiological researchers have recently proven there's a direct link between gut health and skin health.
New York City dermatologist Whitney Bowe advocates for a gut-changing diet in her book, The Beauty of Dirty Skin.
The diet is primarily based on low-glycemic index foods combined with bacteria-rich fermented ones. It alters and shifts the trillions-strong population of intestinal flora and reduces inflammation including skin-related outbreaks.
Says Justin Sonnenburg, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine:
It is certainly true that what happens in the gut isn’t confined to the gut, he said—that it’s part of the integrated system that is you. Your gastrointestinal micro-organisms affect metabolism, immune response, stress. Change something in the gut microbiome—diet is one of the most powerful levers for that—and the effects ripple outward, potentially to the skin.
Skin can be improved from within when the intestines have a good balance of friendly flora.
The best way to support both gut health and skin health is through the foods we consume.
Eat a diverse diet rich in whole foods.
Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes and beans which are the best sources of nutrients for a gut health and skin health. These are all high in fiber which can't be digested by your body but can be digested by certain bacteria in the gut. This stimulates growth of friendly flora. In addition, soil is the first place we indirectly encounter friendly flora through the plant foods we eat. So plants are an obvious excellent source of friendly flora.
• Consume fermented foods and beverages for both good gut health and skin health. The fermentation process uses microbes such as bacteria and yeast to preserve foods. These beneficial microorganisms eat sugars and can support intestinal health. Fermented foods are shown to provide actions in the body that:
work against cancer cells
mitigate obesity
prevent constipation and promote colorectal health
reduce cholesterol and blocked arteries
provide antioxidation and anti-aging action
improve brain health
fortify the immune system fortification and
improve overall skin health.
Fermented foods for gut health and skin health include:
• yogurt (People who eat a lot of yogurt appear to have more lactobacilli in their intestines and have fewer Enterobacteriaceae, a bacteria associated with inflammation and a number of chronic diseases.)
• kefir (a fermented dairy product similar to yogurt)
• kimchi
• sauerkraut
• pickles
• miso
• tempeh
• fermented tofu
• tamari
• kombucha
• apple cider vinegar.
Consume prebiotic foods. These are foods that promote the growth of beneficial microbes in the small intestine. They are mainly fiber or complex carbs that can't be digested by human cells but can be digested by certain species of bacteria which use them for fuel.
Eat whole grains with lots of fiber and non-digestible carbs. These carbs aren’t absorbed in the small intestine. They instead travel to the large intestine where they’re broken down by the microbiota. This promotes the growth of certain beneficial bacteria.
Consume polyphenol-rich foods. These are plant compounds that can't always be digested by human cells and consequently make their way to the colon where they can be digested by intestinal flora.
Examples of health-enriching polyphenol-rich foods include:
cocoa and dark chocolate
red wine
green tea
almonds
onions
blueberries
broccoli
A number of studies show artificial sweeteners can negatively affect both gut health and skin health. It’s smart to remove those from your diet.
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Endnotes:
(1) The microbiome is the combined genetic material of the microorganisms in a particular environment.
Rubin, Courtney. “Keep Your Gut Healthy and Your Skin May Follow.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Aug. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/style/gut-health-skin.html.
Sharma, Divya, et al. “Anti-Aging Effects of Probiotics.” Journal of Drugs in Dermatology : JDD, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26741377
Park, Kun-Young, et al. “Health Benefits of Kimchi (Korean Fermented Vegetables) as a Probiotic Food.” Journal of Medicinal Food, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24456350.
Klatz, Ronald, and Bob Goldman. The Official Anti-Aging Revolution: Stop the Clock--Time Is on Your Side for a Younger, Stronger, Happier You. Accessible Publishing Systems Pty Ltd., 2008.
S., Robert, et al. “Is There a Role for Probiotics in Liver Disease?” The Scientific World Journal, Hindawi, 11 Nov. 2014, www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2014/874768/.
Bowe, Whitney, and Kristin Loberg. The Beauty of Dirty Skin: the Surprising Science to Looking and Feeling Radiant from the inside Out. Little, Brown and Company, 2018.
Burris, Ph.D., Kelly. Depression Anxiety and the Brain in Your Gut: How Thought, Emotion and Behavior Work and How to Get Back to Normal. United States, Illumine Studios, 2016