Clear Skin from the Inside Out
Clear Skin from the Inside Out
Have you ever considered how gut health or internal health can affect your skin health? If you’re feeling frustrated by unresolved skin issues or you’re dealing with ongoing skin concerns, there are ways you can support your skin from the inside out.
When we go to the dermatologist for a skin issue - whether it be acne or eczema or rashes - it typically gets treated as something that’s very surface level. We end up getting prescribed things like topical creams, steroids or even antibiotics and look at skin health as an isolated issue.
When it comes to skin health, though, it goes much deeper than that first external layer. What we really have to do, like with everything is, look at the whole picture, the whole person and dig deeper into what’s going on internally. Your skin is telling you things, your skin is talking to you, and it can give you clues about what is going on internally.
For me personally, I had acne breakouts, eczema, and ongoing skin issues in my teens, and I was put on low-dose antibiotics for almost a year. This definitely ended up causing a lot of other downstream issues for me, but I didn't realize it at the time. Hormonal birth control is also commonly prescribed to help with any kind of hormonal acne or skin issues as well. These medications can actually have long-term effects on our body, nutrient stores, and our gut. I see so many others who, like myself, went through this process and tried so many different things to deal with skin concerns without ever really addressing what was going on internally in the gut until additional symptoms started to show up.
The gut connection and troubleshooting your skin
Gut health isn’t often considered as a factor for skin health, but the two are actually very closely related. Within our gut, we have trillions of bacteria, and we want everything in our gut to be in harmony, like a little ecosystem. Usually, it is, but sometimes certain things can cause this ecosystem to get out of balance.
Antibiotics are one example of something that can disrupt the gut ecosystem by killing off bad bacteria but also killing off beneficial bacteria as well. Gut imbalances can also be caused by things like an inflammatory diet or lack of beneficial foods feeding the good bacteria in our microbiome. Stress also has a huge impact on our body and especially our microbiome. Once that gut ecosystem is out of balance from stressors, medications, diet, etc. overtime things can really start to snowball and we may begin to experience more downstream issues resulting from this disrupted ecosystem.
Inflammation and skin reactions
When we wind up with this inflamed environment in our gut, something called “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability can occur. In the presence of intestinal permeability, things that are within our gut ecosystem “leak” out into areas that they're not supposed to be.
When bacteria, toxins, and large food particles get through the gut lining, our immune system that lies around the lining of the gut goes on high alert and it begins to activate an immune response or inflammation. The immune system becomes overloaded with all that it has to contend with, and it can set up a whole host of not only immune issues but detoxification issues as well. It's our livers’ job to help detoxify the body, but if our liver is really overwhelmed dealing with inflammation or the consequences of leaky gut it can get backed up and congested. When the liver is backed up our body must look for other ways to detox.
This is one of the ways our skin can be impacted.
Our skin is the largest detoxification organ in our body. If the liver and detox pathways are backed up, then our body might start detoxing through our skin causing breakouts or other skin issues.
Additionally, if you are not properly breaking down and absorbing the food you're eating because your gut is compromised or inflamed, you don't have sufficient stomach acid or you don't have the ability to digest fats for example, then you're likely not getting all the nutrients you need from your foods. Often with skin issues, nutrient deficiencies can play a major role.
As with so many facets of health, it often comes back to the gut, so if you are dealing with any kind of skin issues like acne, eczema, or rashes, you can see how it's 100% worth considering this relationship between gut health and skin health.
So what do we do about this?
It really comes down to supporting the terrain in the digestive system to bring things back into balance. We sometimes just think about food, but it’s really about how our body is breaking down and digesting that food and understanding what’s going on in the intestinal terrain.
I’ve created an online program, the Love Your Gut Program, that takes you through the steps to really shift what’s going on in the digestive tract and restore balance. No matter where you're at right now, if you're dealing with frustrating skin issues, the Love Your Guts program is a fantastic way to start!
I'm always happy to help and troubleshoot. When it comes to healing skin issues, I've been there and I know how frustrating it can be. Check out the podcast below to hear more tips about how you can get clear skin from the inside out. And if you’re dealing with skin issues feel free to leave me a comment below!
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If we haven't met before, I'm Christina Tidwell, founder and owner of Live Well with Christina. I'm so excited that you're here and have begun to delve into your health and wellness journey! Here at Live Well we help people with autoimmune disease take control of their health through nutrition, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment.
If you suffer from:
Fatigue and energy crashes
Brain fog
Poor digestion
Symptoms of autoimmunity
Stress and overwhelm
...and aren't getting the support you need, I can help guide you through the scope of 1:1 health and nutrition coaching.
Health coaching is a necessary extension of the health care system in that together we have more time to uncover issues, implement strategies and assess outcomes together to help you make sustainable and lasting changes. I offer accountability, knowledgeable guidance and most importantly support.
I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Click the button below to set up your free consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.