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Leaky gut and acne | Acne and gut health | Collagen | Prebiotics
Collagen and prebiotics counteract a leaky gut and acne problem
Gut health and acne - The link between the gut and the skin
Gut Health and Acne... Is There a Connection? In this article, we will dive into the "gut-skin link" and how you can optimize your gut health for better skin.
Your gut microbiome is the collection of bacteria, viruses and yeast that live in your gut.
This collection of microorganisms helps with proper digestion, creation and absorption of vitamins, weight regulation and immunity to name a few of its functions.
The gut microbiome should contain mostly good bacteria and less "bad" bacteria or pathogens. When this balance between "good" and "bad" bacteria is disturbed, you develop what is called "dysbiosis".
Researchers believe that dysbiosis — an imbalanced gut microbiome — may play a role in acne.
The skin is the body's largest organ and its first line of defense against the outside world. Part of that defense is your skin's microbiome—that's right, just like your gut, your skin also hosts a collection of microorganisms!
The microorganisms on your skin help protect you by strengthening the skin barrier and interacting with immune cells in the skin.
One of the organisms that live on the skin is called Corynebacterium acnes (formerly known as Propionibacterium acnes, or P. acnes). This is an organism that scientists know is correlated with the development of acne.
C. acnes is found on the skin of people with and without acne, and researchers believe that if certain strains of C. acnes grow on the skin, they can cause acne, while healthy strains of C. acnes do not cause acne.
If certain problematic strains of C. acnes colonize the skin and interact with your immune system, they produce a lot of inflammation, causing the acne you see on your face.
So now we know that there are collections of microorganisms that live both in the gut and on the skin... But how is it connected? And can improving gut flora counteract acne?
Remember "dysbiosis" - the imbalance between good and bad bacteria in the gut microbiome? Researchers believe that improving this balance of bacteria in the gut may be a key to affecting acne.
And it all starts with something called "leaky gut." Have you ever heard of it?
Leaky gut (also known as "intestinal permeability" or "intestinal hyperpermeability") is when the cells lining your intestines break apart, allowing larger molecules to flow from the gut into the bloodstream.
Just as your skin forms a barrier from the outside world, so does your intestinal wall. So we want the barrier to seal tight, so that only useful and good things like nutrients can get through the intestinal wall.
Leaky gut can develop when you have an unbalanced (dysbiotic) gut microbiome, which is why a healthy microbiome is essential for healthy skin.
When you have a leaky gut, inflammatory compounds produced by bad gut bacteria (such as lipopolysaccharides or LPS) from the gut microbiome flow into the bloodstream. This encourages an immune response, which ultimately results in systemic inflammation, including inflammation of the skin and acne.
In addition to this, leaky gut can also directly deposit gut bacteria that leak through the gut barrier onto the skin itself, disrupting the natural skin balance. This can also result in a skin microbiome that is more prone to developing acne.
If you're wondering if all of this affects what to eat to control acne, the answer is yes!
This is because what you eat has an effect on your gut flora. The healthy bacteria in your microbiome (gut flora) like fiber, prebiotics found in your food or in supplements.
The best diet for acne doesn't have to be complicated… It's actually quite simple!
Research shows that the best diet for gut flora (and thus for acne) is a diet high in fruit and vegetables and minimal in processed foods such as whole and semi-finished products, as well as refined sugar.
So load up on fruits and vegetables (especially colorful ones!) and cut down on processed foods and you're already on your way to better gut and skin health.
If you have dysbiosis — an imbalanced gut microbiome — prebiotics can help fix it. Remember that an unbalanced microbiome can play an important role in acne, so a balanced gut flora (microbiome) is a good step to improving your skin. Prebiotics are essentially food for your good bacteria - they are what your good bacteria like to "eat". When you consume lots of prebiotics, this helps increase the number of good bacteria in the gut microbiome and drives out bad bacteria. Prebiotics are found in food supplements and in foods such as onions, garlic, artichokes and beans.
Probiotics are healthy gut bacteria. Probiotics can be found in foods such as yogurt as well as in dietary supplements. When you consume them, probiotics help balance your gut microbiome by replenishing your supply of good bacteria and (bonus!) by crowding out the bad bacteria already living there.
When you are trying to improve the balance of your intestinal flora, a collagen supplement with prebiotics can be a good addition
Think of an unbalanced microbiome as a war between good and bad bacteria in the gut and skin. To win the battle, your good bacteria must overthrow the bad bacteria and fix the problems they created while in power (inflammation and leaky gut, which contributes to acne).
Sending in more good soldiers (probiotics) as well as supplies for those soldiers (prebiotics) ensures you have a powerful army to win the battle. But also at the same time heal the leaky gut with collagen to prevent the bad bacteria etc. from getting into the bloodstream.
Having an imbalance between good and bad bacteria in your gut microbiome is called "dysbiosis."
Leaky gut allows inflammatory compounds from within the gut, and even bacteria itself, to travel through the bloodstream.
Leaky gut encourages an immune reaction—one that researchers believe contributes to acne—as well as allowing bacteria from the gut to travel directly to the skin, disrupting the skin's natural balance and contributing to acne.
Eating a diet that feeds healthy gut flora, plus consistently consuming prebiotics can help balance an imbalanced gut microbiome and heal a leaky gut. Healing leaky gut with collagen can in turn promote healthy skin and can reduce acne.
