Struggling with acne? Why your gut health matters!

According to NICE, acne is one of the most common skin conditions in the UK.¹ Knowing how to keep those breakouts at bay is essential! A variety of factors go into your skin’s happiness, such as hormones, inflammation, sebum production, and everyday triggers. Diet and stress significantly impact your skin health, so having a balanced diet and prioritising your mental wellbeing can help manage any breakouts.²

The gut-skin axis

The gut-skin axis is the connection between the gut microbiome and your skin. This can affect things like inflammation and your immune system, which may harm how the gut and skin influence each other. If your gut is suffering, this can directly affect your complexion.³

If your immune system is weakened, your body will find it harder to react to any inflammation that’s caused by clogged pores and bad bacteria. This means the break-out will linger for longer, and the inflammation will continue even once the break-out has resolved. This can lead to nutrient deficiency, which can present itself topically in rashes, acne, and dry skin. It’s essential to have a varied diet aimed at aiding digestion, as this will increase the amount of nutrients and minerals your gut absorbs.⁴

Gut dysbiosis

Gut dysbiosis is an imbalance in gut bacteria. A lack of healthy bacteria can affect your immune system, causing bad bacteria to overgrow, resulting in inflammation in your gut. Gut dysbiosis can leave your gut overwhelmed and lacking in bacterial diversity. This causes poor detoxification in the gut, which may lead to your skin taking over the detoxing process, causing breakouts. Microbiome tests are helpful for skin conditions such as acne. They can show the imbalances that may be contributing to your skin issues, especially in cases where the conditions are chronic or resistant to any topical treatments.⁵⁶

Foods you should limit for your skin health

If you are already prone to acne, consuming an unhealthy diet that is high in sugar, alcohol, or dairy may worsen your symptoms:

Sugar is a trigger for inflammation; it can stimulate sebum production, which is a contributor to acne. It fuels pathogenic gut bacteria, which increases their growth, prolonging gut dysbiosis and inflammation.⁷
Certain dairy can cause issues, especially in those who are sensitive to casein or whey proteins, which can lead to inflammation in the gut and skin flare-ups. As it disrupts the gut lining, this can cause leaky gut, which has a negative effect on your skin, allowing inflammatory molecules to circulate.⁸⁹ We recommend opting for goat’s or other A2 dairy, which is much gentler for human digestion.
Alcohol depletes your body of water and electrolytes, which has a negative effect on your skin, as it needs hydration to be at its best. Consuming alcohol also increases systemic inflammation, which can lead to redness, worsening of eczema, rosacea, and other skin issues.¹⁰¹¹

Foods to support your gut and skin

Having a well balanced diet is important to keep your skin healthy:

Fibre is great for lowering inflammation and strengthening the gut lining, which means fewer breakouts and calmer skin.
Eating a varied diet full of different fruits, vegetables, and legumes will feed the different bacteria in your gut. This also increases the production of nutrients that are great for your skin, such as biotin and antioxidants. This leads to a healthier skin barrier and more balanced oil production.
Fermented foods are great for your skin; they reduce inflammation and help immune regulation, which leads to a more even skin tone and texture. They also help you to have stronger resilience to environmental triggers like pollution or allergens.¹² Our goat’s milk kefir is a customer favourite for improving skin from the inside out!
Prebiotics are great for feeding your good gut bacteria. You will get prebiotics from bananas, garlic, onions, and leeks. Feeding the bacteria in your gut will help your skin, leading to fewer breakouts, reduced redness, and an overall glow.¹³

Topical probiotics products, such as our Calm-Down Goats Milk Soap and Calm-Down Kefir Lotion (for light to moderate acne) or our Break-Out Goats Milk Soap and Break-Out Kefir Lotion (for severe acne) can help. For more sensitive or reactive skin, we recommend starting with our Sensitive Kefir Lotion and Soap. These probiotic soaps and lotions are great for immediate relief of skin discomfort, but are not a solution to the problem. Working on your gut health and ensuring that you have a healthy and happy microbiome, is the key to combating these issues in the long run.

Check out how stress and hormones affect your gut health!

Any questions? Contact one of our Nutritional Therapists via live chat, weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm.

Struggling with acne? Why your gut health matters!

The gut-skin axis

Gut dysbiosis

Foods you should limit for your skin health

Foods to support your gut and skin

References

Questions? Talk to a Nutritional Therapist on live chat!

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