What Does Our Gut Do For Us, You Ask?

Our gut plays host to our microbiome - a colony of many millions of good bacteria that play an important role in our immune and digestive systems. The key to a healthy system is keeping the bad bacteria in check (so you have more of the good guys), and having a good balance of different types of good bacteria.
 
It's been discovered that over 70 percent of the body's immune system is located in our gut tissue, so it's not that big a stretch to understand that the critters that call it home are going to have a substantial impact on our body’s global health.
 
While not entirely understood yet, it's accepted that improving gut health can also have an impact on skin conditions such as acne and eczema. It's been shown that taking the good bacteria (as food or supplements) boosts gut immunity, which reduces the severity of skin allergy conditions like eczema, and skin inflammation (known for years to be the leading cause of acne and premature skin ageing).
 
A recent study found that lean people have 70 percent more gut bacteria (and therefore more of that variety we want) than overweight people.
 
And recently it has been found that the gut produces most of the sleep hormone (melatonin), and a gut imbalance therefore affects its production - meaning poor or little sleep.
 
Oh, gut bacteria also produce the B 'energy' vitamins; they influence our body's ability to use vitamin D; they produce about 90 percent of our body's serotonin, as well as many other of our 'happy' and 'anti-anxiety' brain chemicals.
 
Inflammation Information
 
Researchers have an increased understanding that the underlying common denominator in many of our health problems - from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's to depression, weight gain and acne - is systemic inflammation of the body. When the gut microbiome is thrown out of whack, we get an increase in inflammation.
 
The systems are much more interconnected than was thought previously. Which is why, for example, you will often find that a depressive person will experience weight gain, gut problems, sleep problems (too much or too little) as well as arthritis, caused by inflammation.
 
Bottom line, a happy gut is crucial for a happy, healthy weight and skin, not to mention our mood. We like this formula by nutritional therapist Henrietta Norton, as quoted in Byrdie.co.uk: Unhappy Gut = Unhappy Body and Mind.
 
Read More. All About Acne: Myths, Facts and Best Advice

How Can I Tell If My Gut Is Unhappy?

Besides the obvious signs - Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), diarrhoea, constipation, bloating and wind, gut imbalances can also be seen in things such as PMS, brain fog, adrenal fatigue and acne. Another telltale sign is craving sugar, which could be a sign that your bad flora are overruling the good flora and saying 'feed me, Seymour' (and you know how that turned out!).
 
Sorry to say that we’re back to our modern lifestyle as a chief culprit in throwing us out of balance. Again, it's all interlinked.  We overwork, sleep too little, eat unhealthily and live in a state of heightened stress (which causes an inflammatory response) most of the time. If your body is constantly flooded with stress hormones, blood is diverted away from your gut, which impairs the growth of good bacteria and digestive enzyme production. This becomes a vicious circle, or, if you like, a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario, as in... we can't sleep because we're stressed, and we get stressed because we can't sleep...
 
Focusing On The Leaky Gut (Sorry!)
 
When all is right in our gut world, the good guys and the bad guys live in harmony. But when an imbalance causes the bad guys to take over in what is known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), harmful bacteria produce corrosive substances and toxins that attack the gut wall, breaking it down, and allowing toxins to enter the bloodstream. This sends your immune system into overdrive as it detects the unwelcome intruders, it overreacts and, voilà!, you have inflammation.
 
Leaky gut syndrome is linked to IBS, Crohn’s disease, as well as bloating, cramps, food sensitivity and depression. It’s also linked to eczema and acne which are, you guessed it, inflammatory conditions.
 
Read More. All You Need to Know About Losing That Belly Fat - Forever

Things That Mess With Our Gut 

• Hormonal birth control, such as ‘The Pill’.
• Excessive antibiotic use. They kill both the good and bad bacteria.
• Excessive stress.
• Too little sleep.
• Eating processed, nutrient poor food. refined grains, sugar.
• Alcohol and caffeine.
• Eating too little plant fibre and other pre-biotics.

The Gut Health And Acne Connection

Scientific studies on people with acne have shown for decades that they are more reactive to harmful bacteria and indicate a link between acne and gut issues.  Acne patients have higher levels of systemic inflammation than people with healthy skin. And acne seems to get worse with increased inflammation. They also have higher levels of SIBO and food allergies, and lower antioxidant levels.
 
Your gut is not the only thing that can become leaky, however. Your skin's main function is to act as a protective barrier against harm, but stress and gut inflammation can compromise its protective barrier, allowing harmful bacteria to penetrate and cause infection and inflammation in the skin.
 
Numerous studies have also shown that acne can be reduced and even cleared if gut issues are treated with probiotics. You can clear or reduce your pimples by treating gut issues with probiotic supplements (Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum are the ones for acne) and live active yoghurt. Proof of the beneficial effect of probioitics on skin is that fermented dairy does not cause acne issues, while pasteurised, unfermented dairy does.
 
Supplement your skin: The benefits of probiotics in soothing skin is also creeping in to skin care, with brands such as Clinique incorporating them into their Redness Solutions range. It’s also in Gatineau Melatogenine AOX Probiotics ADVANCED Rejuvenating Cream 50ml and Esse PLUS Probiotic Serum.
 
Read More. Expert Advice On How to Finally Get Rid of Your Acne 

How To Nurture and Improve Your Gut Health

The aim here is to eat gut-friendly food that good bacteria can feed on so they thrive. If our digestion is poor, we don't process and extract nutrients efficiently, even from good foods. 
 

• Ensure you eat enough fibre from fruit, vegetables and oatmeal as gut microbes feed off fibre, and skimping on it has an impact on our microbiome. Garlic, onions, and legumes like lentils and chickpeas produce a particular kind of fibre that gut bacteria feed on, which been shown to improve gut health and decrease inflammation. Another good source is eating cooked resistance starch, which you get by cooking starchy foods like potatoes and brown rice then cooling them down before you eat them.

• Eat minimally processed food, and skip the junk food.

• We can't ignore fermented foods, naturally. Sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, yoghurt and kombucha are chock-full of probiotics and really nourish your gut bacteria. Check out all the benefits of probiotic drinks here.

• Restrict the use of antibiotics to only when you absolutely need them. And ask your doctor for a probiotic supplement to protect your gut flora.

• It's always best to get your nutrients from food, but probiotic supplements are a good stopgap. Make sure you choose a good quality brand with multiple strains of probiotics.

• Use digestive enzymes. Check for a blended formula which breaks down a wide range of foods and look for one that says it's blended for max effectiveness across pH ranges. The wider the range of enzymes, the better. Taking enzymes between meals is also said to help the body with tissue repair and skin rejuvenation.

• Take a good multivitamin.

• Eat good fats (cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, salmon, avocado, etc.) and take a good quality omega-3 supplement.

• Garlic, ginger, and oregano oil are antibacterial.

• Eat lean meats.

 
Read More. Why You Might Need A Gut Reboot (And How to Do It)