In multiple studies, probiotics were used to treat mild to moderate acne and were found to be more effective than other treatments at reducing acne.
In recent years, there’s been a lot of talk about the gut-brain axis, and now, a gut-skin connection.
This idea that the gut microbiome can influence the health of our skin could be a mind-blowing shift in acne treatment. But can our gut health really affect our skin health? What does scientific research say about probiotics and acne?
We’ve done the research digging. Let’s dive into the gut skin connection and answer the question: can probiotics treat acne?
Referred to as the second brain, the gut is impressively interconnected to other bodily systems and plays a major role in homeostasis. Gut health refers to the balance of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (GI).
Disruptions in the balance of bacteria can tip the scales in the wrong direction, causing an overgrowth of bad bacteria. This diverse bacterial system that thrives in our gut is called the gut microbiome.
It’s been 90 years since dermatologists John H. Stokes and Donald M. Pillsbury first suggested that the health of the gut microbiome can impact the body in profound ways.
This theory has since been validated and we now understand that gut health impacts other major systems such as the skin, immunity regulation, hormonal regulation, nervous system, digestion, nutrient absorption, and mental health.
Important aspects of the gastrointestinal tract:
Probiotics are a combination of living bacteria in the form of an ingestible oral supplement. Probiotics are taken to help add healthy bacteria to the gut and digestive system.
These probiotic supplements are often comprised of beneficial bacteria and yeasts that already live naturally in our systems such as lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.
Probiotics can help to:
All of this to say, gut health has a profound and impactful effect on the health of the skin. The connection is verifiable and has been studied in a number of ways. The skin is the largest organ, so it does make perfect sense that the gut flora could affect the skin in a number of ways. A healthy gut could reflect glowing clear skin. Whereas, an unbalanced gut microbiome could reflect as skin inflammation.
Unhealthy gut flora can affect your skin by causing inflammation which may appear as eczema, rosacea, acne, or psoriasis.
This is also true of the lining of the gut. The health of our intestinal lining is important as this barrier is what manages what is absorbed into our bloodstream. If the gut lining is weak or has increased permeability because of ill gut health, many things can ‘leak’ into our bloodstream which can cause an immune attack on these foreign particles. All of this leads to overall inflammation which can cause many types of skin conditions.
Acne is caused by a number of factors such as excess sebum production, pore blockage, inflammation, and growth of acne-causing bacteria called propionibacterium acnes. In multiple studies, probiotics were used to treat mild to moderate acne and were found to be more effective than other treatments at reducing acne. Benefits of probiotics when dealing with acne:
The most well-known and well-studied bacteria that are in supplemented probiotics are lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.
Along with probiotic supplements, probiotics are also found in fermented foods such as:
While using high-quality skincare products on the outside of the skin is an important part of skin care and acne treatment, our internal health plays a huge role in the health of our skin as well.
A healthy gut microbiome can influence the skin, your mood, and your immunity. While treating acne with probiotics is still a rather new idea, there is promising research to support this idea.
Using probiotics is a good idea for most as the gut impacts all of our bodily systems.
As probiotics might be a good treatment for acne, it is also considered a secondary treatment.
Focus on improving gut health while also improving the protective skin barrier, ridding acne-causing bacteria, and increasing skin cell turn over to effectively treat acne with Strut’s acne formulation.
If you want to learn more about how StrutYours.com treats acne online, book a free online consultation to see if our formula could help treat your acne.
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