How Gut Imbalances Can Impact Your Complexion
Dr. Paul Deglmann
Meghan Feir Walker
What you see on the outside of your body can be a reflection of what’s going on inside. When you’re suffering from skin-related conditions, have complexion problems, and/or develop itchy patches and rashes, your body is trying to tell you something about your gut health. Gut health and skin are intimately connected. In this article, we’ll explain how gut imbalances affect your skin through the gut-skin axis and what you can do to improve both.
Understanding the gut–skin axis
The immune system and microbiome are in a constant conversation with each other through immune signaling pathways. These pathways allow the body to distinguish friend from foe and maintain immune tolerance. This directly influences the gut-skin axis, where imbalances in the gut microbiome can trigger systemic inflammation, often manifesting as skin conditions like eczema, acne, or psoriasis.
Microbial dysbiosis: When balance breaks down
Gut dysbiosis describes an imbalance of the microbes within the gut. If you’re dealing with dysbiosis, it may mean your microbiome has a low amount of keystone, beneficial bacteria and/or an overgrowth of dysbiotic bacteria, yeast/candida, or parasites.
Dysbiosis can often occur from the following lifestyle habits or conditions:
- Diets high in processed food and low in fiber, including the Standard American Diet (SAD), which includes foods high in added sugars/processed carbohydrates, seed oils, GMO foods, etc.
- Ongoing stress
- Alcohol
- Infections
- Slow motility issues within the body
- Environmental toxins (heavy metals, pesticides, mold toxins, etc.)
- Medications such as antibiotics, PPIs, and steroids/immunosuppressants
The microbiome shifts that occur in gut dysbiosis can lead to visible effects on the skin.
Inflammation: The common thread
The inflammation caused by leaky gut/gut dysbiosis can drive inflammation and autoimmune conditions, particularly with skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, and other skin problems.
Levels of anti-inflammatory natural substances found in the gut play a huge role in skin health, and these are often lowered when dealing with leaky gut or dysbiosis. Some of these substances include short-chain fatty acids and anti-inflammatory metabolites. When these levels are off, it greatly affects gut health, which, in turn, can affect the appearance and health of the skin.
Clinical signals: Acne, eczema, psoriasis, and more
At least 70-80% of our immune system resides in the gut microbiome, and when there is dysbiosis in the gut, it leads to inflammation. When inflammation is present, it can lead to visible changes within the skin because gut dysbiosis can cause an imbalance of the skin microbiome as well.
Indications of inflammation that show up on the skin may present as:
- Redness or irritation
- Swelling or puffiness
- Itchy patches
- Acne flare-ups
- Eczema or psoriasis outbreaks
- Rashes or hives
- Dull or uneven skin tone
- Delayed healing of blemishes
Nutritional support: What feeds a healthy gut and glowing skin?
To support your gut health and skin, it’s important to get the right nutrients every day through your diet.
*To support microbiome health, your daily diet should include:
- Fiber
- Prebiotics
- Probiotics
- Fermented foods
*While high-fiber, probiotic-rich, prebiotic-rich, and fermented foods support microbiome health for many people, other patients, especially those with SIBO and MCAS/histamine issues, typically can’t tolerate high-fiber, fermented, and probiotic-rich foods well. This is why it’s important to test and consult with a functional medicine practitioner who can determine if these foods will help or negatively impact your condition further.
Please note that while there are many good products out there, picking up a random probiotic from the store usually doesn’t help much with symptoms because you’re guessing. Without testing, it’s hard to know what you’re dealing with, which probiotics you need more of, what your gut and immune system need, and other important factors.
While you can get many nutrients from your diet, sometimes you need extra through supplementation. In our clinic, we often have our patients get a thorough, accurate micronutrient test done that clearly indicates which nutrients are deficient at the cellular level.
Some of the nutrients that impact gut and skin health the most include:
- Polyphenols
- Omega‑3s
- Glycine
- Glutamine
- Vitamin C
- Zinc
- Vitamin A
- Antioxidants
- Short-chain fatty acids (butyrate, propionate, and acetate are anti-inflammatory and have antioxidant effects and can reduce leaky gut by strengthening the gut lining and barrier)
Lifestyle factors to support the gut–skin pathway
What happens in one part of the body impacts other areas as well. This is why we take a holistic approach toward gut and skin health and overall body wellness.
Just as toxin exposure (such as wildfire smoke, chemicals, etc.), alcohol, unhealthy food, and other factors can put immense stress on the body’s functions, choosing to make clean lifestyle choices can have a huge impact on your overall health. Managing stress, getting restful sleep, exercising moderately most days of the week, and many other lifestyle choices directly and positively impact your gut microbiome, digestive health, and motility.
Lifestyle factors that can positively impact your gut health and skin include:
- Consistently exercising/moving your body with a type of exercise or form of movement that your body tolerates well
- Getting daily sunshine (especially morning light and pre-sunset light)
- Drinking clean, filtered water
- Breathing clean air (get outside and use a good air filtration system for your home)
- Practicing good stress-management strategies
- Getting good, restful sleep
- Cleansing and moisturizing the face every day using toxin-free skincare products
While we’re focusing more on how internal problems can impact the outside of the skin, it’s important to remember that your skin is your biggest organ and absorbs much more than we realize. This is why using clean products on the surface of our skin is imperative for gut, skin, and overall health as well.
To learn more about potential toxins in your skincare products, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep website and skin guide. They have helpful information on thousands of products, which can help you decide which products you’re comfortable putting on your skin.
What to expect: Results and timeline
Just as your current gut health (or lack thereof) took time to get to the state that it’s in, healing your gut can take time as well. While some people feel and see improvements in their gut and skin in a couple of weeks, others can take months to a couple of years to notice their skin health has dramatically improved. The key is to stick with making healthy choices, and over time, your body will noticeably thank you.
For more tips on incorporating healthy habits, read our article, “How to Reset Your Gut.”
How to support your gut and skin health
If you have chronic gut health and skin issues, have tried various diets and supplements, have had several tests done, but still don’t have answers, working with a functional medicine practitioner may be the missing link in your healing journey.
While you may have had testing done and tried steroid creams and medications in the past to determine the cause of your issues, chances are your testing wasn’t digging deeply enough or looking in the right direction, and steroid creams and medications are merely band-aids, not solutions. Not all testing is created equal, and not all testing is directed at the right things.
The root of your gut health and skin issues is more complex than many people realize. You may have specific food sensitivities, low stomach acid production, low digestive enzyme output, poor gallbladder function, bacterial overgrowth, yeast/candida overgrowth, parasites, mold/mycotoxins in your body, a combination of factors, etc., that are driving this chronic inflammation. This is why testing is so necessary.
You need to understand the root cause(s) of your gut and skin health problems, and you need a one-size-fits-one approach to heal. Using a general protocol for everyone won’t solve the problem for many patients because everybody has unique issues they’re experiencing.
Thorough, accurate, and honed-in testing, paired with a skilled functional medicine practitioner who can translate the results, can make all the difference when you’re trying to get better. They can then create a detailed, tailored plan to improve your gut and skin health.
Ready to support your gut? We can help
Remember: Gut health and skin are linked through the gut–skin axis. Gut imbalances may trigger acne, eczema, and inflammation. When you’re dealing with gut health and skin problems, understanding the driving forces behind the inflammation is imperative to your healing.
By learning more about your conditions and the reasons they developed, you can take proactive steps toward enhancing your digestive health, whole-body health, and overall quality of life.
Are you ready to learn more about your gut health and how to improve your digestive health? Read more on our blog about gut health, or schedule your free 15-minute consultation with Dr. Paul to explore a personalized approach for a helpful and effective path to recovery.
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