Healthy skin often requires a lot more than a trusty, clean skincare routine. What many people don’t know is that the health of your skin is closely connected to your gut health. This means that following a healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of sleep, and a diet of whole foods can help you unlock the clearest, most glowing skin you’ve ever had.
How are your gut and skin connected?
Your intestinal tract is filled with tons of important bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. Even though they sound daunting, these microorganisms regulate your immune and metabolic function, and help with the absorption of essential nutrients like vitamin B12 and K. These teeny, tiny microorganisms also have the job of reducing inflammation in your gut. When you have inflammation in your gut, your intestinal barrier is impaired and then bacteria can enter your bloodstream.
When the inflammation becomes severe enough, it can actually be noticed in your skin, causing acne, dermatitis, psoriasis, and dandruff. In addition to noticing the signs of inflammation on your skin, one could also experience abdominal pain and discomfort, bloating, weight loss, fatigue, and more unpleasant symptoms. If one thing is certain, it’s that having a healthy gut is imperative to your overall well-being.
How to avoid gut inflammation
The good news is that there are many ways you can heal inflammation in your gut. First and foremost, staying active and reducing stress can work serious wonders on your physical and mental health. And you don’t need to go to the gym 5 days a week either — even walking outdoors for half an hour a day can reduce stress and improve your cardiovascular health.
Stress management techniques can also improve inflammation in your gut. These can include meditation, yoga, taking a bubble bath, reading, listening to a calming app or podcast, or anything else you find helps you unwind. In severe cases, inflammation and poor gut health can even lead to feelings of anxiety and depression.
How to heal your skin through diet
If you’re on a gut-healing journey, prioritizing probiotic foods is an absolute must. Products like yogurt (fortified with probiotics), kefir, kombucha, tempeh, sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, pickles, and even some types of cheeses contain live microorganisms, otherwise known as probiotics, that can reduce depression while improving heart and intestinal health. Other foods with anti-inflammatory properties should also be added to your diet. These include tomatoes, almonds and walnuts, fatty fish, leafy greens, berries, and olive oil.
Other helpful skin tips
As mentioned above, another helpful skin tip is making sure that you get at least eight hours of quality sleep each night. This will help your skin and your gut. In addition to logging in enough hours of rest, try to go to sleep at the same time each night and wake up at the same time every morning. Your body craves consistency and there’s a reason they call it “beauty sleep!”
Staying hydrated can keep your skin looking plump and improve elasticity, which is why you should always have a big water bottle with you at work or when you’re running errands. Getting enough water each day can also improve blood flow and regulate body temperature.
Now, you’re equipped with all the resources needed to improve your gut health and start eating your way to healthier, more clear skin.
Disclosure: We are a professional review and product rating website and mobile app that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review and rate. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own interpretations of a trusted source.
The Connection Between Gut Health and Clear Skin was originally published in Think Dirty on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.