The gut is the epicenter of our health and contains over 70% of our immune system. And although it’s thought of as a completely different entity, the skin is our body’s largest organ and it’s one of our main sources of detoxification. These different organ systems in the body are connected to each other. Although Western Medicine likes to separate it all out, and you get a specialist for this and a specialist for that, our body is a fully comprehensive and holistic system. By addressing our gut health, we can begin to heal acne naturally.
Gut health affects hormones, gut health, affects skin, gut health affects weight – all of it. So I believe that the skin is a window into our health. By the time something is popping up on the skin, we’ve been dealing with it inside of the body for quite some time.
Your skin is affected by your gut health. It’s affected by your hormone levels and your stress levels (because stress levels will affect our hormones and our gut health). So once again, it’s all interlinked. Chronic skin inflammation is a sign that something is going on in the body and we need to really identify that root cause. I talk a lot about identifying the root cause and not just using a bandaid to cover up the symptoms. And this reigns true right here, right now, right?
These topical creams and lotions will provide a temporary relief for some, but not for everyone. They’re not hitting the root cause of the issue and likely you’ll become almost immune to them when you continue to use them over and over, or you’re going to experience some bad reactions when you stop using them. In addition, we don’t want to become super dependent on these things either if we want to heal acne naturally.
We have to identify the root cause of the issue, the root cause of the skin condition, as opposed to just masking it with more makeup or creams or face wash or product. There’s a pathway called the gut-skin axis that is attracting a lot of attention in the medical world today. Both the gut and the skin play critical roles in defending us against foreign pathogens.
The skin has its own microbiome. It’s equally as important to look at the skin microbiome as it is the gut microbiome. Think about it, we are constantly coming into contact with bacteria and the two largest ways that we do that are by 1. touching things with our skin and 2. ingesting things through what we eat. Bacteria are either entering the system internally through the digestive process (on and in the foods we eat), or we’re touching them and we’re picking up those bacteria on the skin.
This is why, once again, over 70% of the immune system is located within the gut. It’s that biggest area where we take in these things from the outside world. So the immune system is there to really fight off these foreign substances that shouldn’t really be entering the body, making sure that we process things properly, all the good stuff.
It’s essential that we have a good balance of bacteria within the gut as well as on the skin microbiome. Science is showing links between all of these skin disorders and imbalance within the gut itself. For example, leaky gut, which I talk about a lot, or intestinal permeability, leads to local inflammation and chronic systemic inflammation, which then can display itself in the form of skin inflammation. Rosacea has been associated with SIBO or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. IBD or inflammatory bowel disease is associated with a higher risk of an inflammatory skin condition like psoriasis or rosacea. And a perfect example of this is looking at celiac disease, right? Celiac disease actually identifies a really amazing opportunity for us to see this connection through and through, because those with celiac disease, when they ingest gluten, can get a red splotchy reaction on their skin.
Point is, gut health affects skin health. There’s even a strong association between gut health and acne. A lot of science is linking gut dysbiosis, an imbalance of the good bacteria to the bad bacteria, back to things like acne. In addition, theoretically, anything that’s going to spike blood sugar levels drastically is going to also spike insulin. Insulin is not only the fat storing hormone, but it’s also a pro-inflammatory hormone. So when we boost up that insulin, triggering inflammation in the body, this can also show up on the skin in the form of acne.
We’re going to get into some of these foods that are going to spike insulin that I recommend taking out of your diet to see if this shifts some things for you. And not only is this going to positively impact your skin, but it’s also going to impact your blood sugar levels, assisting in a healthy weight, more energy, good gut health,fewer headaches and decreasing anxiety.
So when I work with students, I really teach them to look at these systems and I look at these systems, the gut and the skin, as one in the same. Anything that’s going to negatively impact your gut health is going to negatively impact your skin health. By addressing our gut health, we can begin to heal acne naturally.
So after all of this information, what the heck do we do about it? Right? While a customized approach is very, very useful here because none of our bodies are exactly the same and we’re all going to react slightly differently, there are a few things that I see make a huge difference over and over and over again in the lives of my students.
So I want to get into the top four things that you can remove from your diet today to really shift your skin health in your favor, to help decrease acne – cystic acne, hormonal acne, etc., as well as positively contribute to, decreasing rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, all things like this. Let’s get into it.
How To Heal Acne Naturally From The Inside Out
Try removing these four foods and expect massive results:
#1 Dairy – Number one is going to be dairy y’all for so many reasons. To really just sum it up, most of the dairy that we consume contains hormones and antibiotics which negatively impacts our gut health, and therefore negatively impacts our overall health. And we’re taking in these additional hormones and antibiotics, which will directly negatively impact our skin health.
On top of that, even though we can eat organic dairy, most of us don’t have the proper enzymes to actually digest and assimilate dairy properly. So once again, this varies from person to person, but I have found in my own life, taking out dairy made a huge difference on my skin and I literally watch it make a huge difference for my students.
I used to struggle with acne and eczema along my jaw line, and taking out dairy helped dramatically. Try taking it out, see what happens.
# 2 Gluten – This second thing that I really recommend taking out of your diet is going to be gluten. This is also for so many reasons, right? One being that gluten can enhance intestinal permeability leading to leaky gut. We have these tight junctions along our gut lining and our gut lining is only one single cell layer thick. So it’s very vulnerable, especially when we’re putting food into our mouths, into our bodies day after day, meal after meal, multiple times a day, right? The body can handle so much, but once it hits certain point, it’s like,
“Hannah, girlfriend, give me a break. Stop feeding me all this stuff. I’m trying to repair this gut lining and I can’t do it when you’re just sparking all of this inflammation. I have no time to rest and I have no time to heal.“
Gluten can help pull apart those tight junctions, leading to leaky gut, or increased intestinal permeability. Things then start to flow through where they shouldn’t, which then goes ahead and triggers systemic inflammation. So one of the things that’s really beneficial is taking out gluten and seeing what happens. Also, in general, reducing your intake of carbohydrates. I’m really talking about refined and processed carbohydrates here. So we’re talking cookies, crackers, breads, things like that. Carbs are not the enemy. We don’t need to fear carbs. But carbohydrates break down into sugars and sugars feed the bad bacteria in the gut, so decreasing your amount of carbohydrates, especially those refined and processed ones, can be incredibly beneficial.
So we have gluten, which is leading to that intestinal permeability, on top of the fact that most of the wheat that we eat today is genetically modified, or GMO. These are things that the body does not know how to process. We did not grow up eating this genetically modified food. And for those that make the argument that we don’t have all of the science behind GMO’s yet, or we aren’t sure if they are bad for us, we do know that GMOs negatively impact our gut flora. So that in itself is a reason to avoid them. It’s essential that we keep up a good amount of healthy gut flora for optimal health.
#3 Processed Foods – So I just kind of touched on that with processed carbohydrates, but I’m talking any processed foods, y’all. I’m talking those cookies, those crackers, those bars, those protein bars that are healthy – they’re not, ditch them. I can do a video on my favorite, like healthier bars if to grab, if you’re in a bind, but most of them are glorified candy bars.
They contain ingredients that we don’t even recognize. Some of them we can’t pronounce. I was actually just having a conversation with my mom and I said “mom, if you, if there’s more than 10 ingredients on the back of the box, don’t buy it”. If you can’t pronounce any of the ingredients on the nutrition label, don’t buy it. We don’t know what these things are. Really try minimizing these processed foods. This includes things like toxic oils, preservatives, food dyes, and colorings. Don’t be fooled by the labels saying all natural either. That means nothing.
So reduce those process foods. Stick to whole foods. An apple is an apple. There is no ingredient label because it’s just an apple. I always recommend starting out with “single ingredient foods” and this alone will shift your health dramatically.
#4 Sugar – The number four thing to take out of your diet for better skin health and overall health is going to be sugar. As you can see, all of these things are a bit tied together. Those processed carbohydrates break down into sugar. Dairy itself contains sugar (lactose). Do I have to explain this? Sugars not good for us. And sugar will likely make most of us break out. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a piece of chocolate here and there, right, but drastically reduce your amount of sugar. If all you did take away from this article and video is to gain awareness around how much sugar you’re consuming, that’s a win!
Ideally we want to take in about like 25 grams of sugar a day. That is about one of those healthy protein bars. Yikes, right? Reducing sugar will shift your life in so many ways. It’s going to optimize your energy, better your skin health, and better your digestion. It’s also going to help you better manage your weight if that’s something that is of interest to you.
So now that we know what to take out of our diet for clear skin, what the heck do we put in? Let’s break this down briefly.
Top Foods to Eat for Clear Skin
#1 – Fiber Number one is going to be add in more fiber. I talk about fiber all the time. I love fiber so much. Fiber helps with pulling toxins out of the body, stabilizing energy levels, and helping us stay full. But these plant fibers are going to also feed that good bacteria in the gut, which is essential for good gut health and essential for good skin health.
Increase the amount of fiber in your diet, things like broccoli, green beans, greens, etc. It doesn’t have to be just veggies though. Fruits are a great source of fiber too. Increasing your fiber intake can actually be actually harder than we think, even when we are mindful of it. This is why I love good fiber boosters, like chia seeds, flax seed, and a fiber powder mix (including things like oat fiber, psyllium husk, acacia fiber). I like to throw this in my smoothie every morning.
Need a fiber-filled recipe to try today? Check out this gut-healthy paleo veggie curry.
#2 Water – Number two, drink more water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. This is good for skin health. It keeps everything moving along and helps make stool easy to pass. You’re also going to need more water when you do increase your fiber intake or you may experience some bloating and constipation. And as many of us know, nice hydration makes that skin glow and it keeps it supple and healthy. Dehydrated skin can look a bit sunken in.
Like I said, water helps kind of keep everything moving through the system, which helps us pull out the toxins in the body. So it’s essential for clearing up that skin because we can get skin issues when there’s an overload of toxins within the system.
#3 Stress Management Techniques – The skin affects our mental health, mental health affects our skin. Our gut health affects our skin. It’s all connected.
So there is something called the gut-brain-skin access showing us that our mental health also affects our skin. Because once again, this body works together. We are not just these separate components. Everything works together and feeds off of each other. This makes it essential to add in some stress management techniques, meditation, breath work, nature walks, boundaries around phone use, etc.
These really simple, free, juicy, life-enriching techniques help us better manage stress. And when we better manage our stress levels, we positively impact your gut health, and then positively impact your skin health.
This is something that I see that is so overlooked. The food that we eat is so important, but the stress management is just as important. If you’re not managing your stress, your hormones are going to be wackadoo. Your energy levels are going to be wackadoo, and you’re just basically overwhelmed and exhausted. And that’s not a good look either, right?
So we want to make sure that we’re really incorporating these stress management techniques into our daily routine. And if you have any questions on that, let me know in the comments below. I have tons of amazing resources, podcasts, meditations, breathwork exercises, all the good stuff.
So that wraps it up for us today. Let me know what your biggest takeaway was from it in the comments below. It was so fun teaching you today. I’ll see you in the next post!
All the love,
Hannah
