The ‘Pros’ for Skincare in Probiotics
The Good Bacteria: From Healthy Digestion to Healthy Skin
By Cora Ciaramello
L.E., C.P.E., LMT Aesthetician
You know those probiotics you’ve been taking to improve digestion? Have you noticed the positive impact they are having on your skin as well as your gut?
Wait …. What ? You are not one of the millions who have learned about the benefits of these healthy bacteria? Or maybe you just don’t buy into supplements and over-the-counter health aids?
Well, if you are a probiotic nay-sayer, you might want to reconsider. Making probiotics a part of daily intake is not just another diet fad or trend-du-jour.
We’ve written a lot about the connection between what goes in mouths, and the impact on our overall health as well as our complexions, describing the relationship between a well-functioning digestive system and clear skin.
As Dr. Nigma Talib explains, “Anything that goes wrong in the gut will cause symptoms all over your body, and will absolutely show as problems on your face, sooner or later.”
She notes that probiotics improve digestion, and skin health, and over all immunity. “A healthy gut,” she says, “equals healthy skin and immune system. If your gut is in a bad state, it robs your skin of its nutrients causing inflammation in your body, which speeds up aging, and impacts many of the hormones that affect your skin,” she adds.
So, it stands to reason that the good bacteria in probiotics – which help digestion – would help keep our skin healthy and clear of the harmful excretions that cause both acne and simple blemish breakouts.
As a recent article in Prevention magazine notes, “Digestion is affected by a low-fiber, high-processed diet, which shifts our inner microbial colonies for the worse.”
Don’t Just Take Our Word for it …
Dermatologist and researcher Whitney Bowe, MD, further explains that when such a shift occurs, levels of system-wide inflammation – including the skin – are increased. "By taking oral probiotic supplements or by eating probiotics in your diet, you can theoretically restore a healthy environment in your gut and keep the skin from getting inflamed," Bowe says.
Although the intense buzz about probiotics and health is relatively new, the relationship between these healthy bacteria and healthy skin is not. In fact, some studies on the connection were conducted as long ago as the early 20th Century.
One study dating back to the 1960s found a clinical improvement of up to 80 percent in acne patients who were given a probiotic. More recent studies, according to Prevention magazine, found that probiotics help acne patients heal better and faster.
And Nutrition magazine reports that a study conducted more recently found that acne patients who consumed a probiotic-fermented beverage for 12 weeks produced less sebum – oily secretions – and had fewer acne lesions.
Hearty Appetite!
If you need more good news about the benefits of probiotics – especially for those who are not fans of supplements – here it is: you can add probiotics to your daily nourishment without popping a pill. Yes, you can actually eat them by adding some authentic food to your diet!
Besides the well-known probiotics champion – yogurt with live active cultures – other healthy choices with a good supply of probiotics include:
Miso soup
Kombucha
Kimchi
Apple cider vinegar
Raw cheese
Sauerkraut
Dark chocolate
Kefer
Tempeh
Probiotics can also be used externally to help promote healthy skin. Changes Sensitive Skin Facial, for example, is a calming soothing treatment for sensitive skin or ruddy complexions.
This facial has a sensibiotic complex – a blend of pre and probiotics and sea mayweed – which boosts the skin's natural defenses and stimulates the skin's good ecoflora to combat aggressions.
Now that you are fully informed about the benefits to your skin of probiotics … do enjoy some. Put your feet up and savor a square of dark chocolate. It’s good for you in more ways than one.
Even better … have that chocolate square after a Sensitive Skin Facial here at Changes Spa & Aesthetics!
PS: To learn more about the connection between daily nourishment and healthy skin, click on my previous blogs addressing the subject.
Do Your Skin a Favor and Eat your Veggies!
Holistic Esthetics: The Whole Really is the Sum of its Parts
Sugar Shock!
Changes Spa & Aesthetics
420 Boulevard Suite 107
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey
(973) 588-3668