Discover Our Gut-Skin Axis eBook

Does your face flush red when you drink a hot coffee? Do you notice acne flare ups after eating a lot of sugary drinks? Have you ever wondered whether your gut health symptoms could be related to your skin appearance?

Our understanding of how our gut health can impact our wider health and the appearance of our skin has advanced considerably in the past few years. But how could gut health and skin issues be linked? The gut and our skin are in fact connected through a relationship known as the “gut-skin axis”. This means that if you suffer from skin concerns and stomach issues, they could in fact be linked! Evidence is beginning to show that what is going on with our digestion can impact the development of common skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis (a common form of eczema). This coincides with the availability of skin and gut supplements designed to “heal from within” to show a healthier, clearer complexion on the outside.

The gut-skin axis has mostly been studied in relation to the community of microorganisms that normally live in our gut, known as the microbiota, or the microbiome. Recently on our website, we discussed the relationship between the microbiome and rosacea, with the condition small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (otherwise known as SIBO) showing a strong association with the severity of rosacea. In this study, the scientists showed that by treating the SIBO of rosacea patients with rifaximin, a dramatic improvement in their skin was shown. How much of this study can be applied more generally, and link other common skin concerns to the activity of our gut microbiome?