The relationship between gut health and skin.

Our organism works like a perfect machine. It is so perfect that if one organ fails, it can cause a chain reaction. Today, we will focus on two organs that seem separate, but the health of one has a direct relationship with the other. 

How can gut health affect our skin?

Before answering this question, we will refresh some crucial concepts. 

Our body is full of microorganisms. The colon is where we can find the largest colonies of bacteria. Together they form a microbiota. 

These bacteria have beneficial effects on our health and live in a delicate balance with many other colonies of microorganisms. 

Keep in mind that we live in symbiosis with these microorganisms. Our immune system would not be able to develop and function normally if it were not for them. 

Therefore, imbalances in the biota, i.e., the proliferation of non-beneficial organisms over the good ones, predispose us to certain diseases, reducing the protective capacity of our immune system.

These beneficial microorganisms, originally thought to act only on gastrointestinal health, actually have much more extensive effects than we thought.

We will focus on the relationship between gut health and skin. 

Like our intestine, the skin is also full of microorganisms exposed to chemical, physical and biological agents that can alter this delicate balance.

When this balance is broken, our skin – which is our body’s first defense barrier – can be exposed to infections and skin conditions: atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and vitiligo. 

The first link between gut health and skin was discovered more than a decade ago. Those patients with SIBO (bacterial overgrowth in the gut) had rosacea more frequently than healthy patients. 

In other inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, sufferers tend to have skin problems. 

In patients with acne, a dominance of certain bacterial colonies was observed, suggesting that an imbalance in the microorganisms that inhabit the intestinal ecosystem also impacts the skin.  

We know that the gut microbiota directly relates to our immune system. This is not a coincidence. Let’s think that our organism has evolved to avoid and fight pathogens through food and the environment. 

This is the first mechanism of action between gut health and skin: our immune system will also be affected when our gut ecosystem is altered. 

The second mechanism of action is related to skin homeostasis. This process ensures that all dead skin cells are constantly replaced by new ones. 

When there is an imbalance in the intestinal microbiota, certain substances and pathogens enter the bloodstream, affecting hemostasis and causing the skin to lose its ability to regenerate at an acceptable rate, leading to dermal conditions. 

All these studies show us that maintaining good intestinal health is in our best interest and is the only way to achieve a healthy body.

Prebiotics are foods that selectively stimulate the growth and activity of a limited number of microorganisms that have beneficial effects on the digestive tract and our immune system. We could not leave them out of our formulations.

Giovegen PROTECT is the first supplement with hydrolyzed collagen and a high dose of prebiotics, with vitamins and minerals to boost our body’s defense barriers. One dose contains 500 mg. of prebiotics in the form of inulin.  

Today life finds us +simple -complex. 

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Bibliography

Friedrich A. (2017) Message in a Bottle: Dialog between Intestine and Skin Modulated by Probiotics.

Huang, B. (2012). Skin manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease.

Blanpain, C (2009) Epidermal homeostasis: a balancing act of stem cells in the skin

González F, Martinez D, Pejenaute E, Ricote M. Desde el intestino a la piel. probióticos en la práctica clínica. Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN).