If you think there’s no cure for the breakout blues, think again. Probiotics are the heroes you’ve been waiting for.
You’ve got an important job interview coming up (or a big date) you’ve been looking forward to all week. You wake up the morning of and head to the bathroom. While brushing your teeth, you zoom in closer toward the mirror. Your eyes focus on a bright red spot rearing its unwelcome head. Your stomach turns…why now?
Whether it’s creeping up from the crevice of your nostril, making a mountain in the middle of your chin, or staking its claim on the center of your forehead, we’ve all been there. And it’s not pretty. Acne, quite frankly, sucks.
But thanks to science, you’ve got a secret weapon in this fight. And while it might not miraculously eliminate your unwelcome guest overnight, it will provide healthier, more balanced conditions throughout your microbiome. Fewer opportunities for acne to thrive means no more unwelcome surprises.
So, what’s this secret weapon, and how do I get it like, yesterday? We’re talking about harnessing the power of probiotics, of course. The problem of acne goes more than skin deep, and probiotics are here to help from the inside out.
What is Acne Vulgaris?
Acne Vulgaris is the professional medical term for those red bumps that usually pop up during adolescence, but they can persist well into adulthood. In fact, acne affects up to 70% of us at some point during our lifetime, making it the most common skin disease in the United States.
There are two primary factors that result in acne: obstruction and inflammation. Obstruction refers to the blockage of a follicle or pore. This can be due to excess oil (sebum) production, dead skin cells, or bacteria. Obstruction is the precursor to inflammatory acne.
Inflammation is the root cause of many health issues, including acne. When your body is subjected to an injury or an infection, inflammation is how the body fights back. Problems arise when acute (temporary) inflammation becomes chronic (long-term). This means your body is in a sustained fight mode. It’s trying to fight off that obstruction and you experience localized inflammation, often on your face, as a result.
What Causes Acne?
Acne can creep up on us for internal reasons, like genetics, stress, and hormone fluctuations during puberty, menstruation, and menopause. Within the body, androgen levels are increased or higher than normal, causing sebaceous glands to produce more oil. This results in blockages that cause obstruction and lead to bright red inflammation.
There are also external factors like our environment, with air pollution being an increasingly relevant health concern. Medications that we introduce into our bodies can also cause acne, especially those containing lithium, corticosteroids, and testosterone. Certain foods have been linked to acne too, such as chocolate and starches, but this isn’t an exact science since everyone’s body is different.
The causes of acne are both extensive and kind of a wild card to pin down when you’re in the throes of fighting it. This is why focusing holistically on your overall microbiome health is so important. When your gut is happy, there are fewer opportunities for inflammation to occur, making acne less likely to have a hospitable place to settle down and call “home”.
Your Microbiome and the Gut-skin Connection
The gut-skin connection is all about interconnectivity. Whatever is going on inside that belly of yours is directly influencing what’s happening with your skin. So it stands to reason that reinforcing the strength of your gut would have beneficial effects on your skin.
A 2011 study confirmed science dating back to the 1960s that was conducted by dermatologists John H. Stokes and Donald M. Pillsbury. They were the first to demonstrate a link between gastrointestinal issues and acne. It took modern science a few decades to pay attention. But fast forward to today, and we’re realizing that the gut is truly the epicenter of overall health, both physical and mental.
The study sums it up this way: “The gut-brain-skin axis suggests a mechanism that links gastrointestinal health, influenced by interactions with oral probiotics, to the health and well-being of the skin.”
5 Ways Probiotics Help Prevent Acne:
A healthy gut with a diverse microbial makeup results in better overall health. It leads to an increased ability to fight chronic inflammation, and as a result, a reduction in the factors that lead to acne. Here’s how probiotics help you tame the wild acne beast.
Probiotics increase the microbial diversity in your gut, strengthening your body’s defenses against one of acne’s main culprits: inflammation. In other words, a healthy, calm gut means healthy, calm skin.
In studies of patients with acne, lower levels of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria have been observed. These strains of bacteria are beneficial to the gut, so supplementing them orally can help create a more balanced gut flora.
Diversity within your gut is the key to a healthy microbiome. You can keep your bacterial gut community healthy by eating a diverse array of foods, including fermented foods, which naturally contain healthy, gut-loving prebiotics and probiotics.
You can also boost your bacterial diversity from the inside out with probiotic supplements like our one-a-day Daily Glow Supplements. Using topical probiotics with calming ingredients can help provide anti-inflammatory support to stressed-out skin. Switching to a probiotic skincare line can eliminate the risk of irritation and inflammation at the epidermal level.
Acne has been linked to excess androgen production. As we mentioned earlier, androgens promote sebum, and this can lead to oil buildup and clogged pores that result in breakouts. Probiotics have been shown to decrease the production of androgens, thus regulating the overproduction of this acne-causing hormone.
The lining of your gut is the barrier that keeps the rest of your body protected from the serious business going on behind the scenes. When your gut lining is weakened, it can sometimes allow harmful substances to pass through. This leads to a condition called Leaky Gut Syndrome. When your gut leaks, inflammation can happen quickly and regularly. That spells A-C-N-E. Probiotics have been shown to help fortify your gut lining, preventing unwanted bacteria from entering the rest of your body.
So, do probiotics work for acne? Science says the answer to that question is a resounding, “Hell yes!”. That being said, everyone’s body is different, and we will all deal with the genetic, dietary, and environmental effects that cause acne in unique ways. But the best method of enhancing your defenses is to make sure your gut is as healthy as it can be. So when it comes to gut health, probiotics are your skin’s BFF.
