Want Glowing Skin? It Starts With the Gut!

Outer beauty really starts with inner beauty.  A healthy gut truly is a key component to having healthy glowing skin and overall health! Food is what actually feeds, repairs, and rejuvenates our skin cells. Just like your eyes are a window into your soul, your skin is a window into your digestive system and when you aren’t consuming the right nutrients for your body, your skin will let you know.

Digestion is important for breaking down and absorbing nutrients in our food. For healthy skin, we need certain micro and macronutrients which we get through a healthy diet. But, if your gut flora is out of balance, the best diet in the world will not give you the nourishment you need to obtain that healthy glow.

An unhealthy gut flora causes inflammation, affecting the integrity and protective function of the skin. This leads to a drop in the microbial power of skin to fight infection and inflammation. Unhealthy gut flora can also result in malabsorption of protein, fats, carbs, and vitamins which are crucial for optimal skin health.

Your skin is the largest organ of the body and also happens to be one of your best vehicles for detoxing. When your digestive system is not working efficiently by eliminating waste and toxins within the body, your body is not able to get rid of these waste products and our system gets backed up, causing these waste products to be eliminated via the skin. Your skin really is an expression of what’s happening inside your body.

Improving your gut flora and establishing a healthy glow doesn’t have to be complicated. I have spoken about the importance of digestive health in my first blog post however, I will summarize some of the points here:

1.    Avoid inflammatory foods – gluten, wheat, sugar, coffee, alcohol
2.   Eat fiber-rich foods and prebiotic foods
3.   Manage your stress levels
4.   Eat fermented foods or take a good quality probiotic
5.   Move your body daily – even if it’s only a 20-minute walk around the block
6.   Make sure you get adequate rest – 8 hours each night
7.   Kick start your stomach acid with apple cider vinegar or lemon juice upon rising
8.   Drink plenty of water to help flush out excess toxins and keep your bowels healthy

To read my full blog post about digestive health check it out here.