There’s a saying that your skin reflects the health of your digestive system or “gut”. This is mostly true! However there are other factors involved with having the best quality skin. In this article I will explain how skin is related to gut health, and what the other factors involved are, too.

What are epithelial cells and what role do they play?

But firstly, some anatomy - your skin is made up of many tightly-packed epithelial cells to protect you from the harshness of the environment – the sun, chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and more. The cells lining your digestive tract are also epithelial cells, protecting your ”insides” from the harshness of the digestive tract.

Many hundreds of billions of new cells are made in your body every single day! New cells need a lot of quality ingredients to make them. These ingredients come from your FOOD! Hence the need to eat the best quality food you can, in order to make the best quality cells!

What nutrients and vitamins are critical?

Some of the best nutrients needed to make good skin cells include many vitamins such as Vitamin A and Vitamin C and the B-group, minerals including zinc and silica, protein, healthy fats, and plenty of water too! Yes we need a lot of healthy fats in our diets for good skin – from avocado, fish (with the skin on), grass-fed meats, butter, coconut oil, and nuts and seeds.

The quality of your food intake will affect the quality of your digestive system, and the quality of the digestive bacteria in your large intestine or bowel. These bacteria help to digest your food and provide additional nutrients. Your digestive system is also responsible for removing waste from your body. If working well, you should have 1-2 bowel motions per day. If you are not that regular, your bowel will reabsorb waste and toxins which will circulate through your body again. A good Nutritionist or Naturopath can help you improve your regularity if that’s an issue!

How do poor eating habits affect the appearance of our skin?

Conversely, eating a poor quality diet, nutrient deficiencies, stress, exposure to toxins and chemicals (in foods and environmental and cleaning products), a poor lifestyle (smoking, drinking, poor sleep, no exercise etc) are obviously going to affect the quality of your cells, your digestive system function, your digestive bacteria, and the toxicity in your body and cells. These problems will all show up in the quality of your skin!

As a Clinical Nutritionist and Naturopath, when treating people with skin conditions (acne, eczema, psoriasis, infections and more), I investigate all the root causes – which include one’s nutrient intake, lifestyle factors, digestive system function, and environmental health (exposure to toxins and chemicals). Often all of these factors need to be addressed in a holistic (whole body) treatment, so all need to be checked and improved as necessary.

Due to the high turnover of skin cells, I often see fairly quick improvements to skin conditions within a few days to a couple of weeks after starting a holistic treatment.

In Summary

For the best skin quality, yes you need to improve your gut (digestive system function), and other factors, too, including your diet, lifestyle, skincare and more! The results will be worth it with glowing and healthy skin! And your overall health and long-term health will benefit too!

Ross Walter is an experienced and award-winning Clinical Nutritionist, Naturopath and Herbalist based in Clayfield in North Brisbane. 

He can be found at www.rosswalter.com.au and he can also be contacted via Email. For more advice and health tips follow Ross on Facebook.