A recent hot topic in the world of beauty and skincare has been the use of probiotics to improve the appearance of your skin, particularly for those prone to acne.
Probiotics and Acne
Probiotics contribute to eliminating toxins and free radicals in the body and research has shown that they perform a role in skin heath, such as improving atopic dermatitis, promoting the healing of scars and burns, rejuvenating the skin and strengthening the skin’s immunity. For acne sufferers who may have unhealthy guts, supplementing with probiotics, particularly lactobacillus acidophilus and the yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae, will often improve their acne.
Probiotics and Eczema
Eczema and psoriasis have been proven to be benefited by probiotics. Giving probiotics to infants has been proven to lessen the likelihood of infants developing eczema. Probiotics have also been shown to improve eczema symptoms in patients suffering from the condition. Psoriasis, which is linked to inflammation, has also been shown to improve with oral probiotics.
How does it work?
Good gut bacteria strengthens the human immune system. Having a strong immune system benefits all organs of the body, including the skin. Research has shown that probiotics can benefit skin not only through the digestive tract, but also when given in tropical applications such as creams or lotion.
Probiotics have been shown to strengthen the skin’s barrier and protect against unfriendly bacteria, pollution and free radicals, all of which can accelerate ageing. Topical probiotics containing streptococcus thermophiles were found to increase moisture in the skin of ageing women.
Good bacteria in the gut has been shown to eliminate toxins and free radicals and may reduce wrinkles.
Probiotics may also help prevent UV damage from sun rays.
More studies are showing the link between the gut and skin and oral probiotics have been shown to decrease lipopolysaccharide, improve intestinal barrier function and reduce inflammation.
More health benefits of probiotics
Consuming more probiotics can have wider benefits for your health, including:
- Reduced number of colds and flu
- Healing from leaky gut and inflammatory bowel disease
- Weight loss
- Improved digestion
- Increased energy from production of vitamin B12
There are various ways of introducing more probiotics into your diet, find a useful list of foods and supplements here.
