The Gut x Skin Axis Pt. 2: How Your Gut Impacts Your Skin Health

Part 2 of the gut x skin axis talks all about how the gut impacts our skin health. Listen in and take action on some of the things you learn!

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Talk soon!
K


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Transcript

Katie Lovitt: 0:00

Hey guys, welcome back to the Nourished and Thriving show. So last week on last week's episode, we talked all about how your skin can actually impact your gut health. And this is kind of an inside out way of looking at it. It's not as commonly discussed. But, but there's a lot of science that actually backs this up and we really, you know, pretty well understand the ME mechanism behind it. So I explained all of that in last week's episode. And I also in last week's episode, told you guys that we really needed to have a part two on that. So, That's what we're doing today. So like I said, if you missed last week's episode, make sure you go back and listen after you're done listening to this one. They're not dependent on each other. So if you don't need to like pause this and go listen to that one first or anything. But it's definitely, like I said, a more unique perspective than what we're talking about today. So I think you're going to get a ton of value about it from it. And I think you are going to have some, you know, different thoughts about Thank you. what you're putting on your skin and what you're exposing yourself to when it comes to gut health. So let's dig into today's topic.' It's still probably new information for a lot of you guys, but as a gut health special specialist, this is typically what I think of First, when I start thinking about the gut skin access is how the gut affects our skin. So last week, when I said last week was an inside out episode, it was how the skin affects the gut. But today we're really talking about how a lot of skin issues may actually start in the gut, how that is and what you can do about it. So let's dig in. So a lot of you guys may have actually experienced skin issues or maybe had a baby with eczema or something like that. You know, think about what some of the common ones are like eczema from dairy dermatitis herpetiformis from celiac disease, you know, before it's diagnosed, hopefully because they get that from gluten exposure or they get little like pustules on the skin. You know, so. skin and gut. I think it's pretty commonly known that they can be related. So you know, if you have your, your, your gut health, if you're experiencing food sensitivities or allergies, inflammation in your gut any sort of imbalance in your microbiome that all affects what goes on in the rest of your body, including your skin function. So it's not just. You know, your gut and skin are connected. We know there's a gut brain connection. We know your hormones are involved in gut health. So this is just one snapshot. But keep in mind, we are systems of systems. I say this all the time. Our bodies are all connected. They're all reliant on other parts of each other and it's not one specialized organ system working in isolation. And I'm just going to take this opportunity to say, I think that's one way that conventional medicine just gets it wrong. It's just outdated. You guys, whenever we were first learning about the human body, yeah, it makes sense to study organ systems in isolation. But now science has shown us that so many things are connected that it's really doing people a disservice by just looking at one, you know, part of an organ system by itself. We really need to look at the body as a whole. And so that's really what I do in integrative and functional nutrition is looking at how all of these different things are connected. And that's why my clients get. Such awesome results. By the way, I think it's going to be next week's episode. You're going to get to hear from one of my clients who has gotten those results and how her life has been transformed by working on her gut health. So definitely keep an eye out for that. It's going to be an awesome episode. So let's talk back about. Let's get back on track here. So your skin is a barrier to the outside world, just like your gut. If you've heard me say this before, your gut is actually like a garden hose, right? It's the inside of your gut is actually the outside world. If you think about it with me for a minute. You know you have the top of your gut, which is like your mouth. It's an open hole, and then you have the anus at the end and it's open and inside of it is all also open like a hose. And then your gut is like the bodyguard or the bouncer of the club. I always say that decides what gets into your body and what doesn't. Your skin's the same way, right? It has to protect your body and your cells and organs and all of that from the outside world. And so if these barriers are broken down or inflamed or not functioning properly, things can go really wrong really, really fast. We know, you know, looking at our, our gut, our immune system is highly concentrated in our gut. And that is Kind of a secondary defense. So it has a physical barrier function and then a secondary barrier function really in the immune system. So if something does get through the gut that shouldn't be there, that immune system gets flagged and those fighter cells go like attack, right, and try and get rid of whatever that foreign thing is that's in there. Our skin is, you know, similar, you know, similarly function where we have some immune function in our skin as well. So we're gonna talk about how different stressors, what are the different stressors that can impact your gut and how? So we know that it's affecting your gut barrier function. What that has to do with the skin. How that skin gets inflamed and all of that next. So you guys know I like to geek out on science with you a little bit and talk through, but I think it's so important for you to have a good understanding of the mechanisms and the why behind this, because it's going to motivate you to act whenever you have understanding versus me just saying, Oh, take my word for it. Right. Okay. So. Any kind of a stressor in your gut can negatively impact your gut physical gut barrier because it can turn on your immune system. It can erode your mucosal layer that keeps your gut lining nice and safe. So some of those stressors are Disbiosis is one of them, and it seems simple, like sometimes people will come to me and we'll do a gut test on them, and they won't have, you know, any major pathogen come back. They'll have some inflammation, and they'll have some dysbiosis, and they're like, but there's not like a bad guy to go fight, and it's like, okay, no, but you're And your microbiome is in balance. And that means that there's too many of this kind and not enough of this kind. And that is just as stressful to your gut as something like having a parasite or a bacterial infection. It's still a stress around the body. Some of the other stressors in your gut can be food that's not well broken down. So if you're not chewing your food well, that's like my top one, number one piece of free advice for people is chew your food. You're not chewing your food well. And then if your digestive enzyme function is low those, you know, undigested, poorly digested food bits can be stressful for your gut lining. Psych physiological, psychological, emotional, mental stressors. So chronic stress, big emotional trauma, anything like that can function as stressed. We talked last week how environmental toxins can function as stress. And then you do have things that are like infections, parasites, food, poisoning, stuff like that, that are definitely, definitely stressful and damaging to the gut lining. So, like I said, whenever, you're exposed to these stressors. Your gut immune system does its job. You have a local immune system in your gut that's wanting to recognize that as bad as harmful and get rid of it, right? And, and flare up. So that's where if someone, like I said a minute ago, has a lot of inflammation in their guts, that immune system is turned on in their gut because of the presence of one of these stressors are oftentimes several stressors, right? And that local immune system can then hand it over, like, if they're like, this is out of control, we are losing this battle our gates are being flooded here with stressors and we're not winning then your whole, you know, immune system, you know, more on the outside of your gut can get turned on, circulating throughout your entire body, and you can start to see some things like skin conditions happen from there. So, you know, That's kind of the process of how that happens and what that looks like. There's some really great images online. If you wanna just go, you know, Google like tight junctions gut barrier function in like a Google image search. You can see all of this, like what I'm talking about here. I'll actually link one in the show notes for you guys. I think that that would be really, really helpful for you to just. C and it's going to show you kind of that whole process. So bear with it. There are keys and there's like, it's like a flow chart. So just look through it. Don't get overwhelmed when you first open it up and see a bunch of letters that stand for different things, like really dig in and sit down and take a look. And you'll have a lot more understanding of it. That's something I actually walk through in my gut rehab resource library and my signature program with. So that's one of the videos that is in there is me really going through how that works. So that people can really have a good understanding of how their body is designed to function is your body. You should know how to handle it. Right? So, so what do you do with this? information. So first of all, just know, pay attention to your body. You know, like, is, do I have a rash? Do I have bumps on the back of my arms? Do I have some eczema that I'm just dismissing? Like that's, those are all really good signs. Another one is acne. You know, am I struggling with acne? Those are all really good signs that, Hey, maybe your gut is not very happy with you and it could use some attention. If that's the case. I would really recommend doing some sort of a stool test, a functional stool test, so you can really get an idea of what's going on. Whenever you do this, they're not all created equal. There's some out there that are only looking at your microbiome. They don't tell you anything about your inflammation levels or digestive bubbles or checking for pathogens. There's some out there that just have a few markers. There's some out there that have a whole lot. So, you know, make sure you're choosing the right test. And then make sure that you're working with someone who is really, really skilled at reading these tests, at interpreting them and being able to help you put the story together. So you have a better understanding of what you're going after versus, you know, trying to go after a million different things. Whenever you're looking at these tests, a lot of the time, the different results all tied together into one big story that is the story of your gut health. So you need to work with someone who can really help you piece all of that together. Now an elimination diet or something like that can definitely be done. My middle one, my middle little child she has some really bad eczema on her eyelids. If you're watching this on YouTube, you can see me. Pointing to where they are but on her eyelids and bless her heart, they'll bleed, you know, and it's itchy and it hurts. It just looks really painful. And I was like, well, let's just try cutting dairy for a couple of weeks and see what happens. And they cleared right up. And so that, that little, little girl can't handle dairy products. Her eczema gets all inflamed. We took about a six month break from milk and Honestly, it was like, let's just reintroduce it and see what happens. And it flared back up. So we had to. cut it again. And you know, currently not doing any milk or dairy for her and they've, they've healed again. So in instances like that, you can try a simple elimination diet and see if it resolves, but if it doesn't, or it's a lot of different things going on or really severe something like a test might be a good idea. So you can kind of see what you need to go after in your gut. And then I would follow that up to say just doing a gut health checkup like every two years or so, even if you don't have any symptoms, even if you're not struggling with gut, gut gut or skin issues is a good idea just to make sure everything is good. You know, gut health changes every day, multiple times a day, every time you eat. So we're definitely looking, you know, at a snapshot in time. And so we have to keep that in mind whenever we're looking at these results, but knowing that. We're looking for patterns and trends. But because things change quickly, things change quickly. And so, you know, you may have some stuff developing and you, you don't even realize it early until later on, whenever you start to finally develop symptoms. Because like I was saying earlier, our bodies are really good at trying to work up a good fight, right? And they have a lot of processes in place to try to keep things under control. And so a lot of the time it can be a while before you ever even have symptoms of something going on. So just doing a checkup on your gut health every couple years is a really great idea because we know it's so important for quality of life chronic illness, all of that. So that's a really good recommendation. Another thing to consider is maybe you have some symptoms and you're just dismissing them. You're like yeah, that rash. It's fine. It's just a weird little thing about me or my joints are a little achy, but it's just kind of how I am. I'm getting older. Stuff like that. You know, we just really don't think much of it because those symptoms aren't necessarily impeding your quality of life yet. But you know, I would just encourage you to be proactive because it's so much easier to get on top of things early on than waiting for them to become really disruptive. It's just a lot more difficult at that point to go in and clean things up. So stuff like that. And then also keep in mind. normal may not be normal. So what you consider to be normal because it's how it's always been may not actually be optimal. With gut health, people don't talk about it a lot. It's not exactly a dinner table conversation. So you may not even know that what you're experiencing. really is a sign that something could be going on. So if that's the case, and you're curious, you're like, Hey, like, you know, if I'm normal reach out to me on Instagram and let me know. And I would love to talk with you about that. See if I can give you some tips, anything like that. If you're interested in doing just a gut health checkup, let me know, because I have a really great option for that. That'll get you a little support. We'll do a gut test. I'll give you a personalized plan of action that you can go in and implement. And of course, if you are. Really struggling with a hot mess gut, as I call it, and you're in a place where you're needing some support and some help and accountability and a plan. Reach out and let's just talk about that because you don't have to keep feeling like that. I help people every single day, feel better and improve their health and well being and transform their lives. So you don't have to say suck. So that is all for this week. If you like today's episode, I would be so grateful if you would go in and give me a five star rating, wherever you're listening to this and a short little review, just a sentence or two, just telling everyone why you love the show. It does so much to help me promote my podcast and reach more people. And I really appreciate it. So, so thankful for you guys. And we'll talk soon.