Probiotics: Good for Your Body—and Your Skin

There are many foods that provide the gut with healthy probiotics: sauerkraut is one.

It's been estimated that the human body is composed of 10% human cells and 90% bacteria. Human cells are outnumbered 33 to 1! That means there could be trillions of bacteria inside our bodies. It's no wonder the body with all these microorganisms is often referred to as "the human microbiome".

Scientists are focusing their attention more than ever on the bacteria (both healthy and unhealthy) that exist in our intestines and in our gut. It's there that the good bacteria help you digest food and, in the process, make essential vitamins, send signals to the immune system, and create small molecules that can help your brain function properly.

But when there's an unhealthy balance between the good bacteria (also known as probiotics) and bad bacteria, disease sets in—and even the skin is affected with breakouts, rosacea, eczema, and other skin problems cropping up.

What causes this unhealthy balance: stress, anxiety, depression, eating too much processed and sugary foods (to name just a few things)—all can alter the gut flora, leading to an overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria in the gut. This overgrowth triggers inflammation in the body.

To achieve the right balance, you need to try to manage stress and eat a healthier, whole food (aka non-junk food) diet that includes healthy bacteria—found in everything from yogurt and kefir to fermented foods like sauerkraut.

The benefits include reduced gas and bloating; clear, radiant skin; and a healthier immune system (70 to 80 percent of our immune tissue is located in the digestive system!).

It also seems that a healthy gut seems to regulate levels of the body's main antioxidant, glutathione, which fights a host of diseases.

Bottom line: make sure you're getting enough probiotics in your diet, every day, and you'll feel better and will look healthier and more radiant, too!

Stay healthy and balanced,

RESOURCES

"The Role of the Skin Microbiome in Health and Disease," Rodrigo Barros, MD Magazine, February 22, 2015;http://www.hcplive.com/conferences/aaaai-2015/The-Role-of-the-Skin-Microbiome-in-Health-and-Disease?e5=Email_md5&utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=HCPLive&utm_campaign=Trending%20News%202/22/15

"The Gut Microbiota Modulates Host Amino Acid and Glutathione Metabolism in Mice," A. Mardinoglu, S. Shoaie, M. Bergentall, et al., Molecular Systems Biology, 2015, 11(10), 834;http://msb.embopress.org/content/11/10/834