The Connection Between Gut & Skin, and how it relates to inflammation.
I’ve spent a lot of time working with people to improve skin conditions, and also a lot of time in the area of sleep improvement.
Eureka moment – these two can frequently be connected, in a way you wouldn’t expect.
What we consume determines the health of our gut – the entire bowel/intestinal system (often referred to as the second brain for good reason).
This in turn determines (or at minimum influences to a higher degree that what we would like to believe), how we feel, act and behave.
Fatigue v energy, positive v down or negative.
I use the word consume rather than eat, because so frequently, gut issues are caused by synthetic introductions to our systems – medium or longer term medication is a perfect example (often necessary, but too often over-prescribed). Toxin overuse & consumption – even secondary exposure and high levels of prolonged exposure to stress all can impact the gut and reduce or prevent nutrient absorption.
Long story short, if your gut health is compromised, you are vulnerable to inflammation – which shows up on your skin, and in your quality of sleep, focus, mood, energy level. It’s pretty important to understand.
The connection between the skin and the gut is very close. They are our two largest organs. one reflects the other. Naturopaths will often diagnose by looking closely at your skin. Weirdly, dermatologists do not.
So – back to gut health restoration, because that is the way forward in truly managing inflammatory skin conditions.
I don’t profess to have professional expertise in the area of nutrition, but I do have a lifetime of experience in this very interesting area – and exposure to a large cross section of case studies.
The answer is simple. Eat LOTS of fresh green vegetables EVERY day, and look for meal options that avoid process foods & have TON of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories.
I know when my shingles are getting ready to flare because I am drawn to toast, chocolate, coffee – all the inflammation foods.
Of course, they get me every time, and the shingles break out – reminding me to pull my head in and get back to the anti-inflamm foods.
Today I’m going to share one of my ‘go-to’ smoothies with you. Give it a try. I find it works really well. Have it in the morning. Sip it for as long as you can.
If you are really up for quick results, throw in a handful of fresh spinach. It tastes fine with banana (and I don’t like banana or spinach, but they taste OK together in a smoothie)
You might need to shop for moringa powder (it’s not hard to find). Don’t exclude it – it’s really that good at resolving inflammation.
Julie x
Oh – PS. If you are suffering from lack of nutrient absorption due to a medication (they don’t tell you about that part when they prescribe), many if not most nutrients can be absorbed into the blood stream via your skin. Baliba products have this as a focus.
