Hormonal Acne and Gut Health:
Healing From the Inside Out

We’ve all heard the saying “you are what you eat”. 

Choosing a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy grains can help us feel and look our best. But did you know food and diet choices also affect your gut biome? 

And did you know the health of your gut biome can have a direct impact on the health of your skin? 

In this article, we’ll take a look at the link between hormonal acne and gut health and learn about healing hormonal acne from the inside out. 

Understanding the Link Between Gut Health and Skin 

Over the last few decades, scientists have been placing more focus and study on the gut biome. The natural bacteria that live in our gut affect more than digestion. We’re learning how these bacteria are crucial to our health. 

One of the most important is the link between gut health and skin health. Both our skin and our gut are teeming with diverse bacteria. Most of these bacteria are healthy and vital to organ function and health. 

But sometimes these bacteria can die off or change rapidly. When this happens our entire bodies are disrupted. But we see many of these changes in our skin. 

What causes these bacterial changes? For some, it’s the use of antibiotics or a sudden change in diet. For many, it’s related to hormone production. 

Female hormones like estrogen and progesterone are always changing. Our age, menstrual cycle, lifestyle, and even stress can cause sudden hormonal changes. And these changes often present as hormonal acne. 

Acne is frustrating. Hormonal acne can feel worse. Let’s have a closer look at the skin biome and learn how we can treat it from the inside out. 

How Microbiome Affects Your Skin 

We don’t always think of our skin as an organ. But it’s the largest organ in the body. It’s the first line of defense against infection or disease. Healthy skin is key to a healthy body. 

The skin biome consists of fungi, bacteria, and even viruses. These organisms thrive on our skin and are constantly working to maintain our health. But certain changes can alter the delicate balance of the skin's microbiome. 

These changes are both internal and external. For instance, sun exposure changes the state of our skin and can cause the microbiome to die off. But one of the biggest changes comes from within. 

Our endocrine system produces hormones and we rely on those hormones for healthy body function. Hormones regulate growth, reproduction, and metabolism. At puberty our bodies are flooded with new hormones that cause big changes, usually first noticed in the skin. Some of these hormones trigger increased oil production in the skin. This leads to breakouts and hormonal acne. 

How a Leaky Gut Affects Your Skin 

The bacteria in your gut work with the bacteria on your skin. When the two no longer have a symbiotic relationship, skin conditions like acne can flare up. This often happens when we have a leaky gut. 

When the intestinal walls become thin or damaged, toxins leak into the abdominal cavity. These toxins then spread throughout our bodies. This triggers a natural immune response as your organ systems fight to contain the spread of these toxins. 

Our skin can also become thin or damaged. So when this happens we see similar immune system activity. The results often include psoriasis or eczema and we almost always see an increase in acne. 

Also, when toxins leak from the gut, vitamins, and nutrients leak as well. Our bodies rely on these nutrients for healthy skin Treating leaky gut syndrome goes hand in hand with treating acne. 

How to Help Your Gut and Skin 

Now we know more about the connection between our gut and our skin. But how can we improve the symbiotic relationship between the two? Keep reading and we’ll learn more. 

Foods That Help with Hormonal Acne 

Optimizing your diet for peak health is one of the best ways to encourage your skin and gut to resume their healthy relationship. We know that a healthy diet is important, but what are the best foods that help with hormonal acne? 

Many experts recommend following a diet tailored for those with diabetes. Sugary foods trigger a major response in our bodies. One of the most common is increased adrenaline, which results in increased oil production on the skin. 

Try to shift your food choices away from sugar and simple carbohydrates. Instead, focus on lean protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and vegetables. Consider moderating your fruit intake as it’s also high in sugar. 

Also, consider eliminating dairy and wheat. Many women have seen improvements in gut health and hormonal acne by removing these foods from their diet.  

Best Supplements for Hormonal Acne 

Hormonal acne is an inflammatory condition and many women have had good success by adding supplements to their diet. These supplements work by reducing the inflammatory response and healing the skin.

The CDC recommends adults and children add supplements, or micronutrients, to their diets for optimal health. Let’s discuss some of the best supplements for hormonal acne. 

Vitamin D shows great results when added to a supplement regimen. We usually get our Vitamin D via sun exposure. But with the rising use of powerful sunscreens, more women find their Vitamin D levels are below normal. 

Antioxidant ingredients in supplements are your skin’s best friend. Look for ingredients like cranberries and Vitamin A when you’re checking labels. Also, consider making manganese, zinc, and B complex vitamins a core part of your supplement routine. 

Many of these ingredients are available in one, convenient pill. This makes it easy to take all the right ingredients at one time. 

You’ve heard about probiotics, but what are they and what do they do? Probiotics are the healthy bacteria that make up our microbiome. 

If you’ve ever taken antibiotics, your doctor might have suggested taking a probiotic. Since antibiotics can wipe out all the bacteria in your body, it’s important to replace the healthy bacteria we rely on. 

But antibiotics aren’t the only things that can disrupt your gut bacteria. Other medications, diet, and hormonal imbalances can all impact your gut health in a negative way. When this happens it’s crucial to replace these important bacteria. 

Probiotic supplements are rising in popularity as we learn more about just how important our gut health is. By keeping our gut full of these healthy bacteria, we see the benefits in all other aspects of our health. 

Now we know hormonal acne and gut health are related, and we’ve learned some great ways to support and heal this relationship. A focus on diet, the right supplements, and probiotics are all ways to support our body’s healthy bacteria and ensure it’s healthy and thriving. 

But you want to be sure the supplements and probiotics you take are supporting your body’s biome in the right ways. Your doctor can give you information about supplements that may be right for you, but you also want to be sure you buy those supplements from a reliable source. 

Look for supplement providers like Knowell that focus on gut health and how that relates to the body as a whole. For issues like hormonal acne, it’s important to take supplements that are specifically designed to target gut health first and the rest will follow. 

Healing Hormonal Acne from the Inside Out 

All types of acne are frustrating, embarrassing, and painful. Acne also affects our self-confidence. Hormonal acne can be especially difficult because we know stress, our menstrual cycle, and hormonal imbalances are the cause. 

So we know it’s coming, but, previously, we might not have known how to fix it. 

Healing hormonal acne from the inside out is the best course of action. And since most of the best ways to alleviate hormonal acne are things we can do at home, this helps us feel empowered. By taking charge of our gut health first we can begin to heal hormonal acne at the source. 

Now that we know more about the relationship between gut and skin, we can begin to take charge. Change your diet, add supplements that are vital to gut and skin health, and begin taking probiotics to give your body the best chance at optimum health. 

Learn more about how our carefully designed products can heal your gut and help you win the fight against hormonal acne. Better skin and better health are just a click away.