Gut-Skin Connection. How healing your gut helps your skin

Taken from the website http://chriskresser.com/
Orginal article: http://chriskresser.com/the-gut-skin-connection-how-altered-gut-function-affects-the-skin

The gut-skin connection: how altered gut function affects the skin

October 19, 2012 in Digestive problems, Health Conditions, Skin | 204 comments

I’m preparing for my talk at the upcoming Wise Traditions Conference in Santa Clara, CA on November 10th. I’ll speaking on the “gut-brain-skin axis”, a fascinating topic that I’ve been exploring for some time. I hope some of you will be able to come to the conference, but I thought I’d share a little slice of my research here for those of you who can’t. (If you don’t make the conference and want to watch my entire presentation, I believe the Weston A. Price Foundation sells DVDs of the talks after the fact.)

I’ve discussed the gut-brain axis several times on my radio show, and I’ve at least mentioned the triangular connection between the gut, brain and skin. In this post I’d like to go a little deeper on the gut-skin connection. Researchers as far back as 1930 suspected a link between gut and skin health, and modern research has now confirmed the importance of this relationship. And as a clinician who works with people on these conditions, I’d go as far as to say this:

Associations between gut disorders and skin conditions

Epidemiological evidence shows a clear association between gut problems and skin disorders. A recent report indicated that small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), a condition involving inappropriate growth of bacteria in the small intestine, is 10 times more prevalent in people with acne rosacea than in healthy controls, and that correction of SIBO in these individuals led to marked clinical improvement. (1) 14% of patients with ulcerative colitis and 24% of patients with Crohn’s disease have skin manifestations. (Interestingly enough, a study just came out showing that a drug normally used to treat psoriasis is also effective for Crohn’s disease.) Celiac disease also has cutaneous manifestations, such as dermatitis herpetiformis, which occurs in 1/4 of celiac sufferers. Celiacs also have increased frequency of oral mucosal lesions, alopecia and vitiligo. (2)

How altered gut function impacts the skin

Intestinal permeability (a.k.a. “leaky gut”) causes both systemic and local inflammation, which in turn contributes to skin disease. In a study way back in 1916, acne patients were more likely to show enhanced reactivity to bacterial strains isolated from stool. 66 percent of the 57 patients with acne in the study showed positive reactivity to stool-isolated bacteria compared to none of the control patients without active skin disease. ¹ In a more recent study involving 80 patients, those with acne had higher levels of and reactivity to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxins in the blood. None of the matched healthy controls reacted to the e. coli LPS, while 65% of the acne patients had a positive reaction. Both of these studies suggest that increased intestinal permeability is an issue for a significant number of acne patients. (4)

Speaking of permeable barriers: most of you have heard of leaky gut by now, but what about “leaky skin”? The main function of the skin is to act as a physical, chemical and antimicrobial defense system. Studies have shown that bothstress and gut inflammation can impair the integrity and protective function of the epidermal barrier. This in turn leads to a decrease in antimicrobial peptides produced in the skin, and an increase in the severity of infection and inflammation in the skin. (5)

The gut flora also influences the skin. Substance P is a neuropeptide produced in the gut, brain and skin that plays a major role in skin conditions. Altered gut microbiota promotes the release of substance P in both the gut and the skin, and probiotics can attenuate this response. (6) The gut microbiota influences lipids and tissue fatty acid profiles, and may influence sebum production as well as the fatty acid composition of the sebum. (7) This may explain why a Russian study found that 54% of acne patients have significant alterations to the gut flora (8), and a Chinese study involving patients with seborrheic dermatitis also noted disruptions in the normal gut flora. ²

Probiotics improve skin conditions

Another line of evidence suggesting a connection between the gut and skin is the observation that probiotics improve skin conditions. Oral probiotics have been shown to decrease lipopolysaccharide, improve intestinal barrier function and reduce inflammation. The first formal case report series on the value of using lactobacilli to treat skin conditions was published in 1961 by a physician named Robert Siver. He followed 300 patients who were given a commercially available probiotic and found that 80 percent of those with acne had some clinical improvement. ³ In a more recent Italian study involving 40 patients, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum in addition to standard care led to better clinical outcomes than standard care alone. (9) And another recent study of 56 patients with acne showed that the consumption of a Lactobacillus fermented dairy beverage improved clinical aspects of acne over a 12-week period. (10)

The beneficial effect of probioitics on skin may explain why pasteurized, unfermented dairy is associated with acne, but fermented dairy is not. I haven’t seen any studies on raw dairy and skin conditions, but my guess is that it wouldn’t be associated either. Orally consumed probiotics reduce systemic markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, both of which are elevated locally in those with acne. (11) Oral probiotics can also regulate the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines within the skin. (12) The fermentation of dairy reduces levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) by more than four-fold. (13) This is significant because studies show that acne is driven by IGF-1, and IGF-1 can be absorbed across colonic tissue. (14) This would be particularly problematic when increased intestinal permeability is present, which as I mentioned above is often the case in people with acne.

Now I’d like to hear from you. Have you noticed a connection between gut health and skin conditions in your own experience? Has healing your gut improved your skin? Let us know in the comments section.

1. Strickler A, Kolmer JA, Schamberg JF: Complement fixation in acne vulgaris. J Cutaneous Dis 1916, 34:166-78.↩
2. Zhang H, Yu L, Yi M, Li K: Quantitative studies on normal flora of seborrhoeic dermatitis. Chin J Dermatol 1999, 32:399-400. ↩
3. Siver RH: Lactobacillus for the control of acne. J Med Soc New Jersey 1961, 59:52-53. ↩

Cold And Flu Action

Cold and Flu: Prevention and Cure

Every year, millions and millions of cold viruses are caught in Australia alone. This year has been a really bad one. I got hit a few more times than I wanted to which led me to researching, just how do you avoid colds and what do you do just on the onset to get rid of one?

Colds are annoying, I hate them. They cost us time, money and we end up feeling miserable for days to weeks!

First, let’s get one thing straight. Colds are viruses, not bacteria, so antibiotics are of no use unless you have a secondary infection that goes into your chest causing bronchitis or pneumonia. But let’s stop that cold before it gets to that stage. Even better, let’s avoid getting one at all.

How Do You Catch a Cold?

Hand to hand contact with someone that coughs in their hand. This is the main one. Then you stick your hand in your mouth, ears and nose etc. So many objects that we touch every day will be infected and spread by infected carriers. Surfaces like keyboards, door handles, pens etc.

Now if your immune system is functioning OK, there shouldn’t be a problem knocking this virus out. It’s when we eat the wrong foods, get stressed, don’t wear enough clothes and lack sleep that our defences drop and we get SICK.

A few things that make your body susceptible to cold and flu are:

1.    Eating too much sugar

2.    Not wearing enough clothing and keeping our of the cold and wind

3.    Letting stress get on top of you

4.    Vitamin D deficiency

5.    Not getting adequate sleep during the dark part of the day

6.    Wash your hands!

How Long Do Colds Last … and How to Get Rid Of Them Quicker Or Avoid Them All Together?

The majority of colds, maybe 70-80% last around a week. 10-15% maybe 2 weeks, and a small amount over two weeks, usually in imuno-compromised patients, smokers or if there’s a really stubborn virus going around.

How long the cold lasts is often a combination in strengths/weaknesses of the above 6 points.

Diet And Eating Too Much Sugar

One point I like to stress is digestion. Most of our immune system is produced in the lining of our intestines. It is of utmost importance that you have a good functioning gut so that you can 1. Absorb nutrients properly from your food and 2. Produce adequate immune responses to pathogens such as bacterial and viral invasion. Digestion is something I personally love treating because it took me years to work it out as I had my own problems for years. Now it’s easy for me and I get great joy seeing people well with a healthy regular digestive system.

Sugar is a well-known immune suppressant. It can destroy the germ killing power of white blood cells for up to 5 hours after ingestion. It can reduce the production of anti-bodies, which are the cells in charge of attaching to and inactivating foreign cells and pathogens in the body. It will neutralize the action of EFA’s (essential fatty acids) and even interfere with the transport of vitamin C.

Hint: Stay off the refined sugary foods and sweetened drinks for a while if you think you’re getting run down.

Hydrogen Peroxide: Really?

This is a bit of a weird one and something I only just came across this month. I tried it, I’m not totally sold but- it’s an interesting theory…some people swear by it.

It started in 1928 with a doctor named Richard Simmons who theorised that catching a cold started in the ear canal then spread to the rest of the body. The cure? Hydrogen peroxide 3% dropped into the ears to cleanse. Then in 1939 research was conducted in Germany with some success.

What to do? As long as you catch the cold at the onset up to 12 hours this is meant to work. Buy 3% hydrogen peroxide from the chemist for a couple of bucks. Place about 3 drops of liquid into your ear canal while lying on your side. It will start to bubble and pop for about 5 minutes. Drain out the liquid then try the other ear. If anything it’s very effective at cleaning the wax out of your ears. My local chemist said she commonly sells it to divers and swimmers who get ear infections and wax build up. 

As long as you use the 3% it’s safe. It’s the other strong ones used for bleaching your hair you don’t want. If you have questions or concerns it’s best to talk to your chemist or doctor.

So What Else Can You Do to Recover From the Onset of a Cold?

Well, if the old peroxide doesn’t work and you start getting that itchy throat there is a Chinese medicine home remedy.

CONGEE!!!

Yes, the one I keep hammering to you in the clinic! Congee rules!

So, you need hot rice congee, fresh spring onion, ginger, lots of lemon and fish sauce. Eat a big bowl, put on a few layers of clothes and sweat it out in bed. I don’t recommend this method of sweating so much in people over 60 or with a heart condition. But if you’re young and otherwise pretty healthy, it does work pretty well usually.

Not sure how to make congee?? Well, check out my video then!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjwt_kEt4eM&feature=mh_lolz&list=FL-M_IDPYvAQ8

Dietary Strategies to Kick a Cold

If you do end up getting a cold, the best thing is to rest, take lots of fluids, dose up on zinc, vitamin c and chicken soup/congee.

Also, avoid sugar and sweeties!

When you get that feeling of ‘oh, I don’t feel well’, it’s time to go through the health check list. 1. Check your sugar- cut it out 2. Rug up. Wear thermals and ear muffs etc. 3. Check your stress. Meditate or relax as much as you can. Take a bath 4. Make sure you’re getting enough sun light or take a supplement 5. Go to bed early. 6. Wash your hands often

Diet wise, make some good food choices:

·         Good clean food, no take away. Prebiotic rich food to help your digestion such as kefir, miso, kimchi, garlic.

·         Home-made chicken soup

·         Coconut water

·         Locally grown fruits and vegetables

·         Mushrooms, especially Reishi, Shiitake, and Maitake,

·         Congee

·         Green leafy veggies

·         Lots of fresh water

·         Not too much phlegmy foods like milk, cheese and yoghurt

Supplements to Get You Through or Prevent the Worst

·         Vitamin C: A very potent antioxidant

·         Vitamin D: Vey important immune mediator

·         Zinc: Also very important for the immune system

·         Dry Cough Tincture: Made by us at the clinic now in a convenient tincture. A thousand year old Chinese medical formula amazing for that persistent dry cough.

·         Dry cough syrup: Pi Pa Gao. Famous old Chinese medicine syrup used to soothe the throat

·         Olive leaf extract: High in antioxidants and used for thousands of years in different cultures.

·         Gan Mao Ling: Chinese medicine tablets. Great for cold and flu prevention.

Remember This Tip: Wash Your Hands Often, but not Too Often

Hand washing is a really practical method of infection control. Note that your hands do have a natural anti-bacterial coat so you don’t want to be obsessively washing hundreds of times a day unless you work in a hospital.

What If I’m One Of Those People Where The Cold Always Goes Into My Lungs?

One good tip I’d like to leave you with is this. If you have followed all the above advice and you have a snotty nose that runs down the back of your throat, you want to clear this especially it that snot turns green or yellow. It will likely then run down into your lungs and festers in there. Get a netti pot or nasal irrigation pump and regularly clear out your nose morning and night. This will significantly reduce the likelihood of the cold progressing to a chest infection.

 Note:

I hope you have all enjoyed this information and it helps you out some day. Please use it with common sense and always contact your doctor if you get a high fever, symptoms become severe or you feel worried in any way about your health and safety.

Launching Herb Lab Chinese Medical Tinctures and Supplements

how to boil chinese herbs

Dampness and Phlegm: Physics and Diet

Internal Dampness & Phlegm

Dampness and phlegm are accumulations that occur in the body that may make us feel ‘phlegmy’ or just heavy and tired. When our diet is out of sync with our body, our mind is working overtime, or when the weather is very damp and humid, we tend to become stagnant with damp and phlegm.

Dampness is generally considered a thicker/heavier viscosity than phlegm, however may be less obvious in physical signs. Dampness is sensed in the heaviness of the body and fogginess of thinking, and can be seen in the tongue coat.

Phlegm is thinner and manifests in a runny nose or wet type of cough.

Symptoms of Dampness & Phlegm

·         Foggy head

·         Poor memory

·         Difficulty waking up in the morning

·         Low energy, especially after eating

·         Loose Stool

·         Poor concentration

·         Leucorrhoea

·         Wet-pustulent skin conditions

Signs of Dampness & Phlegm

·         Swollen tongue with teeth marks

·         White coating on tongue

·         Runny nose, especially after greasy/dairy food

·         Slippery pulse

One of the signs of dampness is a thick tongue coating and swelling of the tongue body. Sometimes the coating of the tongue is very thick and white, especially in people that consume a lot of dairy such as yoghurt and milk. These people often also scrape the coating of their tongue as it is so thick! This doesn’t treat the root of the damp problem, just removes one of the indicators.

Damp and phlegm accumulate for a few different reasons. We can initially break the causes down into 2 categories: Internal and External routes.

Internally damp/phlegm may accumulate due to:

1.    Overthinking/stress leading to a deficiency of the spleen qi (digestive energy) which can’t cope with all the damp  foods being ingested, thus leading to a sluggish digestion.

2.    Poor diet. Too much dairy, greasy, oily, fatty, sweet, cold, raw and rich natured foods.

Externally damp/phlegm may accumulate due to:

1.    Humid environment. Tropical weather. Air-conditioner blasting on you during a hot day for long periods of time.

2.    The two weeks between each season change, and especially the end of summer which is considered the ‘late summer’ or ‘damp’ time of the year when we expect dampness to accumulate.

Chinese medicine is based on the 5 element theory.  Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood.

Each element relates to a season, organ, emotion and function etc. Dampness relates most closely to earth. The earth element relates to late summer, and the organs of the spleen and stomach.

The job of the spleen and stomach is to convert food and water to energy and the rest to waste. However, sometimes when this system is run-down and can’t convert things properly, due to a rich diet for example, there is an excess residue left over that can’t be disposed of efficiently called dampness. Chinese medicine also states that when the dampness over flows from the earth element, it is contained in the metal element; this being the lungs and large intestine. This can explain why sometimes we eat greasy fish and chips or a milk shake and get a runny nose, cough or diarrhoea.

Dampness is heavy and likes to drain down and out. Sometimes it can’t do this as it gets blocked and gluggy. There are a few ways we get rid of damp. First we want to reduce the foods that are adding to the problem. Then we want to use herbs and acupuncture to either open the pores of the skin to disperse through sweat, purge through the stool or drain through urination. Then we will strengthen the digestion using a bland diet, exercise, herbs and acupuncture.

Matter and Energy 
A good way to explain Chinese medicine and what we call ‘digestive fire’ is through basic physics principles.

Matter and energy. The two fundamental aspects of nature are fire and water. We can refer to these 2 elements as matter (water) and energy (fire). Everything is a form of matter and energy, matter being a more condensed form with less vibration and energy as a more dispersed and insubstantial form that has highly vibrational electrons and protons.

This said, the two are interchangeable; life and nature are always moving and changing. We are made up of matter and we are driven by passion, emotion, will and love, in this case we can say this is the ‘energy’ or fire that is life. Thus, we are made up of matter, driven by energy. But what fuels this energy? Food, air and water. So we have life, or this ‘inner fire’, and we want to add fuel or wood. What kind of wood would we add to a campfire?

What burdens the digestive fire?

When we want to make a good fire, we need good, light and dry wood; like kindling. We notice when we put green sticks on the fire it smokes and dulls the fire. Likewise, if we put a large log of wet wood on the fire, we’re likely to extinguish it totally.

The spleen and stomach like dry, light food. Thus heavy, oily, greasy, raw and dense foods are not the kind of thing to strengthen an already weak digestion. It is like throwing a big heavy wet log on a small fire. Goodbye fire!

We need to start with easily digestible grains and foods that are cooked well and not overly processed. This is our kindling.

Foods to reduce dampness & return digestive fire

Cooked whole grains: Rice, Oats, Barley, Rye, Millet, Quinoa, Pearl Barley, Buckwheat, Amaranth, Corn

Veggies: Beans (if you can tolerate from the gas), celery, pumpkin, turnip, alfalfa, leafy greens

Meat/Protein: Small amounts of well cooked (even slow cooked/stewed) are good and damp draining. Beef, Lamb, Chicken.

Spices/Herbs: Ginger is great to warm the digestive fire, especially in congee. Cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, paprika, cumin and pepper are all warming to the digestion.

Foods to avoid that increase dampness & reduce digestive fire

Basically, too much raw, cold, sweet, oily or mucous-forming foods.

Too many raw fruits, vegetable, sprouts, juices, cold food from the fridge, salad, sushi in excess.

Late night eating

Over eating

Not chewing properly

Processed foods such as pastries, pork, duck, salads, wheat grass, avocados, bananas, tofu, soy milk (soy is 50% fats and oils), eggs, chocolate, ice cream, smoothies, iced water, lassies, dairy.

A raw food or salad diet sounds great and cleansing but may not be beneficial for everyone. A person who is very hot, red faced with a strong constitution will benefit a lot, however a skinny, pale, tired person will become worse. This is all due to their condition, digestive fire, and diet.

Further improving digestion and reducing excess weight

When the digestive fire is reduced and we put in more of the wrong foods, we get a left over residue. This is what we call dampness. This dampness is energy that has become more substantial, matter. This left over matter may be deposited as fat or turn into more solid matter such as cysts.

The way to reduce this occurring is:

Reducing damp accumulating foods

Restoring digestive fire

Become active and exercise daily

Clearing your mind with meditation and relaxation breathing

Chris Eddy Dr of Chinese Medicine