Since you've made it here to my blog I'm going to just assume that you've at least heard about the connection between your gut and your skin.
Now I don't want you to think that just because you possibly haven't heard of this that you're out of the loop. I mean I went almost my entire life not knowing a single thing about this so you are not alone! Before finding the information & research on my own in 2014 I had heard of leaky gut in relation to other things but none of it applied to me so I didn't pay much attention. #sorrynotsorry.
Had I paid attention sooner things would probably be different. But I'm just glad that through my experience with insane break outs and severe leaky gut I am now able to help you avoid the same mistakes I made and have an actual solution!
On that note, let's talk about this thing called leaky gut, and why you SHOULD care about it if you're someone who is currently riding the struggle bus with acne, occasional break outs, or really any sort of skin disorder.
What is Leaky Gut?
Leaky gut is a popular term for Intestinal Permeability. Essentially it means that your gut lining (as in your stomach) has little gaps in the wall of cells that lines it. This cellular lining separates food in your tummy from everything outside of your tummy like your blood stream where food should not be. What this ultimately means is that when you eat food it's not all staying in your stomach because small particles are slipping through those cracks and escaping into your body where they SHOUD NOT BE.
Yikes.
It's like if Gandalf got drunk every time you ate and didn't show up to yell "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" and therefore the food particles that should've been stopped by him are instead leaving your gut and wreaking havoc.
Why should this matter to you?
None of that sounds like much fun right? Well it's not. Leaky Gut can trigger a whole catalyst of issues in your body including but def not limited to:
- Acne
- Psoriasis
- Eczema
- Autoimmunity
- Inflammation
- Hormonal Imbalance
- Infertility
- Nutrient Depletion
- Inability to Lose Weight
- Inability to Gain Weight
- Diabetes
- Insulin Resistance
- PCOS
- IBS & IBD
- Food Allergies
- Seasonal Allergies
- Mood Issues
- Thyroid Issues
- Cancer (some believe)
And there's more of course. But that's just a basic list.
I will tell you right now that no matter what you believe is causing your acne, or making it worse, wether it be hormonal issues, topical issues, dietary issues, whatever, the following is true no matter what:
IF YOU HAVE ACNE THEN YOU HAVE A LEAKY GUT.
Even if your gut isn't severely leaky, as in Gandalf is still showing up occasionally but takes long breaks where he gets drunk (obvi), it can still have a huge effect on your body.
Remember the whole catalyst thing? Even if your breakouts are in fact hormonal, that doesn't mean that the root source of that whole hormonal imbalance going on isn't at least partially a leaky gut. At the very least it doesn't hurt to make your gut happy by working to heal it!
Okay so now that you understand WHAT leaky gut is and WHY is matters to you, let's move onto talking a little about HOW this leaky gut thing happens.
How do you get Leaky Gut?
To put it very simply, leaky gut is caused by gut damaging foods like anything processed, gluten, grains, dairy, sugar, soy, alcohol, legumes, corn, industrial seed oils, and pretty much everything else in between that's excluded on a Paleo diet. Another thing that causes leaky gut is prescription medications and especially oral antibiotics that wipe out all the good and bad bacteria in your system. Many of us are actually born with leaky guts because of our mothers diets, plus their antibiotic usage which can cause all sorts of issues starting from a young age. Paleo however, can reverse that damage and restore your body to health!
This is part of the reason why I honestly believe that natural healthcare and a generally Paleo lifestyle are the best. It's the reason that I trusted it to heal myself and the reason I use it for my clients daily.
On top of the, once you've put in enough time to really work on healing your gut, you will start to see it in your skin! In the process you'll also be reducing inflammation, reversing all the damage, and making your insides happy and non toxic again! Then in time you can even slowly either reintroduce certain foods you couldn't tolerate before, or at least be able to eat some on occasion without adverse side effects.
I mean isn't that exciting! We can do something about this!
These days I eat white right moderately often because I love it and my body does well with it. It's still gluten free and it doesn't break me out. That's the main indicator I pay attention to. If I eat something "different" or "off plan" I always pay REALLY close attention to how my tummy and skin respond to it.
Everyones body is different so it's important to learn how to listen to yours.
I also eat a ton of Goats Milk Yogurt which I talked more about in my Best Dip Ever post because it's loaded with probiotics and I can handle goats milk in pretty much any form (aka goats milk kefir, or cheese) without any adverse reactions. I've even seen huge benefits from adding the yogurt in!
It's a process my friends, but I've been on this healthy healing journey for years and I'm really happy to have made the progress I have, so that I can help you do it too! And YOU CAN DO IT!!!
Finally let's talk about what you came here for: the things you need to start doing right now to start healing your gut & clearing your skin from the INSIDE OUT once and for all! YAYYYY!
As they say: what you see on the outside is a reflection of what's happening on the inside. SO let's do this thing!
5 Necessities to Heal Your Gut & Clear Your Skin
1. Probiotics
Probiotics are all the rage these days, in the world of digestion, but it's often taken for granted just how important they are for healing your skin. Eat as many probiotic rich, fermented foods as possible. Some great options are: Sauerkraut, Kombucha, Kimchi, Pickles and a ton more. check out my pinterest Fermented Foods Board for some fermenting inspo!
If you can tolerate it, also get in some goats milk kefir, goats milk yogurt, or any other kind of kefir like water kefir, coconut kefir etc! I buy mine at Whole Foods or Trader Joes.
Probiotics are the GOOD bacteria that we need in order to digest food & absorb nutrients. They help to replenish your poor leaky gut who is suffering from a bad bacterial toxic environment. I think of it as a toxic waste land and I need to help it out! Probiotics are a huge must for this! I prefer getting mine from food but if you want a supplement THIS with THIS are great options!
2. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Okay. I want to say that I know ACV is all the rage in weight loss and this and that and whatever else right now. Okay, like I really do get that. But I want to tell you why it's essential for those of us with acne to get it into our bodies on a regular basis.
Remember that toxic wasteland I talked about? Well it needs a lot of help. Not only is ACV going to provide some stomach acid to make the whole digestive process easier on you, but it has a ton of amazing enzymes.
One thing these enzymes do is HELP out those probiotics you're consuming! It helps them not just pass through our system but actually FLOURISH in our guts so that we get the maximum benefits. I think of ACV as the exterminator friend that comes in and blasts all the toxic things out of our gut while supporting us AKA the good guys.
What a nice friend!! Click Here to read how I take my ACV shot every morning under the "Morning Tonic" section! And here's the best brand of ACV out there!
3. L-Glutamine
Now we're doing all these great things to support out toxic gut with probiotics and getting that daily dose of ACV, and things are getting SO much better! YAY! But that's not all folks! There's still more to be done here, but this is an easy one!
L-Glutamine is an amino acid that our body naturally produces and many people use for muscle recovery. In this case what it actually does is help to seal and heal those gaps in the cell lining of your gut that's making it leaky. Essentially L-Glutamine has gotten Gandalf into rehab and is making sure he becomes a permanent fixture at his station as a new man (scroll up if you don't get the reference here)!
Simply add 1/2tsp to a cup of water and drink it on an empty stomach. Less is more here, if you take too much you'll get constipated. You're welcome. If you're already taking a BCAA (Brand Chain Amino Acid Supplement) then carry on, just check the ingredients! Here are the brands I recommend: Dr. Axe (def the best option), Jarrow, or Scivation.
4. Collagen & Gelatin
Yet another overly saturated supplement out there these day, but for good reason. Not only do these bad boys help seal and heal your leaky gut, but they also boost your natural production of stomach and and aid in digestion and regular eliminations! Plus they're high in protein and help your bones, joints, muscles, & skin keep their elasticity.
Uhm hello sing me up please!
You can get these from making Bone Broth! There are a ton of easy peasy bone broth recipes out there, just hit up Dr. Google. Personally I'm lazy about making bone broth every week so I'm all about adding these guys in supplement form to my teas, smoothies, yogurt, etc every single day. I use and love Vital Proteins brand for both the gelatin (for hot liquids) & the collagen (for cold liquids). I use the collagen far more often because I add em to my daily gut healing smoothie! But THIS is a great alternative if you want an all in one kinda deal!
5. Remove Irritating Foods
I'm sure you saw this one coming as soon as I listed out all the foods that make your gut leaky in the first place. Here's the thing, it can seem daunting to "cut out" a ton of stuff and in time your attachment will subside and those foods will no longer be interesting to you. And hey one day you might be able to eat them again without your skin going crazy or feeling like crap about yourself or really a care in the world. Isn't that exciting!?
But for right now while you work on healing, these steps here are crucial.
You don't want the inside of you tummy to be a toxic wasteland. That's gross, and even worse, what's happening in there is showing up outside your body in the form of ACNE. No one wants acne. Try this switch with your diet strictly for 30-90 days. It can be a fun process! Look through the recipes here on my site, make some meal plans for yourself, plan out the next 30 days and get excited to start healing yourself!!!!
I'm so happy that you've made it this far and I really hope you'll start implementing these tips above like ASAP! Keep in mind that you can get a lot of the items above in store, but for those of you obsessed with Amazon like I am, these are convenient options for you!
I literally cannot wait for you to get started on all this & start seeing some amazing progress in your skin! GAHHHH IT'S SO EXCITING!
If you need more information & support on your journey I'm here for you! I have a whole ebook & online video course to guide you through everything you need to know about healing your skin naturally called Clear Skin Secrets Revealed. I also have tons of free resources, an acne detox protocol, printable guides for your kitchen and purse, worksheets, shopping lists, and so much more in my Resource Library!
And one of my personal fav resources for all things Leaky Gut is Dr. Axe! He doesn't specialize in acne or paleo but he is the King of all things Leaky Gut! Def check him out for some more resources on the leaky gut aspect!
Thank you all as usual for being awesome and committed to healing yourself naturally!As I mentioned before you can look forward to even more blog posts like this one coming your way!
In the meantime don't forget to check out my free Resource Library & Clear Skin Secrets Revealed!
