The health of our bodies on the outside is a direct reflection of the health of our bodies on the inside. When it comes to our skin, something that is commonly overlooked are the ways gut health and hormones play a role in its appearance.

Skin that’s dry, dull, breaking out, and red are physical symptoms of a skin barrier that is overwhelmed, irritated, and inflamed. Instead of reaching for expensive topicals or trendy facial regimens, let’s zoom out and discuss why and how a disrupted skin barrier can occur.

Hormonal Imbalance and an Imbalanced Skin Barrier

Let’s dive a little deeper into what hormones are, why and how our bodies use them, and how they can become imbalanced before we talk about their effect on skin health.

To simplify, think of your hormones as chemical messengers that communicate to skin, muscles, and tissues and facilitate bodily processes. Hormones only turn on or act if it “fits” the cells in the target tissue, commonly explained as the “lock and key” method.

When the hormone fits the “lock” on the cell wall, they control metabolism, homeostasis, growth and development, sexual function, reproduction, sleep-wake cycle, and even mood. Therefore, when there is an imbalance in hormones, our entire bodies can be significantly impacted.

Some common causes of hormonal imbalances:

Chronic stress
Thyroid issues
PCOS
Diabetes
Poor diet
Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals
- Read more about non-toxic living here!

Hormones and the Health of Your Skin

Here are some of the common hormones associated with skin health:

Estrogen: Helps maintain skin thickness, collagen production, and moisture levels

Testosterone: Known to increase sebum production, making skin more oily and leading to acne

Progesterone: Known to increase oil production, making skin more oily and leading to acne

Cortisol: Associated with stress, having high levels of cortisol can lead to inflamed skin (and overall body), causing acne and eczema.

Thyroid hormones: Affect moisture levels and hair growth

To use estrogen and cortisol as examples, our bodies can signal estrogen dominance or high cortisol through the appearance of skin. It’s important to note that our hormones are not stagnant or the same every day, especially for women. As our menstrual cycle constitutes our hormones, each phase brings its own hormonal fluctuations, impacting mood, sleep, energy, appetite, and even skin health.

Get to Know Your Hormone Cycle and read my previous blog!

Hormone Health Intensive

Since our hormones play such a massive role in overall health, it’s important to get to the root cause of the issue. With my Hormone Health Intensive, you’re able to get your individual and unique hormone level results from the DUTCH Test and work 1-on-1 with me to create a personalized protocol to find balance in your body again.

Gut-Skin Connection

Our gut microbiome is a diverse ecosystem of bacteria and other microorganisms that reside in our intestines. These bacteria and microorganisms are vital to our overall health and contribute to various major bodily functions such as digestion, immune health, mood, and metabolism. Because of the gut’s powerhouse role in our health and its influence on many bodily systems, the health of our skin relies on the health of our gut.

Here are a few conditions involving a disrupted gut, known as dysbiosis:

Leaky Gut:

Your gut lining acts like a selective filter — allowing nutrients into your body while keeping irritants out. When that barrier is stressed or becomes “leaky,” it can become hyperpermeable, allowing more particles (undigested food, toxins such as pesticides, microbial byproducts, and yeast) to cross into circulation in amounts the immune system isn’t designed to handle.

When these immune-stimulating materials get through, your immune system remains more activated than it should, and over time, that can manifest as food reactions, skin issues (acne, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis), joint pain, anxiety, digestive symptoms, fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune flare-ups, and chronic inflammation.

Read more on leaky gut by reading my previous blog, “Leaky Gut: What It Is, Why It Happens, and How to Heal It Naturally.”

Inflammation:

When the gut experiences dysbiosis, our bodies have an inflammatory response that increases the production of inflammation throughout the body. This response has a cascade of negative health effects, including impacting the health of our skin.

Master Your Microbiome

The GI-MAP test is an at-home stool test that reveals the imbalances in the “good” and “bad” gut bacteria, digestive enzyme output, yeast and parasites, inflammation, gluten sensitivity, and more. My Gut Health Intensive program is ideal for those struggling with unexplained gut issues or looking to optimize gut health with a customized protocol.

Ways to Balance Skin

Taking care of your skin starts with taking care of your overall health, but there are skin-specific practices you can focus on to promote your skin’s resiliency. Here are my top recommendations:

Protect skin from UV damage

What you put in your body is just as important as what you put on your body for UV protection. Focusing on foods rich in vitamins A, C, and E, as well as antioxidants and healthy fats, all support the skin barrier.
- When it comes to sunscreen topicals, I focus on cream-and mineral-based formulas. Many well-known sunscreens include fragrances and harmful chemicals such as oxybenzone, octinoxate, avobenzone, and other endocrine-disrupting additives.
  - To learn more about skin health and holistic choices for sun protection, check out my previous blog, “Skin Health and Using the Sun as Medicine.”

supplements

One of my top supplements for skin health is omega-3s because of its anti-inflammatory properties and power in strengthening the lipid barrier. My other recommended supplement is zinc for its ability to fight inflammation and accelerate wound healing.

non-toxic skincare

For face products that are non-comedogenic, I always rely on EWG.org (Environmental Working Group) by checking their database for harmful product ingredients.