THE BEAUTY OF PROBIOTICS
Our diets, hygiene practices, stress, use of medications, toxins in the environment, and aging all play a role in our intestinal microbiome. Often these factors deplete the healthy flora in our guts and lead to negative effects on our overall health. The gut is actually a major player in our immune function, brain health, hormone production, mental health and skin health. This is why it is so important to pay attention to our gut health and take an active role in ensuring your microbiome remains diverse.
What are Probiotics?
Probiotics are supplements that contain live bacteria and yeast designed to help the natural flora in our digestive tract. The body hosts both good and bad bacteria. Keeping them balanced is essential for both digestive and immune system function. By supplementing with probiotics you can improve gut flora in the digestive tract and support your immune function.
How does that relate to your skin?
Just as in the gut, your skin contains a diverse network of microorganisms that serve to protect it when in balance. "Probiotic bacteriotherapy can have great potential in preventing and treating the skin diseases including eczema, atopic dermatitis, acne, and allergic inflammation or in skin hypersensitivity, UV-induced skin damage , wound protection, and as a cosmetic product. " ( M Rahmati Roudsari 1, R Karimi, S Sohrabvandi, A M Mortazavian )
The Gut-Skin Axis
How our skin looks is often a very strong indicator of something going on in our guts. Our immune system is based within the gut because it is where we absorb nutrients, metabolize hormones and enzymes, eliminate pathogens, and produce neurotransmitters. Our gut is the center of our overall health and when it comes to skin health it is the first place we look to improve function. The gut microbiome controls whether or not our body is in homeostasis and when it is out of balance it affects us everywhere especially our skin. Leaky gut, inflammation, and other digestive issues often first show with problems in our skin. Our motto is beauty from the inside out for this specific reason.
The Microbiome
Our microbiome need diversity, that being said taking a probiotic with only one strain of bacteria/yeast is generally not going to have a sufficient impact on your microbiome. Our recommendation is to rotate different strains on a monthly basis and eat probiotic-rich fermented foods. Broad-spectrum probiotics are best to start with and later you can get into more specialized strains to address specific issues.
Beware of Quality
The unfortunate truth is that the market today is saturated with products promising consumers a plethora of benefits with little to no regulatory monitoring on whether or not their product claims are true. This is because over the counter supplements only need to pass safety standards meaning they are safe to consume and will not cause harm. They do not have to pass purity controls or quality controls to ensure they work the way the supplement is intended. That does not mean all over the counter is bad but we suggest doing a lot of research in the brands you buy. We also highly urge clients to use pharmaceutical grade supplements rather than what you can get at the supermarket or local vitamin shop.
What is Pharmaceutical Grade?
For a product to be pharmaceutical grade it must meet certain standards. Pharmaceutical grade supplements must be 99% pure and cannot have fillers and by products. These products must meet purity and quality standards of each substance or compound it is made of set forth by the pharmaceutical monograph indexed by the FDA. They must also meet Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). GMPs have to be designed and followed, including anything covered in the monograph for production of an ingredient. It is costly and difficult to meet these standards so most over the counter products do not invest in this type of production. This results in a much higher quality product than a food grade alternative thus their is a huge difference in effectiveness with over the counter products. Another major difference is that pharmaceutical grade supplements can only be distributed by a healthcare provider.
The information on our website is provided for informational purposes only and with the understanding that Euphoria Skin and Beauty is not engaged in rendering medical advice or recommendations. Euphoria Skin and Beauty provides this educational information to share the exciting developments being reported in the scientific literature about the human microbiome and your health. Euphoria Skin and Beauty products are not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Appleton J. The Gut-brain Axis: Influence of Microbiota on Mood and Mental Health. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2018;17(4):28-32.
Salem I, Ramser A, Isham N, Ghannoum MA. The Gut Microbiome as a Major Regulator of the Gut-skin Axis. Front Microbiol. 2018;9:1459. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.01459
