We’ve talked a lot about the “gut-brain” axis. But did you know there’s also a “gut-skin” axis? And did you know that researchers have been aware of this connection for more than 100 years? Of course, this early work was forgotten for about 90 years, and it has only received increasing attention in the last decade. It’s an exciting area of study, and it gives us new strategies for naturally treating skin conditions like acne (vulgaris and rosacea), psoriasis, eczema, dermatitis and others.
And in this episode of Revolution Health Radio, we cover:
2:24 Does the Gut-Brain-Skin Axis hold the secret to naturally get rid of acne?
8:23 The latest study validating 100 year-old research connecting stress, leaky gut, and acne
12:20 Why these ancient gut remedies also treat skin conditions
17:59 Could leaky gut be the hidden cause of acne?
20:55 How to break the vicious constipation-acne cycle
26:00 Why rush-hour traffic can cause low stomach acid, gas, and bloating
29:40 “The first place I look when someone comes to my practice with skin conditions”
34:48 The specific Gut Healing Protocol to naturally eliminate skin problems… for good
40:00 What foods to eat – and not eat – to get rid of migraines (and clear your skin)
44:12 The telltale signs you have low stomach acid… and what to do about it
Links We Discuss
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{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Great stuff! We underappreciate the role the gut has on health, immunity, skin, energy, and much more.
I thought this was really useful info and I am thrilled you plan to expand on this issue. I am seven months pregnant and have been following your Healthy Baby Code diet during my pregnancy, including taking the FCLO, vitamins, butter oil, fermented foods, bone broth, grass-fed beef, and consuming one quart of raw dairy daily. I know that hormones are crazy while you are pregnant, but my skin is completely out of control. I have had pretty serious acne on my face throughout my pregnancy and all over my back. I have struggled with mild acne on my face my entire adult life, but I have never had a problem on my back. Strangely, I feel wonderful and better than I felt before I was pregnant and just following a typical “paleo” diet that omitted dairy. I have never been more regular, I have lots of energy, I’m generally happy and haven’t had terrible mood swings, my iron and vitamin levels are terrific, I have had no headaches, no water retention issues… Acne is literally the only problem I’m dealing with.
I would love to follow the protocol you discussed in your podcast, but it eliminates many of the foods that are staples in the Baby Code diet (dairy, eggs, greens, etc.). What recommendations do you have for pregnant/nursing women with skin problems?
Another reason why healing the gut should be the first step for practitioners in trying to diagnose problems. More and more research is coming out linking gut health to so many different illnesses that it should never be ignored.
What a good podcast and your new media manager is excellent as co presenter/producer. I hope he continues for the foreseeable.
The more I learn, I am coming to the conclusion that it’s eliminating grains and minimizing sugars in the diet that are the fundamentals to curing most maladies.
Thanks Chris, this was an interesting episode. Especially the Stokes&Pillsbury part!
Very interesting, thank you for this podcast! The full text article you link to is fascinating.
In the link to the HCl challenge instructions, you mention that artificial sweeteners are associated with bacterial overgrowth, but the link (to GERD part II) only mentions the role of fructose in bacterial overgrowth. Do you have any other sources for the association between artificial sweeteners and bacterial overgrowth? A brief online search didn’t bring up any results.
Thanks again for a great podcast!
Hi, the link seems to be down; I’ve tried in several browsers. Is anyone else having this problem? Getting a file not found error.
Great podcast! And so thankful that you stay consistent with the information you put out. Some of the health “gurus” that I listened to in the past had some new diet/superfood to try every week which made things very confusing.
Have a question: what is your opinion on keratosis pilaris? It doesn’t seem to be discussed all that much even though it is extremely common. I know it disappears in some people when they adopt paleo, but know of a lot of others including myself that have really stubborn cases that don’t respond to dietary changes only. Some have said its autoimmune. What’s your experience with it?
Evan,
I’ve had success treating it with relatively large doses of naturally occurring retinol – particularly fermented cod liver oil/butter oil blend.
Ok, just realized I haven’t been taking the amount of fclo that you recommend in PPC. I’ll try adding more along with butter oil/ghee. Thanks!
Hi Chris,
Would you mind commenting on how high it is safe to go with Vitamin A when it is sourced from CLO? Is toxicity even an issue with vitamin A from CLO? Also, is it necessary to increase vitamin d along with vitamin a?
Very interesting. I wonder, do the diet recommendations have to be followed for a certain period of time prior to probiotics and glutamine? I started with L-glutamine for two months right away while switching my diet to paleo and have had great results with a variety of symptoms but it took several months. Now I am taking probiotics and eating fermented foods. I notice you talked about glutamine and probiotics as prescribed following diet changes. Would it be beneficial to go with L-glutamine again? Are the probiotics and glutamine synergistic in some way that I missed? I believe you are right on with the gut-skin connection thing, I noticed immediately upon going gluten free that my acne went away.
I’ve clicked on every badge for Personal Paleo Code and they are dead links. When will it be available again? Thanks!
We’re having issues with our host. Should be back up soon!
Chris, where does coconut milk keifer (made from bpa/additive free coconut milk) stand in terms of FODMAPs? I’m not sure how the fructose or fructans get broken down by the keifer grains….
Steve, why do you mention on your blog you saw a big improvement when you removed gelatin? I thought bone broths are rich in gelatin and a big part of the GAPS diet?
Hey Yue – I used the Specific Carbohydrate Diet which is a precursor diet to the GAPS diet. GAPS is actually a “protocol” to be politically correct that uses the SCD diet as a starting point and then implements changes to it based on what Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride found in her research. One of those changes she introduced was a heavy helping of bone broths.
On SCD gelatin is allowed, bone broths aren’t really encouraged or discouraged. The starter SCD diet includes more of meat based broths that works well for many. Honestly, I’m still trying to understand why some people like myself and others that I’ve talked with cannot handle gelatin in the beginning (even though we did just fine on the meat-based broths). At this time all I know is there is definite sub-group of people who cannot handle it and that it is likely related to the DPPIV enzyme. I’m working to get to the bottom of it so if you or anyone has any ideas please let me know – Thanks!
You mentioned you may use an antimicrobial for patients, I am wondering what this would be for patients?
thanks!
It depends on the patient and their circumstances.
When I tried taking HCl I didn’t seem to get burning until after my meal. When I tried taking 3 capsules with dinner I was kept up with a gnawing sensation in my stomach. I cut back to the point where I didn’t get this problem, but my bowels seemed unchanged. I’m back on my expensive enzymes for now, dag.
Where do most people get their calories on these restrictive autoimmune+paleo+FODMAP diets? I tried to get some from white rice and potatoes, but they break me out so bad I couldn’t continue. Ghee does this as well.
I hope someone can answer this question from Charmicarmicat, I have the SAME EXACT problem, and 7-10 tablespoons of coconut oil a day gets sickening.
HCL supplementation is very sensitive to the amount of protein your eating, try working back up making sure to eat 4-8oz of meat at the meal. When you find your dosage again, even if it’s 1 or 2 pills, just stay there for a week and look for stool changes then. Also HCL supplementation doesn’t replace enzyme supplementation for everyone. If enzymes are helping, try the HCL with them for a couple weeks and then back off the enzymes and see what you notice. Don’t make a ton of changes in a couple days, it will become impossible to tell what changes had which effects.
If you need more calories, eat more meat, avocado, coconut milk, ghee, coconut oil… there’s other foods like mushrooms and lentils that work for some people. But you need to test and create your own custom diet.
Hi Chris,
I want to thank you for sharing such helpful information. I’m interested in the subject and would like to share the knowledge with my family. Is there any book that you recommend about the importance of digestion and the gut-brain axis ?
Have a nice day,
Chloé
Hi Chloe,
As far as I know, this information hasn’t been published in book form. Maybe I need to get to it!
My favorite: old research resurfacing after way too many years of being hidden.
An amazing concept, it shows how interconnected every choice we make is. A stressful, sedentary, or lacking in nutrition lifestyle can wreak such damage on the body. Seeking a total health focused lifestyle can rid the disease that is growing in epidemic proportions and allow us to live longer.
Thanks for sharing.
LIVE Longer We Will!
How good is consuming a yogurt with 20 different types of probiotics?
Ive read 20 is the maximum you can get from probiotic supplements… and sorry fecal transplant sounds too gross for me.
However, what are your thoughts on progurt? They claim 1 Trillion CFU of *ALL* 420 strains of Human gut flora per litre. Its RIDICULOUS expensive which makes me think its just a money making scam, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
http://www.progurt.com/benefits_versus.htm
Do you recommend the NFH probio SAP90 probiotic designed to enhance the function of regulatory T cells and reduce inflammation?
Sean, I’m not familiar with this. I’ll check it out.
Thanks, Chris. I read about it when following a link to a study from your earlier post entitled “Basics of Immune Balancing for Hashimoto’s”. This probiotic was used in a study you link to from this paragraph:
“The gut flora play a significant role in both cell-mediated (Th1) and humoral (Th2) immunity. Studies show that this protective role can be maintained and modulated by taking probiotics. Specific probiotic strains can influence the secretion of cytokines to help direct naïve helper T cells towards either a Th1 dominant, cell-mediated immune response or towards a Th2 dominant, humoral immune response.”
I’d love to know what you think of this probiotic as a possible good choice for healing inflammation, including gut-skin issues. It seems to be a unique formulation, would you say?
Immune balancing effects are not unique to this particular probiotic. I checked it out and the strains used are commonly used in many other probiotics – including the one I use in my practice. I don’t think there’s anything special about the product you linked to, but it seems like a good choice.
New co host for podcast is huge improvement. He is not giggling or laughing constantly as was previous co-host. Show now is informative and very listenable.
Thanks Mike!
indeed. a very nice change.
Thanks for this podcast, Chris! Many of my health issues have vanished since I went paleo 2 years ago, but my lower GI bloating and adult acne remain.
I plan to give your recommendations a shot, but of course I don’t fancy living on such a restrictive diet forever. You don’t mention a timeline in the podcast so, 2 questions:
Am I correct in assuming that I should eliminate all FODMAPS, high insoluable fiber foods, and dairy for a month (my acne is cyclical, worst during ovulation), then systematically add foods back in until I identify my personal culprit?
Am I also correct in guessing that after my gut heals, formerly problematic foods (not gluten, but stuff like onions and broccoli and raspberries that exacerbated the problem but didn’t cause it) may be safe again?
Thanks again — I really appreciate your work!
As a mental health consumer (depression/anxiety/fatigue) I think it is important that any discussion on the topic differentiate between “mental health problems” (stress, unhappiness) and actual mental health disorders such as major depressive disorder, bipolar 1, schizophrenia, etc. While encouraging the masses to live better through dietary health, we often forget to make to point that there are exceptions to every rule.
That in mind, but without discounting the validity of what you are saying (I strongly agree) I would like to point to point to myself as a reasonable example of co-occurring chronic mental health and skin problems as well as occasional digestive symptoms. In my case my skin problems (folliculitis) are primarily due to anxiety-induced rubbing and itching and (although I have tried numerous supplement, dietary and cosmetic solutions) the only effective treatment I have found for my skin is a low dose of anti-psychotics. Please keep things in context, no one seems to have proved a causal relationship here, much less a “cure”.
I am Spanish and do not really understand the conversation in English. I wonder if there is any way to download it in writing. Thank you. I am a frequent reader.
Can I find the show transcribed somewhere? I believe I have read that the radio shows would be transcribed, but I have failed to find it.
To my knowledge this podcast is not transcribed. It comes up frequently, but when money and implementation are discussed nobody has been willing to take the ball and get it all going. I personally have no interest in transcription, but I keep putting it out there hoping some day someone will step forward so we can put this issue to bed. Any takers out there with the time, skills, or money to make this happen?
Stay tuned for some exciting news on this front!
Thanks for all the great podcast! (I listen to them several times). How much magnesium glycinate do you recommend to get things moving? I am doing the gaps diet to heal the gut – life long problems with constipation/acne/ insomnia. Thank you.
600-900 mg/d
With in two weeks of eating a paleo diet with a few extra CHO’s my acne started clearing up. I figured it was due to gluten and dairy issues. Great to hear about this!
Went to the dermatologist and told him about my issues and how my diet had helped dramatically. Of course, he told me it has “no relation”, BS.
Hey Chris, great podcast.
Have you seen any research on whether home fermented food like sauerkraut could present the potential for mycotoxicosis? This is one of those topics where clinical studies are unlikely to appear any time soon, but a lot of what I’ve read suggests any food exposed to fermentation or mold has the potential for mycotoxin contamination. Here are a few studies/resources I’ve found, I’d love your opinion:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/5723973
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajb/article/viewFile/14833/58583
http://books.google.com/books?id=Aw8FZJ_XXfYC&pg=PA825&lpg=PA825&dq=mycotoxins+fermented+foods&source=bl&ots=MIO40-SEi8&sig=NJTQ3Xc1UJkHYgNF0wo74AWDWEU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EboMT7-jMOfW0QGZ-8yTBg&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mycotoxins%20fermented%20foods&f=false
I’m unconvinced. Fermented foods have been a mainstay in traditional diets for thousands of years. It’s possible that fermented foods may present problems for immunocompromised individuals, and I’ve seen instances of this in my practice, but I tend to doubt they are toxic for the vast majority of people.
thanks for the reply, and I agree. There are only 12 or 13 different mycotoxins that are harmful to humans, and it seems unlikely home fermented foods would pose a concern. Thanks again!
-armi
I was recently diagnosed with Hidradenitis Suppurativa. It is a horrible chronic progressive autoimmune disorder that affect the skin and apocrine gland system. I was prescribed indefinite antibiotics and no other information. I have been battled auto-immune symptoms for 10 years without a diagnosis. I am treating my gut, but have had no luck finding a doctor who will help me find the source of my systemic immune breakdown. If you have heard of HS or have treated patients with this condition please address it in your skin series. Because of the nature of the disease, people do not come forward. As a result, little research and hope for those who suffer. Those of us who have looked for answers on the net by consulting one another know there is a gut connection.
Hey Chris,
I started on your regimen along with other natural supplements like Vit A and Zinc. Is purging a normal reaction? I’ve read that it happens with MSM but am unsure. Thanks!
I’ve been eating pale for awhile and, though it “cured” my awful menstrual cramps, it has not made my adult acne go away. Right now I’m trying NOT washing my face as often and only using natural soap once a day and a water wash in the AM. Not sure if this is helping yet, but this podcast made me wonder if I need to eliminate even more food. I’ve already been eating coconut milk kefir and Bubbies pickles and sauerkraut, but do I need to try the autoimmune protocol and even consider using the HCL and/or enzymes? There were so many things discussed in this podcast that I’m a little overwhelmed. How can I know for sure if I do have a leaky gut so I know whether I need to try all these things?
Hi Chris. Thanks for another awesome podcast. Just a question re stomach acid testing – do you hold any credence with the baking soda test? (Drink soda in water and time for a burp within 5 mins to test for adequate acid levels).
Appreciate your opinion on this.
Tx
Shelley
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