Could Probiotics Be the Answer to Your Acne?

Talking ablout Probiotic supplements, Positive results from Probiotic and a lot more!

For decades, doctors and acne sufferers alike have suspected that gut health plays a significant role in maintaining healthy skin and avoiding acne breakouts. Recent research has indicated that there is indeed a connection between the health of your digestive tract and the quality of your skin, though the link is complicated and still not fully understood.

With the rise in popularity of over-the-counter probiotic supplements aimed at balancing gut flora and maintaining digestive health, some people have begun to wonder if this may hold the key to finally clearing up stubborn acne as well. The results have been mixed, but there is good reason to look into probiotics if your acne has been resistant to other treatments.

Many times people turn to remedies like probiotics because they have gotten lackluster results from traditional treatment methods or products, or because they aren’t aware of all of the conventional treatments available. Some of these products that treat acne directly have been on the market for a long time and have a dedicated following for a reason, so it’s always a good idea to check them out. One of the products that people consistently ask about is Proactive. You have probably seen the commercials and wondered if this treatment is right for you. You can click here to check out our comprehensive Proactive reviews, as well as a rundown of other available acne treatments.

Now let’s take a look at probiotics and what they can do for your skin health.

Balancing Gut Flora

Your body is host to innumerable tiny organisms, such as bacteria, that support all of your vital functions. A balance between different kinds of organisms must be maintained in order to ensure proper functioning. Because your digestive tract is so intimately linked to virtually every function in your body, an imbalance of bacteria in your gut can wreak havoc systemwide.

The theory behind supplementing with probiotics is that many lifestyle factors (including diet and stress) can cause an overgrowth of “bad” bacteria in the gut. Supplementing with “good” bacteria (like Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium) may help balance things out. And many people claim to have gotten positive results from probiotics in overcoming a variety of ailments, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome and certain skin conditions, including acne.

So what is the specific link between your gut and your skin? As noted before, the digestive tract influences every system in the body, because this is where nutrients are absorbed and distributed from. So a healthy gut should mean a generally healthier body.

Researchers believe that gut flora imbalances can weaken the walls of the intestines, allowing toxins into the bloodstream, which causes systemic inflammation. This disorder is referred to as leaky gut syndrome. It is theorized that probiotics can help heal this condition and lower inflammation in the body, and this could explain why some people taking probiotics experience relief from acne and rosacea.

But the fact remains that some people have the opposite result: taking probiotics actually worsens their acne, sometimes drastically. Why might this be?

Leaky Gut Syndrome and SIBO

You’ve probably heard the old saying that too much of a good thing can be bad for you. Well, in the case of probiotics, this may very well be true. There is a condition known as Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), in which the good bacteria (the ones you are adding to your system with probiotics) over-proliferate in the large intestine and invade the small intestine, where they don’t belong.

It is thought that SIBO is often mistaken for irritable bowel syndrome, a very common disorder with similar symptoms. It is also thought to contribute to leaky gut syndrome. If you have SIBO, the last thing you would want to do is add more of the bacteria that are colonizing your small intestines through supplementation. This might explain why some people experience a drastic increase in acne when taking probiotics.

Conclusion

Are probiotics a miracle cure for acne? Unfortunately, no. There almost certainly is no such thing. The remarkable thing about probiotics supplementation for acne is the wide array of outcomes experienced. There are people who have tried for years to clear up severe acne with little success, only to see it drastically reduced or even completely disappear with probiotics. On the other end of the spectrum are people with very mild (or even nonexistent) acne who find they break out heavily when they introduce probiotics to their diet. As with any acne treatment, the only way to know if it will work for you is to try it. They just might be the solution you have been looking for.