The skin is the body’s largest organ and undergoes many changes during aging. When considering the importance of nutrition and skin health, five foundational focus areas should be discussed: nourishing the skin, hormonal health balance, strengthening the gut-skin connection, fortifying the skin barrier, and building collagen. Nutrition can be thought of as the core of these foundations. Food and diet do more than provide calories. The macronutrients, like protein and fat, and the micronutrients, including vitamins and minerals, provide information the body uses to function at its best, including the skin! 

Nutrition and Nourishing the Skin Barrier

Even though the skin is on the outside of the body, it can indicate a health problem that is going on internally. Beauty starts from within! From a nutrition perspective, proper hydration, protein, and the amino acid histidine are required to nourish the skin and help support the skin barrier. When the skin barrier is intact, it is strong. It keeps foreign invaders, such as bacteria and other harmful substances, from entering the body while keeping important compounds in, such as water. Damage to the skin barrier by either internal or external factors may compromise skin health. Nutrition may play a vital role in keeping skin internally healthy. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, and vitamin E, along with various antioxidants, can support the appearance of healthy skin. 

Nutrition and Hormonal Health Balance

The importance of balanced blood sugar for skin health cannot be overstated. The delicate dance of glucose and the hormone insulin after meals is very important to skin health. Data show that high-glycemic diets may exacerbate chronic inflammatory skin conditions like acne. Interestingly, the expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in acne patients who followed a low glycemic diet for as little as two weeks decreased, which may indicate a potential improvement in acne if the diet was followed for a longer duration. 

Nutrition and the Gut-Skin Connection

The skin and the gut are intricately connected. Everyone has a unique microbiome signature that lives on their skin and guts. The gut and the skin microbiome both influence immune responses that work to establish homeostasis. If the gut microbiome is altered, it may appear as a skin condition and vice versa. For example, a relative decrease in Firmicutes with increased Bacteroides in the gut microbiome has been implicated in acne vulgaris. These microbial changes in acne patients sometimes result in abnormal short-chain fatty acid profiles, especially acetate. In atopic dermatitis, where there is overt skin barrier disruption, there are lower amounts of the commensal species Akkermansia and higher amounts of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in humans. 

These findings are significant because if there is a deeper understanding of the unique microbial profile of a specific condition, then there may be a better chance of helping to manage a particular condition. For example, in a prospective, single-blinded, placebo-controlled study, the groups that were given a spore-based probiotic (4 billion spores from Bacillus indicus (HU36), Bacillus subtilis (HU58), Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus clausii) taken twice daily for four weeks exhibited a higher acetate/propionate ratio and improvements in total, noninflammatory, and inflammatory acne lesion counts. 

Nutrition and Building Collagen

Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant and free-radical scavenger that humans must obtain through food. Vitamin C has been used for decades in skincare. Several studies have shown the efficacy of vitamin C at concentrations of up to 17% to improve skin texture, and elasticity, enhance collagen synthesis, and improve measures of wrinkle, firmness, hydration, and skin suppleness. Vitamin C is also a powerful skin antioxidant, especially in response to environmental stressors, such as ultraviolet damage.  Vitamin C is a nutrient used during the formation of collagen. By supporting the formation of collagen and elastin, vitamin C may contribute to the skin’s natural wound-healing processes, which may be important in cases of certain medical aesthetic practices, such as laser skin treatments, microdermabrasion, and chemical peeling.

Conclusion 

Nutrition plays a central role in supporting overall skin health. By understanding how nutrition impacts skin health by nourishing the skin, balancing hormonal health, strengthening the gut-skin connection, fortifying the skin barrier, and building collagen, aesthetic practitioners can provide more comprehensive, personalized care to their patients. Nutrition enhances aesthetic treatments and helps build a foundation of health for lasting beauty that starts from within. By incorporating more personalized nutrition recommendations in addition to medical aesthetic practices, patients will enjoy more comprehensive care, which may help them achieve their desired results in less time.

Learn more about nutrition and skin health: 

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Balancing Your Skin From the Inside Out

Ten Nutrients to Help Your Skin Glow from the Inside Out

Skin Health: The Benefits of Collagen Peptides 

By Bri Mesenbring, MS, CNS, LDN