At any given time, the average healthy person is host to countless beneficial, as well as potentially harmful microbes. For example, the H. pylori bacteria, infamous for causing ulcers, is present in one out of two adults, but causes no problems in most. The yeasts Candida albicans and Pityrosporum ovale (also known as Malassezia, a common cause of dandruff and skin rashes) are also common in healthy humans, and only cause their head-to-toe symptoms when an individual's resistance is low, or their army of defending beneficial bacteria have been depleted. Immune problems, stress, high blood sugar (diabetes), steroid drugs, oral contraceptives and chlorinated water are some of the textbook examples of factors that can deplete the protective gut- and skin-dwelling good guys that normally keep pathogenic microbes in check. Anti-bacterial soaps as well as antibiotics have been shown both to wipe out protective bacteria and to cause more powerful pathogenic strains to emerge.

According to Oz Garcia, New York-based nutritionist and author of Look and Feel Fabulous Forever (HarperCollins 2001, 2002), the most stubborn skin issues are ironically driven by hormonal and immune-related issues governed by the tiny, unseen world of bacteria in our guts. And while stress, a common skin culprit, affects both of these factors, the population of bacteria in our GI tract is largely responsible for how these factors play themselves out in our health and on our skin. Fungal and inflammatory skin conditions such as dandruff, acne, Candida yeast syndrome, certain types of eczema, nail infections and even athlete's foot are just a few of the superficial issues that can arise when pathogenic bacteria and fungi gain power in our GI tracts and on our skin.

The most obvious and immediate signs of such imbalance, such as what often occurs when using antibiotics, are digestive symptoms, like diarrhea and bloating. What may follow is the proliferation of the unopposed pathogenic bacteria or fungus. For example, Malassezia yeast, for example, can cause not only dandruff, but red, flaky patches near the eyebrows and eyelids, nasal folds and even the fingernails and other skin folds. Candida yeast infections can proliferate in the mouth, as athlete's foot and in the nails and in the genital area.

But what is less obvious, though perhaps more serious than the digestive complaints or local skin infections is the cascade of inflammatory reactions that may arise out of this internal imbalance, long after that course of antibiotics, or other disruptive act has ceased.

Gut Reactions: The war of the bugs sensitizes the body and skin

A widespread syndrome caused by the absence of beneficial flora that normally thickly line the intestinal walls, called "leaky gut," has long been described by Garcia and other nutrition experts. When undigested particles begin to pass through the compromised GI lining into the bloodstream, the body may begin to treat such particles as foreign invaders and stage immune responses that can wreak havoc in the form of new allergies, rashes, eruptions as well as more serious auto-immune syndromes.

Most skin problems are thought to be due either to offending pathogens, reactions to an offending substance or auto-immune reactions to components or hormones within the skin. The most challenging skin problems are a combination of these factors. For example, most cases of acne are now believed to arise not only out of the presence of an androgen hormone called DHT within the sebaceous glands, but of an individual's particular sensitivity to that hormone. According to Garcia, hormone activity is profoundly affected by the balance of bacteria in our guts, because the liver's ability to successfully metabolize hormones, is greatly influenced by our probiotic health.

Some nutritional experts, like Michael T. Murray, ND, author of Natural Alternatives to Over-the-Counter and Prescription Drugs (Morrow) even believe a connection exists between psoriasis, perhaps the most stubborn of skin diseases, and incomplete protein digestion, a problem that can arise from leaky gut syndrome. In addition, issues like insufficient stomach acid, food sensitivities, nutrient deficiencies and faulty fatty acid metabolism ‹ all problems that can arise from compromised body ecology ‹ have been linked with other chronic skin problems like rosacea and eczema. In fact, poor probiotic ecology and leaky gut can potentially exacerbate the hormonal, digestive and immune imbalances that can affect virtually all chronic skin diseases.

Fight the Good Fight: Get Back Your Pro-Beauty Body Ecology

Perhaps the smartest strategy for healthy skin is not a skin strategy at all, but a campaign to reestablish the protective bacteria that keeps our bodies in balance. Here's the best way to get back your pro-beauty ecology:

• Avoid the previously mentioned bacteria disrupting factors and drugs


• Avoid sugar and white flour which feed yeast and other pathogens


• Install water and shower filters to reduce chlorine exposure.


• Eat cultured foods like yogurt and kefir. Keep in mind that even if you do not digest milk products well, you can likely digest yogurt, kefir and other cultured products, since they contain the enzyme that digests lactose, or milk sugar.


• Take probiotic supplements, like Natren's Healthy Trinity, which contains the three friendly flora considered essential for both upper and lower GI health.

• Drinking a liter of strong oolong tea every day, which helped clear dermatitis skin lesions after a couple of weeks in a 2001 published in Archives of Dermatology study conducted in Japan.


• Applying a 0.25% capsaicin cream (may burn initially!) four times a day for six weeks, which gradually decreased pain, itching and psoriasis lesions in one study. Oregon graperoot has been found to be effective in treating rashes as well.


• Taking borage or evening primrose oil supplements (three to six capsules per day), which contain gamma linolenic acid (GLA), a fatty acid found to be deficient in some eczema sufferers.


• Applying natural, cold-pressed oil and phospholipid-based true moisturizers containing GLA as well as anti-inflammatory botanicals like chamomile, such as Kiss My Face's Obsessively Organic Under Age Ultra Hydrating Moisturizer, instead of perfumed mineral oil or petroleum-based skin products, which hinder skin healing.

Kat James