how to get your glow back.

Holiday Hangover? Why Your Skin is Feeling the Effects

Introduction

After weeks of enjoying festive meals, desserts, and celebratory drinks, it’s common to notice your skin isn’t looking its best come January. The gut-skin axis, which links gut health to skin appearance, plays a significant role here. When the gut microbiome becomes imbalanced, it can lead to inflammation and breakouts, making the post-holiday period a great time to refocus on nourishing your gut for better skin.

Sugar and Its Impact on Skin

The holidays usually come with sugar-packed treats like mince pies, chocolates, and desserts. While they are delicious, the excess sugar can wreak havoc on your skin in several ways:

• Triggers Inflammation: High sugar levels cause a rise in insulin, which increases hormones that boost oil production in your skin. This can lead to clogged pores and acne.
• Disrupts Gut Microbiome: Sugar feeds bad gut bacteria, causing inflammation that can make acne and uneven skin tone worse.
• Weakens Collagen: Sugar binds to collagen proteins in a process called glycation, making your skin less firm and more prone to wrinkles, speeding up signs of aging (Cao et al., 2020).

Alcohol and Skin Hydration

From mulled wine to festive cocktails, alcohol is often a staple of holiday celebrations. However, alcohol can have several negative effects on your skin:

• Dehydrates Your Skin: Alcohol is a diuretic, leaving your skin feeling dry and dull.
• Gut Permeability: Alcohol weakens the gut lining, leading to "leaky gut," which causes inflammation that shows up on the skin as redness or irritation.
• Stresses the Liver: The liver works harder to detoxify alcohol, which can result in a buildup of toxins that show on your skin as dullness or a tired complexion (Cao et al., 2020).

Processed Foods and Skin Inflammation

Holiday meals often include rich foods, like fried treats, creamy sauces, and processed meats. These foods are typically high in trans fats (the bad type of fat), salt, and preservatives, which can affect your skin in a these ways:

• Promote Inflammation: Trans fats and salt can cause puffiness, redness, and irritation in your skin.
• Gut Microbiome Imbalance: Processed foods disturb the gut microbiome. Since gut health is connected to your skin’s appearance, an imbalance can lead to flare-ups and uneven skin tone (Ahmed & Mikail, 2024).
  

5 Steps to Reclaim Your Glow

1. Balance Your Microbiome: Research suggests that probiotics can help with acne (Zouboulis, and Seltmann, 2017), improve skin hydration (Sato and Ohnishi, 2016) and and support overall skin health and skin aging (Cao et al., 2020). Our synbiotic duo cap has been formulated to specifically help your skin look more radiant by supporting your gut health.
2. Hydrate: Drink plenty of water to rehydrate your skin and flush out toxins. Herbal teas and coconut water can also help.
3. Eat More Antioxidants: Focus on whole foods like fruits and vegetables, particularly those rich in vitamin C (citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts) and vitamin E (nuts and seeds) to repair and brighten your skin.
4. Limit Sugar and Alcohol: Reducing sugar and alcohol gives your skin time to heal and rejuvenate.
5. Moisturise and Repair: Be consistent with your skincare and use products with hydrating and calming ingredients to restore moisture and soothe your skin.

Conclusion

When you take care of your gut, your skin follows. With a few mindful changes, you can refresh both your gut and skin, helping you feel and look your best for the new year.

• Ahmed, I. A., and Mikail, M. A. (2024). Diet and skin health: The good and the bad. Nutrition, 119, 112350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2024.112350
• Cao, C., Xiao, Z., Wu, Y., & Ge, C. (2020). Diet and skin aging—From the perspective of food nutrition. Nutrients, 12(3), 870. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12030870
• Jena, M., & Sahoo, A. (2018). Gut microbiota, probiotics and skin health: An overview. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 1012. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01012.
• Sato, J., & Ohnishi, T. (2016). Effect of probiotics on skin hydration and other skin properties: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 9(4), 26-31.
• Zouboulis, C. C., & Seltmann, H. (2017). The effect of probiotics on acne vulgaris: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 28(2), 112-118. doi: 10.1080/09546634.2016.1249194.