Probiotics for better skin

Probiotics are now widely known for their beneficial role in your gut health, but emerging research further proves their benefits are not limited to your digestive tract.

Signals from these gut microorganisms are sent throughout your body and interact with organisms in your skin and gut mucosa. Researchers are now looking into how these interactions can help with skin conditions like dryness, improve collagen, or stabilize the microflora on your skin to help with irritations.

In the video at the link above, Professor Christine Lang noted it could be one to two years before functional probiotic products for the skin are developed, but there are already a handful of them on the market.

The popular cosmetic company Clinique has just released a "redness solutions makeup" that touts probitoic technology that "helps strengthen skin's barrier." Probiotic soaps, lotions and other personal care products are also available at many health food stores.

Research is still emerging as to precisely how probiotics interact with your skin, as well as which strains are most beneficial and whether topical or oral applications work best, but the promise is definitely there. Probiotic benefits for your skin is an area worth keeping an eye on in the next few months and years.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/11/probiotics-send-signals-from-your-gut-to-your-skin.aspx

Probiotic Skin Benefits Already Revealed

It's already known that probiotics play a role in your skin health. For instance, that probiotics are beneficial for preventing eczema in infants is a finding I've been reporting on since at least 2001.

In 2003 a study of over 100 children from families with a history of eczema also found a benefit from probiotic supplementation, and just last year a study noted that daily supplements of probiotic foods may reduce the risk of eczema in children by 58 percent.

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is more than just a skin problem, however, as it signals a problem with your immune system. In fact, eczema is said to be one of the first signs of allergy during the first days of life, and about three out of four children with eczema later go on to develop asthma or hay fever, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The incidence of eczema has been on the rise for years and one theory for the increase, which is known as the hygiene hypothesis, is that children are being exposed to a lower level of bacteria, which affects the development of their immune systems.

Indeed, a study published in 2008 found that children with only a limited variety of bacteria in their intestines one week after birth are more likely to develop eczema by the age of 18 months.

It's thought that giving an infant probiotics (good bacteria) helps to stave off eczema and other allergic diseases by beneficially altering the early colonization of bacteria in their gut, which may help the child's immune system to develop and mature. It may be through a similar mechanism that probiotics help other skin conditions as well.