Does Gut Health Affect Skin, Mood, and More?!
Gut Health for Women: 6 Reasons to Care
How Gut Health Affects Skin, Hormones, Energy, Mood and Sleep!
Gut health for women plays a key role in balancing hormones, improving skin, boosting energy, supporting mood and more. From probiotics to fiber and fermented foods, simple daily habits can make a big difference. In this post, we explore how gut health affects women’s overall wellbeing, with a focus on the gut-skin-brain connection – and the easy steps (and supplements) that have worked for us.
Table of Contents
Why Gut Health Matters for Women
Did you know your gut is a secret super-hero, supporting your skin, hormones, mood, energy, sleep and more! But how? Because your gut does so much more than just digest food. Via trillions of microbes (your microbiome), your brain, skin, and hormones communicate 24/7!
In fact, our microbiome can have a profound effect on how we look and feel, especially during menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause, and may help to:
- Reduce bloating and digestive discomfort
- Improve skin and reduce acne (Kober & Bowe, 2015)
- Support emotional stability and energy
- Regulate hormones, such as estrogen
- Strengthen the immune system
- Experience deeper better sleep
Even our scalp and hair follices have their own microbiome which can affect scalp and hair health; but that’s a story for another day!
Gut Health and Skin
Gut health is strongly linked to inflammation throughout the body, affecting immunity, chronic disease risk, and other inflammatory conditions (Bander, 2020). When it comes to gut health and skin, gut imbalances may be linked to acne, eczema, rosacea, psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions (Bowe & Logan, 2011).
Simple steps you can take to support skin and gut health include:
- Reduce sugar and alcohol
- Eat prebiotics (garlic, onions, bananas)
- Use probiotics like L. reuteri and other skin-specific probiotics
- Use gentle, microbiome friendly skincare
Gut Health and Acne
We’ve noted that our gut microbiome plays a crucial role in skin health (Chilicka, 2022); scientists refer to it as the gut-skin axis. When gut bacteria are imbalanced (dysbiosis), it triggers inflammation, hormonal imbalances, and excess oil production – all major acne triggers.
The good news is, it’s possible to heal the skin-gut connection and eliminate acne. In fact, new research shows that balancing your skin and gut microbiome with the right probiotics can naturally reduce acne and inflammation. Having finally cleared my acne and rosacea, this is something my twin and I can vouch for!
Check out the Top 12 Probiotics for Acne, backed by science, as well as our personal experience with a holistic approach to skin and gut health! A word of ‘caution’, however: it wasn’t an overnight, quick-fix but for us, it was definitely worth it.
Gut Health and Women’s Hormones
The gut microbiome processes estrogen through the estrobolome, a group of bacteria that regulate estrogen levels (Baker et al., 2017). Disruption can trigger PMS, irregular periods, or mood swings.
Relatively simple steps to boost gut health for women include:
- Eating fiber (flaxseed, oats, beans)
- Adding fermented foods like kefir
- Avoiding sugar and ultra-processed foods
Gut Health and Mood
The gut-brain axis links your digestive system to mood and emotional health. Incredibly, up to 90% of serotonin is made in the gut (Dinan, 2022). It turns out the phrase ‘gut feelings’ is backed by science!
Probiotic strains for mood include:
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus (Bravo et al., 2011)
- Bifidobacterium longum (Allen et al., 2016)
- Lactobacillus helveticus (Messaoudi et al., 2011)
Gut Health and Energy
Gut issues can impair absorption of nutrients like B12, iron, and magnesium – which are needed for optimal energy (O’Mahony et al., 2015).
- Focus on whole foods
- Add fermented foods like kefir
- Stay hydrated to ease digestion
Best Foods for Women’s Gut Health
- Fermented: kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut
- Fiber / Prebiotics: asparagus, garlic, leeks
- Polyphenols: berries, cocoa, green tea
- Omega-3s: flax, salmon, walnuts
Probiotics for Women: Do You Need a Supplement?
Supplements can help with UTIs, breakouts, yeast infections, and stress.
- L. reuteri: skin, mood and vaginal health
- L. rhamnosus: mood and gut support
- B. breve: energy and digestion
Our top 4 Gut Healthy Supplements
While ‘food first’ is a mantra we’ll always swear by, the reality is that life gets busy and sometimes in the way of cooking. As twins over 50, we still want to feel our best, even when we’re trying to spin a million plates.
So, these are the supplements we take regularly, backed by science and our own experience:
Seed nutrition
Dubbed “nature’s most complete source of nutrition”, seed nutrition is our go-to for extra energy (without the caffeine-jitters!) and glowing skin.
In fact, seeds contain more nutrients per part than anything on the planet, as they must include everything needed to create new life! The Rain seed nutrition range contains cold-pressed oils, straight from seeds, for maximum benefit.
SOUL and BEAT are firm favourites for our friends, family and customers!
Probiotics
When I want to give my skin and gut health an extra boost, I add a quality probiotic supplement to my daily kefir routine. One of my go-to probiotics, YourBiology Gut+ contains a powerful mix of 20 Billion CFU probiotics and 10 different strains.
Furthermore, Gut+ contains 2 prebiotics to help feed all the good bacteria that are essential for skin and gut health! I particularly like the addition of digestive enzymes, which helps me with bloating, and so it also features in our best probiotics for women review.
PURE is another Guts & Glory Health favourite. Its carefully crafted mix of probiotics and prebiotics such as inulin, plus anti-inflammatory seed nutrition, has helped calm our skin from within and nourish the gut microbiome. Not only that, it tastes delicious, and helps us stay hydrated too – win win win!
Collagen
Personally, I’m a fan of collagen supplements, and take it regularly, because it’s backed by science and I can see the results for myself with my skin health!
What’s more, collagen can aid gut health by supporting the integrity of the gut lining, reducing inflammation, and influencing the gut microbiome. Hello skin-gut connection!
However, note that evidence varies in strength and results can depend on the individual and the type of collagen used.
Daily Habits to Improve Gut Health
- Start your day with fiber-rich meals
- Stay hydrated and drink herbal teas
- Practice stress reduction (yoga, walking)
- Sleep 7–9 hours
Gut Health for Women: Final Thoughts
Women’s gut health supports hormones, energy, skin, and mood.
Add more fiber, eat fermented foods like kefir, and consider targeted probiotics.
Remember, small changes can lead to big improvements.
Drop us a note if you have any questions!
NOTE:
This is not intended as medical advice but as general education; please seek healthcare professional advice as needed
This article contains affiliate links, from which we may earn a commission, however we onlly feature products we regulary use ourselves!
FAQs: Gut Health for Women
How do I know if my gut health is poor?
Common signs: bloating, fatigue, acne, mood swings, irregular periods.
Can gut health help with weight?
Yes. Gut bacteria affect metabolism and cravings (Turnbaugh et al., 2006).
How fast can I see changes in gut health, skin and mood?
Changes in digestion, mood, or skin may appear in 2–4 weeks (Roberfroid et al., 2010).
References
Nag et al, 2023, Dinan & Cryan (2017), Clarke et al (2014), Bowe & Logan (2011), Messaoudi et al (2011), Bravo et al. (2011), Baker et al. (2017), O’Mahony et al. (2015), Turnbaugh et al. (2006), Roberfroid et al. (2010), Reid et al. (2003)
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