Our body literally makes itself out of the nutrients our food provides it — that’s right, you very much are what you eat. In the case of your skin, the food you consume can have a much larger impact that just a few zits after a late-night sweets binge. If you have issues with inflammatory skin conditions like severe acne, psoriasis, or rosacea, you’ll want to know what researchers at UC Davis Health have discovered.
The typical American diet is certainly tasty, but not as healthy as it is delicious. High sugar and fat consumption with low fiber intake characterize most standard American diets. While we know that weight gain and even obesity are the usual outcomes of this diet, there is an even earlier result that will make your beauty regiment less effective.
Health researchers tested the effects that this high fat and sugar diet had on lab mice and found that before the mice experienced the expected outcome of weight gain, skin issues presented themselves. These mice who were put on an unhealthy diet for only four weeks began showing signs of skin inflammation, including the development of psoriasis. Before even gaining weight, the mice on the high sugar and fat diet suffered worse skin health outcomes than the mice on an exclusively high-fat diet. That’s right, put down the second serving of that dessert.
Not the most polite dinner table conversation but it turns out that bile may play a more important role in your skin’s health than you’ve ever thought (if you’ve ever thought…). Researchers found that using a drug that lowered cholesterol levels by binding bile acids in the intestine actually worked to lower the level of skin inflammation. This finding indicates there’s an important connection here that researchers will need to probe further.
If you’re wondering what all this bile and diet information means for you in your everyday life, it’s as simple as making a few more conscious choices around your eating habits. It’s easy to treat ourselves to high fat and high sugar foods, but these findings that place a direct link between skin inflammation, including psoriasis, and your diet can serve as a healthy dose of fitspo to get you back on track to make healthier dietary choices. Just remember, don’t undo all the work and money that goes into your skincare regiment with diet.
