A SKINCARE DIETITIAN

My microbiome report showed signs that my gut could be influencing my skin. I was not surprised to hear that, after all, I have the skin of a teenager. It’s not for lack of wrinkles that I get carded at the bottle shop, it’s the hormonal acne that’s followed me into my thirties.

When I mention this to Geraldine Georgeou, a dietitian and author of The Australian Healthy Skin Diet, she quotes the gastroenterologist Dr Alessio Fasano: “The gut is not Las Vegas. What happens in the gut does not stay in the gut.”

“The first thing you think when you have a skin condition is, ‘What am I doing to my skin?’” she says. “But skincare isn’t just about serums: it’s also about diet.” She describes it as a chickenand-egg situation. “We don’t know for certain whether dysbiosis [an unbalanced microbiome] causes skin conditions, or whether skin conditions cause dysbiosis. What we do know is that where you find one, you’ll find the other.”

During my visit, Georgeou explains the acne could come from a complicated transmission of hormones that could be partly genetic and partly diet-related.

She also explains that diet can help to improve skin conditions as well as skin hydration and moisture retention (read: make your skin glow).

If you’re looking for a quick fix, some probiotic supplements show promise, but without improving your meal plan it’s likely you won’t see long-term results. “Seek advice from your GP to rule out any underlying issues, and seek advice simultaneously with a dietitian,” says Georgeou. “Some simple food changes can make all the difference.”