Soluble Fibre for Healthy Skin
Getting enough fibre in your diet can be a game changer for improving your skin health.
Fibre, soluble fibre in particular, helps our body eliminate toxic fat-soluble byproducts from our system. Without proper elimination of these byproducts, they will be reabsorbed back into your body where they increase the likelihood of unwanted side effects from occurring like acne + dull skin for example.
Let’s take a step back and go over what happens to hormones + other fat soluble products in your body.
Once our bodies have used these products for the reason they’re there, they head over to the liver where phase I liver detoxification “tags” these products as not needing to be in the body anymore and dumps them into our gut for elimination.
From there, an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase becomes involved. This enzyme is the master regulator of hormone byproducts + has final say of what gets eliminated and what gets reabsorbed back into the body. This isn’t always a good thing, if beta-glucuronidase is taking its job too seriously (working overtime) it will start to reabsorb hormone byproducts at a higher rate than what’s desirable or healthy.
This is where soluble fibre + optimal gut health is paramount.
Soluble fibre will help improve fat soluble byproduct elimination and lessen the risk of these byproducts being reabsorbed back into the body by quite literally bind them them up in a gel-like matrix, preventing the reabsorption from being able to occur. Soluble fibre also helps improve our gut microbiota profile, which will also help improve our body’s elimination pathways and balance out an overworking beta-glucuronidase.
So how much soluble fibre should you be getting in your diet?
While there is no formal recommended daily intake, a good goal to aim for is 25-30g/day. Soluble fibre options include:
Beans - particularly great for improve our gut microbiota profile
1/2 cup of beans (ex. chickpeas, navy, white, pinto) = 5-9g
Lentils - also a great option for improving our gut microbiota profile
1/2 cup = 7.8g
Raspberries - great to toss frozen into a smoothie
1/2 cup = 5.5g
Chia seeds - make sure you soak chia seeds before consuming them
2 tbsp = 11g
Ground flax seeds - buy whole and grind them yourself
2 tbsp = 6g
Supplements that contain ingredients like inulin, psyllium husk and/or glucomannan
Depending on the suggested serving size, can provide anywhere from ±8-12g
To learn more on how to balance hormones + improve gut health for clear, healthy skin check out the respective modules within the Skincare Lab.
