FAQ: What Probiotic Do I Take For Acne?
WHICH PROBIOTIC SHOULD I TAKE FOR ACNE? This would be on my FAQ page if I had one.
Probiotic specificity matters. Like all supplements, the one that works is the one that most targets your acne underlying root cause!
To keep it super simple, let's assume that you have identified your gut as your acne root cause. I know the first place you'll go is the probiotic fridge at your local health food store or pharmacy, so if you insist on DIYing it, read on!
It’s confirmed. Your gut is causing your acne. You get bloated, your bowel movements are less than desirable, you suspect you may have a microbiome imbalance and your skin is sending you all the red flags (redness, breakouts around the mouth, cheeks & forehead)
IS MY ACNE GUT RELATED? How do I know?
Read more on the tell tale signs that your gut health is causing your acne.
I don’t recommend using any supplement (in isolation) in the hopes of clearing your skin because there is more to the story when it comes to acne. Good gut health is crucial, but often stress, diet and hormones are also playing a role. Put bluntly, your acne is not the result of a probiotic deficiency.
So, before ordering any of the below probiotics, for the love of skin please go and watch my free Acne Masterclass. No one product is guaranteed to clear your acne and if you need convincing, I explain it all in Clear Skin Secrets - How to Clear Your Acne and Radiate Confidence (you can get instant access here). In the Masterclass you will get my 4 step Confident & Clear framework which is the method that I use in clinic to help my client’s clear their acne and reclaim their confidence.
Still not sure if your acne is gut related? Find out with my free quiz here.
Without further stalling, here's my two cents for supporting your situation with probiotics:
1. Start with Saccharomyces boulaardi (SB)
This is actually a yeast rather than a probiotic which may sound counterintuitive, but SB is one of my favourites for acne. SB helps to suppress the growth of less friendly microbes (bacteria, fungi, parasites) through what us nerds call 'competitive inhibition'. It also nourishes the soil of your gut to support growth of beneficial probiotics that help manage skin & gut health. It's anti-inflammatory. It supports gut lining repair. It's good to take it for 4 weeks or so before taking other strains of probiotics as it helps to prime your gut to make the most out of other species you want to add like the Lactobillus probiotics. Aim for 1000mg of SB per day. If the SB product you are looking at does not have the amount of mg on the label, find one that does. It might be 250mg per capsule (in which case you could take 2 in the AM and 2 in the PM.
2. You might like to add Lactoferrin or find an SB & Lactoferrin combo.
Lactoferrin is a protein derived from colostrum (bovine or human, bovine in OTC probiotics) Sounds gross. But 100mg lactoferrin per day can be grouse at reducing the redness and inflammation seen in acne, especially when combined with zinc and vitamin E. Ideally you will see progress from the 2 week mark (remember progress is less redness, fewer lesions, less frequent breakouts, less inflamed breakouts, NOT total resolution). I'd give it 3 months to take full effect.
3. Lactobacillus plantarum 299V to get that digestion a bit happier
Clear skin is a byproduct of healthy gut, liver & hormone function. L. plantarum 299V works on regulating your bowel movements. Got diarrhoea? It can help to normalise and slow things down to get you a regular (but not too regular) formed stool. Blocked up & constipated? 299V can keep things moving. We clear hormones & toxins out of our guts through poo so a daily movement is crucial for clear skin. Don't make your skin pick up the slack. Ethical Nutrients IBS support is a common probiotic available over the counter. I recommend it (when indicated) in Confident & Clear, my online program.
There’s many MANY other probiotic strains that have been trialled in acne (and a lack of scientific evidence doesn’t usually get in the way of good marketing) That is why I prefer to use probiotics to help resolve gut symptoms that may be playing a role in the causation of acne, rather than jumping straight to probiotics that are marketed towards acne. Often we aren’t treating the skin at all, rather we are getting the foundations for clear skin right.
Even with these three basic probiotics that I’ve mentioned above we can target 4 gut related root causes of acne, which are:
Gut inflammation (if the skin is inflamed, it is likely the gut is as well and vice versa. SB & lactoferrin is just one good support)
Gut dysbiosis (this usually means that there overgrowth of less beneficial bacteria (like strep, staph, klebsiella or fungi like candida and/or a lack of beneficial probiotic bacteria. Dysbiosis can seriously mess with skin)
Leaky gut or damage to the intestinal wall (SB & lactoferrin both help to support the integrity of the gut lining which is protective against inflammatory skin conditions such as acne)
Struggling digestion and gut function (a sluggish constipated gut is a breeding ground for less beneficial bacteria & also clogs up your detox pathways affecting hormone balance and systemic toxicity. Probiotics like L. plantarum 299V are supportive to overall gut function)
Bonus tip: Try not to dump a whole load of probiotics and fermented foods on your gut it you know that there is something seriously wrong in there, like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Sometimes probiotics make digestive symptoms worse, so if this is you, go and see a gut health naturopath and get that sorted (your skin might just clear up by default)
I hope this gives you a starting point on your way down the probiotic rabbit hole! Don’t forget to take advantage of my free masterclass - just click on the image below to get access.
Lexie xx
