Fermented Milk Boosts Skin Health

fermented milk The human skin is the largest organ and an essential excretory pathway too. All that biology aside, the skin is the most immediate point of contact with the outside world and a woman for instance would do or give anything just to have a beautiful lustrous skin. Well that is not a strange thing, beauty is such a worthy aspect of humanity.

Funny thing, different folks have had their unique ways of approaching the skin health. Some traditional and others contemporary. While the market is flooded with all the lotions and gels with some such as Nivea using the term ‘moisturizing’ as a key selling point, other people, more traditional in their ways, have for a long time depended on milk in various ways to realize some really beautiful glowing skin. There is definitely something in milk, isn’t there?

But the question is, what is this ‘thing’ in milk that these women targeted for the beauty of their skin? Today there is growing evidence indicating that if you consume milk products refined with probiotic bacteria, you can end up with not only a healthy gut, but also a nice healthy skin.

This is not entirely a new idea in the scientific marketplace. Scientists have for a long time suspected that the health of the human skin and gut health are rather interrelated. Simply looked at, the lining of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract is somewhat an extension of the actual skin. In this manner, the bacteria on the skin surface find their way with ease to the surface of the gut.

In terms of immunity and the general health, one mechanism that has been identified by medical practitioners of maintaining the intestinal health involves boosting the probiotics (good bacteria). Good because these bacteria help to keep bad microbes in check as they naturally inhabit the gut. Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are examples of these good bacteria and are used for instance in the food industry. Their purpose here is typically to make refined milk products like yogurt.

Unveiling the Gut Phenol Guard

A number of recent studies by a Japanese probiotic milk pioneer has reported evidence indicating the beneficial effects of fermented milk on the general skin health. This was from some test samples containing Bifidobacterium, a bacterium found in fermented milk.

The researchers compared the effects of the fermented milk against those of a non-fermented placebo milk in a clinical test. Two clusters of healthy Japanese women were given the milk and various parameters later measured in those women’s urine, blood and the level of hydration of their skin.

Four weeks later, the women who had been subjected to drinking the placebo milk were having significantly drier skin as compared to their colleagues who drank the fermented milk.

Based on the results of this study, the Japanese scientists deduced that the women who drank the fermented milk had lower levels of phenols in their blood and urine. Phenols are a group of noxious by-products emitted by some gut bacteria during proteins digestion.

Phenols are often absorbed from the gut to some extent, taken through blood circulation and eventually excreted from the body via the urine. In this process though, the phenols may often build in the skin as they are carried along with the blood. Prior studies have shown this happen to the skin of mice. And for the human skin, lab tests have shown that these toxins disturb the skin cells’ production of keratin 10, a major skin protein responsible for strengthening the skin’s barrier function.

People with a troubled gut environment have typically been reported to have high levels of these toxic substances known as phenols. The Japanese scientists associate problems such as skin dryness to high levels of these phenols produced by particular gut bacteria.

Consequently the researchers recommend daily intake of fermented milk rich in probiotics as an antidote to the problem of dry skin. This according to them could help maintain healthy skin by encouraging a conducive gut environment which will suppress the production of the toxins. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), these probiotics (found in fermented milk) are live microorganisms which have the capacity to confer a health benefit to the host when administered in adequate amounts.

fermented milk

Further Skin Health Benefits

Aside from the fight against phenols, fermented milk has been found to have a host of other benefits to the skin. Other studies have indicated that the milk may help assuage dermatitis (inflammation of the skin) while reducing water loss from the skin of the individual.

The fermented milk contains a number of biologically active peptides. Peptides are compounds consisting of two or more amino acids that are linked in a chain. These fermented milk peptides are produced in the process of fermentation. Here a bacterium known as lactobacilli chew down certain milk proteins converting them into the peptides.

Sebum, oily secretion of the sebaceous glands in the skin, has been reported to get stabilized by intake of fermented milk. Taking fermented milk increases the hydration levels of the skin of young women due to increased levels of sebum in the skin.

The studies indicate that the age and hormone levels influence the working of the fermented milk in influencing sebum production. Even better, the milk helps check the effects of sebum that could result in acne if in high amounts. This applies to both men and women. The acne alleviation effect on skin is attributed to a milk protein called lactoferrin.

Given its anti-inflammatory effects on the skin, fermented milk helps in improving g the skin luster making it glossy and radiant. The effect results from combined properties of increased sebum and an acidic skin pH.

At AwareMed, we care about the health of your skin and continue to provide you with these and more health insights for your wellness.