Explore the concept of “Gluten Face” and discover whether it’s a real condition or a myth. Uncover the science behind gluten sensitivity.
Exploring the Connection Between Gluten and Skin Health
The relationship between diet and skin health is a topic of increasing interest, particularly when it comes to gluten. Recent discussions highlight the phenomenon known as “gluten face,” which refers to the visible effects that gluten-containing foods, such as wheat, rye, and barley, can have on the skin. Individuals who are sensitive to gluten may experience symptoms like a bloated, puffy, and red face after consuming these foods. This reaction is believed to stem from inflammation triggered by gluten in susceptible individuals, leading to noticeable changes in facial appearance.
While opting for gluten-free products may seem like a straightforward solution, addressing “gluten face” requires a more nuanced approach. It is important to consider the overall diet and lifestyle, as various factors can contribute to skin health. For those who suspect that gluten might be affecting their skin, consulting with a healthcare professional to understand potential food sensitivities and exploring a balanced diet tailored to individual needs can be beneficial.
Unmasking the Myth: The Truth Behind Gluten’s Impact on Your Skin
Could what showing up on your face be a direct result of something that you’re eating when it comes to gluten that’s a definite yes I’m Dr Robin Chuan gastroenterologist microbiome expert and author and I am here to help you find gut.
Bliss you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and you almost don’t recognize yourself your face is puffy and swollen you have new blemishes that seem to have sprung up overnight your cheeks are red and blotchy and you have dark spots on your chin it looks like you’ve been binging on alcohol and salt Plus have a bad sunburn and are broken.
Out but the only thing you did was eat a bowl of pasta yesterday could gluten the protein in wheat rye and Barley have something to do with what you’re seeing in the mirror before we dive into what’s commonly referred to as gluten face let’s take care of a few housekeeping details the first thing I want to talk about is a difference between celiac.
Disease and gluten intolerance celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder and it’s caused by gluten the protein found in wheat Ry and barley the Hallmark finding of celiac disease is damage to the lining of your small intestine the Villi the fingerite projections that absorb nutrients are atraid they’re shrunken with celiac disease and there.
Is also an increase in inflammatory cells in the lining of the small intestine and celiac disease can cause a wide variety of symptoms including things like bloating abdominal pain diarrhea constipation a change in weight it can cause weight loss but also weight gain fatigue anemia rashes joint pain neurological symptoms like brain fog.
Other autoimmune phenomena or no symptoms at all so that’s celiac disease gluten intolerance which is sometimes called non- Celiac gluten sensitivity can cause similar symptoms to celiac disease but it isn’t an autoimmune disorder and there’s no actual damage to the lining of your small intestine we diagnose gluten intolerance based on.
Your response to removing gluten from your diet or sometimes you take the gluten out and you really don’t notice much difference but it’s when you reintroduce it the symptoms all come right back that it’s then very obvious that you are sensitive to gluten in addition to GI symptoms like bloating and gas we see a lot of non-gi symptoms.
With gluten intolerance things like rashes and brain fog behavioral changes joint pain fatigue some people discover their Gluten Sensitive or gluten intolerant same thing when they’re experimenting with low carb diets to lose weight and sometimes in addition to losing weight they notice that their skin improves when they stop eating.
Gluten now there can be other reasons for that too because a lot of these low carb diets in addition to excluding gluten also exclude processed food and dairy and refined sugar and these are all things that can mess up your skin but coming up I want to share with you what is specifically known about the effects of gluten on your skin and.
appearance the God bless podcast is brought to you by Vis biome my first and quite frankly my only choice for a probiotic whether you’re dealing with irritable bowel syndrome or just looking to restore your gut health visbiome can help it’s a medical food for the dietary management of IBS and gut inflammation.
Backed by science and clinically vetted by thousands of my own patients find your gup lless with Vis biome go to visbiome Doom back/ gut Bliss and use discount code gut Bliss at checkout the classic skin condition in Celiac disease is a rash called dermatitis herpetiformis and dermatitis.
Herpetiformis we call it DH for short affects between 10 and 20% of people with celiac disease it’s a chronic itchy blistering skin condition with clusters of small papules and vesicles on the elbows the knees the buttocks the back the scalp and the face and groin can also be affected when DH occurs on the EXT EX rities on the elbows and knees.
It’s usually symmetric so you see it on both elbows and both knees and DH is an external manifestation of an abnormal immune response going on in your gut to gluten and what happens with that abnormal immune response is that IGA antibodies imunoglobulin a antibodies form against proteins in the skin when you eat food that contains gluten your.
Immune system activates and it produces prod es these IGA antibodies these immune complexes that get deposited into your skin and it’s these immune deposits that cause the itchy bumps and blisters that are characteristic of DH but DH isn’t the only skin condition we see in people who are sensitive to gluten if you have celiac disease or gluten.
Intolerance studies show that you are also at higher risk for skin conditions like eczema rosacea psoriasis these are all conditions that I discussed in my gut skin series a couple episodes ago chronic dry skin acne hives Vitiligo and alopecia these are all skin conditions that are associated with celiac disease and gluten intolerance and research.
Shows that a large percentage of people who suffer from these conditions will find relief when they eliminate gluten from their diet but in addition to these more classic autoimmune skin conditions like Vitiligo and psoriasis there’s ‘s also a syndrome that’s referred to as gluten face a typical gluten face has red puffy cheeks with spots of.
Hyperpigmentation especially on the chin and some people will also have pimples around the chin area in the lower part of the face and the face in general looks bloated and swollen now what is causing those changes gluten has been shown to increase the inflammatory response and that inflammatory response can show up on your face making it look.
Bloated or puffy because of the fluid retention that accompanies inflammation and also creating pigmentation issues that we can also see with inflammation like age spots and dark areas and yes the solution if you have gluten face is obviously to go gluten-free but the trick is not to eat gluten-free products and I’m going to explain why in just a.
Minute switching from gluten containing products to gluten-free equivalent products is a terrible idea why because gluten-free products use chemicals and synthetic substances to try and reproduce that doughy gluten-like quality that is you know so delicious.
And so characteristic of actual gluten containing foods so those gluten free equivalent products are typically full of emulsifiers like soy leesin and caragine and other substances chemical substances in this quest to reproduce a gluten-like feel in a gluten-free food and those substances all have a negative impact on your gut and many of them on.
Your skin so what I recommend as a rule of thumb is if a food says gluten-free on the package don’t buy it just put it back that is typically going to be on the label of things like bread or pasta or cookies or frozen pizza or waffles and other ultr processed foods now if you buy gluten-free bread at the farmers.
Market like I often do on a Sunday that is a freshly made gluten-free bread that was made in a bakery it’s not frozen it’s not a long shelf life product and yes it does have some stuff in it but that is going to be far less objectionable than a packaged processed Frozen or long shelf life gluten-free food but what I want you to keep in mind.
Is that a bag of rice or a pound of sweet potatoes is not going to say gluten-free on it so avoiding gluten-free packaged Foods is critical especially if you’re trying to improve the appearance of your skin because again it’s not just the immune mediated inflammation from gluten these other food derived chemical ingredients can.
Also cause an inflammatory response another question that people often have is if you don’t have celiac disease but you’re Gluten Sensitive and you think you may be suffering from gluten face how much gluten can you get away with how much gluten can you safely eat is there a small amount that you can eat and not worry about the answer to that.
Question is your body is going to tell you I know in the case of my husband and he doesn’t have gluten face but he has eczema that is very clearly connected to gluten and I talked about that connection between his eczema and gluten couple weeks ago in episode 12 and for him not to have an eczema breakout he has to be around 80%.
Gluten-free once regular gluten starts to creep into his diet his eczema definitely starts to flare up so what I recommend is 100% elimination for a couple months to get things under control if you are just experimenting with this and you’re noticing the bloated swollen face the hyperpigmentation the redness and so on.
And you think that gluten may be the culprit I want you to completely eliminate gluten from your diet for a couple months and then once your skin is looking better and feels more healed and less inflamed you can try reintroducing a little bit of gluten to see what your threshold amount is that you can tolerate now if you have celiac disease.
Zero amount of gluten is what you should be eating because ongoing exposure to gluten in someone with celiac disease even if they don’t have any symptoms at all even tiny exposure to gluten if you have celiac disease can cause damage to your gut lining and can eventually lead to more worrisome things like anemia and arthritis and even some types of cancer.
But that is only in people who have celiac disease not in people who are just Gluten Sensitive so now that you know the difference between celiac disease and gluten intolerance and how both of these conditions can impact your skin I want to leave you with three takeaways about.
Gluten face number one if you have noticed skin changes that you think may be related to gluten try completely eliminating it from your diet for a couple months and see if those changes improve number two once your skin has healed if you’re missing the gluten you can try reintroducing small amounts to see what your threshold is for.
Tolerating it most people don’t have to be 100% gluten-free to see results now of course if you have celiac disease you do have to be 100% gluten-free and number three don’t fall into the Trap of eating gluten-free products like gluten-free bread pasta cookies Pizza waffles those foods are full of emulsifiers and other chemicals that can.
Also mess up your skin so that’s it for this episode of the Gess podcast on gluten face coming up next week on the Gess podcast the first in my series on the gut brain connection the gut Bliss guide to healthy skin is a whole new approach to improving the health of your skin from the inside out over 70 pages of detailed.
Information including a product ingredient guide skincare recipes you can make at home A nutrition plan that tells you exactly what to eliminate and what to add in plus my favorite green smoothie recipes that will have you glowing you can find it on call at gut bliss.com under gut guides go to gut bliss.com for my free.
7-Day microbiome reboot course if you like what you’re hearing drop a review and hit that subscribe button and remember dirt sweat vegetables the best prescription for a healthy gut the information presented in the show is not meant to be medical advice consult your doctor before making any decisions.
About your health the patients discussed are are real people but names and identifying features have been changed to protect their privacy
