DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: Feed your skin to keep it healthy, plump and wrinkle-free

The increasing obsession with our gut microbes shows no signs of peaking – with study after study looking at the impact this community of bacteria, viruses and fungi has on our physical and mental health.

Most recently, research has shown that they can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and even influence your desire to exercise.

But quietly in the background, scientists have also been looking at another group of microbes that we all harbor: those on our skin.

Your skin is the largest organ in your body, with an area of ​​approximately 22 square meters. And every square inch is covered in microbes – at least 1.5 trillion of which are packed into this tiny space.

I’ve written before about the importance of taking care of your gut microbiome, but your skin microbiome is just as important to your well-being.

One way the bacteria that live on the skin protects you from invasion by other, more dangerous microbes is by making your skin more acidic – preventing pathogens from growing there.

How can you help these microbes keep you and your skin in good condition? Here are some suggestions, based on the latest science.

Eat prebiotics – and probiotics

Although prebiotics (foods high in fiber, e.g. onions and leeks) and probiotics (foods high in ‘good’ bacteria, e.g. yoghurt and sauerkraut) will primarily help improve the health of your gut microbiome, the bugs on your skin are closely related ( mainly due to the influence your gut microbes have on your immune system).

Additionally, several large-scale studies have shown that those who eat more vegetables have fewer wrinkles and plumper skin, thanks largely to the fact that plants contain a range of anti-aging compounds, especially carotenoids.

Eating foods rich in carotenoids helps protect your skin and the insects that live on it from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.

As the name suggests, they can be found in carrots, but they are also found in other yellow, orange and red fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes, pumpkin, melon and mango.

Just how much of an impact a healthy gut microbiome can have on your skin was revealed in a fascinating study in Nature Medicine in July.

Researchers at the University of Montreal Health Center have shown that boosting a patient’s gut microbiome through a fecal transplant could increase their chances of surviving skin cancer.

When patients with malignant melanoma received a fecal transplant before immunotherapy, they were more likely to have a positive response to this cancer treatment.

Wash behind your ears and between your toes

It’s something you were probably told as a kid, and it turns out it’s actually good advice. At least that was the conclusion of a study published last week in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

Lead researcher Keith Crandall, professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at George Washington University in the US, said he was inspired for the study by his grandmother, who always told the children in his family to scrub “behind the ears, between the toes.” . and in the navel’.

For the study, 129 students were asked to swab various parts of their bodies, including the forearms, calves, behind the ears, between the toes and in the navel.

This showed that the skin on their forearms, calves and navels – areas we normally clean thoroughly in the bath or shower – contained a wide diversity of microbes, which is a sign of healthy skin. However, the samples behind the ears and between the toes likely contained fewer species – and among them were more pro-inflammatory microbes that cause problems, which can lead to skin diseases such as eczema or atopic dermatitis (which causes serious infections). itch).

An earlier study in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology found that people with conditions such as dermatitis, acne and a common form of hair loss (alopecia areata) have a different mix of microbes than people with healthy skin.

Fortunately, our skin microbiome also contains viruses called bacteriophages (which means “bacteria eaters”), which new research shows help us wage war against troublesome bacteria.

Scientists at the Medical University of Vienna recently isolated bacteriophages from the skin of people with atopic dermatitis, which specifically attack the bacteria that cause the disease – although there clearly weren’t enough of them to have much impact.

But now that these ‘phages’ have been identified, the team hopes to grow them and use them as a new way to treat this and similar skin conditions.

…But don’t clean your skin too much

While washing is important, you should avoid using harsh skin cleansers or vigorous scrubbing as these can damage the skin’s natural defenses, including the ‘good’ bacteria that live there.

And – especially during the winter months, when skin becomes drier and flakier – remember to moisturize immediately after washing your face if your skin is low in natural oils.

A study published last year in the journal Scientific Reports found that using a moisturizer for five weeks reduced dryness and increased the levels of good bacteria on the skin.

Choose a partner with healthy skin bugs

According to a 2017 study from the University of Waterloo in Canada, people who live together often have similar microbial communities on their skin. In fact, their skin microbiomes were so similar that it was possible to guess, with 86 percent accuracy, who lived together just by looking at their skin microbiomes.

If you spend a lot of time sharing intimate spaces with another human, you end up sharing a lot of skin microbes. So try to choose a partner with a good skin microbiome: if that doesn’t work, encourage him to follow my other three steps!

High blood pressure is a ‘silent killer’; most people don’t know they have the disease until something goes wrong; for example, they have a heart attack.

Although research shows that exercises such as plank or wall sitting can lower blood pressure, the routine—four two-minute wall sits, with two minutes of rest in between, three times a week—may be too much for many.

There’s an easier route: A new study of sedentary older adults found that just increasing their daily steps, from 4,000 to 7,000, lowers blood pressure as much as medication. Because 3,000 steps means less than 30 extra minutes of walking, it seems like a good investment in your future health.

Benefits of a ginger cookie

Ginger is one of my favorite spices, whether in ginger cookies, tea or stir-fries. It is also a traditional remedy for a range of health problems.

But in modern terms, the best evidence for this is the treatment of nausea.

One study, published in 2018 in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, found that ginger was more effective than a placebo against nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (possibly because it has been shown to speed gastric emptying).

Now researchers from the Colorado School of Medicine in the US have found that it can reduce inflammation and potentially help people with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

When healthy volunteers took 20 mg of gingerol (the active ingredient in ginger) – equivalent to 25 g of fresh ginger – for seven days, it reduced the activity of white blood cells called neutrophils, which become overactive in autoimmune diseases.

More research is needed, but I feel justified in continuing my ginger cookies and tea habit.

Using your brain to relieve back pain

If you’re one of the 5.5 million Britons who regularly take painkillers, you may know that they are rarely effective, especially in the long term. But can tapping into the power of your mind help?

This was the suggestion from a study, published last week in JAMA Network Open, which found that helping people with chronic back pain, for which there is no apparent cause (80 percent of cases), to think differently could significantly reduce their symptoms. can reduce.

The researchers used an approach called pain reprocessing therapy (PRT), in which patients are taught that pain signals can be ‘deactivated’.

Therapists encourage them to use gentle movements while reassuring them that the pain is not a sign of danger and that it will eventually go away if they keep working on it. Another important part of PRT is training in how to deal with emotions, such as anger or despair, which can make pain worse.

In the study, 151 people with chronic back pain were assigned four weeks of PRT, a placebo injection into the spine, or usual care. The results showed that 60 percent of the PRT group reported being pain-free or nearly pain-free afterward, compared to 20 percent in the placebo group and 10 percent of those who received usual care. And the pain reduction in the PRT group was largely maintained a year later.

If you have chronic pain, your GP may refer you to a pain clinic. To get PRT, you may have to go private.