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December 13, 2024 21 mins

I’ve been showing thousands of people how to restore this microbe lost by the majority of modern people, Lactobacillus reuteri. But, of all the spectacular improvements in health we can gain by managing our microbiomes, such as an increase in empathy and generosity, reduction in anxiety and depression, deeper sleep, increased libido, restored youthful musculature and strength, the females in my audience have repeatedly said something like, “Well, that’s all well and good, but I’m mostly interested in the skin benefits.” So I’ve spent a good deal of time, energy, and resources in exploring this question, including performing a small human clinical trial to better understand how and why restoration of L. reuteri, especially when combined with other non-microbial synergistic factors, can restore youthful healthy skin. 

One issue that has emerged to the forefront in our quest to better under skin health and appearance is the issue of skin pH. We may not think about skin this way, but healthy skin is acidic. The pH of healthy skin in someone not plagued by eczema, acne, rosacea, psoriasis, or other skin conditions is typically around 4.5. Recall that neutral is 7.0 and the blood is mildly alkaline at a pH of 7.4. Unhealthy skin, in contrast, skin with various skin rashes, has a pH of around 5.5—given the logarithmic nature of the pH scale, unhealthy skin is therefore 10-fold less acidic than healthy skin, a huge difference. This difference in pH is a crucial determinant of what you skin looks and feels like, whether you will be prone to these sorts of skin rashes or whether you can enjoy smooth youthful skin. So let’s dive into that topic, the importance of managing skin pH.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I've been showing thousands of people how to
restore this microbe lost by themajority of modern people,
lactobacillus roteri.
But of all the spectacularimprovements in health we can
gain by managing our microbiomes, such as an increase in empathy
and generosity, reduction inanxiety and depression, deeper
sleep, increased libido,restored youthful musculature
and generosity, reduction inanxiety and depression, deeper
sleep, increased libido,restored youthful musculature

(00:28):
and strength.
The females in my audience haverepeatedly said something like
well, that's all well and good,but I'm mostly interested in the
skin benefits.
So I spent a good deal of time,energy and resources in
exploring this question,including performing a small
human clinical trial to betterunderstand how and why
restoration of lactobacillusroteri, especially when combined

(00:51):
with other non-microbialsynergistic factors, can restore
youthful, healthy skin.
One issue that has emerged tothe forefront in our quest to
better understand skin healthand appearance is the issue of
skin pH.
We may not think about skinthis way, but healthy skin is
acidic.
The pH of healthy skin insomeone not plagued by eczema,

(01:15):
acne, rosacea, psoriasis orother skin conditions is
typically around 4.5.
Typically around 4.5.
Recall that neutral is 7.0 andthe blood is mildly alkaline at
a pH of 7.4.
Unhealthy skin, in contrast,skin with various rashes has a

(01:38):
pH of around 5.5.
Given the logarithmic nature ofthe pH scale, unhealthy skin is
therefore tenfold less acidicthan healthy skin at 4.5.
A huge difference.
This difference in pH is acrucial determinant of what your
skin looks like and what itfeels like, whether you'll be
prone to these sorts of skinrashes or whether you can enjoy
smooth, youthful skin.

(02:00):
So let's dive into that topicthe importance of managing skin
pH and let me tell you aboutDefine Health's sponsors Paleo
Valley, our preferred providerfor many excellent organic and
grass-fed food products, andBiotiQuest, my number one choice

(02:23):
for probiotics that arescientifically formulated,
unlike most of the othercommercial probiotic products
available today.
And I'd like to make you awareof a new source for our favorite
microbe, lactobacillus roteri,and a skin formulation I
designed that improves skin fromthe inside out.
Skin pH, that is, the level ofacidity or alkalinity, is a
major factor in determining whatyour skin looks like and its

(02:44):
health.
So recall that people withunhealthy skin, with acne,
psoriasis, seborrhea, eczema andother health conditions tend to
have less acidic skin,typically a pH above 5.5 and to
the 6 range.
Healthy skin, on the other hand, tends to be acidic 4.5, maybe
as high as 5.5, and less proneto all those skin conditions.

(03:07):
There's also evidence that anormal pH, an acidic pH, also
encourages healthy appearing andyouthful appearing skin,
reducing long-term potential forwrinkles, dryness and thinning.
So there's great advantage tohaving acidic skin.
Now you can measure pH.
You can get pH test strips.

(03:27):
You'll have to wash your faceand then apply some saline,
first to the test strip and thento your skin, and see what the
pH is after a few seconds.
Many dermatologists also have apH meter they can ask them to
use to see what your pH is.
Ideally, though, you track itover time if you're introducing
something that changes pH.

(03:48):
Now, the major player indetermining what your skin pH is
a fatty acid called butyricacid.
Now, there are two sources ofbutyric acid.
One is the skin itself, that is, the microbes in the skin and
the gastrointestinal tract.
So what goes on in yourgastrointestinal tract can play
a major role in what goes on inthe skin.

(04:10):
That's why people talk about agut-skin axis.
The gut, the contents of thegut, and its penetrability plays
a role in the appearance andhealth of your skin.
Now, one major player in theskin microbiome that produces
butyrate is Staphylococcusepidermidis.
You've heard of Staphylococcusaureus right, you've heard this

(04:30):
is a major pathogen in hospitalsand in abscesses and infections
.
So that's Staphylococcus aureus, a very dangerous pathogen.
Although all of us have it inour bodies, it's present,
ideally, at very low levels,including very low levels in the
skin.
But it can overpopulate andthat contributes to both
infections in other parts of thebody as well as distortions of

(04:53):
skin health, becauseStaphylococcus is unwelcome and
is very dangerous in skin.
And whenever you have thosehealth conditions seborrhea,
acne, psoriasis, rosacea, eczemaStaphylococcus aureus becomes
the dominant microbe.
It's not quite clear whetherit's causal, whether it
initiates the process or whetherit's just an accompaniment and
makes it worse.
But regardless, staphylococcusaureus, we do not want to become

(05:16):
dominant in the skin.
We want instead a cousin,another species of
Staphylococcus, staphylococcusepidermidis, and I'm sorry about
these names, but Staphylococcusepidermidis is, in ordinary
circumstances, your friend.
It's the dominant, it's meantto be the dominant microbe in
healthy skin.
So in people who don't haveacne, eczema, psoriasis etc.

(05:40):
Tend to have their skindominated by Staphylococcus
epidermidis and it helpssuppress Staphylococcus aureus.
Now, staphylococcus epidermidisis a producer of that butyrate
or butyric acid.
So we want it to producebutyric acid because it
acidifies the skin.
Staphylococcus aureus, the onewe don't want is very

(06:01):
susceptible to acid.
That is, when the skin isacidic it helps suppress
Staphylococcus a, and when theskin is acidic it encourages or
allows Staphylococcusepidermidis to thrive, so that
acidity of the skin is a majorfactor in maintaining your skin
health, by maintaining thebalance between Staphylococcus

(06:23):
epidermidis over that ofStaphylococcus aureus.
Well, how do you encourage theproliferation of Staphylococcus
epidermidis in the skin?
Well, avoid antibiotics as muchas you can.
Not easy to say sometimes, butif you're prescribing an
antibiotic, always question itsnecessity.
Obviously, if you're very sick,you may need an antibiotic, but
if it's for, say, a cold, maybea sore throat or some minor

(06:47):
ailment, question the need forthe antibiotic, because you
cannot undo the effects ofantibiotics and one of the
effects is the undo, the balancein the skin microbiome.
When you use topical productslike moisturizers and other
products, we of course avoidthings like phthalates and
parabens that are carcinogens,but look for the ingredient,

(07:08):
glycerol or glycerin.
These are very benigningredients that have been
around for many years but areonly in a handful of skin
products.
But when you have products thathave glycerin or glycerol, that
feeds Staphylococcusepidermidis, that in turn
converts that glycerin orglycerol, glycerin and glycerol,
by the way, are interchangeable.

(07:29):
One's a liquid, one's a powder.
It's converted byStaphylococcus epidermidis into
butyrate and therefore helpsacidify the skin.
If you have a favorite product,let's say a moisturizer, that
does not have glycerol orglycerin, you can buy an
inexpensive bottle of glycerolor glycerin and add a little bit
, maybe a half teaspoon or so,to your product, mix it, of

(07:51):
course, and then apply that.
You'll stack the odds in favorof encouraging the proliferation
of that healthy microbe,staphylococcus epidermidis.
Now let's take a brief break tolet me tell you about Defiant
Health's sponsors, paleo Valleyand BioDequest.
When we come back, let's talkabout the role the very
important role of thegastrointestinal microbiome in

(08:13):
producing butyrate and therebydetermining the health and
appearance of your skin.
The Defiant Health Podcast issponsored by Paleo Valley,
makers of delicious grass-fedbeef sticks, healthy snack bars
and other products.
We're very picky around hereand insist that any product we
consider contains no junkingredients like carrageenan,

(08:35):
carboxymethylcellulose,sucralose or added sugars and,
of course, no gluten nor grains.
One of the habits I urgeeveryone to get into is to
include several servings offermented foods every day in
your diet, part of an effort tocultivate a healthy
gastrointestinal microbiome.
Unlike nearly all other meatsticks available, paleo Valley

(08:55):
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(09:15):
And if you haven't alreadytried it, you've got to try
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See the recipes for thebrownies in my
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(09:35):
And in case you haven't yetheard, biotiquest probiotics are
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(09:56):
incorporate what are calledcollaborative or guild effects,
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(10:18):
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And antibiotic antidotedesigned to support recovery of
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(10:43):
15% discount.
For Defiant Health listeners,and due to demand for reliable,
convenient sources oflactobacillus roteri, our
favorite microbe, I created twoproducts my Roteri, that
contains 20 billion counts ofL-Roteri alone, and Gut to Glow
that, in addition to L-Roteri,has added marine-sourced

(11:03):
collagen peptides, hyaluronicacid and the carotenoid
astaxanthin, all combined tostack the odds in favor of
beneficial skin effects.
Of course, you can take theseproducts as is or you can use
either as a starter to makeL-Rotarite yogurt to generate
even higher counts of microbesfor bigger effects.
I'll provide a link for theseproducts below in the show notes

(11:27):
.
Now let's talk about how you canput the gastrointestinal
microbiome to work to producebutyrate or butyric acid that
can go to the skin and cause orcontribute to acidification of
the skin.
Now, by the way, by doing this,by encouraging the production
of butyric acid in yourgastrointestinal tract, not only

(11:47):
do you get better skin health,you get better intestinal health
, because butyrate is theprimary nutrient for your
intestinal cells and itnourishes the intestinal lining
and helps heal in case you haveany problems in your
gastrointestinal tract, likeulcerative colitis or Crohn's
disease or irritable bowelsyndrome or just inflammation.
That butyrate also enters thebloodstream and mediates a whole

(12:12):
range of beneficial effects.
Stream and mediates a wholerange of beneficial effects
Reduction of insulin resistance,making your body more sensitive
to insulin and facilitatingloss of abdominal fat.
For instance, it helps reduceblood sugar, blood pressure.
It triggers better sleep andvivid dreams.
So not only is it good for skin, it's good for overall health.

(12:32):
It's one of the most importantthings you can do, by the way,
for overall health.
Well, how do you tip the scalesin favor of having a microbiome
that produces lots and lots ofbutyrate?
Well, fermented foods play amajor role here.
These are foods that are, Ihope, by now, familiar to you
Sauerkraut, fermented pickles,other fermented vegetables,

(12:53):
kefirs, kefir yogurts not thestuff in the store, right,
because that's just thefermentation process used in
commercial yogurt.
Making is too weak, too briefto really make a difference.
It's the yogurts that you make,especially following my recipes
, that put to put to useprolonged fermentation.
Recall that microbes don't havesex.

(13:13):
There's no male and femalemicrobes, right, they just
double themselves Asexualreproduction One microbe becomes
two, two becomes four, and soon.
So lactobacillus reuteri, forinstance, a very important
microbe if you've been followingmy conversations, you know we
talk a lot about lactobacillusreuteri doubles about every
three hours at human bodytemperature.

(13:35):
So if we were to do like theydo in commercial yogurt making
only ferment it for six totwelve hours, it's only doubled
a few times we don't have veryhigh counts.
We're instead going to let itdouble twelve times and that's
how you get super, duper highcounts.
So when we counted the microbesin our yogurt, we have about

(13:57):
300 billion, that's billion,with a B per half cup or 120
milliliter serving.
So it's very high counts andthat's how you tip scales at
having important effects.
Larger effects, more microbesmeans larger effects.
Larger effects, more microbesmeans larger effects.

(14:17):
So fermented foods whether it'sthe yogurts we make or kefir
that you buy at the store, orfermented veggies you make on
your kitchen counter and if youdon't know what I'm talking
about, please refer to mySupergut book, refer to other
websites that have theseresources on how to ferment
foods.
They're widely available.
You can also buy commercialstarter cultures from a variety
of companies who will provideyou with a packet of microbes to
get started, or you could useone of my products for starter

(14:41):
culture, like the myroterite orthe gut, to glow even, and it
helps to have small servings ofsome fermented food several
times a day.
It doesn't have to be a largeserving it could be a tablespoon
of fermented sauerkraut, itcould be a tablespoon of kimchi,
it could be a couple of sips ofkefir, a couple tablespoons, a

(15:01):
quarter cup of one of ouryogurts, but it's important to
do this throughout the day, insmall portion sizes.
I think it helps to make it ahabit to include a fermented
food in every meal, every timeyou sit down to eat.
Another very important source ofbutyrate is to get plenty of
prebiotic fibers and, once again, if you don't know what I'm
talking about, please refer tomy Super Gut book, my blog, my

(15:24):
WilliamDavisMDcom blog, where wediscuss these things at great
length and provide lists for you, including a breakdown of which
foods contain how muchprebiotic fibers.
Now I'm going to use the termprebiotic fibers to be inclusive
for all the things that act asfibers on the microbiome, that
is, allow microbes to metabolizethese fibers to butyrate and

(15:44):
other fatty acids, but it'sreally a broad category.
Some call itmicrobiota-accessible
carbohydrates, polysaccharidesand some other names, but I
don't want to get bogged down inthat.
That's a biochemical debate.
Just recognize these fibers areconverted by the microbiome to
butyrate and other fatty acids,the microbiome to butyrate and

(16:09):
other fatty acids.
So these are things like inulinor fructooligosaccharides and
galactooligosaccharides andxylooligosaccharides.
You don't have to remember allthat.
Just recognize the foods theycome from Onions, garlic,
shallots, leeks, dandeliongreens, leeks, dandelion greens,
legumes like kidney beans, redbeans, white beans, black beans,
peas, hummus, chickpeas, otherroot vegetables.

(16:33):
You can even buy them ascommercial powders.
For instance, inulin is verypopular.
Put maybe a teaspoon in yourcoffee or other food, just like
your fermented foods.
Make it a habit to include somesource of prebiotic fiber in
every meal.
It doesn't have to be tough.
If you're going to have athree-egg omelet for breakfast,
for instance, make sure youinclude some chopped onions, a

(16:56):
tablespoon of black beans orother legumes.
So make it easy on yourself.
Keep them handy, keep themaround in your refrigerator or
in your pantry.
Add a little bit to every dishand that will nourish the
microbes in yourgastrointestinal tract to
produce butyrate.
The other good thing here isthat when you do this, not only

(17:16):
do you cause those microbes toproduce butyrate, but you also
bloom those species so thatthey're able to produce even
more butyrate.
Now one fiber I don't want youto forget about is hyaluronic
acid.
Now, as you know, lots ofladies know about hyaluronic
acid because they apply ittopically as a hyaluronic acid
serum.
That, of course, does nothingto nourish the microbiome in

(17:40):
your gastrointestinal tract.
So the real magic of hyaluronicacid occurs when you take it
orally and it acts as a fiber.
Remember that Hyaluronic acidis one of those rare fibers
sourced from animals or meant tobe sourced from animals.
So your great-grandmother wouldhave gotten her hyaluronic acid
by consuming the organ meats ofanimals.

(18:02):
Well, most modern people haveabandoned consumption of organ
meats because we were toldthere's awful advice to cut
saturated fat and cholesterol.
So most of us do not include aserving of brain or tongue or
stomach or intestines in ourmeals anymore.
You can use an external source.
Now there is hyaluronic acid inthe gut to glow at the dose

(18:23):
that works.
Or if you don't have that, youcan always buy.
It's kind of a commodity.
Product Quality is not that biga deal.
You can buy a very finehyaluronic acid powder and add
the typical dose is 120milligrams per day and that acts
as a fiber that blooms speciesthat produce butyrate, and you

(18:44):
feed it more hyaluronic acid andthose other fibers like inulin,
fos and legumes, and you getthose species to produce even
more butyrate.
So it becomes a wonderful wayto boost the butyrate content of
your skin, thereby acidifyingit, discouraging proliferation
of Staphylococcus aureus,encouraging the proliferation of

(19:04):
Staphylococcus aureus,encouraging the proliferation of
Staphylococcus epidermidis.
That in turn produces even morebutyrate.
You can see this process feedsupon itself and you get bigger
and bigger effects, and this ishow you inch toward a pH in the
skin of 4.5.
Now here's a last trick I wantto suggest to you that microbe
we all talk about all the time,lactobacillus roteri.

(19:26):
We make a yogurt out of itusing once again that process of
mine with prolongedfermentation 36 hours.
That allows the microbe todouble 12 times to get these
really big counts of microbes inthe hundreds of billions.
But in the process we allowlactose the sugar in dairy right

(19:47):
Many people are lactoseintolerant to be converted to
lactic acid.
So there's almost no lactoseleft in the original yogurt, in
the dairy, and people who arelactose intolerant almost never
are almost never intolerant tothe yogurt because there's
almost no lactose remaining.
Well, that lactic acid isacidic and if we test the pH of

(20:09):
our lactobacillus roteri yogurt,it's around 3.5.
Tenfold more acidic than healthyskin.
A hundredfold more acidic thanunhealthy skin.
Well, think about applying thatyogurt as a mask.
So apply it to your skin, likeon your face or problem areas of

(20:30):
your skin, maybe on your handsor elsewhere.
Leave it on for a couple, threeminutes or so, then rinse it
off thoroughly.
The microbe itself does not takeup residence.
Lactobacillus roteri cannottake up residence for more than
a few minutes, maybe a couplehours, in your skin.
So that's not the reason itworks.
The reason it works is it'shelping tip the scales in
acidity to a much more acidicenvironment, and recall that

(20:54):
it's acidity that Staphylococcusaureus doesn't like, but
Staphylococcus epidermidis does.
Epidermidis does so.
Using the lactobacillus roterias a mask in problem areas or on
your face where you'reconcerned about wrinkle
formation and dryness, helpsacidify the skin and tip the
balance in favor of the microbewe want that protects us

(21:17):
Staphylococcus epidermidis.
Okay, if you've learnedsomething from this episode of
the Fine Health Podcast, Iinvite you to subscribe to your
favorite podcast directory.
Post a review, post a comment,tell your friends, help us build
this community of like-mindedpeople all trying to build a
community of self-management ofhealth, not relying on the

(21:39):
healthcare system.
Thanks for listening.
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