Why Your Gut Health Might Be the Key to Healing Your Eczema

Are you still struggling with eczema, even after trying creams and other treatments? You might be overlooking an important factor: your gut. The connection between gut health and eczema is stronger than most people realize, and understanding it could be the missing piece in your journey to healthier skin.

The Gut-Skin Connection

Our gut and skin are closely linked through what scientists call the gut-skin axis. Essentially, the health of your gut influences your skin and vice versa. Both organs act as protective barriers. Your gut shields your internal body from harmful substances, while your skin protects against external threats.

About 70–80% of your immune cells reside in your gut. This is why imbalances in your gut microbiome (a condition known as dysbiosis), can trigger inflammatory responses that show up on your skin, including eczema. 

The gut communicates with the skin through multiple mechanisms:

Immune system signaling – Gut immune cells interact with the systemic immune system, influencing inflammation and immune responses that can appear in the skin.

Microbial metabolites – Substances like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by gut bacteria can regulate inflammation and support skin barrier function.

​Inflammatory pathways – Dysbiosis or imbalance in gut bacteria can trigger inflammatory pathways, contributing to conditions like eczema.

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How Gut Health Affects Eczema

Recent research highlights a strong link between gut health and eczema. People with eczema often have lower diversity in their gut microbiome, which affects how the immune system responds to potential triggers. 

The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in immune system development and regulation. Reduced microbial diversity can impair immune tolerance, leading to heightened inflammation and an increased risk of allergic conditions, including eczema.

Intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut,” is another important factor. This condition allows food proteins and allergens to enter the bloodstream, promoting systemic inflammation. Studies show that children with eczema, especially under eight years old, often have higher intestinal permeability compared to children without eczema.

Certain gut bacteria can directly influence eczema symptoms:
Low levels of beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus are linked to flare-ups.
Higher levels of inflammatory bacteria like Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Clostridium, and Escherichia may worsen symptoms.

Beneficial gut bacteria produce SCFAs that help maintain the integrity of both the gut and skin barriers and regulate inflammation throughout the body. When these bacteria are out of balance, inflammation rises, potentially worsening eczema symptoms.

From my clinical experience as a Naturopath in New Zealand, improving gut health often leads to noticeable improvements in eczema, highlighting the importance of addressing underlying digestive health rather than focusing solely on surface treatments.

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Practical Ways to Support Your Gut Health

Understanding the connection between gut health and eczema is just the first step. Here are simple, evidence-based strategies to improve your gut microbiome and potentially ease eczema symptoms:

Eat Fibre-Rich Foods
Beneficial gut bacteria thrive on fibre. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains feed these bacteria, helping them produce SCFAs that regulate inflammation.

Include Fermented Foods
Fermented foods like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, and miso supply natural probiotics. Studies show adults consuming fermented foods regularly, at least three times daily, have a lower risk of developing eczema.

Consider Probiotic Supplements
Probiotics containing Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains can support gut health. The strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG® has shown notable results in reducing eczema symptoms.

Reduce Sugar
High intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates can disrupt gut bacteria, promote dysbiosis, and increase inflammation, factors that often worsen eczema symptoms. Reducing these foods helps restore balance in the gut microbiome, supporting healthy immune function and potentially easing skin inflammation.

Prioritize Sleep
Quality sleep supports the recovery and balance of your gut bacteria while lowering stress hormones that can increase intestinal permeability and inflammation.

When to Seek Professional Help

While simple lifestyle and dietary changes can support gut health and eczema, persistent symptoms often require experienced guidance. A Naturopath can assess your unique gut function, identify specific imbalances, and design a tailored program to restore balance. This often includes practitioner-grade supplements and targeted therapies that are far more effective than standard over-the-counter products.
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Many retail products are sub-therapeutic, meaning they contain insufficient amounts of active ingredients to create meaningful change. Some can even be harmful if used incorrectly. Under the guidance of a trained practitioner, you can safely implement strategies to support gut health and help manage inflammation related to eczema​.

​Working with a Naturopath ensures a personalized approach and ongoing support to make significant shifts in your gut function that you likely cannot achieve on your own.

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Conclusion

The connection between gut health and eczema highlights an important link: lasting skin improvement often begins in the digestive system. Treating the skin alone may provide temporary relief, but addressing underlying gut imbalances can create long-term results.

A Naturopath works with you to understand your gut function and guide therapeutic interventions safely. Through practitioner-grade supplements, tailored dietary strategies, and lifestyle adjustments, meaningful improvements in eczema are possible. Because gut health is complex and individual, professional support ensures that interventions are effective, safe, and targeted to your needs.  

Your skin mirrors your internal health. By addressing gut imbalances under naturopathic care, you can make transformative changes that may finally bring some relief from eczema symptoms. With patience, guidance, and the right strategies, the journey to healthier skin is possible, and it starts from within.

​Vanessa Winter
​Naturopath & Medical Herbalist
BHSc (Deans Award for Academic Excellence), BED, Adv.Dip.Nat., Adv.Dip.Herb.Med., NMHNZ
​Registered with Naturopaths and Medical Herbalists of NZ (NMHNZ)

References
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7916842/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6021588/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9311318/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35565858/
https://nationaleczema.org/blog/leaky-gut/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950194625001104
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/eczema-gut-health