For months in the lead up to Christmas we can start to gain access to those decadent mince pies and plum puddings.

The main concern is not so much the additional food or alcohol you may consume on Christmas Day, it is the ‘festive season’ which for some can take up to 1-3 months of the year. With Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Years and all the pre-Christmas work functions closely followed by Australia Day celebrations.

You can see how it is terribly easy to overindulge at this time of year. The good news, it is avoidable if you set yourself some ground rules and strategies to coping for all the functions and social occasions to come.

Did you know that we can actually work on building up tolerance to lactose and cows milk protein?

Is your baby formula fed? Did breastfeeding not work out as planned for whatever reason? Are you concerned about your child’s gut health and immunity?

I often recommend that infants and children should be taking a daily probiotic to help boost gut health and immunity. Although if your child is FF we could be doing more through the addition of prebiotics.

There is more and more evidence being released regarding the benefits of prebiotics in formula-fed (FF) infants to facilitate development of a more desirable microbiota resulting in subsequent health benefits.

How can your gut health influence you skin health and conditions such as acne, eczema and psoriasis?

One of the first steps to treating skin conditions such as eczema, acne and psoriasis is to understand how gut health influences the immune system.

We now know the gut is a very powerful interface through which we can modulate the immune system. If any issues should arise in the function or the structure of the gut this can have profound harmful effects on our wellbeing.

A potential shift in the gut microbiome, the tissue lining or the quality of the gastric secretions can result in a rise in the inflammatory processes. In the literature we are now able to identify a clear link between gut health and skin health. A skin dysfunction could be indicative of a deeper dysfunction in the gastrointestinal tract.

How exactly does gut function support skin health?