More Than Skin Deep

How Gut and Skin Health Reflect Life’s Shifts

While menopause and skin health might be grabbing the headlines, the real story runs much deeper, and it’s one that touches both women and men.

Women often feel hormonal change as an intense, rapid wave. For men, the shift tends to unfold more gradually. But regardless of timing, every one of us moves through chapters in life when our bodies change, in ways that can challenge our skin, our sleep, our metabolism, our digestion, and even our sense of self.

This isn’t just about ageing. It’s about transition, and it’s not limited to one gender. There are common threads we can all hold onto.

Inside–Outside Skin Health

The irony of menopause is that it allows us to see change in "real-time", that can seem that seems fast and confronting. The transition on skin can be rapid and is literally in front of our eyes, which is why we seek and find a solution quite directly. However, these transitions call for more than a single, surface-level solution. Hormonal change runs deep and affects our whole being - whatever time in life. Think of teenagers going through hormonal change where skin and brain health are impacted suddenly and intensely. Comparable rate of change can be experienced later in life as these hormones go through yet a further reset. 

While topical skincare can support and protect the skin barrier, many of the symptoms we see with age, fatigue, inflammation, dryness, bloating, foggy thinking, begin much deeper.

These are simply consequences of change, and just require some adapting to. Some of these changes however, can be exacerbated by lifestyle choices, and often, they have strong links to the gut (see below if you want the scientific status quo). Making the choices of what you eat and how you support your gut microbiome important.

Your skin and gut each have their own microbiome, a thriving ecosystem of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that protect and interact with your body. And here’s where the science gets truly fascinating: these two microbiomes talk indirectly to each other through a cascade of biochemical signals, immune pathways, and even hormonal messengers.

The Role of Fibre in This Conversation

Clinical research consistently shows that dietary fibre, particularly soluble and prebiotic fibres (glycan gels really) can:

• Improve gut microbial diversity and balance

• Modulate inflammation

• Support hormonal regulation (including oestrogen metabolism)

• Stabilise blood sugar and protect collagen from glycation damage

This is especially relevant during menopause, when declining oestrogen influences enzymes like hyaluronidase and collagenase, which break down the skin’s structural components. Without oestrogen’s regulatory effect, these enzymes may become more active, contributing to dryness, thinning, and loss of elasticity. While the research is still evolving, the interplay between hormones, enzymes, and the microbiome is becoming impossible to ignore.

Glycans: The Hidden Language

Underneath this is an even more complex, almost invisible frontier: glycan science. These are the intricate sugar-based molecules that form gels and scaffolds in both plants and humans — and they carry more diverse, coded information than the subatomic particles studied in physics. In our bodies, glycans influence immune signalling, microbiome interactions, and tissue repair.

Seaweed-derived glycans, like those in our Phybre supplement and our Phyaluronic® skincare, interact with both gut and skin systems — helping beneficial bacteria thrive, supporting barrier function, and contributing to hydration and repair.

Phybre + BiomeBalance: A Two-Way Support System

That’s why we take a dual approach:

• Inside: Phybre, with resistant starches from green banana and seaweed glycans, or in our new fommulation with Manuka Honey and apple fibre, feeds beneficial gut microbes, encourages production of short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, and supports hormonal balance.

• Outside: Our BiomeBalance range nourishes and protects the skin’s own microbiome with diverse formulations designed for sensitive and changing skin.

It’s Never Too Early (or Too Late)

Whether you’re approaching change, in the thick of it, or rebuilding afterward, caring for your body from the inside gives your future self the best chance at resilience — and pairing this with microbiome-friendly skincare strengthens the barrier that meets the world.

So yes — it’s more than skin deep. It’s about living well through every chapter, giving your future self a hand by making thoughtful choices now, and embracing the science (and wonder) of the hidden networks that keep us whole.

There will be decades of wonder and reveal as the research in this space unravels - but we will unravelling and bringing it to you in real time.

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TECHNICAL RUNDOWN OF THE SCIENCE TODAY:

Gut Microbiome Changes During Menopause

• Loss of microbial diversity: Menopause is associated with reduced gut microbiome diversity and a shift toward a composition more similar to age-matched men, likely due to declining estrogen levels.

• Key taxa affected: Postmenopausal women show lower levels of beneficial bacteria (e.g., Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium) and higher abundance of pro-inflammatory microbes (e.g., Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria).

• Estrobolome disruption: The "estrobolome" (gut bacteria that metabolize estrogen) becomes less active, reducing estrogen recycling and exacerbating hormonal decline.

Gut Health and Menopausal Symptoms

• Hot flashes & inflammation: Increased gut permeability ("leaky gut") correlates with higher inflammation markers (e.g., hs-CRP) and more severe vasomotor symptoms.

• Mood disorders: Dysbiosis may disrupt the gut-brain axis, contributing to anxiety and depression via altered serotonin and tryptophan metabolism.

• Bone health: Gut microbes modulate calcium absorption and osteoclast activity; menopause-related dysbiosis is linked to osteoporosis risk.

Gut Microbiome and Aging (Both Sexes)

• General aging effects: Gut diversity plateaus around age 40, with increased uniqueness (individual-specific microbes) and reduced Bifidobacterium.

• Inflammaging: Age-related gut dysbiosis promotes systemic inflammation, linked to metabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes, CVD) and immunosenescence.

• Sex differences: Pre-menopausal women have higher microbial diversity than men, but this gap closes post-menopause, suggesting hormonal influence.

Lifestyle Interventions

• Probiotics/prebiotics: Strains like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium may restore microbial balance and alleviate symptoms (e.g., bloating, mood swings).

• Dietary fiber: High-fiber diets (e.g., Mediterranean) support SCFA production, reduce gut permeability, and improve metabolic health.

• Hormone therapy (HT): HT may partially reverse menopause-related dysbiosis, but its long-term effects on the microbiome remain unclear.

Key Peer-Reviewed Studies

1. Santos-Marcos et al. (2022) Menopause reduces gut diversity and increases Bacteroidetes, correlating with metabolic risks.

2. BMC Women’s Health (2022) Postmenopausal women with symptoms (Aggregatibacter, Bifidobacterium depletion) show altered estrogen metabolism pathways.

3. Microbiome (2024) Visceral adiposity in postmenopause is linked to Proteobacteria-driven endotoxemia and inflammation.

4. npj Women’s Health (2025) Menopause shifts oral/gut microbiomes, increasing susceptibility to infections and bone loss.

In summary....

Gut health is critically important during menopause, with dysbiosis exacerbating symptoms (e.g., hot flashes, osteoporosis) and systemic aging. Interventions targeting the microbiome (diet, probiotics) show promise, and more clinical trials are needed.