Want A Beauty Tip? Poop Once A Day, Says An MD

While there are plenty of high-tech treatments and expert-backed products that can help you transform your skin, the first place you should look is your daily routine. Are you eating enough whole, natural foods? Limiting refined sugar intake? Drinking enough water? Getting high-quality sleep?

The best way to explain how bowel movements affect your skin is to focus on what happens when you don’t go regularly. Specifically for women, irregular bowel movements can increase the risk of estrogen dominance, Pedre says.

Jolene Brighten, NMD, women's hormone expert and author of Beyond the Pill, agrees: "If your bowels aren't moving, your estrogen sticks around longer than it should and goes back into circulation in the body," she previously told mbg. "You have to poop every day to get your estrogen out." If you don't, that estrogen buildup may only make you more constipated: Studies have shown that estrogen actually delays gastric emptying1, prolonging transit timing and causing constipation. 

So skipping a daily pass can ultimately mess with your hormones, which can manifest in full-body and skin disruptions. "Poor metabolic waste elimination plus a hormone imbalance can wreak havoc on your skin," says Brighten. As you may already know, imbalanced hormones are strongly linked to breakouts around the chin and jawline, frequently referred to as "hormonal acne."

But it’s not just breakouts that get impacted. Constipation is associated with a significant risk of atopic dermatitis (or eczema)2, too. Perhaps that's why Pedre has "seen eczema improve just by getting someone to poop more regularly.” Pretty impressive, right?

Even if you aren't dealing with more serious skin conditions, like acne or eczema, you can certainly face duller, drier skin from constipation. "When you're not pooping, [the toxins] have to come out in some way," says celebrity makeup artist Nam Vo, who coined the term "dewy dumpling skin." That's why she prioritizes a stellar No. 2 routine (probiotics, juices, and the like): "Topical skin care can only go so far. It starts from the inside out," she adds.