What A Gut Health Expert Eats To Keep Her Skin Glowing

"Beautiful skin always starts with the gut," says Kellyann Petrucci, M.S., N.D. And we couldn't agree more! The gut-skin connection is something we talk about a lot in our content—and we espouse the benefits of an inside-out glow often. But in this week's Clean Beauty School, we're taking a deep dive with Petrucci herself: In the episode we talk about how gut inflammation affects the body and skin and how you can help your body avoid it in the first place. 

Petrucci says she lives by the 80-20 rule: Eat for your body for 80% of the time, then "You can go out and have fun" for the other 20%. But she says she can follow this lifestyle because she's, "done the work and gotten the inflammation out of my body." 

And one of the top ways she's done this is through bone broth. "I drink a lot of bone broth throughout the day," she says, noting that she also practices intermittent fasting, so this helps keep her satiated while fasting. Bone broth has many skin and health benefits, ranging from aiding in collagen production (bone broth is high in amino acids, which are the building blocks of collagen) to supporting the gut lining. 

She also gets her vegetable and nutrient intake by utilizing soups, stews, and smoothies. "These are kind of my go-to," she says. "I make shakes with collagen because you can help your body make its own collagen. It's so important to help that process."* Collagen supplements are shown to improve skin elasticity: Research shows that hydrolyzed collagen peptides have been shown to help promote your body's natural production of collagen1 and other molecules that make up the skin, like elastin and fibrillin.* 

She also says she loves eating another fan favorite: "I have a lot of salmon," she says. Salmon is full of antioxidants and fatty acids. The former helps neutralize free radicals, while the latter supports the skin barrier.

"And you know, sometimes I go off the rails and I just don't worry about it," she says. "If I'm out and want to have the pasta or burger, I do. Because I've put in the work the other 80% of the time. But if not, I just manipulate the menu—I ask for two vegetables for sides, for example."