Best Probiotic for Acne: Top 9 Zit Zapping Products

If you’ve ever struggled with acne, whether as a teen or an adult, you understand that breakouts can ruin your mood and self-esteem. In these situations, achieving healthy skin can seem impossible, but it is possible to meet your goals.

With the help of probiotic supplements, you can do this by promoting a healthy gut. Skin probiotics deliver beneficial bacteria and eliminate the harmful toxins that cause breakouts, and there is a wide selection of them available on the health and wellness market today.

Read on to learn how to choose the best probiotic to help restore a good bacterial balance in your gut and brighten your complexion.

9 Best Probiotics for Acne: Your Path to Clearer Skin

Acne is the most common skin condition in the US, with nearly 50 million Americans affected each year. When hair follicles become clogged with dead skin cells and zits, problems like acne can occur.

One of the best things you can do for acne is to boost your gut health with beneficial bacteria. Poor gut health can impact your skin, leading to flare-ups from chronic conditions like acne and eczema.

Using probiotic supplements can improve skin health and strengthen your immune system, leading to clear and healthy skin. Here are our choices for the 9 best probiotics for acne treatment:

#1 Bioma: Best overall

Bioma is a probiotic supplement that targets your gut to promote smooth digestion and create a healthy biome of good bacteria. Your gut helps to regulate your hormones, and harmful bacteria here can exacerbate hormonal acne. A healthy gut can, therefore, improve overall skin health and minimize acne.

Using a blend of Bifidobacteria, tributyrin, and xylooligosaccharides (XOS), Bioma’s probiotic formula helps with targeting uncomfortable digestive symptoms to support gut health. Specifically, Bifidobacteria probiotic strains make a great addition to this supplement, as they release cytokines that fight inflammatory conditions like acne.

XOS is a prebiotic that may also reduce inflammation, while the tributyrin postbiotic may aid weight control and insulin sensitivity. Research highlights the link between obesity, poor diet, insulin resistance, and acne.

#2 YourBiology Gut+: Best for a strong skin barrier

YourBiology Gut+ improves acne by cultivating optimal gut health. Thanks to unique MAKtrek Bipass technology, the supplement’s 4 live strains of good bacteria with 40 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) make it to the gut safely and without causing digestive distress.

What’s great about YourBiology is that it contains a special probiotic strain called L. paracasei, which has been shown to strengthen the skin barrier. This fortified barrier acts as a shield, effectively blocking the entry of harmful toxins from the digestive tract and preventing inflammation, a common precursor to acne.

According to the manufacturers, you should begin to notice clearer skin within just 2 weeks of taking YourBiology Gut+, as well as improved hydration for a plumped and bright complexion.

#3 Just Thrive probiotic & antioxidant: Best for leaky gut

By boosting gut health, Just Thrive improves the absorption of nutrients from your diet that are vital for clear skin, including vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids. 

It does this with the help of Bacillus indicus, a probiotic superstrain that produces antioxidants at the site of absorption, improving your digestive, immune, and overall skin health.

Other key ingredients include Bacillus subtilis, which produces 12 protective substances that defend against harmful bacteria in the gut. Furthermore, Bacillus clausii is the only probiotic strain known to resist damage from antibiotics working effectively with them.

Just Thrive is also one of the best probiotics for leaky gut. This is a condition where your gut lining becomes weakened, leading to bad bacteria, digested food, and other toxins leaking into the rest of the body. By strengthening the gut barrier, this supplement prevents autoimmune responses that cause rashes and acne breakouts on the skin.

As an alternative to taking one capsule per day, the manufacturers suggest that you could also add Just Thrive to your favorite foods or recipes to make the probiotic convenient to consume.

#4 Elm & Rye probiotic: Best for balancing skin pH

With just one strain of friendly bacteria, Elm & Rye probiotic works differently from many of its competitors. This strain is Lactobacillus acidophilus, which produces lactic acid in the gut. Along with stopping the action of harmful bacteria, lactic acid also balances your pH levels.

Having an optimal pH of around 5.0 keeps your skin healthy by maintaining a healthy barrier, preventing acne, and soothing dry skin-related conditions.

As well as supporting the gut, Elm & Rye probiotic also strengthens the immune system, allowing it to protect acne-prone skin from harmful inflammatory bacteria that cause breakouts across the chin, face, and the rest of your body.

The brand uses third-party lab testing to ensure its probiotic supplement is safe and effective and only positively affects the gut. Since acne can be treated by having a good balance of high-quality beneficial bacteria in the gut, this makes Elm & Rye a stand-out brand.

#5 mindbodygreen probiotic+: Best for glowing skin

The probiotic+ supplement from mindbodygreen is a bestseller, and for a good reason. With a blend of 4 probiotic strains, it produces 32 billion CFUs that strengthen the immune system, aid digestion, and ease bloating. 

As well as promoting healthy digestion, these strains reduce internal and external inflammation, which helps prevent acne. Specifically, the Bifidobacterium lactis strain is effective in treating dysbiosis, an imbalance of bacteria throughout the body. 

Dysbiosis may cause weight gain, which mindbodygreen can help prevent. Not only is this a great probiotic for weight loss, but it will also put a stop to weight-gain-related acne.

#6 Love Wellness clear skin probiotic: Best for hormonal acne

By creating balance in the gut and skin microbiomes, Love Wellness clear skin probiotic is ideal for minimizing the severity of your acne and improving skin texture.

The formula’s key ingredient is Bifidobacterium longum, a probiotic strain that is scientifically proven to support clear skin by strengthening the skin barrier, reducing inflammation, and promoting hydration.

Chaste berry is another essential ingredient known for its ability to stabilize levels of estrogen, a hormone that can contribute to the development of acne. Coupled with the mineral zinc, it gives this supplement significant anti-inflammatory properties. As a result, Love Wellness helps reduce the redness and swelling often associated with irritated and inflamed skin.

#7 CodeAge skin probiotic: Best skincare formula

CodeAge skin probiotic delivers an impressive combination of vitamin C, probiotics, prebiotics, and phytoceramides to boost skin health. Together, these ingredients work to minimize inflammatory acne lesions and create clear skin from within.

The probiotic strains in this supplement amount to 50 billion CFUs, a substantial quantity for combatting acne-causing bacteria that trigger inflammation in both the skin and gut microbiomes.

Along with a unique blend of botanical herbs, CodeAge skin probiotic provides a source of vitamin C from acerola cherry. This provides the skin with free radical-fighting antioxidants that clear acne-causing toxins away while supporting the production of collagen, a protein that provides structure to the skin.

The formula also features phytoceramides, a type of lipid that supports plump, hydrated skin. Acne-prone skin can benefit from the increased hydration that this supplement offers, as dryness causes excess sebum to build up, leading to more spots forming.

#8 BiOptimizers P3-OM: Best for boosting skin immunity

BiOptimizers P3-OM probiotics are designed to support all aspects of a healthy gut, including improving immune response, strengthening the gut barrier, and promoting healthier skin. It achieves this using prebiotics, which act as food for the probiotic strains. This also keeps them alive through stomach acid, so they can effectively balance your gut microbiome.

P3-OM supports the leaky gut repair process, which prevents harmful toxins from reaching the skin and causing inflammation-related breakouts. The supplement’s inclusion of L. plantarum probiotic boosts immune function, making it even easier for your body to fight off acne-related bacteria.

As you may know, stress is a key trigger for acne. By normalizing your body’s stress response, the L. plantarum probiotic within P3-OM not only improves your mood but can also leave you with clearer, brighter skin.

#9 Thorne Perma-Clear®: Best for strengthening intestinal lining

Thorne’s Perma-Clear dietary supplement provides all-round support for preventing leaky gut and maintaining a strong and healthy gut lining. It does this using ginger, which has significant anti-inflammatory properties that reduce swelling and stop harmful acne-causing bacteria from reaching the skin.

Ginger may even benefit your skin health by aiding weight loss, minimizing your risk of weight-gain-related acne. However, only a few studies have confirmed this effect.

As a probiotic supplement, Perma-Clear’s main ingredients are Bifidobacterium bifidum and Saccharomyces boulardii, both of which promote the growth of beneficial bacteria while also stimulating immune function in the gut and skin.

This supplement stands out for its solid credibility, having been used by health professionals, more than 10,000 athletes, and even some US Olympic teams.

FAQs

Comparison Table

How We Selected the Best Skin Probiotics for Acne

In our search for the best probiotics, we used a five-point system to help us make a fair and comprehensive judgment. Here are the factors we tested each product against:

Purpose

While some of the supplements on our list are more directly aimed at improving the skin, others focus on strengthening the gut. Whether they work directly or indirectly, both types of probiotics can effectively treat acne. 

However, supplements that contain ingredients with the specific purpose of targeting the skin, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, are the best for treating acne. 

Quality

A high-quality skin supplement uses quality ingredients and thorough testing to ensure it is safe and effective to use. Several providers we recommend use third-party clinical tests to monitor the effectiveness of their supplements. Another mark of high quality in a probiotic supplement is transparency about their testing process, along with convenient, eco-friendly packaging.

Ingredients

Top-quality ingredients are essential aspects of an excellent probiotic for acne. We look for probiotics with clinically-tested ingredients that are known to affect both gut and skin health, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, and tributyrin.

Keep in mind that some supplements use low-quality ingredients or additives like sugar, which can worsen acne, so we avoided including these.

Price

Striking a balance between price and affordability is essential for a probiotic supplement. High-quality ingredients and thorough testing are expensive, and this should be reflected in the cost for the customer to some extent. We try to find probiotic supplements that are appropriately priced for their effectiveness and overall quality.

Brand reputation

Supplements don’t require FDA approval, so there are no specific standards they have to adhere to before hitting store shelves. However, by examining the manufacturers individually, we ensured each one prioritized providing safe and effective supplements for users. 

Brands with excellent customer service and money-back guarantees show they value their customers more than gaining profits.

Conclusion

Although acne is frustrating and often painful, it is possible to use probiotics to get radiant skin that’s healthy and clear.

Supporting your gut impacts several aspects of your body, including your mental health and the quality of your skin. Our top recommendations for probiotics are Bioma, YourBiology Gut+, and Just Thrive.

If none of these supplements are working for you, or if you’d like to compare a few more before you buy, then be sure to check out some of the other best probiotics that are available on the market today.