39. The Gut-Eye Connection: Why Your Dry Eyes Won’t Heal with Eye Drops Alone with Dr. Christina Gratkowski Haro

If you've ever dealt with chronic dry eyes, stubborn rosacea, or eczema and felt stuck in a cycle of expensive eyedrops and topical creams that never quite fix the problem—today's episode is going to change how you look at your health. Literally.

I'm joined by Dr. Christina Gratkowski Haro of Looking Beyond Health, and we're diving into why your eyes and skin are actually the dashboard to your internal health. We're talking about the role of the microbiome, why conventional band-aid solutions often fall short, and how your body uses these visible symptoms as signals that it's time to take a deeper look.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• The surprising gut-skin-eye connection most doctors overlook
• Why hormones play a bigger role in dry eyes than you think (especially in perimenopause)
• What recurring styes are really trying to tell you
• The truth about stomach acid and why your "acid reflux" might not be what you think
• How everyday habits—like screen time and diet—are impacting your tear quality
• Simple, sustainable ways to support your body from the inside out

Dr. Christina Gratkowski Haro of Looking Beyond Health is an optometrist, functional health practitioner, and coach who helps people uncover the root causes of chronic symptoms affecting their eyes, skin, gut, and overall health. Frustrated by conventional approaches that focused only on symptom management, she pursued advanced training in functional medicine to better understand how inflammation, immune imbalance, and lifestyle factors drive chronic conditions. She is the founder of Looking Beyond Health, where she works with clients to address issues like dry eye, eczema, rosacea, digestive problems, metabolic dysfunction, and autoimmune concerns using a personalized, root-cause approach. Her mission is to help people understand what their symptoms are telling them and how to heal from the inside out.

 

Connect with Dr. Christina:

Website: www.lookingbeyondhealth.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefunctionaleyedoc

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