Leaky Gut Syndrome has been all over the news lately, and it’s been causing quite a stir! Much like gluten intolerance, people are finding that it’s responsible for many health problems that were once a mystery in their life. Suddenly, every health mystery from their past is solved.
If this sounds like you, keep reading. Lots more people have this disease than anyone ever thought, and more is being discovered about this disease all the time. Read one to discover more about this tricky syndrome, and what you can do to heal yourself from it!
What is Leaky Gut?
Let’s start at the beginning. Leaky Gut Syndrome (often just called “Leaky gut”) is a term used to describe the loosening of the junctions that make up the lining of the small intestine. What should be tightly holding in your insides is suddenly loose, and the bacteria and undigested food that should be locked inside escapes.
This is bad enough, but it actually gets worse. Your body responds to all the escaped materials by sending in antibodies. They harm the body much more than they help resolve the leaking itself, and it all ends up a huge mess inside your body. The antibodies can’t be used to fight other ailments in the body, and the resulting sicknesses are often treated without the underlying Leaky Gut Syndrome being addressed.
What Causes Leaky Gut?
Leaky Gut as many possible causes, but the one thing they all have in common is toxins. The more toxins going into your body, the higher chance you have of developing Leaky Gut. Though as this list of Leaky Gut causes shows, this syndrome can be attributed to many different lifestyle factors. Many of them you wouldn’t expect!
- Environmental toxins
- Use of hormonal birth control
- Use of NSAIDs
- Gut dysbiosis (an unhealthy imbalance between healthy and unhealthy bacteria in the digestive system)
- Being introduced to solid food too early (especially grains)
- Not being breast-fed
- Being born by C-Section (this and not being breast-fed both deprive the baby of their mother’s natural gut flora)
- Chronic stress
- Not eating real food (or just eating too much processed food!)
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Symptoms and Signs of a Leaky Gut
Often, the symptoms of Leaky Gut are often diagnosed as a different disease or affliction. Most of these symptoms are actually caused by the antibodies released by the body, not the escaped material itself!
Here’s what you should look for if you think you may be suffering from Leaky Gut:
- Allergies, both environmental and to food
- Asthma
- Chronic inflammation
- Gas, bloating or other digestive issues
- Depression
- Diet low in natural fiber
- Acne, eczema, psoriasis, and other skin irritations
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Chronic fatigue
- Crohn’s Disease
- Irritated liver, or a liver overwhelmed by toxins
- Celiac disease
- Autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis
- Problems of the thyroid, such as Hashimoto’s Disease
- Lowered immune system
- Symptoms associated with malabsorption of nutrients
What I’m Doing to Heal My Leaky Gut
- Taking the “Solving Leaky Gut” Course (you can find out more info here) with Jordan Reasoner and Steve Wright. These guys are the gurus on leaky gut after spending several years healing their own leaky guts. They help customize a leaky gut healing plan that’s right for you depending on if you have a moderate or extreme case of leaky gut.
- Bone Broth and LOTS of it. I try to drink at least 3-4 cups of bone broth at every day. I always make my own bone broth because it’s so easy and inexpensive….you can find the recipe here. Homemade bone broth allows the gelatin in the bones to seep into the broth which helps heal the lining of the stomach.
- Lots of Grassfed Gelatin. When I can’t always drink bone broth I also try and add some grassfed gelatin (this is the brand I use) is a great way to have the gelatin building blocks to help heal from a leaky gut.
- Probiotics: I unfortunately have issues eating fermented foods (it could be a histamine reaction for me…stay tuned for more info on that). For most people fermented foods like raw sauerkraut (get the recipe here), kombucha (get the recipe here), etc. are great ways to replenish the good bacteria in the gut to help improve gut health, but for me that isn’t an option so I take a probiotic called, Prescript Assist (you can find it here) which is a plant based probiotic that has helped replenish the good bacteria in my gut.
- Aloe vera juice has been quite calming on my stomach lining and has help reduce some of the inflammation in my gut. I like to drink some of this Aloe vera juice in the mornings when I first wake up.
What methods have you used or are you using to help fix your leaky gut?
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