Leaky Gut Fix #: Rebalance Your Gut Flora
The first two steps mentioned above will likely help to reduce gut permeability. However, to ensure that this solution is sustained, you will have to invest time and effort into maintaining a healthy balance of gut flora.
This can be done in numerous ways. The healthy protein and vegetable-rich diet mentioned above is a good first step. But, you can and should do more. Instead of simply taking probiotics when you are on antibiotics, you should add in a daily, high-quality probiotic. Plus, in addition to probiotics, another great addition is fermented foods. There are a host of them to choose from, including sauerkraut and kimchi.
What Are The Signs Of Leaky Gut Syndrome
Leaky gut is the spillage of toxins into the blood. This spillage can comes from candida overgrowth in the body. So, the symptoms of leaky gut syndrome can be associated as the symptoms of yeast overgrowth. These include skin infections, digestive issues like bloating, chronic fatigue, headaches, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and hormonal imbalances. Other symptoms may include thyroid conditions, joint pain and arthritis, and ADD or ADHD. If youre experiencing any combination of these, it may be time to look into your leaky gut diet.
How To Know If You Have A Leaky Gut
If youve been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, in all likelihood you have a leaky gut. Interestingly studies have shown increased intestinal permeability is also present in various other inflammatory conditions that are not autoimmune, including eczema, asthma, hay fever and autism. Individuals with those conditions are thought to be at increased risk of autoimmune disease in the future.
The following are associated with leaky gut syndrome:
- Fatigue
- Skin problems e.g. eczema, dermatitis, hives, skin rashes or itchy skin
- Food sensitivities
- Cognitive problems foggy head, poor memory, low motivation
- Asthma
- Liver problems raised liver enzymes, fatty liver disease
- Nutritional deficiencies particularly iron, magnesium, vitamin B12 and vitamin D
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Using The Wrong Diagnostic Tests
There is a test available that shows whether an individual has intestinal permeability. It works by measuring levels of two indigestible sugars, mannitol and lactulose, in the urine. Most physicians do not use this test and research shows that it is not very reliable. As we mentioned earlier, there is no evidence that intestinal permeability causes any disease be wary of anyone who claims that it does. Some unscrupulous individuals are even selling these tests to consumers online. Using this test to diagnose leaky gut syndrome would be like ordering a test to look for blood in the stool of someone with IBD and using a positive test result to prove that the bloody stools caused some other mysterious disease that in turn caused the IBD. We already know that bloody stools are a symptom of Crohns disease or ulcerative colitis, just as we know that intestinal permeability is a symptom of some diseases such as Crohns disease and celiac disease.
Proponents of leaky gut syndrome might also misuse tests that look for bacterial, fungal, or viral infections, or tests that measure immune function, to diagnose the disorder, when there is no evidence that the results are in any way related to this baseless syndrome.
Improve Your Stress Management
Stress is an inevitable part of life. However, if we stress too much too often it can cause damage to our body one of them being a leaky gut syndrome. When we are under stress a hormone called cortisol is released.
Cortisol will send certain signals to our body to either stop or start producing something. When this signal reaches the digestive system it will tell it to slow down, thus decreasing the ability to digest food. This results in a leaky gut, as the cells of the gut lining become less healthy.
Therefore, to help heal your leaky gut it is best to avoid stressful situations. Try to manage your stress by doing yoga, exercising , mediation, or anything that relaxes you.
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Minimize Your Alcohol Consumption
Although a minimal amount of alcohol has health benefits, excessive alcohol has been associated with compromising the health of the intestinal lining. For women, this means no more than one drink a day, while for men the limit should be two drinks per day. Ideally, one would not be drinking every day.
Many alcoholic drinks contain grains. Non-grain containing alcoholic drinks include brandy, gluten-free beers, tequila, and wine.
Leaky Gut Diet: How To Eat To Heal Your Gut
Tags: Bone Broth, Carnivore Diet, Chronic Inflammation, Glycocalyx, Ketogenic diet, Leaky Gut, Microbiome
In recent years leaky gut syndrome had been identified as a possible root cause for many chronic illnesses, from skin issues to autoimmune disorders, and even cancer.
Though leaky gut is not a medical term in and of itself, it is the common name for a condition known as increased intestinal permeability.
Though the links between leaky gut and disease are still unclear, it has been clinically associated with various autoimmune and chronic diseases including celiac disease and type 1 diabetes.
In this article, well take a closer look at what leaky gut is, its causes, and the surprising diet and lifestyle changes you can make to heal it.
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How To Make The Green Hulk Shake
- Grab a decent blender, something that can crush ice, and toss the 1/2 avocado, handful of spinach and lemon juice in.
- Then put a big handful of ice cubes in and fill with 14 oz / 400 ml water. You might want to experiment with the amount of water, as some people like their shake less thick than mine.
- Now add your green powder in, followed by any of the optional add ons. I personally add in all of them, unless Ive already eaten a big meal. And when I do this, I find the green shake keeps me full for hours as it packs a beautiful macro combination of clean protein and healthy fats. What a way to lose weight!
- Finally, make sure to properly blend it of course, to avoid any green chunks of food or powder dancing around your glass as you go to take your first sip.
IDEA #28
Replace Your Morning Cup O Joe With Some Herbal Teas
This need not be forever, but it should definitely be your approach for the next 1-3 months whilst you are recovering from leaky gut.
You see coffee, including decaf, is not good for your intestinal lining79. .
You can read my in-depth article here on coffee and leaky gut, but the exec summary version is that coffee irritates the gut , causes inflammation , gets confused by our bodies as gluten 80 and the caffeine itself spurs on adrenal fatigue.
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Related Conditions To Leaky Gut To Watch Out For
IDEA #27
Can You Completely Heal A Leaky Gut
While its impossible to say whether or not you can completely heal leaky gut, you can certainly make it better.
Everyones guts are leaky to some extent: our small intestine is supposed to let out certain particles into the rest of the body. Its only a problem when it starts to let out the wrong types.
You need your gut to remember what to let out and what to keep in. The good news is, theres a lot of evidence that you can help it do that.
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Dutch Complete Hormone Test:
How The Dutch Test Works:
You pee on little test strips for a month, send them off and wait for the lab to determine which of your hormones are caddywompus. From there, your practitioner can determine if anything needs further inspection and/or if you need supplemental hormones.
To throw a monkey wrench into this whole conversation, I stopped having periods in 2018. This could be due to my gut health or the fact that I was in a constant pattern of over-exercising and under-eating. I went a year and a half without a period, and while I have periods intermittently, I still have not begun regular menstruation.
With Dena overseeing the test, I ordered up the complete Dutch hormone test to see if there is anything off. There is a strong correlation between gut health and hormones, so when one is off they are likely both off.
If your body is fighting an infection, it makes sense that all hands are on deck to kill the infection rather than to procreate. If there is something off in your gut, it is very likely that your hormones are out of balance in some fashion.
I havent received my results from the hormone test yet and I may or may not share them, depending on how relevant or useful I think they are to you.
So to make a very complicated healing journey very simple, here is
If A Functional Doctor Diagnoses It Also Fight Other Conditions Related To Leaky Gut
Very few people just suffer from leaky gut.
Thats because intestinal hyperpermeability often causes further conditions or is caused or exacerbated/maintained by other conditions 105.
So you should be working very carefully with your doctor, or other health professional, to hunt out related conditions and then fight them head on as well.
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The First Few Days Of Fasting
The first few days of the fast will be the most difficult. The sugar cravings will be overwhelming. Exhaustion will be debilitating. Energy will disappear, and then come back for spurts at a time. The bowel will slow down. Brain fog and other symptoms of detox may appear. This is the time to dig deep with resolve, take naps, and be patient with the shift in the body. Enjoy the slowing down of life. Remember that breaking a sugar addiction can be more difficult than breaking a cocaine addiction . The article How to Break a Sugar Addiction might be a helpful read for this point in the fast.
Starve The Candida Of The Foods It Loves Especially Sugar
Sugar is without doubt candidas go-to fuel source. And just like we wouldnt feed a deranged Popeye more spinach, we shouldnt feed our candida spoonfuls of sugar.
Obviously you want to avoid eating the main culprits. i.e. simple sugars like soda drinks, fruit juices, sweets, desserts and even fruit.
But you also want to stop consuming all refined carbs , processed foods, alcohol, low-fat products , condiments and any foods with yeast.
Meanwhile, if you can also stick to the leaky gut diet weve talked about above, you will give your gut the best chance of healing and thus fighting back against candida.
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The Best Gut Healing Diet
As you may have guessed, since leaky gut is so closely connected with what you put in your mouth, the most important element of healing leaky gut is your diet. To support a strong intestinal lining and help repair any increased permeability, you want to eat foods that promote good bacteria and fend off harmful bacteria, and avoid anything that doesnt agree with your unique body.
Everyones gut-healing diet will look slightly different, because each of us has our own distinct microbiome, but the best gut healing diet generally contains these foods and food groups:
As well as eating the gut-healing foods above, its important to avoid foods that can be damaging to your gut health. That means reducing your consumption of sugar, refined carbohydrates, processed foods, gluten, alcohol, and refined oils.
Pay The Premium And Eat Organic Veg Grass
Yes, I know. This can get expensive. Especially if you are hitting up Wholefoods weekly and going all raging bull in there! Unfortunately, there is just such a wide gap between conventionally farmed food and the organic stuff.
For starters, organic meats and fish will come packed with more omega-3s, vital for taming the inflammation being caused by your leaky gut83.
And these foods, devoid of the toxins from conventional farming , will ensure fewer poisons make their way into your gut and through to your blood stream.
Thats a double win for leaky gut syndrome.
One other advantage is that these products dont suffer from the omega imbalance84 found in conventional meats and fish ie the overload of omega 6 that is so pervasive throughout the Western world.
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Specialize In Cooking Just 7 Simple Paleo
Everyone out there is probably telling you to eat all kinds of crazy things to repair your gut.
From broccoli shakes to liver & choy sum stir frys, it can seem quite unappetizing and perhaps a little daunting.
Worse yet, the cookbooks out there focused on clean eating usually contain some of the most complicated recipes youll ever find.
From all my own trial and error, Ive found that picking and then sticking to a meal roster of just 7 meals is perfect, especially if you make sure they are easy and quick to cook, and only require a couple of ingredients.
You can find my 7 cornerstone meals in the free guide, but here is a brief overview of how they breakdown.
Identify The Foods You Should Avoid:
While you take the time to consume the right kind of food, it is equally important to avoid eating certain foods to improve your gut health. Some foods come with higher possibilities of causing inflammation in the body. Such foods can also negatively affect healthy bacteria while promoting the growth of unhealthy gut bacteria responsible for many chronic health conditions. In order to ensure that this does not happen, it is vital to avoid consuming excess junk food, foods containing artificial sweeteners, refined oils, sugary beverages, processed food, and alcohol. All these foods can harm healthy gut bacteria and compromise the guts protective lining. It is also vital to stay away from wheat-based products like wheat flour, cereals, pasta, and bread, which can also trigger symptoms of an unhealthy gut. Also avoid eating foods such as oats, triticale, seitan, bulgur, rye, and barley frequently. Eating a lot of grain foods that contain gluten is very problematic as well.
In addition to that, it is best also to stay away from processed foods, processed meat, baked foods, and snacks. Processed meat foods include hot dogs, bacon, deli meats, and cold cuts. Baked goods include pizza, pastries, pies, cookies, muffins, and cakes. Snack foods to stay away from consist of the following pretzels, popcorn, muesli bars, and crackers. Sauces like salad dressings, teriyaki, soy, and hoisin sauce ideally have to be avoided as well.
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Best Foods For Gut Health:
The cold hard truth about eating to heal your gut is an underlying gut issue cannot be resolved through diet alone.
There are so many conflicting articles on the internet regarding what you should do for good gut health. What are the best foods for gut health? Which foods are bad for gut health? Its all very convoluted and frankly neurotic.
The health community is in consensus that all eliminating processed foods, particularly gluten, dairy, and sugar helps improve gut health, some tout high-fiber diets, others may recommend a carnivore dietand everything in between.
In general, those who face chronic gut issues are better off spending their time and energy figuring out the root cause of the problem versus elimination diets. Furthermore, many people who suffer from gut problems naturally dont want to eat as much, which can actually be detrimental. While fasting is a trend in the health community and certainly has its place in healing, your body simply needs adequate calories to heal. Excessively restricting calories on top of restricting foods will not help but will often set a person back in their healing process.
That said, if there are specific foods that are known triggers, it makes sense to avoid them. For instance, high fiber foods aggravated my GI when I had IBS, so I limited the amount I ate until I healed.
What helped me when I was in the thick of a flair was eating low-FODMAP foods, sweating regularly, and prioritizing protein and resistant starch over fiber.
Symptoms Of Leaky Gut
There are many ill effects of leaky gut. As a result of your immune system being exposed to foods, bacteria, and chemicals it was never meant to see, it can flip into a permanent state of on sending a constant barrage of inflammatory chemicals through your body.
These immune chemicals and the inflammation they cause can lead to symptoms as diverse as acne, eczema, food sensitivities, hormonal imbalances, body pain, brain fog, insomnia, and even autoimmune diseases like Crohns, Hashimotos thyroiditis and rheumatoid arthritis.
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