Signs You May Have Leaky Gut Syndrome
An estimated 60-70 million Americans are affected by a digestive conditions, according to the National Institutes of Health . One of the most prevalent digestive disorders, and not a disease, is a condition called leaky gut syndrome. Also known as intestinal permeability, leaky gut syndrome can have a direct impact on your overall health.
Leaky gut syndrome has been linked to a myriad of health issues ranging from general intestinal symptoms such as occasional constipation, gas and bloating to more symptoms related to mood.
Many likely culprits of leaky gut syndrome can be linked to an unhealthy diet, stress and environmental toxins. As the medical community continues to learn more about leaky gut, it becomes more apparent that millions of Americans might be suffering from this condition. You might be asking yourself: how do I know if I have leaky gut syndrome?
In this article, we will cover:
- What is leaky gut syndrome
- Signs and symptoms of leaky gut syndrome
- How to heal leaky gut syndrome
The Leaky Gut Conundrum
Leaky gut can be one of the most challenging problems for those with gluten sensitivity. Primarily because the extensive damage caused by years of gluten exposure leaves this vital system in disarray. Gluten
- Disrupts the gut barrier
- Causes digestive distress
- Leads to vitamin and mineral deficiencies and Mal-absorption
On top of that, the other properties of gluten and grain in general can also cause GI damage and inflammation. Examples include:
- Heavy GMO pesticides used in grain production
- Heavy level of mycotoxins found in grain. Heavy levels of mold found in grain.
- Large quantity of oxylates that block mineral absorption
- Chemicals called ATIs that hinder digestive enzyme release from the pancreas.
All of these factors contribute to delayed healing and persistent problems with food allergies, infections, and digestion. This big cycle is one of the most frustrating catch 22s in healing.
To heal we need a healthy gut to receive nourishment, but because the gut is broken, we cannot get at the nourishment necessary to heal.
Channel Your Inner Dalai Lama And Cut Work Stress Out Of Your Life
For the majority of us, our main source of stress is work.
And as we know, chronic stress is one of the top 5 causes of leaky gut, because it has a crippling effect on digestion and in general makes it very hard for your body to fight off the bad bacteria and yeast overgrowth causing leaky gut.
Not to mention the inflammation that flares up because of leaky gut.
Also Check: Tramadol For Ibs
Ditch All Sugars And Dairy Except For Some Gut
First I asked you to ransack your house and bin all the grains and legumes.
Now Im asking you to find anything with sugar or dairy in it, and add that to the scrapheap as well! By the end of today youll probably have no food left in the house
But thats alright.
In fact, the process of elimination is without doubt the most important step towards healing your leaky gut and feeling great again.
Ready To Fix Your Leaky Gut And Improve Your Overall Health
If you suffer from digestive issues such as stomach pain, gas, bloating, or diarrhea or have associated health concerns such as autoimmune diseases, thyroid issues, diabetes, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, anxiety, depression, or skin conditions, we can help!
To take your first step towards improving your gut and overall health, contact your local BeBalanced Center and request to take our free leaky gut assessment to see if our Leaky Gut program is the right fit for you! You can also schedule a free in-person or virtual consultation to learn more about this or any of our other programs.
At BeBalanced, we believe that you can feel and look your best at any age! Let us be a part of your journey.
Be well!
Your dedicated team at BeBalanced
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Also Check: Diarrhea And Dizziness During Pregnancy
Abstain From All Alcohol For 30 Days And Say Goodbye To Beer Forever
Your gut is not a huge fan of alcohol. And that shouldnt be a surprise given alcohol itself is the natural result of yeast overgrowth and sugar37!
I go through a detailed explanation here in my article on alcohol and leaky gut syndrome, where I explain how alcohol messes with your digestion , reduces your ability to control inflammation39 , and it makes the openings in your gut lining larger .
Oh yeah, and alcohol is fantastic at depleting your levels of mucosal-supporting zinc too42!
These effects are magnified if you drink alcohol on an empty stomach, which is so often the case when people go for after work or pre-dinner drinks.
So heres my guide to alcohol and leaky gut
Have A Client Struggling With Poor Posture Heres How To Fix It
Read More
Strange as it is to think of health problems as responsive to fads, the truth is that their prevalence can ebb and flow in popular media. One condition thats catching attention these days is leaky gut syndrome. While some doctors are adamant that the diagnosis isnt real, others insist that its the explanation for the health problems suffered by thousands. But what is leaky gut, and how can you tell if you have it? Well dig into the details below.
What is Leaky Gut?
Leaky gut syndrome, also known as increased intestinal permeability, is a digestive condition that’s categorized by the ability of bacteria and toxins to leak through the walls of the intestines and into the bloodstream.
When its functioning correctly, your digestive system is the space where food gets broken down, so your body can absorb its nutrients. The intestinal walls act as natural barriers to prevent compounds of food from passing through and entering the bloodstream.
However, small gaps in the wall of the intestine are designed to let water and nutrients pass through while still blocking harmful substances. This is known as your intestinal permeability, and its perfectly normal for a small number of compounds to travel through these walls. However, if something happens that causes these tight junctions to loosen, your gut becomes more permeable, and larger compounds can pass through, consequently triggering leaky gut.
Recommended Reading: Why Does Lettuce Give Me Diarrhea
If You Like White Wine Add Ice Cubes Or Water Or Seltzer
This spritzer idea might seem sacrilegious to my French readers, but hey, it is an easy way for us to keep our total wine consumption limited, whilst still being able to enjoy a few glasses on a Saturday night.
The ideal amount of dilution would be 50%. So it is half wine, half non-sugar mixer .
Probably the #1 thing to look out for when choosing a white wine, is dry v sweet. The former contains much less sugar. That means sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio are your new BFFs.
I personally tend to limit my white wine consumption to the summer months, and so generally only drink red wine, which leads us to the next point
Chew Each Bite Of Food 20 Times Like Gandhi
Chew your drink and drink your food, Gandhi.
Taking a digestive enzyme supplement will help breakdown your food when it reaches your stomach and intestines. And I think you should definitely take them I know I do.
But to really give your gut a helping hand , you should basically pulverize your food in your mouth by chewing each bite around 20 times.
The more you chew the more it gets pre-broken down and the more digestive enzymes you yourself produce via your saliva glands85.
By chewing your food like this, youll find your gut is better able to process it. Most of all, your body will be able to absorb more of the nutrition86and your leaky gut will not be bombarded by so many large undigested food particles.
And of course, 20 chews per bite of food is just a rough average. So if youre eating something really tough, like Uncle Bobs well done steak , then up the chew count, eg to 30.
IDEA #19
You May Like: Why Does Lettuce Give Me Gas
Leaky Gut Diet Sample Menu
Based on the recommendations above regarding the best and worst leaky gut foods, here is what a few days of meals might look like when following a leaky gut diet plan:
Day #1
- Breakfast: avocado on sprouted grain toast topped with sauerkraut and tomatoes
- Lunch: salad topped with sliced grass-fed steak and cooked or cultured veggies
- Dinner: stir-fry made with mixed veggies and protein of our choice
Day #2
- Breakfast: yogurt parfait made with plain yogurt, chia seeds and berries
- Lunch: cooked fish, such as salmon, with steamed veggies topped with olive oil
- Dinner: seared chicken served with a mixed salad or vegetable soup
Day#3
- Breakfast: smoothie made with coconut milk, kefir or raw milk, sprouted almond butter and collagen protein powder
- Lunch: chicken salad made with yogurt and avocado, served with veggies or salad
- Dinner: steak or fish served with vegetable soup
Heres How I Incorporate Coconut Products Into My Daily Life
- I use 1 tablespoon of non-hydrogenated organic coconut oil in my daily shake/juice. Tastes insanely good and as weird as this sounds, gives a lovely mouth feel to the shake. Just make sure you get quality coconut oil that is not rancid and not filled with all kinds of crazy chemicals.
- Now and then I will have half a can of coconut milk in my shake instead of the oil . Probably 2 times a week. This is the taste of island holidays in food form!
- Since my gut is now in good health and able to handle oats these days, I will cook up some gluten-free oats with coconut milk on gym days. Of course, theres a lot of energy in this sort of concoction, so best to pair with commensurate training.
- Coconut oil is my go to cooking oil for many dishes, eg a mild Thai-style chicken & broccoli stir fry.
- You might even enjoy coconut kefir91 fermented coconut milk/yogurt.
IDEA #23
Also Check: Liquid Diarrhea Pregnancy
The 3 Things To Look For In A Great Digestive Enzyme Supplement
Signs You Have Leaky Gut Syndrome And How To Heal It Naturally
Mar 7, 2018Carly FraserSave For Later
Your gut is the gateway to health. If your gut is healthy, chances are youre not doing too bad in the health sector. In fact, over 60% of chronic ailments could be healed if people just paid a little attention to what their gut was doing.
The prevalence of one particular gut ailment termed leaky gut syndrome has reached epidemic proportions, given the poor diet choices, chronic stress, toxic overload and bacterial imbalance of most individuals.
Recommended Reading: Can Lettuce Give You Gas
If You Like Red Wine Greatso Do I
Like with white wine, the crucial thing here is to choose dry over sweet so we cut down our sugar intake.
My favorite choices of red are thus pinot noir and a nice big shiraz . But other dry red wines include merlot and zinfandel.
What I perhaps like most about red wine is that it has a lot of taste memory, meaning it is relatively hard to over indulge.
Depends On The Quality Of The Probiotic Supplement You Choose
Quality & quantity of probiotic strains used
Probiotic strains vary greatly in terms of how they help and how much is needed of each of them to do their thing.
Unfortunately, most popular brands tend to offer only a few strains and usually the cheaper ones.
And, remember how we discussed the link between greater bacterial diversity and better overall gut health? Well, when it comes to maximizing the health of your gut bacteria, 1-4 strains just doesnt cut it.
Instead, you should be looking for a supplement with closer to 10-12 strains, as this will offer you a nice wide range of benefits. Importantly, look for your favorite strains towards the beginning of the formula, as those strains appear in the highest amounts in the formula.
i.e. to sum all of this up there is a huge difference between a 50 billion CFUs probiotic with just L Acidophilus versus a 50 billion CFUs probiotic with 10 different premium strains.
Presence of prebiotic
Having good quality prebiotics such as inulin or Jerusalem artichoke in your probiotic can help feed your probiotics. Kinda like the way fuel tanks work with a spaceship.
i.e. armed with a prebiotic, you could potentially achieve more benefits and increase the efficacy of your probiotic, without increasing the number of CFUs it contains.
Delayed release capsules, aka enteric coated or DR caps
These can be a total game changer for working out how much probiotics to take.
Read Also: Does Xanax Help With Ibs
Once You Start Feeling Pretty Good Consider Trying Gut
Heres the ultimate list of gut-friendly dairy you can consider. But make sure to stick to organic dairy products .
The beautiful thing with the list above is most are lactose free or very low in lactose. For example, yogurt contains bacteria which eat up the lactose sugar during fermentation25. Or for example, grass fed butter is an end product with minimal inherent lactose.
Also many other above are naturally low in A1 casein.
To work out what is best for you, I recommend strongly working with a registered dietitian. They are magicians at helping us pinpoint the good from the bad.
For example, with my RDN we worked out I can tolerate goats cheese or buffalo mozzarella quite well. And also, a probiotic-rich organic unflavored yogurt works wonders for me as a dessert.
But everyone is different. And I implore you to first do 30 days completely dairy free, so you can then introduce one dairy product at a time and see how your body responds to it.
IDEA #6
Engage In Cardiovascular Exercise
Finally, move your body! It has been proven that cardiovascular exercise helps with the transportation of oxygen throughout your body and digestive system.
This supports the bacteria in your digestive system especially the n-butyrate generating beneficial bacteria. 150 minutes of heart rate increasing exercise is recommended.
You May Like: Can Almond Milk Make You Bloated
How To Repair Leaky Gut: No Fad Diets
by Sara Kahn | Apr 3, 2021 |
All roads to health seem to lead back to gut health. And if things are amiss with your digestion, how do you make them better? If you want to enjoy your best health, youll want to know how to repair leaky gut. Heres a clue: it is not about following a fad diet.
Gut health is a bit like fitness: it is something that you always have the opportunity to improve upon. We are never done cultivating our best fitness levels or gut health!
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.
Recommended Reading: Why Do Leafy Greens Give Me Diarrhea
Meditate And Get Enough Sleep
Stress management is also essential. Stress hormones wreak havoc on health and impair digestive function.
Activities like meditation and yoga can help heal these junctions by reducing stress neurotransmitters and hormones and increasing the happy hormones dopamine and oxytocin.
Take it a step further.
Mindful eating is imperative. Eating in a calm, pleasant place and having gratitude for your food improves digestion.
Dont forget adequate sleep. You need at least 7 hours of sleep per night to rest, restore, and repair your body.
How To Heal Leaky Gut In Two Weeks
It seems like everyone is talking about gut health. These days, you cant open a magazine or web page without reading the word gut or seeing the term leaky gut.
But does this newly minted buzzword really deserve all this attention?
Yes, it absolutely does.
There have been incredible amounts of research on this topic to give us the answers we all seek. As a Certified ISSA Fitness Nutrition Specialist and a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, I have 2+ years of experience coaching clients in stabilizing their gut health.
Much of these findings can be life-changing.
In this piece, you will find an in-depth review of what leaky gut is, what the causes are, and how to treat it naturally.
Without further ado, lets get into it!
Contents
Read Also: Does Peanut Butter Cause Heartburn