Debunking The Myth Of Leaky Gut Syndrome
A proposed gastrointestinal disorder dubbed leaky gut syndrome is currently the topic of numerous debates throughout the medical and natural health communities. Some alternative medicine practitioners claim that leaky gut syndrome is a prevalent problem responsible for ill health in many people. However, most physicians maintain that there is not enough research to prove that it is a legitimate issue. In this article, we will answer some questions you may have about leaky gut syndrome and reveal some of the dangers of diagnosing and treating a condition for which there is no medical evidence.
Importance Of Gut Health
When your gut health isn’t right, bloating, diarrhea, stomach pain for no reason, and many other conditions can occur, seemingly out of nowhere. When a person’s microbiome is thrown out of function, he or she can suffer from physical problems.
Inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohns disease can affect any area of the gastrointestinal tract, from the mouth to the anus, either in continuity or as isolated areas. If these diseases permeate the intestines, it can impair GI function.
Even anxiety and depression put GI impairment into effect. The functionality of a person’s gut is directly proportional to the diversity of the gut microbiome.
The Scd Diet Lowers Inflammation But Is Challenging Long
Despite its name, the diet is not a low carbohydrate diet. It focuses on eating simple carbohydrates that can be easily absorbed. It eliminates all grains, milk , and sugar, except for honey. There is overlap with the low FODMAP diet .
Research demonstrates an improvement in IBS symptoms with the SCD diet, but not research looking specifically at gut permeability. It has been shown to lower inflammation .
Also Check: What Is The Medical Term For Leaky Gut
Leaky Gut Diet Foods To Eat
If you suffer from leaky gut syndrome, youre overdue to consider adopting a leaky gut diet. Such a diet contains foods that support healing because they are easy to digest and can help repair the lining of the intestines.
Here are the best foods to include in a leaky gut syndrome diet:
In addition to eating a leaky gut diet, you can help repair your gut with certain supplements.
In a leaky gut treatment plan, there are many supplements that support digestive health as well as protect the gut lining from further damage. I believe the six most beneficial leaky gut supplements are:
Rocky River Oh 44116 Usa
DISCLAIMER© 2021 Omnia Function LLC. For your informational and educational purposes only.Nothing on this site should be considered medical or nutrition advice. FWDfuel Sports Nutrition does not provide medical advice, treatment, or diagnosis. Please see our Medical/Health Disclaimer.
FWDfuel.com is a participant in the Wellevate and Amazon Services LLC Associates Programs, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com or Wellevate. As a Wellevate and Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Read Also: Why Does Lettuce Give Me Heartburn
Healing Your Gut Through Diet
Regardless of the cause of a leaky gut, proper nutrition can help you feel better.
The foods that you eat determine if you are giving your body a chance to heal, says Dr. La Vella. Diet is one of the important parts of managing the symptoms of a leaky gut.
She notes that ultra-processed foods are a common problem because they are low in fiber, high in fat and often contain chemical additives. This combination can harm healthy bacterial growth and damage tight junctions in the intestines.
Dr. La Vella recommends filling up on whole foods from all the food groups including fruits, vegetables, grains, lean protein and cultured dairy. Look for recipes for a Mediterranean-style diet or the DASH diet, which use healthy ingredients prepared in a tasty manner.
How To Heal Your Gut Naturally
The best thing you can do to quickly heal your gut is to start eating the right foods and stop eating the bad foods. Using simple elimination diets can help you determine which foods are wrecking your stomach.
Going on a low FODMAP diet can also work wonders for getting rid of digestive problems. FODMAPs are short chained carbohydrates that commonly cause problems like constipation, gas, bloating, diarrhea, etc.
The Journal of Diabetesfound leaky gut to be responsible as the major cause of autoimmune diseases and type 1 diabetes. Along with eating the right foods, its critical for you to stop eating the bad foods that are causing it in the first place. Going on a low FODMAP diet has helped a lot of people with gut issues.
Leaky gut syndrome is one of the biggest underlying health problems that can be difficult to diagnose. You may have gut health problems then you most likely have at least some of these side effects:
- constipation and diarrhea
- slow metabolism
- brain fog
Leaky gut syndrome is when your digestive tract is damaged. Eating too many bad foods creates bigger holes in your digestive tract allowing unwanted things to pass through.
Think of the lining in your gut as a net. Some things are supposed to pass through. But when you have leaky gut syndrome the net widens. This allows stuff you dont want to get into your bloodstream.
Bad bacteria, toxic waste, and undigested food particles are some of the bad guys that can leak into your body.
10 Best Gut Health Foods
You May Like: Xanax For Stomach Problems
Are There Dietary Changes That Could Help With Leaky Gut
Again, leaky gut is not a disease in itself. Any dietary treatment of leaky gut would focus on the underlying cause of leaky gut. In the case of celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, avoiding all foods with gluten can help heal your gut lining and improve your symptoms.
Since leaky gut is associated with an unbalanced gut microbiome changing your diet may help to balance your gut microbiome. Again, whether this directly affects the disease associated with leaky gut is not fully understood.
Diets high in sugar, saturated fats, and animal proteins can lead to the growth of more unhealthy bacteria in your gut. Diets like the Mediterranean diet can help restore the balance of good bacteria. Bacteria in the gut also take fiber and prebiotics and convert them to short-chain fatty acids, which help protect the gut lining. Probiotics have also helped restore the gut lining.
Beware of extreme elimination diets or supplements that claim to treat leaky gut syndrome. Eliminating foods can lead to nutritional deficiencies, and supplements have their risks.
Any time you have any unusual symptom in your body, it is important to see a qualified healthcare provider right away.
Other Ways To Improve Leaky Gut
In addition to diet, there are other easy ways to improve your leaky gut. Include the following into your routine support a healthy gut:
- Manage stress
- Sleep for 7-9 hours per night
- Chew your food well
- Include supplements, such as the amino acid L-glutamine, probiotic supplements, and vitamin D
- Use alternatives to or avoid NSAIDs
- Use alternatives to birth control pills
Recommended Reading: Can Align Probiotic Cause Nausea
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.
Best Gut Healing Foods
If youre looking for how to heal your digestive health fast then start eating these 10 gut healing foods.
Theres no doubt the Standard American Diet causes many chronic health problems today. For decades we were told to eat more processed carbohydrates and foods the ended up causing stomach pain and ruining our gut microbiome.
These inflammatory foods made up a big part of our carbohydrate diet and have led to serious digestive problems like inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, Crohns disease, and gut dysbiosis.
The key is to first start avoiding problem foods that feed the bad gut bacteria and kill your good gut bacteria. Research shows poor gut health can not only cause an upset stomach but will also lead to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
Below youll discover the top 10 gut healing foods you should start eating. Along with the worst foods you should avoid, and a plan of action to cure the pain in your stomach.
Don’t Miss: Does Tramadol Make You Constipated
Groundbreaking Research Shows Leaky Gut Is Key To Autoimmunity
In 2012 Alessio Fasano, MD, Chief, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital & Director, Center for Celiac Research, and his team published their breakthrough research findingsZonulin, regulation of tight junctions, and autoimmune diseases, A. Fasano, Zonulin, regulation of tight junctions, and autoimmune diseases, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384703/, revealing the third element in the equation necessary for the development and perpetuation of most autoimmune disease: the loss of intestinal barrier function, a.k.a., leaky gut syndrome, or just leaky gut for short.
We now know that three conditions must be in place to cause and perpetuate virtually all autoimmune disorders:
This is fantastic news for anyone dealing with an autoimmune condition. Dr. Fasano sums up why:
Suggested Treatments Range From Bogus To Dangerous
The Myth: Many solutions that leaky gut syndrome proponents recommend are based in fad diets, which declare that normal foods cause serious problems in most people. For instance, proponents of leaky gut syndrome recommend that patients avoid any foods with high sugar content , claiming that the excess sugar causes an overgrowth of a certain strain of yeast in the GI tract that is responsible for the damage to the intestinal wall. In addition, they say that sensitivities to gluten or lactose damage the intestine, and they recommend avoiding all dairy products and anything containing gluten.
Debunked: Fruit will not cause yeast to attack your intestines. While a small percentage of the population have symptoms related to gluten and lactose intake, these foods cause no problems for most individuals. Following these practitioners instructions is more likely to lead to nutritional deficiencies rather than reduced symptoms.
Another issue in this field is that many people in the popular media who support this unverified condition try to sell special products as a treatment for leaky gut syndrome. They offer unproven treatments for a condition that has no medical basis. Additionally, since many of these supplements havent been well researched, taking them could cost you a lot of money, do little to reduce your symptoms, and could even be dangerous.
Recommended Reading: Side Effects Of Align Digestive Care
What Causes Leaky Gut
The exact cause of leaky gut is a mystery.
However, increased intestinal permeability is well known and occurs alongside several chronic diseases, including celiac disease and type 1 diabetes .
Zonulin is a protein that regulates tight junctions. Research has shown that higher levels of this protein may loosen tight junctions and increase intestinal permeability (
Furthermore, low levels of healthy gut bacteria may have the same effect. This is called gut dysbiosis .
Summary
The exact cause of leaky gut remains a mystery, but certain proteins like zonulin and markers of inflammation provide some clues. Other potential causes include long-term NSAID use and an imbalance of gut bacteria known as gut dysbiosis.
As leaky gut syndrome isnt an official medical diagnosis, there is no recommended treatment.
Yet, you can do plenty of things to improve your general digestive health.
One is to eat a diet rich in foods that aid the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. An unhealthy collection of gut bacteria has been linked to poor health outcomes, including chronic inflammation, cancers, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes .
The following foods are great options for improving your digestive health:
Summary
A diet that promotes digestive health should focus on fibrous vegetables, fruits, fermented vegetables, cultured dairy products, healthy fats, and lean, unprocessed meats.
Do I Need A Supplement
According to research published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, there is some evidence that probiotics can improve the function of your gut and even help reverse leaky gut, but long-term studies are still needed. There is not a single study to date suggesting that probiotics are harmful.
Probiotic supplements are more like a fertilizer that communicates to your existing gut bacteria. It can regulate the pH and cross-talk to other bacteria, increasing short-chain fatty acids which is the food for the gut cells and help regulate inflammation and the immune system of the gut, says Dr. La Vella. Transitioning away from processed foods and toward whole foods is usually enough to keep your gut healthy.
Herbal supplements may be helpful in certain situations, but arent necessarily a quick fix.
I think of supplements as medications there is always a risk and a benefit. I prefer to think about restoring ecosystem balance rather than supplementing to cover up a bad dietary or lifestyle choice, says Dr. La Vella.
Also Check: Can Magnesium Citrate Cause Heartburn
The Leaky Gut Diet And Treatment Plan Including Top Gut Foods
Leaky gut syndrome is a condition thats thought to affect millions of people, many of whom dont even know it. The good news is following a leaky gut diet can help overcome this condition.
From the sound of it, you might think leaky gut syndrome only impacts digestive health, but in reality it can lead to many other health conditions. For example, according to recent research, the cause of your food allergies, fatigue, joint pain, thyroid disease and autoimmune conditions may be a leaky gut.
What is the fastest way to treat leaky gut? Following a healing leaky gut syndrome diet is one of the best strategies for getting your body back on track.
In this article, I outline specifically how a leaky gut diet works, so you can break through some of the stubborn health problems youve been struggling with.
Tips For Choosing A Collagen Supplement
When you choose a collagen supplement, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind.
Here are some best practices to follow:
-
Its always a good idea to look for companies that create their collagen from cage-free, free-range, and antibiotic-free sources.
-
Read the products label. You will find the ingredients are listed with the most predominant one first and then in descending order.
-
Look to make sure that the supplement does not contain fillers, binders, sweeteners, or preservatives. Commonly used additives include cellulose, gelatin, soybean oil, citric acid, and stearic acid.
-
Even though it seems like an obvious step, read the customers reviews on the website, and on other sites. You can do that by doing a web search on the products name.
-
Talk to your doctor or health care practitioner about what supplement you choose.
You May Like: Does Peanut Butter Cause Heartburn
Foods To Eat When You Have A Leaky Gut
Now that you know what not to eat, you might be thinking, “What’s left?” “Focus on clean ingredients with easy-to-digest foods that are low in fructose and sugar and devoid of any substances, including sugar alcohols and pesticides, that are hard on the gut,” Pedre told mbg. Want more specifics? Below are the basic components of a gut-friendly diet:
Leaky Gut: What Is It And What Does It Mean For You
- By , Contributor
Before the medical community had better understanding of the mechanisms that cause disease, doctors believed certain ailments could originate from imbalances in the stomach. This was called hypochondriasis. This concept was rejected as science evolved and, for example, we could look under a microscope and see bacteria, parasites, and viruses. The meaning of the term changed, and for many years doctors used the word “hypochondriac” to describe a person who has a persistent, often inexplicable fear of having a serious medical illness.
But what if this ancient concept of illnesses originating in the gut actually holds some truth? Could some of the chronic diseases our society faces today actually be associated with a dysfunctional gastrointestinal system?
The expression “leaky gut” is getting a lot of attention in medical blogs and social media lately, but dont be surprised if your doctor does not recognize this term. Leaky gut, also called increased intestinal permeability, is somewhat new and most of the research occurs in basic sciences. However, there is growing interest to develop medications that may be used in patients to combat the effects of this problem.
Also Check: Why Does Peanut Butter Give Me Heartburn
The Problem With Leaky Guy Syndrome
The small intestine is where the gastrointestinal associated lymphoid tissue lives which makes up 7080% of our immune system. The gut lining is a key barrier, much like the skin, that protects our blood stream from the external environment. The responsibility of the GALT is to target and kill off unwanted opportunistic organisms that make their way into the small intestine.
When the GALT gets overwhelmed, it results in high levels of inflammation in the gut that damage the intestinal lining. This is one factor in the pathogenesis of leaky gut syndrome. When the gut barrier opens and undigested food particles and microbes are able to get into the blood stream, the body increases the inflammatory response to protect against a systemic infection.
This increased level of inflammation impacts other major organs and bodily regions. As a clinician, I always suspect leaky gut whenever I have patients with chronic immune related issues. This includes cancer and autoimmune conditions as well as other chronic inflammatory conditions.