What To Eat To Heal Leaky Gut Syndrome

Use Enzymes To Make Foods Easier To Digest

As you saw above, enzymes can help us digest foods from all 4 levels including the trickier ones like complex carbs, pectin-filled-fruits & FODMAP foods.

Since different foods require different enzymes, it is important to look for an enzyme supplement with a very wide range of enzymes, like this one.

So there you go!

So You Might Also Want To Consider Temporarily Cutting

• All nightshades. Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers etc. These guys come packed with their own form of bug repellent, alkaloids. Suffice to say, not everyone responds well to them and they can cause inflammation and digestive issues93.
• Eggs. These can spike a high allergy response in a lot of people, and the lysozyme in egg white especially may be troublesome94.
• Nuts. Like eggs, these may not react well with your body95.
• Seeds. Seeds are meant to survive dormant for long periods of time and through varying conditions so, due to being constructed of natures tough-to-crack materials, even the sprouted ones can cause issues for some people.
• All vegetable starches. If youre still struggling 30 days into the diet, well then sadly, even that innocent looking sweet potato has to go96.
• All fruits. That low sugar berry shake you started loving on the leaky gut dietwell, that is out!
• All dairy. If you were eating raw unpasteurized yogurt for the probiotics or sheep cheese, stop. Its out as well97.

Of course the best news is that these eliminations arent necessarily permanent.

In idea #36 below, well look specifically at how to reintroduce these borderline foods in later to see if they still cause issues or whether some can be permanently added back into your diet.

IDEA #24

How To Heal Leaky Gut

1. Exercise

Exercise is also beneficial in repairing the digestive system. Many studies have suggested that walking for 15-20 minutes after a meal can help strengthen this system. Another important lifestyle goal to heal leaky gut is incorporating fiber everyday. According to the USDA, men under 50 years of age should consume 38 grams and women under 50 should consume 25 grams daily.

2. Diet

In order to heal leaky gut, it is important to try and remove the offending stressor at the gut level. Once this has been removed, it is important to repair and replenish the complexity of the microbiome. The microbiome can be repaired through diet, but sometimes it takes additional supplements to help correct. If one is trying to repair through diet, it is recommended to add fermented foods such as tempeh, pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, and roughage such as Jerusalem artichoke, flaxseed, and jicama. Add in some probiotic rich foods such as kefir, kombucha, and coconut yogurt.

3. Supplements

When diet does not improve the microbiome, there are a range of different supplements that can be added such as L-glutamine, probiotics of certain strains, and medical foods. It is best to visit your healthcare practitioner before starting these supplements to make sure you are taking the correct dosage and the proper form.

At CentreSpringMD, all of our providers are well versed on leaky gut syndrome and can assist you in making these choices to help heal your microbiome.

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Collagen Helps To Repair The Stomach And Intestines

Type I and III collagen are raw materials for almost all the connective tissue in the digestive system. Thus, the theory goes, by adding more collagen to the mix, you can repair the stomach and intestines and avoid complications like Leaky Gut .

A 2004 study conducted by the Medical Academy of Biaystok in Poland found that one of the major characteristics in people with stomach cancer is defects in collagen metabolism. This makes sense since collagen also plays a vital part in gene expression, enzyme activity, and regulation of cellular growth.

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How Do You Get Rid Of Leaky Gut

Now that weve been talked about leaky gut symptoms, causes and opinions, lets talk about how to test for and repair leaky gut.

How do you test for leaky gut?

Several leaky gut syndrome tests are available that can help confirm a diagnosis and point you in the right treatment direction. Tests are helpful for identifying specific sensitivities and uncovering which types of toxins or deficiencies are contributing to your symptoms. Leaky gut tests include:

• Zonulin or Lactulose Tests
• Organic Acid Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies Tests
• Lactulose Mannitol Test

What leaky gut treatments are available?

After years of research and patient care, I developed a four-step process for helping to heal leaky gut. I cover this process in my article entitled the Leaky Gut Diet and Treatment Plan.;If youre concerned that you or a loved one may have leaky gut symptoms, I encourage you to read the detailed instructions, food suggestions and recommended leaky gut supplements listed in this article.

The basic steps to healing leaky gut are as follows:

Two of the most common questions people ask are: What can I eat if I have leaky gut syndrome? And what should I NOT eat when I have leaky gut?

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How To Heal Your Leaky Gut

Healing leaky gut syndrome is not hard to do, and it is the most important first step in treating most chronic conditions.;

To simplify the process of healing the gut, I teach my patients the 4R program. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, it can take from about 4-6 weeks;to 6 months to;fully;heal your gut. Symptom improvement is your best guide to resolution.;

Remove

Take out what ails you. Start with;an Elimination Diet;for 2 weeks.;Remove all of the triggers that irritate your gut including foods, medications , and ideally, stress, too! ;If you have been diagnosed with Candida in the past, or have a lot of gas, bloating, and either loose stools or constipation, you might want to do this phase in conjunction with a functional medicine doctor who can provide comprehensive stool testing to see if this is still a problem and who can work with;you on supplements , to eliminate the yeast overgrowth.;

Replace

Your gut lining and your gut flora go hand in hand when it comes to gut health. So many of us are low in the building blocks needed for both that our ancestors naturally got in their diets, especially ample fiber and good quality fats. Make sure to add 6 to 8 servings of veggies and fruits to your daily diet, at least 1 serving of whole grains, and 2 to 4 TBS of olive oil daily, nuts and seeds, and optimally, 1/2 and avocado to replace what’s missing from most of our diets.

Reinoculate

Repair

Sprouted Seeds And Legumes

Sprouted seeds and legumes, including chia seeds, mung beans, and lentils, are an excellent source of fiber. The sprouting process helps the nutrients in these products become more bioavailable, and this, in turn, supports the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. People with severe leaky gut may require more fiber, but common methods for preparing fiber-rich foods can cause irritation. Soaking or sprouting grains lessens this irritation, making such foods easier to digest. Some practitioners believe that legumes could worsen leaky gut because they contain lectins. However, soaking and boiling legumes reduces the lectin content.

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How Candida Can Impact Leaky Gut

And eventually they may even end up finding their way into our organs and tissue , which can lead to chronic conditions developing over time.

Plus, under this kind of constant attack the gut lining is never going to be able to heal. Instead it will remain hyper-permeable, i.e. leaky.

So for us leaky gutters, chronic candida overgrowth is thus something to take seriously and to watch out for.

Finally All My Best Ideas For Healing Leaky Gut Syndrome In One Place

The #1 thing I hear people with leaky gut ask for, is an all-in-one list of simple ways they can heal their gut fast.

And I get it.

After all, when I suffered from leaky gut I found myself drowning in a sea of 100s of different research papers, reports and books.; Jumping from one report to the next was time consuming and trying to tie it all together took months.

Well, thats why I created this list of the best ideas for healing leaky gut.

The ideas on this page have the potential to get you feeling so much better in just days , and they can save you 100s of hours of research.

But admittedly, there are a LOT of ideas listed below.; And I know life is busy.; So I dont expect you to read through the full list right now or start implementing all the ideas today.

Also Check: Can Undereating Cause Diarrhea

Struggling To Find A Doctor Who Understands Leaky Gut

Then take a moment to checkout our directory of doctors who have written about leaky gut and are knowledgeable on how to fight it from start to finish.

As with everything on this site, the directory is free to both readers and doctors. So there is no bias in recommendations or sponsored doctors and whatnot!

IDEA #12

And What About Vitamin D How Can It Help Leaky Gut

Well, vitamin D, has been shown to support our guts epithelial barrier , this being the lining that protects your bloodstream from all the food, toxins and other bacteria making their way through your gut.

In addition, like with fish oil, it can support tight junction integrity, meaning more help for the gatekeepers of the gut lining J Infect Dis, October 2015.

Also, per that study, vitamin D can help fight against bad bacteria due to the way it tackles inflammation118. Pretty cool, right.

Despite all those benefits, you may not need to take it in supplement form if you are getting 20 minutes of safe sun exposure each day.

e.g. 20 minutes of sun at 11am, without sunscreen .

So consider skipping the vitamin D supplements during summer.

That said, to truly benefit from vitamin D during this repairing stage youll want to be getting higher than normal amounts of it.

So popping a 2000 IU supplement of vitamin D3 like this one each day, might be worth considering.

Note: vitamin D3 is the more absorbable form, so make sure to look for that in your supplement.

IDEA #33

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The Whole30 Is A Specific Clean

The program eliminates added sugar, additives, grains, alcohol, dairy, and legumes for 30 days. After 30 days, you try foods one at a time to see if you feel good after eating them . The ultimate goal is to continue eating nutrient-rich, unprocessed foods and avoid problematic foods for you.

There are no specific research studies on this eating plan, but it is based on a familiar nutrition principle the elimination diet. Remove the most likely causes of symptoms to see if you feel better. Nourish your body, especially your gut, with whole foods free of additives and full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals for 30 days. Reintroduce the eliminated foods one at a time and see if you feel worse. Because this is so popular, there are many cookbooks, Whole30 approved brands, and blogs to support your journey if youre interested in trying it.

Even though there are no studies on this diet, it does eliminate processed foods, alcohol, sugar, which would presumably decrease inflammation.

Collagen Provides The Building Blocks For A Healthy Gut

It contains the amino acids glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline that are needed to repair and rebuild the hardworking endothelial tissue in your digestive system.

• First, collagen can help reduce intestinal inflammation by normalizing your gut-immune response because it contains glutamine, which can be depleted during times of stresslike trauma or inflammatory bowel conditions .;;
• Then, it helps tight junction proteins do their jobs, allowing nutrients and water in and keeping unwanted particles out .;
• Next, special amino acids help;rebuild the functional lining inside your intestine, allowing digestion and absorption of important vitamins and minerals.;
• Last, collagen helps maintain a healthy gut by creating an environment thats supportive of long-term gut health, as well as reducing inflammation.;

In addition to helping heal leaky gut, collagen also promotes the absorption of water within the intestines, keeping things moving more freely out of the body.

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What Are The Risk Factors For Leaky Gut

While experts do not yet definitely know what causes leaky gut syndrome, there are various risk factors that can disrupt the gut microbiota and contribute to increased intestinal permeability. Some examples are:

• Diabetes
• Stress

With autoimmune disorders being a risk factor, the question of whether or not LGS is a cause or symptom of a disease like inflammatory bowel disease once again becomes relevant, since IBD is an autoimmune disorder.

Tips For Healing Leaky Gut

The leaky gut syndrome is a condition by which the lining of the intestine becomes damaged, leading to increased intestinal permeability. The intestinal lining is one of the immune systems major lines of defense against infections, toxins, and other threats that are introduced into the body through food and drink.

Normally, the intestinal epithelial cells sit together closely and are joined by tight junctions that form a barrier to prevent unwanted substances from passing through into the bloodstream. The intestinal barrier can become damaged from a variety of factors, including:

;A poor diet, such as the Standard American Diet that is high in processed carbohydrates and hydrogenated oils ;Food sensitivities ;Certain gut-irritating foods, such as grains, legumes, dairy, and alcohol ;Low stomach acid ;Medications, ;such as NSAIDS;, antibiotics, steroids, contraceptives, and chemotherapy drugs ;Chronic endurance exercise and overtraining ;Environmental toxins ;Imbalance of the gut flora.

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Seeds Nuts And Leaky Gut

An important note about seeds, nuts and leaky gut. Some people have allergies to nuts. Other may find digesting nuts or seeds problematic even after soaking or sprouting them. When it comes to leaky gut and autoimmune diseases, the individual response is the key. Nuts and seeds are known to provide many health benefits, so limiting them all together is not something you want to do unless you know they cause you issues. For this reason, the recommendation is to allow moderate consumption of the nuts and seeds mentioned above, and see how eating these make you feel.

This is of course not relevant if you already know that you have an allergy or sensitivity to these nuts and seeds.

• Back to the treatment plan

Leaky Gut: Foods To Avoid

Be prepared to personalize your list of foods to avoid. Different particles will enter the bloodstream with intestinal permeability, and so the immune system has unique codes that attack dangerous intruders. I was diagnosed with an allergy to corn, which comes with all kinds of hidden names and ingredient derivatives: Ascorbic acid, maltodextrin, mannitol, modified food starch, natural flavoring polenta, and much, much more. If you have food allergies, be sure to look into their hidden names as well, and keep a list if shopping for snacks, bars, or any sort of prepackaged foods.

What to Test Out:

The first step in healing leaky gut and determining your personal okay to eat and avoid list is to remove ingredients individually for two weeks, and add them back into the diet to see how your body responds. Start with the most common allergens by removing them individually, adding them back in, and then removing the next one.

• Dairy
• Soy
• Sugar

Sugar is to be avoided in general, with the exception of natural sugars found in fruits and other wholesome products. If you find that you can tolerate dairy, or even gluten, eat them sparingly in your diet, and be aware of portion sizes.

Other Foods to Avoid Initially:

Caffeine adds stress to the body, while alcohol prevents proper nutrient absorption, and can feed candida. Chocolate and soda are two products often overlooked for caffeine, however they should initially be avoided as well.

What to Constantly Avoid:

Leaky Gut Quiz

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Say Hello To Digestive Enzymes A Guts Best Friend

Digestive enzymes are amazing, but the key is knowing which enzymes you need in a supplement, since different enzymes help with different foods. So lets run through that now.

Enzymes for healthy fats

• Lipase is the main enzyme that can help us break down the healthy fats we eat on the leaky gut diet. From extra virgin olive oil to avocados to tasty macadamia nuts, lipase makes turning fats into fatty acids and glycerol much easier. Can help with weight management too.

Enzymes for vegetables

• Amylase can help break down the starches in our vegetables into simple/soluble sugars. An absolute digestive angel.
• Cellulase, Hemicellulase and Xylanase can help us unlock key nutrients from vegetables, as well as fruits, by breaking down the fiber in them, eg cellulose.
• Alpha-Galactosidase can help with cruciferous veg , as well as other carbs , meaning less bloating and gas! One of my favorites, especially since I no longer have to blame poor puppy Mr McShmoogles for ye olde flatulence!

Enzymes for our clean protein

• A blend of alkaline, neutral and acid stable Protease enzymes can help us break down the protein in fish, chicken, meat, nuts and eggs, into peptides and amino acids. A big win with better protein break down is less bloating. Food baby be gone!

Enzymes for the harder-to-digest foods