The health of your digestive tract impacts your overall health. If you observe symptoms of a leaky gut, you must take extra care to treat and heal the condition. Gut lining erosion will affect your digestion, immune system, and sensitivity to intestinal pain. Following a healing diet high in nutritious, anti-inflammatory foods and low in foods that cause harm and inflammation is the best way to treat a leaky gut. We will reveal how to heal a leaky gut by increasing and decreasing the consumption of specific foods and supplements.
What Exactly Is a Leaky Gut?
Leaky gut, also known as intestinal permeability, is a condition in which the small intestine lining becomes damaged, allowing undigested food particles, toxic waste products, and bacteria to “leak” into the bloodstream. This can result in an autoimmune response in the body, as well as inflammatory and allergic reactions such as migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, chronic fatigue, and food allergies, among others. When you have a leaky gut, the damaged cells in your intestines do not produce the necessary digestive enzymes, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies, hormone imbalances, and a weakened immune system.
Why does one have a leaky gut?
A leaky gut can be caused by a variety of factors. Certain individuals may be genetically predisposed to a leaky gut due to sensitivities to environmental factors that initiate autoimmune responses in their bodies. A diet high in inflammatory foods, such as refined sugar and oils, GMOs, ungerminated grains, synthetic food additives, conventional dairy products, and alcohol, can also contribute to a leaky gut.
Chemicals and toxins, such as antibiotics, pesticides, and tap water, can also cause a leaky gut, as can an imbalance of beneficial and harmful gut bacteria. Antibiotics, steroids, aspirin, and acetaminophen can irritate the intestinal lining and damage the mucus layers that protect it. This irritation can trigger a cycle of inflammation that results in a leaky gut. Stress can also contribute to a leaky gut by increasing cortisol and other stress hormones, which have a negative effect on gut health. Chronic stress, including chronic stress from excessive exercise or training, can make it difficult to heal a leaky gut.
How to Recover from a Leaky Gut
Consume More Probiotics
Kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and fermented vegetables are rich in probiotics. They contain beneficial bacteria and short-chain fatty acids that can aid in the healing of the digestive tract. Specifically, fermented foods contain organic acids that regulate intestinal pH and probiotics that support the gut. You should consume probiotic-rich foods daily. If you feel that you don’t get enough probiotics from food, you can also take a probiotic supplement.
Consume Plenty of Prebiotics
Probiotics are types of fiber that nourish the beneficial gut bacteria. This allows your gut bacteria to produce nutrients for your colon cells, resulting in improved digestive health. Garlic, onions, asparagus, bananas, barley, oats, apples, chicory root, and dandelion greens are prebiotic foods. Attempt to consume prebiotics at least once per day.
Reduce alcohol consumption.
Alcohol can contribute to gut problems by impairing the intestinal barrier’s permeability. It can also inhibit the production of digestive enzymes and juices, making it more difficult for the body to break down, digest, and absorb nutrients from food when consumed in large quantities. Incomplete digestion of food can lead to excessive fermentation in the gut.
Take in Bone Broth
Collagen and the amino acids proline and glycine found in bone broth can help repair damaged cell membranes. It nourishes the intestinal lining, reduces inflammation, and is easily digestible by a damaged gut. The broth’s protein and minerals can be absorbed more effectively due to its digestibility. If you are making your own bone broth, include an abundance of prebiotic and anti-inflammatory vegetables to aid in the restoration of your gut.
Take L-Glutamine
If you want to heal a leaky gut, glutamine powder is almost essential. It is an essential amino acid supplement that has anti-inflammatory properties and is required for intestinal growth and repair. L-glutamine protects your cells by lining their walls and repelling irritants.
Eliminate processed foods
Remove from your diet as many processed foods as possible, including grains that have not been sprouted, refined oils, synthetic food additives, packaged meats, microwave meals, and frozen pizzas. The body treats these foods as foreign invaders that must be fought off. They can cause an immune response characterized by diarrhea, headaches, fatigue, and joint pain.
Try Liquorice Root
The licorice root is an adaptogenic herb that helps regulate cortisol levels and increases stomach acid production. It supports the body’s natural processes for maintaining the stomach and duodenum mucosal lining (a tube that connects the stomach to the small intestine). Additionally, licorice root aids in the production and metabolism of cortisol, which is especially advantageous if your leaky gut is caused by emotional stress.
Limit refined carbohydrates and sugars
Both refined carbohydrates and sugar are detrimental to a healthy gut. High-sugar diets result in chronic inflammation because sugar contributes to the formation of biochemical compounds that exacerbate inflammation. Both sugar and refined carbohydrates induce pro-inflammatory alterations in gut bacteria, which negatively affects our health as a whole. Additionally, sugar increases cholesterol, alters the gut microbiome, and causes weight gain.
If you have a leaky gut, consider modifying your diet to include more or fewer of the foods on this list. Your diet can have a significant impact on your gut health.
