Leaky Gut: What Is It And Why Should You Care?

Having a leaky gut can compromise your health, mental clarity, and overall vitality. That's why it's very important to get it under control. 

The problem is, most people don't realize they have it until their health is severely compromised, and there isn't a whole lot of information available about it either. 

If you suspect that you have a leaky gut, the least you can do is empower yourself to understand what it is and what you can do to improve your gut and your life! 

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What Is Leaky Gut?

Leaky gut means that the cells that line your small intestine have become damaged, and the spaces between them (also known as tight junctions) have opened up too wide. When these tight junctions become too wide, undigested food particles and bacteria can escape into the bloodstream and cause a lot of immune reactions.

Leaky gut reactions include allergies, skin conditions, fatigue, chemical sensitivities, joint pain, etc. 

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What Causes Leaky Gut?

If you find yourself experiencing some of the symptoms mentioned above, it might be a good idea to consider your diet. That's because one of the leading causes of leaky gut is a poor diet that consists mainly of excess sugar, refined grains and processed food. Food sensitivities may also be to blame for leaky gut. 

That's why one of the best ways to tackle leaky gut is to simply remove the offending foods. This can include certain foods like dairy, sugar, eggs, and anything that causes damage to the intestinal wall due to sensitivity. Grains and refined vegetable oils are also contributors to this problem. 

Chronic use of over the counter medication has also been found to wear down the intestinal lining and damage the gut. It's also important to get evaluated by a professional to check for gastrointestinal infections because they can cause infections that wear down the intestinal lining as well. 

If you suspect that you might have leaky gut syndrome, it's really important that you find a qualified professional, do a stool test, and get checked out for small intestine bacterial overgrowth. These are common conditions that can contribute to the development of leaky gut. 

Without removing those infections as well, there's little chance of healing leaky gut. 

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How Can You Overcome Leaky Gut?

Once you've removed any offending foods and medications, you can then start the repair process which usually starts with repairing digestion. This can be done through replacing stomach acid or using digestive enzymes. 

Beet, cinnamon, Ginger, fennel, dandelion and artichokes are all foods that work to naturally strengthen digestion, gastric juices and gallbladder so that your stomach has an easier time breaking food down. 

This is very important because if food goes into the small intestine undigested, large undigested molecules will seep through the gut into the bloodstream, where they can cause a lot of inflammation and immune system problems.

Bitter herbs like dandelion can also be very effective at stimulating the body's natural ability to produce acid and digestive enzymes. 

Eating fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha, and taking a high quality, spore-based probiotic supplement, can go a long way to replace good bacteria that has been lost due to inflammation. 

Also take things that help to heal digestive tract lining such as hydrolyzed collagen powder and bone broth, both of which are great for skin and hair.  

Why Should You Care? 

Leaky gut is a very common condition that affects a vast majority of Americans, and it happens when the lining of the small intestine is compromised. The small intestine is meant to absorb nutrients into your system, while preventing toxins from getting into your bloodstream.

Basically, when you have a leaky gut, the lining and the tight junctions that are meant to stay closed, are opened, and this allows toxins to enter into the bloodstream. 

Although it's a very serious condition, many people don't take leaky gut seriously. 

But, considering the influence of gut health on immunity, repairing leaky gut is vital to managing things like chronic disease.  

In fact, the latest scientific evidence shows that the gut is the most important aspect of the human immune system. 

Some of the symptoms of leaky gut include getting bloated when eating food, constipation, diarrhea, the inability to lose weight even if you have a healthy diet because your body is unable to properly absorb nutrients, as well as skin problems and brain fog. 

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The Solution? 

The first and easiest thing to do would be to eat more prebiotic rich foods which means lots of plants, some of which we've mentioned above. You'll also want to consume lots of probiotic foods such as fermented foods, and take a probiotic supplement. 

The other thing that you can do is to start drinking bone broth. The collagen and gelatin will help to heal the leaky gut.

Most importantly, consult with a qualified medical professional who can help you through the journey back to health by assisting you to identify both the symptoms and offending causes, in order to come up with the most effective treatment.