If you’re experiencing troubling digestive symptoms on a regular basis such as bloating, belching, flatulence, diarrhoea, or constipation after eating then you quite probably have a leaky gut that would benefit from some gut healing.
What is a leaky gut?
When we talk about gut healing, we’re talking about repairing the lining of your intestines. This lining is made up of a thin layer of cells that prevent excess toxins leaving the intestines and entering your bloodstream. Between each cell of a healthy gut lining, there is a protein complex called a tight junction which controls exactly what can/can’t pass through the gut lining. But when these tight junctions get damaged, whether from a lack of nutrients, poor diet, excessive stress, or infections, more toxins are allowed to escape the gut, leading to intestinal hyperpermeability – AKA leaky gut.
What are the symptoms of a leaky gut?
When an excessive amount of toxins manage to leave the intestines and reach the blood stream via the leaky gut, an inflammatory response may occur leading to symptoms such as digestive issues, mood swings, joint pains, and brain fog.
How can I repair my leaky gut?
When your gut gets leaky, here are the 4 tried and tested steps to take to repair your gut lining, and finally stop those symptoms:
Step 1: Remove
The first step is to remove anything from your diet that may be damaging your gut lining – alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners, ultra-processed foods such as fizzy drinks, biscuits, sausages, and instant soups, and also any foods to which you are allergic, intolerant, or sensitive. You can’t heal a leaky gut while you are still consuming items that damage the gut, so it is important that you remove these items as a priority. In some cases, infections may cause the damage to the gut lining, and these will need to be tested for, and eradicated, with your GP’s support.
Step 2: Replace
Once you have removed as many of the damaging foods as you can, you will need to replace them with unprocessed, nutritious anti-inflammatory wholefoods such as vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Unprocessed wholefoods generally cause less inflammation to your gut lining, reducing symptoms and preventing further damage.
Step 3: Replenish
You might have heard of probiotic bacteria? Well, studies show that these beneficial gut bugs can help the gut lining be less leaky, by secreting anti-inflammatory substances. Fermented foods are nature’s way to get these bacteria from your diet – sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and kombucha are a few examples. Alongside fermented foods, you can take Bettergut, available from Test Your Intolerance. Bettergut contains tributryrin which is a building block in the production of butyric acid – one of the anti-inflammatory substances that can help with healing your leaky gut. This won’t work effectively without doing the first 2 steps of the plan though, so don’t be tempted to skip the hard work and replace it with a magic pill.
Step 4: Repair
Using specific herbs and supplements, you can repair any damage done to the gut lining and prevent your leaky gut issues returning – the herbs and supplements that will work best for you will be very specific to your needs, so I won’t provide a list here, to avoid the risk of you taking something that might make your gut health worse. But you can work with a nutritional therapist or herbalist to choose the right products for your gut lining.
Can I repair my leaky gut on my own?
You can certainly work on steps 1-3 on your own, and you are likely to see huge improvements in your symptoms just by doing this. Step 4 would require working with a specialist to ensure you choose the right herbs and supplements for your gut health and to prevent recurrence of symptoms.
Is there anything else I need to know about having a leaky gut?
If you’re struggling with digestive issues and suspect a leaky gut is part of the picture, then it is definitely worth making the dietary changes suggested in this blog and investing in some products to replenish your gut health, such as the Test Your Intolerance Bettergut supplement.
If you’re not seeing improvements, please do seek the advice of a registered nutritional therapist and/or your GP.
