Leaky Gut

More and more people are learning about the importance of gut health and the term “leaky gut”.

So what does this mean exactly? Your gastrointestinal system is lined with cells that are held together by “tight junctions”. This allows your GI tract to selectively absorb only tiny food particles that have been digested. At the same time it keeps out large undigested food particles and other foreign substances from entering your bloodstream.

If your gut is “leaky”, large undigested particles of food and contaminants can enter into your blood causing inflammation and a subsequent variety of aliments ranging from skin rashes to joint pain to even more severe autoimmune conditions, neurological problems, and even some psychological conditions.

What are the causes of leaky gut? There is a big one… Gluten! It has been shown that eating gluten can actually interfere with the tight junctions in the GI tract. Other causes are too much stress (also a big one), food poisoning, infections, and some medications like ibuprofen and prednisone. Other contributors to poor gut health include drinking chlorinated tap water, antacids, too much coffee, processed food, eating too much oxidized food (BBQ), and using too many artificial sweeteners.

There are some great nutritional products that can help heal leaky gut much quicker then a gluten free diet alone. Some of them are a good quality probiotic, glutamine, zinc carnosine, aloe, marshmallow and deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL). You can get many of these in a combination formula for conveinence. Additionally, bone broth is very healing for leaky gut.

I encourage anyone who is interested in more information to check out videos on YouTube about leaky gut. One of my favorites is by Dr. Osborne.