Food For Leaky Gut: What To Eat?
Video Transcript:
Hi everyone. Welcome back to our channel.
Leaky Gut, also known as Intestinal Permeability is a term that has been gaining a lot of attention over the years, and this is due to its various symptoms as well as association with other health conditions.
The condition is actually more common than people may think and can have significant impacts on our health, leading to things like digestive issues, skin issues, and even autoimmune diseases.
Understanding leaky gut and its implications is the first step to overcoming and healing a leaky gut.
So in today's video, we are going to review leaky gut syndrome, the leaky gut diet, including which foods you should avoid versus which ones you should include, as well as provide you with some tips on how to manage leaky gut and work towards healing it.
Hi, I am Katie Bailey. I'm a gut health dietician at Oswald Digestive Clinic, where we help individuals improve and resolve their bothersome gut issues like gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and more.
If you're interested in learning more about gut health, we have linked our free guide five Ways to Improve Your Gut Health Below in the Description Box.
Okay, let's get started on today's topic.
What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?
Leaky gut syndrome is a digestive condition where the gut lining becomes permeable, allowing undigested food, particles, toxins, and bacteria to leak into the bloodstream and wreak havoc on your health.
When your gut lining is healthy, it forms a tight barrier that controls what is absorbed into the bloodstream from your digestive tract.
However, when this barrier is compromised, it can cause gaps to form in the intestinal lining, allowing harmful and unwanted particles to then get into the bloodstream.
These harmful substances once in the bloodstream can trigger an immune response, which can lead to systemic inflammation throughout the body.
Now, this systemic inflammation can manifest in many different ways from skin conditions like acne or eczema.
Digestive issues like gas, bloating, abdominal pain, changes in your bowel movements and candida to more serious health problems like autoimmune diseases. There are also some non GI related symptoms that can occur.
Things like brain fog, difficulty concentrating, headaches, fatigue, joint pain, mood disorders, nutrient deficiencies, as well as food sensitivities.
Unfortunately, these symptoms are also very common in other health conditions. So if you feel like you are experiencing leaky gut syndrome, then I highly recommend you work with a nutrition professional who can help you get to the root cause of your symptoms.
Now, you may be wondering:
What causes leaky gut?
Some potential causes include things like chronic stress, poor nutrition, toxin overload from things like pesticides and heavy metals, excessive utes of NSAIDs like ibuprofen and antibiotic use, as well as bacterial imbalances in the gut.
Any of these can lead to damage of the lining of the small intestines, making it more permeable to substances that really should be staying out of the bloodstream.
Now that you know what leaky gut is, let's talk a little bit about the leaky gut diet.
Food for Leaky Gut
So the key to managing this condition really lies in our diet and our lifestyle choices.
The food that we eat directly impacts our gut health, either contributing to the problem or aiding in the solution.
The Leaky Gut Diet is a meal plan designed to help us heal the gut lining, reduce inflammation and restore balance to the digestive system.
It emphasizes foods that are rich in fiber and healthy fats, proteins, and nutrients, while avoiding the foods that are going to trigger inflammation and further damage the gut lining.
The focus should be on whole, on processed foods like fruits and vegetables, proteins, and healthy fats, which are going to provide the necessary nutrients to help your gut heal and to promote a healthy gut microbiome.
It's about eliminating those foods that are going to irritate the gut lining and cause permeability while including these nutrient dense foods that are going to help repair the gut lining and improve its function.
It's important to remember that everyone is unique, so personalizing your leaky gut diet plan based on your specific needs, your sensitivities and preferences is going to be key.
Okay, so now let's get into
What specific foods should you include in your leaky gut meal plan?
So the first one I want to talk about is bone broth.
Now, bone broth is high in collagen, so it's great for helping to heal the gut lining.
You can either sip it as is or include it in recipes. I really like to add it to things like soups and stews as well as I cook my rice in bone broth rather than just plain water. Other foods you want to incorporate are things that are high in fiber, so lots of fruits and vegetables because this is going to help with your digestion, it's going to help feed that beneficial bacteria in the gut as well as provide essential nutrients to help the gut repair itself.
Protein food for leaky gut
Another thing you want to make sure that you include is plenty of protein, things like chicken and Turkey, beef and eggs.
These are going to provide those necessary amino acids to help repair the gut lining and reduce inflammation.
Healthy fat food for leaky gut
Another thing that's going to help reduce inflammation is including your healthy fats, things like avocados, olives, nuts, and seeds.
These are not only going to reduce inflammation, but they're also going to help you absorb your nutrients.
Fermented foods for leaky gut
And lastly, fermented foods, fermented foods like yogurt and keefer and sauerkraut and kimchi.
These are going to provide you a rich source of probiotics that are going to help replenish and balance out that gut.
The leaky gut diet / what foods to avoid for leaky gut
In contrast, there are also foods that should be avoided or limited while trying to heal the gut.
The number one thing is going to be your processed foods. These are going to be high in those artificial ingredients, high in sugar and unhealthy fats while being low in nutrients, which can cause inflammation and further damage the gut lining.
Now, gluten and dairy can also be problematic for some people and contribute to that increased permeability.
Alcohol and caffeine can also irritate the gut lining and make leaky gut worse.
Now, I also wanted to mention coffee, which can be a little controversial as some people believe that coffee can irritate the gut lining and contribute to leaky gut while others feel that coffee and moderation is fine.
Is black coffee healthy on the leaky gut diet?
The key here is individuality, meaning if you drink coffee and it triggers symptoms for you, then you may want to avoid it.
However, if you don't notice any adverse effects from drinking it, then you don't have to give it up entirely.
So in the process of trying to heal your gut, it's also recommended that you avoid foods that you're intolerant to or allergic to as this can cause further inflammation.
If you are dealing with leaky gut, there are certain steps and strategies that you can take to help heal your gut and reduce your symptoms.
How to heal leaky gut
The number one thing is going to be to eliminate those foods that trigger inflammation and further damage the gut lining.
Remember, those are going to be things like those processed foods we talked about, excess alcohol and caffeine and gluten and dairy.
You want to aim to eat a well-balanced diet full of whole unprocessed foods like proteins and healthy fats, a variety of fruits and vegetables, fermented foods, bone broth, and then also consider taking a supplement that is going to support your gut health.
Supplements for leaky gut
Things like prebiotics, probiotics, digestive enzymes, l-glutamine, collagen.
These have all been found to help with leaky gut.
L-glutamine for healing leaky gut
L-glutamine in particular, is an amino acid that plays a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of the gut lining.
And research suggests that including l-glutamine at the right dosage can really help repair that gut lining and reduce inflammation.
While supplements can be very beneficial, it's important to remember that they should be used as part of a comprehensive plan.
That includes diet and lifestyle modifications as well.
Now, leaky gut can be challenging to combat on your own. So working with a healthcare professional, a nutrition professional that can help with you with a personalized diet and supplement plan to meet your specific needs can be an easy way to start working towards healing the gut.
To wrap up our topic for today, leaky gut is a complex condition that can have a significant impact on our health, leading to digestive issues, skin issues, autoimmune diseases, as well as many other things.
However, with the right approach and a well-planned leaky gut diet, as well as targeted supplements, you can really manage your symptoms and work towards gut healing.
Remember, while diet plays a crucial role in leaky gut, it is only one piece of the puzzle.
You also need to consider other lifestyle factors like getting adequate sleep, regular exercise, and practicing stress management.
Okay, so that's it for today's topic. If you liked this video, please hit the like button and subscribe for more nutrition videos.
I hope you found this video to be helpful, and if you're interested in working with our clinic, you can click the link below in the description box to schedule an appointment.
We do take insurance and you can find the information on our website.
Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.
If you'd like to explore any of this information further or obtain an individualized nutrition plan, you can schedule an initial appointment at our clinic. We also take insurance and some of our clients get full coverage, which is great.
Or you can just start by downloading our FREE GUIDE: 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE GUT HEALTH
