Leaky Gut Syndrome

“All disease begins in the gut” -- Hippocrates

The prevalence of leaky gut syndrome has dramatically increased in the last few years as our bad diet choices, chronic stress levels, bacterial imbalance, and various toxins from everywhere in our environment catch up with us.

What is leaky gut syndrome?

The lining between your gut and your blood stream contains what are called intestinal tight junctions. These junctions are what keep things like toxins, microbes, and food particles out of your bloodstream. When the gut is inflamed, or doesn’t function properly, these substances can leak directly through these junctions into the bloodstream.

This sounds pretty bad, and it can be. These things entering the bloodstream can cause inflammation throughout your entire body leading to various disease possibilities.

Symptoms of Leaky Gut

• Food allergies: especially gluten and dairy. When the immune system goes into overdrive to counter these extra substances in the blood, more antibodies are produced causing susceptibility to food antigens.

• Irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis: according to research done in Hungary recently, this excessive gut permeability can be localized to the colon in these cases.

• Asthma

• Autism

• Eczema

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• And more…

Another kicker to this issue is that it can cause your body to NOT absorb minerals and nutrients properly (eg. zinc, iron, vitamin B12).

How to Heal the Gut

Staying away from certain foods is the best place to start, and being extremely strict at the beginning will make the healing process that much faster.

Eliminate

Un-sprouted grains (major contributors: wheat, rice, soy)

Plants have a natural defense called lectins, which protects them from things like mold and parasites before being able to sprout. This makes sense, and so when you eat the plant, lectins are attracted to the sugar-containing cells around your gut that help digest food, and cause damage and inflammation.

Replace with

Sprouted and fermented grains

These processes reduce lectins giving the body an easier job when digesting.

Eliminate

GMO (genetically modified organisms) and hybrid foods: especially corn

These often have the highest levels of lectins because they’ve been modified specifically to ward off bugs. And in the case of corn, it also increases inflammation in your body 80:1 - it basically is like adding gasoline to the fire, creating more pain, bloating and dysfunction.

Replace with

Organic and non-GMO products

I try to look for the label just to be extra cautious.

Eliminate

Sugar

Ah sugar, our beloved. It’s a lot to ask to “eliminate” sugar, since your body does need a certain amount. But that amount is very small and our society has started putting sugar into just about everything. Excessive sugar feeds the bad bacteria in your gut, starving the good bacteria and continuing down the path of destruction! These bad bacteria then create toxins called exotoxins which actually do damage to healthy cells and eat away at your intestinal wall… now if THAT doesn’t sound bad I don’t know what does.

The first step for this is to remove anything with high levels of sugar (more than 10 grams). Depending on your habits this might be easy, or this might be the hardest thing you've ever done.

• Soda

• Desserts, especially anything packaged in the store

• Sweet salad dressings

• Sweet sauces

• Alcohol

• Anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

• And anything else you know you shouldn’t be eating!

Replace with

Whole Fruit

While you’re trying to get away from the super bad things like soda, try satisfying your cravings with fruit. But remember, fruit also has a lot of sugar, so moderation is important, but the sugar is balanced in nature by lots of fiber, making it far better for the body as a whole. Remember: sugar is addictive, and by my own experience working with my clients, very hard to get rid of.

Eliminate

Dairy products

Conventional dairy has a protein that can harm your gut called A1 casein.

Side note, leaky gut syndrome can affect the brain, and proteins from dairy and gluten can leak through the gut and act on the brain similarly to an opioid drug, which could be the cause of mood swings for children with autism. This is why leaky gut syndrome has been linked to similar issues like anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.

A study was done on adults with irritable bowel syndrome and depression. After being given probiotics, they found major improvement in both of these issues.

Replace with

Raw dairy from A2 cows, goats, sheep, and buffalo.

Everyone is different and needs their own special treatment to have that healthy, fit body they’ve always dreamed of. If you’re looking for a leaky gut repair diet, I can help will provide you with one, personalized to your specific needs.

Now’s the time. Feel better than you have in years! Set up a consultation with Dr Grace to get your health back on track once and for all.

You deserve it!