Leaky Gut: What is it?
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What is it?
Leaky gut syndrome sounds like somehow the stuff in your intestines is leaking into the rest of your body. Essentially that is a normal, functioning part of the intestines, they are permeable on purpose. The matter passing through your intestines is actually OUTSIDE your body. Food goes into your mouth and out the other end in one continuous tube known as your digestive tract. The permeability of your intestines allows the nutrients from the food you eat to enter the body and be used.
A normally functioning gut only allows the smallest of particles through after the digestive system has successfully broken them down into larger bits of food. When the particles are small they easily fit through the healthy permeable layer in the intestines.
It might help to think of your intestinal wall as a bug screen. You can feel the wind or even water through the screen but bugs and larger things can’t fit through. Your gut allows amino acids among other particles through to the inside of your body. On the other side of the gut lining are the bodyguards or bouncers. Your body is a very exclusive place to be so they don’t let just anyone or anything in!
The bodyguards check out the particles entering and if they recognize them, they let them through! Typically the bodyguards only let through the basics of particles.
A leaky gut comes into the scene when the permeability of the gut lining is too relaxed. The lining is letting through particles that are way too big and haven’t been broken down properly (either because we didn’t chew long enough or the stomach acid was too weak). In either case, now a much larger particle has crossed the gut/blood barrier. The bodyguards don’t recognize this particle because it’s not broken down into its smallest pieces, so they attack and produce inflammation.
Learn more…
There are plenty of resources out there to learn more about leaky gut. The best (and funniest) book to read about the gut is GUT: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ by Giulia Enders. She also hosted a TED Talk if that is more your speed.
Change your diet
If you think you have leaky gut syndrome you should, of course, talk to your doctor!
You can also consider changing the way you eat, both what you eat and how you eat. Start by simply chewing your food more thoroughly. Can you chew one bite 40 times? This helps to break down food before it reaches the stomach. Our stomach acid is powerful but if the food is not properly chewed, there is only so much the acid can do in a short period of time. Help it out by chewing each bite until it completely dissolves. It requires patience!
Update your diet to include foods that help reduce inflammation and support a healthy gut lining. If you don’t know where to start, try the meal plan below. Take the plan and try it out for a week or simply incorporate the recipes into your own weekly meal planning. All the ingredients have been chosen specifically to support a person with a leaky gut or to support you to avoid a leaky gut!
Another option to try is an elimination diet. Elimination diets are short-term experiments to see how your body reacts to certain inflammatory foods.
