Leaky Gut

If you battle with gastrointestinal discomfort, brain fog, hormone imbalances, mood swings, poor sleep, bloating, pain, fatigue, or consistently just don’t feel your best, it may be coming from your gut. It’s called Leaky Gut Syndrome. Not to worry though. This is actually more common than people think, but it is much less commonly talked about. Instead of running to medication for a reduction of symptoms there’s another answer to help decrease and heal some of these systemic conditions.

Leaky Gut Syndrome occurs when the lining of your intestines become compromised after ongoing stressors from medications, pesticides, bacterial infections, toxins, stress, or foods like gluten, dairy, sugar during digestion. Overtime the lining becomes irritated enough that it becomes permeable. The intestines cannot absorb as well as it should and it cannot keep waste in as well as it should. Overtime toxins, bacteria, small molecules, and inflammatory proteins “leak” into your bloodstream. When your gut continues to “leak” your immune system reacts and sees these new particles in your blood as foreign invaders. Your immune system therefore becomes overstressed and works less efficiently. Systemic inflammation sets in and little by little you start to have more and more of these ongoing symptoms in different areas of your body.

Your gut health is super important; enough so that it’s known as your second brain and your gateway to overall health and well-being. It’s where 80% of your immune system lives and it makes 95% of your serotonin (your happy neurotransmitter that effects your mood). If your gut can’t produce enough serotonin your mood, anxiety, depression, or mental stress can all be even more so affected. Since serotonin is a precursor to melatonin (a hormone that regulates sleep) it is common for people to also battle with sleep and insomnia if their gut isn’t healthy. If you can’t get the rest and sleep you need your digestive and reproductive systems become even more affected since a restful state is when these systems get the most healing and nourishment. What a vicious cycle!

What do we do?!

We can start to heal our gut and reverse the vicious process one step at a time. It’s no easy task, but it’s well worth the benefit. Start small if you need to until you can in-cooperate a lot of these changes for the long haul. Remember your overall health is on the line; not just your digestive system.

Here are some steps to follow and consider when trying to heal your gut:

• Remove the bad and add the good. All inflammatory foods such as gluten, sugar, dairy, corn, and soy should be eliminated. Add in whole foods (the more organic and wholesome the better) and less processed foods. Make it easier for your gut to digest and repair.
• Add digestive enzymes and probiotics. It’s recommended to start with 100 billion CFUs (colony forming units) of probiotics until you get into a maintenance period. Then you can transition into 30 billion CFUs. This will help produce good gut flora to help your gut function well.
• Decrease your stress and increase more exercise and times of relaxation. Provide yourself with enough sleep (6-8 hours). The more stress you hold onto the harder it will become for your systems to function well.

As stated, this is no easy battle by any means. No change is easy. Do what you can when you can. Your overall health is on the line. Give it a shot for 4-6 weeks and experience the difference. We’re always here to help you along the way!