Your intestines play an important role in your digestive, nervous, and immune systems. When healthy, they pass on only healthy substances to your body so it can be nourished and can function well. When intestines are damaged—which can happen when a person eats too much processed food or is under a lot of stress—they become inflamed and leak harmful particles into the body through cracks in the intestinal wall.
The little cracks that send undigested food, bacteria, and toxins into your bloodstream can cause lots of problems. This condition is called leaky gut syndrome, and it’s a situation that can be healed by adhering to proper health and lifestyle guidelines.
Here are some ways that you can reverse and heal leaky gut syndrome:
The 3 R’s of Leaky Gut Treatment
Try an elimination diet to remove common irritants like processed food particles, sugar, and other foods that are known to cause allergies. Also remove alcohol (it steals nutrients from the gut) from your lifestyle. Finally, work with a health care practitioner to get rid of any internal parasites that may be damaging your intestines.
Next, replace gut-damaging foods with healthy gut foods, like those that rebuild the intestinal lining. Foods that heal and nourish the gut include whole fruits and vegetables (mostly non-starchy ones), fermented foods like kim chee and yogurt, and healthy fat foods like avocados.
Once you’ve introduced healthy-gut foods to your body, you’ll want to help it grow a layer of beneficial flora or good bacteria. Good bacteria help the GI tract with food digestion and strengthen your immune system, so that you can continue to fight off any foreign invaders that might work their way into your body.
If you think you may be suffering from leaky gut syndrome, meet with your health practitioner to make a comprehensive plan to take back your good gut health.