How Can I Tell If I Have Leaky Gut?

These days many of us have some level of leaky gut. A leaky gut isn’t a root cause of the symptoms you might be feeling, but it is a symptom itself. When clients come to me with digestive symptoms, signs of inflammation, food sensitivities, and blood sugar imbalances, we typically will work on gut healing as part of the protocol. A leaky gut usually isn’t the problem itself, but a byproduct of the problem and can be problematic for the body. In order to truly heal the gut, we work on addressing the root cause along with addressing the leaky gut. I believe that stress is probably the number one cause of leaky gut and its root causes, but stress is caused by a wide variety of issues including but not limited to:

  • Lack of quality sleep

  • Alcohol + drug use

  • Certain medications

  • Emotional stress

  • Emotional or physical trauma

  • Over-exercising

  • Environmental stressors

  • Parasites

  • Lyme

  • Mold exposure

  • Heavy metals

  • Celiac disease

  • Diabetes + high blood sugar

  • Processed foods + food additives

  • Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

What is a leaky gut?

A leaky gut happens when the cells that line our intestinal tract become so inflamed that the gut lining becomes more permeable than it’s meant to be. Basically tiny holes develop in your intestines allowing for things like undigested food particles, and microbes to slowly leak through the gut lining and into the bloodstream. This is where food sensitivities come in. Our immune system sees these undigested food particles as toxins and attacks them, distracting the immune system from other jobs and driving sensitivities to the foods that the body is now recognizing as an enemy. These undigested food particles, toxins, and microbes that enter the bloodstream are also recognized as toxic to the brain and can impact brain function as well.

What are the symptoms of a leaky gut?

There are a lot of symptoms related to a leaky gut and since a leaky gut is not a root cause issue, these symptoms can also relate back to root causes like some of the stressors I list above. Not all stressors lead to a leaky gut, but often times they do.

  • Digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, or a combination

  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease diagnosis (Colitis, Crohn’s, etc.)

  • SIBO/Candida overgrowth

  • Food sensitivities

  • Headaches and migraines

  • Skin issues like acne, rosacea, psoriasis, or eczema

  • Anxiety and depression + other mood issues

  • Autoimmune disease

  • Hormonal imbalances

  • Seasonal allergies + asthma

How do you get a leaky gut?

Getting a leaky gut isn’t usually just one thing, but a combination of situations that create the perfect storm for your gut lining to become compromised. In my practice I often see excessive alcohol and pharmaceutical use, use of painkillers like NSAIDs, gut infections like parasites, eating excessive amounts of sugar, consuming processed foods, food additives and toxic oils, chronic stress, exposure to environmental toxins, microbial imbalances, mold exposure, emotional trauma, over-exercising, and eating foods that you are allergic or sensitive to.

How do you heal a leaky gut?

I believe that in order to truly heal a leaky gut and keep it from coming back, you need to address it from a root cause level and this likely involves working with a practitioner to determine what that is and the best roadmap and protocol given your specific situation and body’s needs. While working on addressing the root cause(s) I recommend customized foods and supplements that will help to repair the gut using muscle testing and other quantitative tools. There are definitely some strategies I recommend to all my clients as they are working on a leaky gut as part of their healing journey. They include:

  1. Reduce overall stress in your life if possible

  2. Get into a parasympathetic or relaxed state to eat

  3. Chew your food very well and eat slowly

  4. Limiting the use of alcohol and NSAIDs

  5. Eat foods supportive of gut health

  6. Eliminate problematic foods for a 3 month period

  7. Drink bone broth, slippery elm, or Throat Coat tea daily

Our gut health is directly linked to our overall health. If you’ve got some of the symptoms I listed above and want to work towards feeling better, adding back in foods you’ve been restricting, and kicking those symptoms to the curb, lets chat! I am passionate about helping others optimize their gut health because I know what its like to not feel great.

If you are not quite ready to commit, feel free to take my free assessment to see where your gut health may need some attention and get some tips to steer it back to balance on your own.


Sources:

  • https://www.restorativechiro.com/blog/2020/1/26/the-root-causes-of-gut-problems

  • https://agutsygirl.com/2015/12/22/leaky-gut-syndrome/

  • https://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-health/signs-of-unhealthy-gut-and-how-to-fix-it/.

  • https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14510/10-signs-you-have-an-unhealthy-gut-how-to-heal-it.html

Stephanie Selinger