What Is Leaky Gut?

Dec 1, 2020

Do you have Leaky Gut?
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The gut plays a big role in your immune system. If your gut is not working well or it’s “leaky,” your health can pay the price. You may have heard the term leaky gut before—the fancy name for it is intestinal permeability. So what exactly is it and how does it affect your health?

Imagine the lining of your small intestine is like a layer of cheese cloth. The holes of the cheese cloth are small enough to allow just the essentials through it, like the nutrients vital to support a strong immune system. But when the cheese cloth rips letting larger food particles, bacteria and toxins into the blood stream, this causes an immune response because your system knows those things are not supposed to be there. That means your immune system launches an “attack” to protect you against these “foreign invaders.”

When this happens, you may experience gut symptoms (like bloating, heartburn, digestive issues), skin issues (like rashes, acne, eczema or psoriasis), neurological symptoms (like brain fog, anxiety, depression) or even an autoimmune disease. 

Many things can contribute to a leaky gut like diet, stress, food sensitivities, alcohol, herbicides and pesticides, infections like parasites, candida, mold or heavy metals, and over the counter or prescription medications. 

The good news is that you can improve and heal the gut lining with diet and lifestyle changes.

Here are a few things you can do:

  • Eat a whole foods, organic (when possible), diverse and colorful diet.
  • Add prebiotic foods to your diet like onions, garlic, leeks, radishes, plantains, sweet potatoes, asparagus and jicama. Prebiotics help feed the good bacteria and help probiotic foods flourish.
  • Eat probiotic foods like kimchi, raw kraut, fermented veggies, kefir, yogurt, miso, and tempeh. 
  • Reduce your stress with deep breathing, meditation or a mindfulness practice.
  • Move your body regularly.
  • Get enough good quality sleep.

All of these things help support a healthy gut and therefore healthy immune system!

If you’ve tried working with lifestyle changes and are still struggling with gut symptoms and leaky gut, it might be time to investigate further with a practitioner to test for any hidden gut infections that are holding you back from healing.  Book a free consult call below. I’d love to learn more about you and let you know how I can help you with your leaky gut.

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Hello and Welcome! My name is Carla Alpert, and I’m a Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach and Diagnostic Practitioner, focusing on the gut and how it affects your overall health. Think of me as a health detective and wellness coach working in partnership with you to restore your health. We work together to uncover the contributing factors to your chronic symptoms, to eat well, sleep well, move more and stress less.

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