04 Jun Is leaky gut the next health fad?

Leaky gut this, leaky gut that? What the hell does it all mean and should you even care?

This term is being thrown around left right and centre, in vogue articles, in cosmo articles, woman’s health, newspaper articles, facebook, TV… you name it. The good news is people are starting to take note, because gut health is really important but the bad thing is there is a lot of noise around gut health the advice is so vague and there are alot of confused people out there, are you one of them?

So should you even take the time to care? Or is it the next health fad?

In my opinion, YES!! You should care. Gut health is not a health fad.

Understanding what roll the microbiome plays in our health has been the biggest medical breakthrough of our lifetime. We (aka a human collective) are only scratching the surface for understanding the microbiome. However what we do know is this…

Learning how to master your gut health is something you should know the basis of because it has been the biggest medical discovery in our lifetime and not something to ignore.

Conventional medicine looks at the body in parts. You go to a heart doctor for your heart, a dentist for your teeth, a dermatologist for your skin. However we now know everything is connected when it comes to your body so really we should not be looking at individual body parts, organs or singular symptoms. What “we” have discovered is our gut health is the connecting link. We have a gut brain axis, a gut skin axis, a gut oral biome, our gut health controls our weight and food metabolism, hormones and mood… it’s pretty hard NOT to address your gut health when trying to overcome a health challenge.

Just to clarify no one has perfect gut health but you can have a gut in need of repair.

The medical term for a leaky gut is intestinal permeability (quite a mouthful I know, hence the simplification).

To help you grasp what a leaky gut is, let me try and paint a pretty picture of your insides.

The reason your gut lining is so delicate and easy to damage is because it is only one cell thick (keeping in mind your skin is 3 layers thick).

In a healthy gut the lining of cells opens and closes to let nutrients through into the bloodstream / immune system to be shuttled around the body or deal with an infection. The problem lies when the gut lining becomes damaged and remains open and unable to close up as it should. When the lining is damaged by inflammation, poor diet and lifestyle choices it can damage the cells and cause unwanted bacteria, parasites and food particles to leak into the bloodstream causing your immune system to be under constant alert and start to overreact to everything. This overaction causes low grade inflammation, symptoms and become very hard to control.

This constant state of inflammation to the gut and gut lining can cause a cascade of unfortunate events for YOU! First and foremost the beneficial bacteria living in your gut need a healthy gut lining as they use this as their home. You microbial diversity will suffer if you have a leaky gut.

Nurturing your gut is a great place to start if you have a few random and unassuming issues because it addresses your body as a whole. The best way to do this is by cutting out processed food and toxic lifestyle habits.

Easier said than done right??

The most effective way I have found to address the gut is to take out all the “crap” as rule number one because diet is the biggest culprit. The food we eat, sugar, GMO’s and chemicals are going to destroy your gut lining, cause gut inflammation and cause your beneficial bacteria to die off.

If you don’t “cut the crap” they you will never heal your gut. Sounds bleak but it’s the hard truth. If you need help in this area of your life, click here to get your diet on point.

If you are already on top of your diet and still waiting to see the light, this can be frustrating because we are all at a different level of health. No one gut is the same, that’s why there is not one cure all. I honestly thought that eating a healthy diet was all I needed to have amazing thriving health, I was so wrong. To actually heal and seal a leaky gut you will most likely need some supplements to help supercharge the healing process because unfortunately we just can’t get EVERYTHING we need from out food.

Many lifestyle factors can be the cause of a leaky gut too, not just food related. Anything that causes low grade inflammation can be damaging your gut health such as stress, chemical exposure, mould toxins and exposure and some medications. Getting enough downtime and exercise can be hugely beneficial for someone with a leaky gut.

On the flip side, there are many different scenarios when it comes to gut health and gut issues. Leaky gut is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more issues like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), candida, bacterial overgrowth, parasites, IBS, IBD, any many more… each issue requires a specific protocol so it’s not as easy as it might seem. It WILL take a bit of trial and error and starting with a leaky gut is usually at the root cause for all of the above mentioned issues.

A personal thought… Microbiome health is still in its infancy and we are gaining a better understanding each day, a lot of health professionals are afraid to approach gut health because there are so many ways to approach it and no, one protocol works for everyone. So if you are starting your journey i always advise people to start by nourishing your gut lining to attempt to heal a leaky gut and see where you sit because having a leaky gut is really the starting issues for a lot of health concerns.

As a starting point just remember that your gut lining is the gateway to health… having a healthy gut lining will give your gut bugs the best environment to live, help control food intolerances, immune health, amazing skin, mood, weight, energy and much more!!

Approach gut health slowly.

Less is more.