Leaky Gut Help - How To Identify, Heal, Rebuild, and Repair Your Leaky Gut

How to Repair and Rebuild the Gut

Take a second to think about how hard our body works to keep us alive. It digests our food, keeps our heart beating, helps remove toxins, fights off invaders, and keeps us breathing—just to name a few jobs our body controls. Pretty amazing, right? When you think more about our digestive system, you can look at it simply as a long tube extending from where we place our food to where we eliminate it. It has a job of utmost importance to our health and survival: to nourish and protect.

The health of your digestive system determines what nutrients are absorbed and what toxins, allergens, and microbes are kept out. It is directly linked to the health of the entire body. Intestinal health is defined via the process of optimal digestion, absorption, and assimilation of the food we consume. However, this relies on processes and factors within the body to work together to allow this to take place.

It begins with the bugs that live in our guts. We are home to over 500 different species of microorganisms that create their own ecosystem—I think it is a factory—to allow our food to be digested, regulate hormones, excrete toxins, and produce vital nutrients. You may be thinking, "Bugs? The bad ones?" Yes, we have those, too, but what's key is that the factory stays in balance and all the bugs are doing their correct jobs in the correct location. Too many bad bugs, such as parasites/yeast, and not enough good bugs, such as the lactobacillus and good yeast, can drastically damage your health and cause diseases such as leaky gut, arthritis, eczema, and diabetes. Keeping these in balance is key to health.

Secondly, the gut houses a major filter system, filtering all the toxins we come in contact with. It does this with a very thin filter, which, if abused through the consumption of processed foods and toxins, can actually separate and release toxins into the bloodstream, causing systemic inflammation and intolerances.

Thirdly, the gut is the only human organ that functions without the help of your brain, and it's got 100 million cells. In fact, the gut sends signals to the brain via the Vagus nerve, and you actually send more information from the gut to the brain than from the brain to the gut. In other words, your brain is translating gut signals as emotions. It contributes to those very important happy feelings, and interference can cause anxiety and depression. So, when someone says trust your gut, it might be worth doing.

Lastly, the digestive system breaks down all the food we eat, separating it into what will feed our body and what is waste. The body can only break down whole food to use as fuel, and anything refined or processed is classified as waste. If this process becomes impaired, we no longer create fuel for our body, which causes us to become tired and ill and for inflammation to skyrocket.

Now that we know what needs to work to keep our digestive tract healthy, what do we do if we suffer from digestive issues or health concerns? I am here to help you see the light at the end of the tunnel. The goal is to repair and rebuild.

How To Repair The Gut

• Find the source — Nutrition response testing will help determine the root causes of any nutritional deficiencies your body may be suffering from. Use whole-food nutrition to help detox and rebuild.

• Prioritize relaxation — Finding ways to reduce your level of stress emotionally, physically, and environmentally will reduce inflammation in the body, allowing it to repair. You can use mediation, a favorite hobby, or exercise.

• Reduce toxic exposure - Lower antibiotic use and other medications as these don't just destroy the bad bugs but the whole factory, throwing the gut entirely out of balance.

• Alter your diet — Remove all highly processed food, sugar, highly refined carbohydrates, and alcohol. This will remove a toxic load and allow the body to truly repair.

Now that we have found ways to reduce the stress and toxins in the body to create optimal digestive health, there are many ways to rebuild and create an environment where the factory can start working again.

How To Rebuild The Gut

• Fermented foods — Consuming ½ servings daily of fermented foods will help rebuild the good bacteria. Daily is key; similar to how you would take probiotics regularly to keep the good bugs happy, fermented foods should be consumed the same way.

• The good starchy carbs — Sweet potato, plantains, and cassava are the best starchy carbs for digestion. The good bugs love them, and they won't spike your blood sugar. Some favorites are sauerkraut (Hawthorne Valley), kimchi, kombucha, good quality kefir.

• Deep breathing — Digesting is a parasympathetic process, meaning we must be relaxed for it to occur correctly. Taking three big deep breaths and slowly releasing each time will help the body relax. A prayer blessing your food can also help the body become more relaxed.

• Hydration — Staying hydrated is key to ensuring that nutrients are transported correctly throughout the body and that waste is eliminated.

Now, you can look at your digestive system as your best friend. It's easy to get caught up in how it sometimes doesn't work, causing us pain or discomfort, but understanding that there is a way to help repair and rebuild this intricate friendship within will only help you see that the body truly wants to keep you happy and healthy on the outside, too.