8 Home Remedies To Treat Leaky Gut

Modern life can be tough on your gut as it’s easily affected by stress, alcohol, medications and our heavy intake of processed foods. These persistent sources of irritation can lead to serious inflammation within your gut and could eventually lead to tiny pin-prick leaks in the delicate lining of your intestines. This can lead to what is known as a leaky gut.

No matter how small, these leaks could cause huge problems. A healthy gut will only let necessary compounds through its walls, whereas a leaky gut could see undigested food, bacteria, and toxins all leaking through into your bloodstream. This could then lead to an immune response and could be incredibly damaging to your health.

A leaky gut could potentially lead to other issues including asthma, acne, arthritis, and allergies. Thankfully, there are things you can do to reduce your risk of developing a leaky gut and reduce the symptoms.

# Start an Elimination Diet

Cutting common irritants like sugar, dairy, gluten, soy, and the chemical additives found in processed foods can help relieve you from a leaky gut. And it can work quite quickly too! Eliminate a particular food from your diet for two weeks before gradually reintroducing it and note down any effects you notice. If you start to notice any negative side effects of eating that particular food, you’ll know it’s a potential trigger for your leaky gut. That way, you’ll know which foods to avoid on a more long-term basis.

# Begin a Food Journal

Taking a physical note of everything you eat and the effects it has on your body. If you start to notice yourself feeling bloated or gasses after specific foods add this to your list of eliminated foods. Listen to what your gut is telling you.

# Limit Alcohol Intake

Alcohol puts extra pressure on your liver and deprives it of the nutrients it needs to function. Cutting alcohol from your diet will reduce the pressure on your liver and digestive system which will lessen your risk of developing a leaky gut.

# Treat Infections

Some cases of leaky gut can be caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites. If altering your diet hasn’t helped you may need to see a doctor to get an underlying infection treated so that you can solve your leaky gut.

# Whole Foods

Your body needs real, fresh foods to be able to repair the damage caused by a leaky gut and rebuild new, healthy tissue. Whole foods are full of the necessary vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and enzymes your small intestine needs to heal.

You should ideally prioritize vegetables and lean proteins but also remember to eat plenty of whole-food fats as these will help strengthen the membranes of your intestinal cells. You’ll also need the fiber from these whole foods to soak up and reduce the toxins and by-products that pass through your large intestine as it heals.

# Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Your gut needs plenty of omega-3 fatty acids in order to tackle any inflammation and heal the cell walls of your digestive tract. You can get more omega-3 by eating cold-water fish (like cod and salmon), nuts, avocados, and seeds. You could also take a daily supplement of fish oil.

# Bone Broth

A good, traditional bone broth can help improve your overall gut health because it’s packed full of fat-soluble minerals and vitamins. This means it can help relieve inflammation and heal any holes or damage to your intestinal wall.

# Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is one of those substances that just seems to keep on giving! One of its amazing benefits in that it can be used as a home remedy for a leaky gut. It’s packed full of healthy saturated fats that help to heal your gut. It also contains several compounds that have antimicrobial and antiparasitic qualities which help your body fight off potential infections that might otherwise cause a case of leaky gut.