5 Steps I Took To Heal Leaky Gut

If you want better health now and in the future, you have to heal leaky gut. It’s the key to preventing and reversing autoimmune disorders which some say most ALL of us have. And to helping resolve pain, indigestion, allergies, headaches, rashes and more.

Remind me! What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Here’s what I wrote in my “Leaky Gut Symptoms, Causes & Tests” in June 2016:

“The small intestine digests and absorbs nutrients, makes much of our immune system and provides a barrier between our insides (the gut) and our outsides (blood, organs, muscles). A healthy gut wall keeps undigested food, fecal matter and toxins IN the gut (to be digested or eliminated) and only allows digested foods and nutrients to pass through into the bloodstream. If the gut wall is damaged, large or toxic particles can pass through the “leaky” wall, causing systemic allergen, immune activity and inflammation.

Even worse are inflammatory cytokines released by the damaged gut, causing inflammation of the brain, joints, heart, skin, blood vessels and more. 

Bottom Line: If you’re talking inflammation, you’re talking Leaky Gut.”

How do you fix Leaky Gut?

The surface area of the intestine is huge – about the size of a football field! That’s a lot of territory to be infected, damaged or undernourished. We have to address multiple causes to heal leaky gut and they can be different for different people. So yes, this can take some time and some work. The payoff of lowered antibodies, less pain and better function in your body, is worth it!

For most of us, the key causes of leaky gut include damage from inflammatory/allergenic foods such as gluten and dairy; medications such as antacids and NSAID’s; chronic infection; stress; and disrupted gut flora.

Like healing ANY system in the body, first remove the cause, then treat the damage. Finally, make sure you don’t harm it again! Here’s my recent Cyrex Labs Array #2 test showing my happy Gut!

5 Steps I Took to Heal Leaky My Gut

First, I had to admit I was not well and had not been well for a really long time. I made a new commitment to my future. I said yes to investing in higher quality food and more support from natural health practitioners. I was determined to feel better, and to have my 80 year old future self say “Thank You” for the effort.

Then I got to work…

1). I accepted I would never eat or drink anything with gluten again.

Ever. Not even one bite.

And that I would find it hiding in my body and hair care and anywhere else I might contact it. I ran Cyrex Labs Array #3 and flunked it! And I supposedly had been gluten free for years. So I doubled down to find the last sneaky bit elevating my antibodies and inflaming my whole body.

(I can run this lab test for you in my clinic or in a virtual Consult but only after we’ve done important first steps. I take a lot of history and want to know what you eat all week. And I love looking at your existing lab work).

A lifetime of cereal, rye and spelt bread and a few beers was enough to keep me sick for decades. I never knew what a profound impact even a little gluten had on me until I ran this test.

So step #1 was to eliminate gluten, including the bit of gluten airborne in the dust and on my hands from handling my horse’s feed.

2). I found by process of elimination that I had reactions to various foods. By eliminating the gluten I felt better and was more able to notice cause and effect of everything else I did. I became a Food Detective.

I found that all the grains (rice, corn, oat, buckwheat, quinoa) bloated me up. Then I ran Cyrex Labs Array #4 for Gluten Cross-Reactive Foods. Yikes! Dairy! I eliminated all dairy but ghee and that test was perfect 6 months later.

Eggs didn’t sit well, and caused pain in my neck and my scapula (shoulder blade). Out they went too…

3). Now that food was safer, I ran labs for bacteria, yeast and parasites. I was surprised to find a severe Candida result as I had been off sweets a really long time. But my gut was so damaged by the gluten, grains and dairy that the Candida had found a home and damaged the gut even more.

I treated the Candida with Morinda Supreme anti-infective and #4 FungDX Anti-Fungal plus a low dose Diflucan just once a week. I tried to bumped up my probiotics with Farmhouse Culture probiotic Sauerkraut and Fermented Beet juice but didn’t handle them well. I used Premier Research Labs Probiotic as well as Inner Eco To Go Coconut Water probiotic.

Fortunately, I had few bad bacteria, and no parasites were found.

4). The big step for me was addressing my STRESS levels. I know we all say it, but the truth is we are drowning in stress hormones.

Cortisol, epinephrine and many other stress metabolites are highly damaging to our cells if in excess and chronically high. I ran 3 companies in the 1980’s – one of them large enough and amazing enough that I was written up in Glamour, Venture, and Entrepeneur Magazines. Add that to a bad marriage and some intense family stuff and I literally ate part of my gut away.

Don’t kid yourself friends! Stress is real, and it can damage your gut along with everything else. Take stock of what’s really important and dump the rest… I took a lot of herbs including this Passion Flower (in my online store now), plus California Poppy, Melissa and Valerian. I get body work at least twice a month, good facials, and refuse to rush and be late for appointments…. Give it a try and get more peace!

5). Supplements…. The biggies are probiotics of course, but Glutamine is absolutely brilliant. I took 500 or 1000 mg. Glutamine arising and at bed for over a year. (Always take amino acids on an empty stomach. They don’t work if you take them with food. That includes Lysine for Herpes too).

I took Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides daily – it’s here on Amazon. It dissolves easily in fluids and is considered a key nutrient for leaky gut repair.

LGUT – Leaky Gut Mastery – was introduced by my favorite supplement company Systemic Formulas just a few years ago so I didn’t take it in “the old days”. But it muscle-tests well in my clinic and I sell a lot of it to local and distance clients. It has a unique form of Glutamine shown to be more effective than ordinary Glutamine. It includes Quercitin, Turmeric, Short Chain Fatty Acids and other best-of-the-best nutrients for healing the mucosal wall.

Plan on taking LGUT or Glutamine for several months while working on all the other factors but only AFTER you’ve gotten the diet right and stopped the inflammation. Take charge and get this job done. You’ll notice inflammatory blood markers such as autoimmune antibodies, SED Rate, and allergies reduce. You’ll feel better and may notice your autoimmune disorders begin to abate. Stick with it and go for the reversal of antibodies!

Other steps to consider to heal Leaky Gut

I didn’t have this issue, but if you’re taking antacids or NSAID’s you’ll damage your gut wall. The good news is that by following the steps I took, you’ll probably not need these meds for long.

Add beans to your food avoidance list too. Beans are high in damaging lectins. A few won’t hurt you but a diet of rice and beans is a problem. Soy is always a no-no unless it’s fermented such as Miso, Tempeh or Gluten Free Tamari.

Want more help?

Here’s my Primal Diet – Modern Health podcast on fixing Leaky Gut. Check it out on my website or on iTunes.

My DVD/Video “The Diet For Human Beings” will explain what to eat and why. I emphasize grain free foods with plenty of fats, and talk about why Insulin cycles are so dangerous to your health. You can buy the hard disc, download it or stream.

Consider making fresh Bone Broth (the kind that gels up in your refrigerator) or buying it from Vital Proteins. I like their products better than Great Lakes. Here’s why.