Stop Stressing Out Your Leaky Gut – How to heal and restore going forward
May 21, 2022
“Leaky gut“ used to be a crazy term, but it’s made its way into the medical literature with genuine agreement finally that yes, in fact gut “intestinal permeability” aka “leaky gut” is indeed a real thing.
We know that poor intestinal barrier strength is associated with increased rates of asthma, allergies, autoimmune conditions, neurological disorders, recurring infections, and inflammatory bowel disease just to name a few.
We also know at least a little bit more about how to test and understand how to measure “leaky gut” with laboratory testing for CRP otherwise known as C-reactive protein, a common measure of inflammation in the body, but also a critical test for measuring zonulin, which is sort of like the leftover debris from a demolition site, or the residual impression of ripples seen by dropping a rock into a pond.
So, if your doctor suspects you might be experiencing symptoms related to a leaky gut, they might test for zonulin among many other important markers. This helps trained physicians better understand and successfully diagnose someone’s current state of health in hopes to pursue the optimal course of treatment and remedy for prognosis.
One more thing you might care to know is that it is very common for people with leaky gut to have higher systemic inflammation throughout their body, as well as several nutrient deficiencies, poor sleep, and often high stress.
I’ll explain each.
If you cannot absorb your nutrients optimally with a strong and robust gut lining due to a leaky intestinal tract, it’s likely you will end up deficient if you're not getting daily nutrient IVs from the surprisingly small vitamin shop place around the corner.
But seriously, consider this: most people in America run their lives like a marathon, sprinting through their day, with lots of emotional overwhelm and mental exhaustion from complex decision making or simply just worrying and overthinking too much about many things outside their control or sphere of influence. Furthermore, we know that the vast majority of us do not meet anywhere near the nutrient needs we require for a fully optimized nutritional eating plan. So, even the nutrients we do consume in between the fast-food burgers, fries, coke, or weekend pizza run… we still are definitely not nutrient sufficient.
Americans also have a toxic relationship with destructive medications that damage gut lining, such as aspirins, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), like naproxen, meloxicam, and alcohol-based sleep aids.
Most people show up with lab results that detail low nutrient levels for many nutrients important for the intestinal lining and gut repair, such as zinc, magnesium, vitamin E, omega 3s, and many more. If someone has leaky gut, it’s likely they will try to take supplemental amino acids, which are needed to actually build the gut lining back together, antioxidants like glutathione, vitamins C and E to reduce inflammation, some digestive enzymes to support nutrient utilization, and they may very well try to structure their lives very different than before in order to heal from the legitimate injury they’ve suffered in their gut.
Along with diet, exercise, stress, sleep.. our sensitive cells throughout our gut act as like a fluid current of communication back to our brain. Our cells hold specific characteristics based on polarity and electrical currents too. In fact, some people can feel and experience electrical fields like EMF, RF, ELF more than others and thus can be more sensitive to technologies than others.
(more on this in upcoming weeks) - HSPs “highly sensitive persons”
We can’t put a cast around the intestines in order to prevent you from reinjuring it like we do when someone breaks their wrist or arm, but we can give you a great list of optimal dos and don’ts.
Don’t drink alcohol. Don’t drink too much caffeine. Do reduce your intake of sugars, sugar alcohols, and saturated fats. Don’t eat on the go. Do sit down and relax before putting anything into your mouth. Do pay attention to exercise, don’t overdo it and potentially further limit the nourishing blood supply to the gut needed for repair, but do consider some light weightlifting or resistance training, saltwater swimming or anything that makes you feel good about your body in movement.
When we exercise, just like when we are stressed, anxious, or afraid, our blood supply surges to our arms and legs to help us run away from an enemy or fight them instead. When this happens, the gut is vulnerable because blood flow equals nourishment. The gut needs adequate blood supply. Nutrition and oxygen delivery, tissue repair and maintenance are all dependent upon sufficient nourished blood.
But, if we are constantly stressed out and overwhelmed, anxious, or afraid each day, we leave ourselves at risk of experiencing leaky gut.
Without sufficient blood supply for nourishment and protection, our intestinal barrier that is incredibly thin and fragile becomes easily compromised and potential harmful pathogens, synthetic adjuvants, buffing agents and emulsifiers commonly found in lots of ultra-processed foods, dips, sauces, soups, and dressings, can become weapons against your healthy gut and thus lead to harmful effects to your immune system, neurochemistry, mood, attention, and more.
In fact, getting ping ping pinged* with notifications on our phones and computers each day doesn’t make it any easier to allow our bodies the time for rest they fundamentally require. With rest comes healing. With healing comes strength. With strength comes resilience.
Eating a meal with friends you love allows for much healthier digestion and optimal gut potential by way of supportive pathways that help release all of our necessary enzymes from the pancreas, stomach acid, gallbladder and liver, as well as neurotransmitter communications thanks to serotonin and oxytocin profusely flowing through our veins in such an environment of safety, security, love, and joy.
This is just yet another reason why I believe,
“No one should have to eat alone.”
At this point, we know the many positive benefits of eating with others whom you know, like and trust at the psychological level. We ought to really maximize on these substantial layering health benefits rather than ignore our biological needs and think we can all just eat quick TV dinners in our own separate rooms as we stream separate but similar television dramas, scary movies, and aggressive news channels while we (seemingly) attempt to nourish our biology.
Let me be the first to say it.
You have to stop.
You have to stop your toxic habits, destructive negative self-talk, ongoing self-criticism, and dopamine induced addictive dependencies on people, places, and things in your life that do more harm than good. This includes the shameful political news shouting at your through the screen, the constant checking of Twitter, long scrolling on Instagram or TikTok, and even those harmful habitual behaviors you’ve developed overtime since the early times of your childhood trauma. Stress is not your friend. Healing happens when faith begins when stress and worry and anxiety leave your mind-body and soul.
Indulge in love.
Treat yourself with hugs and kisses.
Listen to the sweet sounds of nothingness we forgot we could ever exist.
Put away the phone.
Leave the laptop at home.
Get outside. Get yourself back into nature as you return to your home – from the dust we come and to the dust we will go.
Let go of control and your hands will be opened for the chance at vulnerable self-soothing, benevolent morning mantras, stronger truths behind your positive affirmations and solidified self-belief systems.
Healing can happen if you take hold of the situation and recognize your potential to prioritize, proactively pursue prevention and in times of need, position yourself towards an optimal path of healing with people that you love.
No one should elect to needlessly suffer themselves sick.
You are beautiful. You can be bold. You can be brave enough to heal, recover, repair, regenerate, revitalize, and rejoice in your journey along the way.
And if you’re well, then go help another. No one should have to eat alone so feel free to share a meal with someone and participate in the active healing process for someone else’s journey too.
You can be part of our remarkable interconnected holistic health remedy if you choose to step up to the role in which you were so beautifully designed.
With rest comes healing.
May we heal together.
If you want to learn a list of ingredients to avoid in order to help prevent leaky gut syndrome and keep your intestines safe from synthetic, problematic food ingredients let me know in the comments below and I’ll send out a new story next week with a whole host of ingredients to be on the lookout for to protect you and your family.
You might be surprised to find all the many common ingredients that can cause damage to our guts!
As you know, it’s my opinion that everyone deserves to know - which includes you. If you have any people in your life who should read this article go ahead and give it a share! Better yet, take a quote from today’s article and post it on social media to help heal and encourage others in their own personal journeys too.
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