05/18/2023
The only way to heal a leaky gut is to isolate and remove the underlying causes. I always recommend working with a Functional Medicine provider who can run the right tests to uncover the root causes of your unique challenge. Once you successfully find and remove or mitigate the root causes, you can repair and rebuild your microbiome.
The first step in healing leaky gut is to identify and remove its potential causes. Because a poor diet is often a contributing factor, an elimination diet is a good place to start to see if certain foods are part of the problem. You can remove known inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy, soy, and eggs as well as gut-busting foods that contain sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.
You can promote healthy gut bacteria by working on adding the following foods to your diet:
Fiber. Aim for at least 25 grams of fiber daily from your organic vegetables (not processed grains).
Veggies. Eat an abundance of polyphenol-rich veggies daily. Aim to fill your plate three-fourths full with non-starchy veggies for every meal. Try to eat organic whenever possible, or follow the EWG’s Clean Fifteen or Dirty Dozen produce list.
Prebiotics. Include plenty of prebiotic foods such as Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, onions, leeks, dandelion greens, jicama, chicory root, and asparagus.
Probiotic foods. Include plenty of probiotic foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, fermented soy, unsweetened yogurt or kefir, miso, and natto.
Bone broth. Include grass-fed bone broth for a gut-healing boost.
Supplements. Consider adding supplements to help with leaky gut like zinc or curcumin. These supplements will help support digestion and nutrient absorption and your body’s inflammation responses.