How to Know If You Have "Leaky Gut"
A simple guide.
When I first learned about leaky gut I felt a lot of confusion about how to understand if this was something occurring in my own body. In this short read, I want to offer five succinct ways to identify this condition and what you can do to heal it.
Leaky gut is simply increased permeability in the intestinal tract. This means that the lining of the intestines (which is only one cell thick!) becomes more porous than normal, allowing toxins, undigested food particles, and microbes into the bloodstream. Of course, these waste materials are not supposed to be circulating in the body, and when they do, they can cause an array of peculiar and seemingly unrelated symptoms.
Bloating, gas, or cramping
It’s important to note that just bloating, gas, or cramping alone may not be indicative of leaky gut, though they may be early warning signs. You might notice if these symptoms appear especially after consuming wheat, grains, alcohol, legumes, diary, or sugar as reactivity to these foods can be indicative of a leaky gut issue. You also might notice how regularly you experience bloating. It’s one thing to feel inflamed after a greasy meal or dessert; it’s another thing to feel consistently inflamed even when you’re eating relatively well.
Skin problems
The skin’s appearance is closely connected to internal health. From a Chinese medical standpoint, the skin is part of the way that the gut expresses itself and vents heat! Heat rises to the face or shoulders and back, where acne and chronic pimples can be indicative of a compromised gut.
Joint pain
Have you ever had a glass of wine or eaten sugar and noticed a sensation of tenderness or pain in your finger joints? An increasing number of studies are revealing the relationship between leaky gut and joint pain, and in severe cases, rheumatoid arthritis. As I related in my previous article on latency, the joints are an ideal place for the body to store toxins and pathology from the bloodstream!
Autoimmunity
One of the more well studied consequences of leaky gut is autoimmunity–when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body. “Mistakenly” is an important term. I don’t believe that the body is ever intending to harm itself. The body is a masterful preservation system, and in an attempt to protect itself from unknown substances in the bloodstream, it engages different physiological systems to manage its toxic load. This can ultimately present as various autoimmune-like systems depending on the person and their somatic proclivities.
Chronic fatigue
While chronic fatigue can happen for various reasons, there is one particular pattern that I want to speak to as it’s generally how I distinguish leaky gut related fatigue. This kind of fatigue tends to show up approximately 1 hour after eating and can last for hours after ingestion of a triggering food or toxic exposure. You might notice a sensation of dullness in the eyes as if they want to close and it’s hard to keep them open. You might notice full body physical fatigue or “brain fog,” meaning a sense of mental cloudiness and a lack of brain processing power.
If you relate with any of the above symptoms, know that the gut is repairable and the body is always changing! The most important place to start is nourishment. Notice when any of the above symptoms occur and after which foods. While food sensitivities are different for every person, dairy, wheat, and sugar tend to be frequent culprits of gut inflammation. I also find that people with leaky gut have the hardest time with grains and legumes as these foods have a particularly high lectin content. Lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins that easily break through the intestinal wall. You might try consuming anti-inflammatory and lower lectin content foods and see how you feel. If you are a vegan or a vegetarian, you could explore leaning more heavily on pseudo grains, white rice over brown rice, and soaking/pressure cooking grains and legumes to reduce the lectin content.
In addition to nourishment, I’m a big proponent of food sensitivity testing and stool testing to get an accurate and real time snapshot of the microbial activity in the gut. Microbial balance is so interdependent with dietary intake and it can be game changing for people to get a clearer sense of how the body wants to be nourished towards greater health.
Repairing the intestinal wall sustainably is a longer term conversation unique to the individual. That being said, supplements like collagen and sodium butyrate can be supportive as well as mucilaginous foods for healing an irritated gut lining (think honey, okra, slippery elm). Please note that these recommendations are for “leaky gut” only, not small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or other gut conditions. If you’re curious to learn more about what might be right for you, please feel free to book an appointment.
It’s simply not worth it to live uncomfortably and in pain! You’re wise to get a handle on the gut as soon as you notice that something is off as gut health plays into long term health and longevity. Lastly, it’s always worth mentioning that everything occurring in the body has an energetic and emotional story–but I’ll delve deeper into that in an upcoming read. Sending healing wishes to all!