Do you have intestinal permeability, aka “leaky gut?” Maybe. I’d go as far as to say it’s likely most of us have some level of intestinal disruption and permeability. It’s become more and more likely due to many factors. We could all use some strategies to help maintain, repair, and protect our guts. Your gut is responsible for many functions that keep your whole body performing its best. The gut impacts: cognition, mood, and other mental functions; oral health; immune function; hormones; skin health; digestion and intestinal functions; energy; joint health; and more.
See below for some tools and tips to help your gut.
✨ It doesn’t make sense to pop a pain reliever while leaving a nail in your foot. ✨
RECOGNIZE + REMOVE + REPLENISH + REPAIR
There’s no quick fix and you can’t heal while continuing to injure or allowing the injury to persist. There’s no sense eating a ton of fermented foods if you don’t have prebiotic fibers to fuel the microbes you’re inviting in. There’s no point in adding prebiotics and probiotics if you will continue to invite or allow the injurious items in at the same rate. A comprehensive approach is best.
A note on probiotics: I believe it’s best to get these beneficial microbes from fermented foods and the natural environment as often as possible. There may be a time and place for a good quality probiotic. There are some who believe probiotic supplements can do more harm than good for many as they can only contain a small fraction of species of bacteria that are required for creating and maintaining a healthy gut microbiome. Even in billions of CFU’s there are just a few strains of microbes compared to the plethora we’d get with fermented foods and exposure to nature. Our best bet is to contribute to a diverse microbe population with eating lots of plants, eating wild fermented foods, petting animals, breathing air in nature, touching the ground, touching plants, and getting our bare feet on the ground more.
As always, do what you can, with what you’re able, and as it makes sense for you. Gut damage didn’t happen due to one thing or occur overnight. Healing it won’t either.