Why Should You Care if You Have Leaky Gut?
If you’ve been researching gut issues, chances are you’ve heard of the term “Leaky Gut.”
As more of us are affected by poor diet choices, chronic stress, toxin exposure, and bacterial imbalances, leaky gut is becoming more and more common.
Why should this concern you? Research shows that leaky gut can be a trigger for a whole host of chronic diseases. This means it can be just one domino in a long line of health issues!
In this article I’ll outline:
- What is Leaky Gut
- 6 Common Signs You Have Leaky Gut
- How to Heal Leaky Gut
What is Leaky Gut?
Your gut is the gateway to your overall health.
One of the biggest culprits behind gut issues? Leaky Gut Syndrome—or as the medical world calls it, ‘Intestinal Permeability.’
Leaky gut happens when the lining of your intestines becomes too permeable. This allows undigested food, toxins, and bacteria to slip through and flood your bloodstream.
The barrier in your intestines is made up of a single layer of epithelial cells (those are your intestinal cells). They’re linked together by tight junctions (TJs).
Think of these tight junctions like the front door to your gut—they should keep out the bad stuff while letting the good stuff in. Like your front door letting the Amazon delivery guy in, but keeping the burglars out.
When those tight junctions don’t do their job properly and get too loose, they let all the nasty stuff slip through. If left unchecked, this can trigger inflammation throughout your body, setting the stage for chronic diseases down the road.
We’ve covered why leaky gut is such a problem. Now, let’s dive into the signs that could point to a gut that needs some serious attention.
6 Common Signs You Have Leaky Gut
Let’s cut to the chase: if your gut is leaking, your body is telling you. And it’s not being subtle about it. From bloating to brain fog, the signs are loud and clear. In this section, I break down the 6 most common signs that point to a leaky gut.
1.) IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
If you’ve got an IBS diagnosis, leaky gut might be lurking in the background. IBS comes with its fair share of gut problems—constipation, diarrhea, bloating, stomach pain, the whole unpleasant package.
What’s happening underneath? Research shows that when your gut lining starts falling apart, it can set off an immune response that leads to IBS. One problem triggers the next, and before you know it, you’re stuck in the cycle.
It’s still unclear whether leaky gut causes IBS, or if IBS causes leaky gut. One thing’s for sure: leaky gut usually brings friends like autoimmune issues, skin rashes, and depression along for the ride (3).
2.) Food Sensitivities
If you’ve noticed you’re sensitive to a whole bunch of foods, leaky gut might be the reason. After eating certain foods, you might be hit with gut issues, joint pain, migraines, fatigue, or whatever else decides to show up uninvited. That’s your body reacting to food particles leaking from your intestines.
When food particles sneak into your bloodstream, your immune system flips out, creating antibodies and sending immune cells to attack. It’s a full-blown defense mode situation (4, 5).
But here’s the bright side: you don’t have to avoid these foods forever. Taking a break from your food sensitivities for a while helps your gut heal. And the best way to figure out which foods are the culprits? MRT food sensitivity testing. It pinpoints exactly what’s triggering your system.
The tricky part? What sets you off might not even be on someone else’s radar. Even foods considered “healthy”—like turmeric, olive oil, avocado, or even salmon—could be a problem for you. Your food sensitivity profile is as unique as your fingerprint.
And trust me, working with a Gut Health Nutritionist to figure it all out makes a world of difference. That’s what I do for my clients, and I can help you, too.
3.) Nutritional Deficiencies
Someone who’s struggling with leaky gut is often also struggling to properly absorb many important micronutrients.
Micronutrient deficiencies can lead to structural and functional issues in your intestine, contributing to a further weakening of your tight junctions and the mucosal barrier in your gut lining (6, 7, 8, 9).
Furthermore, carrier proteins in your gut lining are needed to transport minerals from your intestine into your bloodstream. When the gut lining is damaged by inflammation, nutrients have a harder time getting to where they need to go.
The best way to identify your deficiencies is to run a micronutrient test. With these results we can target your individualized deficiencies without having to play guessing games.
As your gut health nutritionist, I can help you design a supplemental protocol that’s tailored to you in specific therapeutic dosages.
4.) Skin Issues
Did you know your skin is a barometer to your gut health? If there’s an overgrowth of unhealthy microbes that escape through your leaky gut, you’ll probably see skin issues (10).
How exactly is this implicated with skin issues?
Often skin issues manifest due to an overgrowth of unhealthy bacteria. These bacteria can sometimes secrete harmful chemicals called endotoxins (or lipopolysaccharides, often referred to as “LPS”) (11).
When these harmful chemicals escape through your leaky gut, the following skin issues can manifest:
When you get a detailed look at what’s causing your leaky gut, whether that’s from a food sensitivity, gut pathogen, or micronutrient deficiency (or a combination), we can get clear about what protocol is best to put your skin issues at bay.
5.) Depression
The blues got you down? Leaky gut could be contributing to your depression.
The link between depression and leaky gut is associated with an unhealthy balance of gut microbes which release endotoxins, as described above.
When these endotoxins get released into the body via leaky gut, it leads to brain inflammation and an alteration of your neurotransmitter function (14, 15).
A healthy gut is essential for a healthy mood!
The best way to know if you have an imbalance in your microbiome that could be contributing to your mood issues is to get a DNA Stool Test.
DNA stool testing is a much more comprehensive stool test than what’s offered at your doctor’s office. With these results, we can see exactly which pathogens might be contributing to leaky gut and therefore mood issues.
6.) Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune diseases are diseases of the immune system. The immune system goes haywire and starts attacking its own organs like the intestine, thyroid, pancreas, joints, etc.
Autoimmune diseases include:
- Celiac Disease
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
- Fibromyalgia
- Type 1 Diabetes
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Lupus
- Multiple Sclerosis
- and more
Leaky gut is implicated in autoimmune diseases because tight junctions within the intestine are allowing large particles (including undigested food particles and bacterial endotoxins), into the bloodstream that wouldn’t normally be there if you’d had a healthy gut lining.
These large particles that pass through the intestinal lining stimulate an immune response and subsequent attack on your very own organ tissues leading to an autoimmune disease (16, 17)
How to Heal Leaky Gut
Fortunately there are a number of ways to heal your leaky gut. By overcoming it, you’ll reverse symptoms, reduce your risk for chronic illness, and start living your best life!
Start with Food Sensitivity Testing
As discussed earlier, certain foods can stimulate an immune reaction and subsequent inflammatory response that damages the gut lining.
Reducing the inflammatory load from foods and chemicals you’re inadvertently eating gives your gut lining a chance to heal.
Food sensitivities are often dose dependent and onset of symptoms can be delayed up to 3 days after eating the offending food.
Instead of shooting in the dark and guessing, MRT food sensitivity testing tells us exactly which foods are causing issues and sends us on the quickest path to healing.
Food sensitivity testing is foundational for my clients struggling with gut issues.
Address Gut Imbalances
As we discussed earlier, microbial imbalances in the gut can further contribute to chronic issues associated with leaky gut.
The presence of pathogens in your gut like parasites, opportunistic bacteria, yeasts, and viruses all contribute to a weakened gut lining by inducing an inflammatory process.
The most comprehensive stool test on the market is Comprehensive Stool Testing. Comprehensive stool testing measures the very genetic material of the pathogens present in your gut, this leads to more accurate diagnoses that are often missed with stool testing offered by your doctor.
With comprehensive stool testing, we can rebalance your gut with a targeted approach!
Correct Micronutrient Deficiencies
As we discussed earlier, nutrient deficiencies can contribute to worsening of leaky gut; and leaky gut can also contribute to nutrient deficiencies. It’s a two way street.
Additionally, correcting your anti-oxidant status by addressing nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin A, Vitamin E, Selenium, etc, can boost the health of your intestine at the cellular level.
Getting a micronutrient test can tell you exactly what nutrients you need to address at what dose to best support the healing of your gut lining.
Here’s the Best Part: I’ve Got Your Back in Finding Your Way to True Vitality
No more guessing games, no more randomly eliminating foods and hoping for a miracle.
I’m here to help you design a clear, customized path to wellness that’s built specifically for your body. We’ll pinpoint the exact foods causing your gut issues, then work together to create a plan that heals and restores balance. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach—it’s a solution tailored to you.
Ready to uncover the true cause of your gut inflammation and start your transformational gut healing journey? My program is custom-built and reserved only for those who’re ready to go all in. Schedule a free consult with me to get started on your path to lasting wellness.
