There Is a direct connection between what you eat and how your body reacts. Eating unhealthy food can lead to indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, or even more complicated health issues. But a common digestion condition that affects several people is a leaky gut syndrome. Visit healthcanal.com to know more.
Now let’s understand what a leaky gut is actually and how it can affect your health. The intestinal lining in your body acts as a barrier to the substances that your body absorbs. Now, when you have a leaky gut, the intestinal lining develops cracks and holes in it. Hence allowing the partially digested food or toxins to enter your main bloodstream.
Over time if a leaky gut is left untreated, it may damage the healthy bacteria in your stomach and may even cause inflammation. This results in problems in your digestive tract and other body parts too. Sometimes leading to chronic disease also.
Signs and symptoms of the leaky gut syndrome
- The most common sign of a leaky gut is gas, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome
- Hormonal imbalances like PCOS and PMS
- Autoimmune diseases like psoriasis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or celiac disease
- Chronic fatigue
- Skin problems like eczema, acne, etc.
- Food allergies or intolerances
- Weak immune system
- Sometimes mental health issues are also a symptom of the leaky gut like anxiety, depression, or attention deficit disorder (ADD).
What are the causes of a leaky gut?
There are many underlying reasons for a leaky gut like bad food habits, smoking, drinking, etc. Some of the most common causes are discussed below.
Bad Diet
Some researchers believe that diets that are low in fiber can let the bad bacteria increase in your digestive system. The bacteria thinning the intestinal lining mucus led to digestive problems like colitis.
Stress
Stress can be the cause of almost every health condition. anxiety and depression can harm your overall health and with time can affect your gut flora too. A stressed person is more likely to develop a weak immune system making it difficult for your gut to fight against the bad bacteria and thus causing multiple digestive disorders.
Alcohol consumption
Researchers have suggested that too much or regular drinking can cause permanent damages to your gut bacteria causing dysfunction of the intestinal barrier.
Dysbiosis
In simple terms, dysbiosis is the disbalance between the helpful and harmful bacteria present in your gastrointestinal tract. An increase in the bad bacteria certainly increases the chances of intestinal dysfunction and developing a leaky gut syndrome.
Overload of toxin
In our daily life, we come across hundreds of toxins which is a major reason for developing the leaky gut syndrome. We are open to more than 80000 toxins and chemical substances daily. But a few of the main culprit toxins that we all are very much exposed to are pesticides, antibiotics, aspirin, and the most common of all the contaminated tap water.
What are the foods that you must avoid when you have a leaky gut?
Although gluten is the major reason for developing a leaky gut, experts suggest that there are other foods too that being pro-inflammatory can cause leaky gut syndrome. Below mentioned are a few of the medical expert’s recommended foods that you should not include in your diet if you suspect to have a leaky gut.
1. Gluten
Gluten is the top listed food that causes a leaky gut because it releases zonulin. The common foods that contain gluten are noodles, pasta, cereal, bread, pastries, beer, or any type of malt beverage.
2. Sugar
The leaky gut syndrome is not only caused by refined high-fructose sugar, but even healthy sweeteners like coconut sugar can cause intestinal problems. Researchers show that consumption of sugar can have a havoc effect on your gut as the sugar feeds the bad bacteria present in the gut.
3. Dairy products
The dairy products like ice cream, cheese, milk, yogurt mainly contain two proteins namely casein and whey that people find difficult to digest. Some people often can’t digest milk as they don’t have enough lactase to break down the lactose present in milk. Leading to gastrointestinal complications and even gut damage.
4. Soy products
Soy and its derivatives are mostly found in tofu, protein bars, or even nutritional supplements. Many health experts advise avoiding these foods if you have a leaky gut as this may cause imbalances in gut flora. Avoiding any kind of genetically modified food is even better when you have a leaky gut problem.
5. Lectins and phytates
These compounds are found in all grains that have gluten in them. Lectins are also present in foods like corn, tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc. lectins may stick to the intestinal cells and disrupt the tight junction between the intestinal cells. whereas phytates can prevent important minerals’ absorption. Thus, causing the leaky gut syndrome.
The bottom line
The above details explain what a leaky gut syndrome is and what is the right way you can prevent this disease to hamper a healthy life. Where some food diets can be extremely harmful for the condition, other foods like low-glycemic carbs, hypoallergenic proteins, bone broth, fermented foods along with a healthy lifestyle can help you completely avoid the medical condition.