Leaky Gut Diet – Best Foods To Eat

Gut problems give way to tons of other health problems and create mayhem in our lives. Leaky gut syndrome is one such condition that we often ignore. If you too feel bloated after a meal, experience unexplained stomach pain, feel pukish, nauseated, or fatigued, it could mean that you might have a leaky gut. And when it happens, toxins and bacteria pass through into our bloodstream. 

Although the causes behind leaky gut syndrome are numerous, the damaged gut barrier can be healed back gradually. One such way of bringing its life back is by practising a leaky gut diet. 

We’ll delve deep into the leaky gut diet and explore its core principles, the specific foods to embrace and avoid, and additional strategies to support gut health. Plus, we’ll season it with a sample meal plan to get you started on your healing journey. Let’s start repairing the leaking gap. 

A Brief on Leaky Gut

If you don’t know what a leaky gut is, here is a brief for you to understand it well:

When we eat food, it travels to our stomach, where it gets broken down. From there, the food travels to the small intestine, where the process of nutrient absorption happens. Millions of small villi (which are tiny finger-like projections) take up nutrients from the food and pass them into the bloodstream.

Now, these villi stand on top of the inner gut lining, which is also called as gut barrier. In normal cases, these villi stay tightly packed with each other and don’t allow any toxin or bacteria to reach the gut lining that stays below them. However, in the case of a leaky gut, the gap between these villi increases. 

This gives way to toxins, bacteria, and other substances entering our bloodstream and tosses our health. The causes? Numerous. For example, 

• Chronic inflammation
• Processed food, refined sugar, deep fried, etc.
• Frequent infections
• Gluten, lactose, and other food intolerance
• Chemotherapy
• Vitamin and mineral deficiency such as A, D, zinc, etc.

And majorly sedentary lifestyle. 

A leaky gut diet is one nice way to bring peace back into our lives. So, let’s get into it.

Foods To Eat in Leaky Gut

Although there are numerous ways to heal the gut lining, changing diet is one of the best possible solutions. Here are some gut-healing foods that can treat leaky gut to a level:

1. Foods rich in prebiotics and probiotics

Because the first line of defence and treatment is to strengthen the army of good gut bacteria, it is necessary to eat foods rich in prebiotics and probiotics.

Prebiotics

Prebiotics are foods (mainly carbs and fibre) that feed good gut bacteria. When these bacteria are fed well, they grow well. And when they grow well, the digestion improves manifold. 

Veggies like broccoli, spinach, cabbage, kale, carrots, spinach, ginger, onion, garlic, mushrooms, etc., are loaded with prebiotics. Try consuming these each day. ^[1]

Apart from being rich in prebiotics, vegetables offer numerous other benefits that heal the gut lining. For example,

• Veggies stay loaded with numerous antioxidants that fight off inflammation
• They offer numerous vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, D, zinc, etc., that help gut lining
• They also offer a high amount of fibre, which helps deal with constipation and diarrhoea and provides smooth and regular motions.

When including veggies, keep a good focus on roots and tuber vegetables as well. For example, yams, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, etc.

All these benefits of vegetables help heal the leaky gut.

Powerful Probiotics 

Unlike prebiotics (that feed gut bacteria), probiotics are live organisms that help us digest our food. Adding probiotics means adding an army of good gut bacteria to the troop. Now, how to get probiotics from? One natural way is to eat probiotic-rich food.

• Fermented foods such as kimchi, curd, yoghurt, miso, idli dosa batter, or any fermented vegetable enhance our digestion through their probiotic potency.

Apart from that, there are numerous probiotic supplements available in the market that you can consume. However, always try to give priority to natural foods.

Studies have shown that several species of Lactobacillus bacteria enhance the gut barrier by inducing mucin secretion. It is found in curd. ^[2]

2. Fruits

Fruits, like vegetables, are a powerful addition to your leaky gut diet. Fruits like berries and citrus are superstars for vitamin C. This vitamin has been proven to be essential for healing and keeping your gut strong. However, an overdose can work otherwise, too. ^[3]

A list of other beneficial fruits for leaky gut include lemon, mandarin, oranges, pineapple, passionfruit, papaya, coconut, grapes, etc.

Apart from being rich in vitamin C, fruits also offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. These antioxidants play a crucial role in neutralizing harmful free radicals and reducing inflammation in the gut, promoting overall digestive wellness. 

So, don’t hesitate to include a variety of antioxidant-rich fruits in your diet to support your gut health journey.

3. Gluten-Free Grains

Whole grains are always a must-add to a digestion-boosting healthy diet. However, few grains contain gluten and might induce inflammation in those resistant to gluten. Therefore, choosing gluten-free grains is the best option. Here are a few examples of gluten-free grain to add to your leaky gut diet:

• Buckwheat
• Sorghum
• Amaranth
• Millet
• Teff

These grains have the potential to heal guts and enhance gut microbiota.

4. Nuts and Seeds

Consuming nuts and seeds every day is a big yes, especially when it comes to gut health. Add these to your leaky gut diet. Some nuts and seeds can be good sources of prebiotics as well, which feed the good bacteria that produce SCFAs.

A few nuts and seeds to add are:

• Flax seeds
• Chia seeds
• Almonds
• Pistachios 
• Peanuts

However, always ensure that you don’t have any nut allergies. Otherwise, they can worsen your leaky gut. 

To get the best of seeds, try sprouting them before eating.

5. Super Powerful Spices and Herbs

Spices and herbs, if used as functional foods, hold the potential to add their brilliant benefits to our lives. Combine these spices with warm, light, and freshly cooked meals to promote your digestive fire.

One of the spices that does wonders at healing the gut is cinnamon. Cinnamon is very powerful at healing the gut due to its powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.^[4]

Apart from spices, a few herbs have proven to be potent at healing a leaky gut. Here are the ones studied:

• Marshmallow plant
• Ginger
• Peppermint
• Ribwort Plantain plant
• Licorice
• Dandelion roots

Overall, spices (turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, etc.) and herbs contain properties that benefit gut health.^[5]

6. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in supporting gut health. They have anti-inflammatory properties, which help reduce inflammation in the gut. And by decreasing inflammation, omega-3s may do wonders at healing leaky gut.  These acids help in conditions associated with increased gut permeability, such as celiac disease, leaky gut, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). 

Not just this, omega-3s boost the production of short-chain fatty acids as well. These acids are well known to put a halt to inflammation and accelerate immunity. Here are a few omega-6 sources to consider: 

• Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, etc.
• Flaxseed oil 
• Nuts and seeds like walnuts, chia seeds
• Hemp
• Egg yolk
• Garlic 
• Supplement

Where omega-3 fatty acid has been proven beneficial, omega-6 acid has been found to be ruining gut health. So, as you increase your omega-3 intake, try reducing your omega-6 intake. The key here is not to eliminate omega-6 but to limit it. Omega-6 is beneficial, but only when within limits. ^[6]

7. Beneficial Beverages

Water, bone broth, herbal teas, coconut milk, nut milk, kombucha, and water are all beverages that help keep guts healthy. The key here is not just staying hydrated but feeding our bodies beverages that help.  

Also, add aloe vera juice and coriander fennel drink to your diet for nutritious hydration.

And don’t miss out on your minimum hydration. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day. And if you live in a hotter climate or are into athletics, increase your water intake. 

And now, let’s move on to our list of foods to avoid when practicing a leaky gut diet. 

Foods To Avoid in Leaky Gut

Sometimes, some foods might be beneficial for all but might still be harmful to some. The reason? Several. For example, your digestive system might be intolerant to gluten, while others might face no problem. You’ve to find such foods that cause you allergies and thus avoid them.

Here are foods that must be eliminated from your leaky gut diet:

• Refined Carbs– Refined carbs are an irritant to the gut lining. So, simply avoid it. A few examples include heavily processed grains like white bread and sugary cereals. The replacement? Go for whole grains instead.
• Glutinous Grains – When consuming whole grains, avoid grains containing gluten if you have gluten intolerance.
• White Sugar – High sugar intake is a ‘no-no’ for your leaky gut. Eliminate it completely if possible. Otherwise, limit your consumption of sugary foods and beverages.
• Dairy Products – Some people with leaky gut may be sensitive to dairy. Milk contains lactose, which can cause inflammation and indigestion in lactose intolerant people. So, avoid milk, cheese, yoghurt, and other dairy products. Dairy alternatives? Consume almond milk, coconut milk, etc.
• Vegetable Oils – Refined vegetable oils (such as soybean oil, corn oil, and sunflower oil) can cause gut inflammation too. Instead. Use healthier fats like olive oil, mustard oil, etc.
• Artificial Sweeteners – Although artificial sweeteners might seem like you can ignore their risk, you should not. These can disrupt gut bacteria and may worsen leaky gut. Avoid products containing artificial sweeteners.
• Snacks and deep-fried – It all seems yummy until you realize how much it hurts your guts. Deep-fried is not only bad for your leaky gut but also for your heart, hair, eyes, and every organ possible. So, throw it out from your leaky gut diet.
• Alcohol – It is a big no if you have a leaky gut! 
• Highly spicy foods – Although herbs and spices do help, consuming these too much just to please your taste buds goes against your gut health. 
• Certain medicines – As seen above antibiotics and NSAIDs like aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc. can hurt your leaky gut. Don’t use them until very necessary. 

In simple terms, the idea is to keep it as natural as possible while avoiding those natural foods that can cause allergies. 

Additional Strategies to heal leaky gut:

• Try to have quality deep sleep
• Be physically active
• Practise relaxing activities such as yoga, meditation, mindfulness, etc.
• Stay properly hydrated
• Avoid taking antibiotics and NSAIDs unnecessarily 

All these strategies together can bring peace back into your life.

Now, let’s look at a sample of a leaky gut diet. 

1-Week Leaky Gut Diet Plan

When it comes to snacks – Use nuts and seeds to snack. Just don’t overdo it as they remain high in calories and might hamper your weight loss goals. Always keep these in your leaky gut diet. Also, try to soak seeds and almonds before you consume them. This removes several anti-nutrients from them. 

Know that this is a sample and you may always adjust your leaky gut diet.

The Healing Conclusion

Leaky gut syndrome is a rising concern these days. The quality of diet and lifestyle is falling and this is ruining our digestive health. If not treated, this condition may invite hundreds of problems into your life. Although there are numerous ways to treat leaky gut such as meditation, yoga, being physically active, quality sleep, etc., changing diet is one of the best solutions. 

A leaky gut diet aims to eliminate foods that cause inflammation while embracing those that reduce it. While fruits, veggies, herbs and spices, whole grains, prebiotics and probiotics, nuts and seeds, healthy fats, and healthy beverages help, alcohol, deep fried, certain medications, refined carbs, sugar, etc. worsen leaky gut. 

Healing gut is a marathon, not a sprint. While prevention is always the best thing, bringing things back is a responsibility you must hold. Be consistent, be strong, and be vibrant.

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