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Leaky Gut: What Is It and How to Treat It

A leaky gut that’s exactly as it sounds— Your Gut is Leaking! The contents of your gut are spilling out in the body, including the not-so digested nutrients in your food.

Originally, it wasn’t recognized by the medical community, but now there is growing evidence that it is a health issue with links to other health conditions.

So why does it happen and what symptoms should you look for? Let’s talk about what a leaky gut is and the natural remedies you can use to treat it.

What is leaky gut syndrome?

Leaky gut— also called intestinal hyperpermeability—is a digestive condition that happens when your intestinal lining is damaged and becomes more permeable, making it easy for the contents of your small intestines to leak out into your bloodstream.

Our small intestines break down food chemically, extract and absorb all the essential nutrients, and let them out into the bloodstream, which carries them throughout your body.

The nutrients exit the intestines through the tight junctions (TJ) that line your intestinal wall. TJs are microscopic gaps that measure 1 to 7 microns in diameter— a lot tinier than a hair strand that measures 75 microns in diameter.

But certain factors can weaken and damage your intestinal lining, causing brittleness and inflammation that can loosen and widen the TJs’ diameter up to 300 microns!

At this size, the TJ becomes wide enough for bigger and harmful molecules such as undigested nutrients, toxins, and pathogens to seep out of the intestines and into your blood.

Your body sees these substances as invaders (because they’re not supposed to be in your blood) and initiates a widespread inflammatory response.

Also, the damaged intestinal walls produce fewer enzymes for proper digestion, decreasing your body’s ability to absorb nutrients. This results in more issues such as a weakened immune system and hormone imbalance.

Unfortunately, it's easy to chalk these symptoms and issues up to other conditions, making leaky gut hard to diagnose and often overlooked.

Leaky gut syndrome symptoms

It’s important to remember that the symptoms below are also present in other health conditions. So, having them doesn’t guarantee you have a leaky gut, but they’re what commonly comes with it.

The most common leaky gut symptoms are:

Digestive problems like constipation, bloating, or diarrhea
Brain fog, memory loss, headaches
Joint pain
Autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis)
Nutritional deficiencies
Sensitivity to certain foods
Excessive fatigue
Weakened immune system
Skin problems such as eczema, acne, and rashes
Depression and anxiety

What causes leaky gut?

Poor Diet and Gut Health

Our gut contains millions of bacteria, both good and bad. The good bacteria help with digestion and make sure the bad bacteria don’t multiply.

When this balance is disrupted, the integrity of the intestinal walls is compromised, causing a leaky gut.

The most significant factor in maintaining a healthy gut is our diet. The foods we eat determine what kind of bacteria grow in our colon.

For instance, eating too many processed foods and filling up on soda (diet or not) help bad bacteria survive in your gut, causing an imbalance in your microbiome and inflammation.

Excessive alcohol drinking

Too much alcohol kills the good bacteria in our gut. It stops our body from producing digestive enzymes, making digestion and nutrient absorption difficult. Alcohol also causes gut inflammation and leaky gut.

Too much sugar

A high-sugar diet can cause an imbalance in your gut’s microbiome and increase inflammation, which can damage your gut lining.

Also, too much sugar kills Bacteroides, a species of good bacteria in our gut that helps strengthen our intestinal walls. By doing this, sugar causes disruptions in our gut lining and increases its permeability.

Nutrient deficiencies

Lacking vitamin A, vitamin D, and zinc also lead to a leaky gut.

According to a study, the retinol from vitamin A secretes antibodies into the intestinal lining, protecting it from harmful pathogens that compromise its health and integrity.

In addition, research found that vitamin D is extremely helpful in keeping our gut lining strong and immune. Vitamin D also benefits our gut microbiome and produces anti-inflammatory effects.

Finally, a study on zinc and gut diseases proves that zinc enhances the strength and function of our gut lining.

However, we should consume just the right amount of zinc. Too little or too much zinc can damage your gut lining and shift the balance in your microbiome, causing inflammation, diarrhea, and other digestive problems.

Chronic stress

Research shows that stress can lead to various digestive problems, including a leaky gut.

When we frequently feel stressed, our cortisol level is always high, and eventually, our body becomes insensitive to it. This lessens the cortisol's ability to regulate inflammatory responses.

Over time, inflammation becomes our stress response, and chronic inflammation can lead to a leaky gut.

Stress also makes us less mindful of what we eat, and what we eat can influence what kinds of bacteria can thrive in our gut. If we eat the wrong foods, harmful bacteria can multiply and damage our intestinal walls.

How does collagen help with leaky gut?

Collagen makes up 70% of our skin and 90% of our bones and connective tissues. This means you can find it almost everywhere in your body— muscles, skin, hair, and gut lining.

Collagen is the glue or scaffolding that gives support and structure to our connective tissue and organs. It keeps your intestinal walls durable and the TJs tight enough to only let the nutrients seep through it.

Not having enough collagen can weaken the gut lining and increase the odds of a leaky gut occurring. Therefore, collagen is an essential protein that prevents and repairs leaky gut.

How to treat leaky gut naturally at home

Boost collagen production

Unfortunately, even though your body naturally produces collagen, it also naturally starts losing it when you turn 30. So, to treat a leaky gut, you need to boost your body's collagen content.

However, hydrolyzed collagen supplements made from pulverized animal parts are not the answer. In fact, taking them is a mistake.

Collagen supplements can’t supply your body with collagen protein, only the amino acids that build it. This means taking collagen supplements is not different from eating protein- or collagen-rich foods.

The best way to dramatically increase your body’s collagen content is to help your body boost its own collagen production!

AgelessLX Nutritional Supplements is a science-backed way to do it. AgelessLX is born out of months of research and dedication to change the way women age from the inside out!

We’re on a mission to reverse the signs of aging by giving the body powerful ingredients that:

increase collagen production to give you healthier and stronger tissues, including your gut lining
improve muscle definition (women are seeing their abs again after years)
enhance your skin’s firmness, suppleness, and elasticity
make your hair shinier and more voluminous
make your nails stronger and longer

With AgelessLX, you’re treating leaky gut to feel better on the inside and making yourself look years younger on the outside!

Proper Nutrition/Diet

A healthy diet and stress management are essential in treating a leaky gut.

Let’s start with diet.

To treat a leaky gut, you must have a healthy gut microbiome. The most impactful way to do that is by eating foods that good bacteria like.

Fiber, fatty acids, and polyphenols, for example, are friendly to good bacteria. So, buy foods that are rich in these nutrients, such as vegetables, berries, tropical fruits, nuts and seeds, gluten-free grains, herbs and spices, lean meat and eggs, omega-3-rich fish (e.g., salmon, tuna, herring), avocado, cheese, and extra virgin olive oil.

These foods are also rich in vitamins A and D, so you’re covered. You just need to add oysters, crabs, lobsters, and red meat for more zinc. Foods rich in probiotics also help a lot. So, on your next trip to the market, pick up some yogurt, pickles, sourdough bread, miso, tempeh, and sauerkraut.

However, if you prefer having nutritional insurance packed with gut-friendly foods and that's only 30 calories, try AgelessLX Power Greens.

AgelessLX Power Greens is specially made for women on the go who want to eliminate bloating, improve digestion and gut health, have more energy, get rid of the afternoon slump, and meet their daily nutritional requirements!

Power Greens fills your body with probiotics, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, and real, whole foods rich in antioxidants that fight stress. It's nutritional insurance without the hassle of shopping, chopping, and cooking.

Stress Management

Mental health is as important as physical health, so we need to slow down and spend more "me" time.

Try to relieve stress by taking the time to meditate, read a good book, watch something on Netflix, practice yoga, write in your journal, or take a short walk— any activity that helps you release tension or shake off a bad mood.

Eating the right foods also helps relieve stress. For example, dark chocolate, peanuts, legumes, whole grain foods, and a nice cup of tea are known to make you feel better.

AgelessLX Power Greens also helps with stress. It contains adaptogens that are proven to improve your mood and cope with stress better.

Takeaway

A leaky gut happens when the gaps in your gut lining loosen and widen, making it easier for harmful substances to enter your bloodstream.

Leaky gut is hard to diagnose because it has similar symptoms to other health conditions.shares similar symptoms with other conditions…things like digestive problems, inflammation (on the skin, in the joints), mood problems, and anxiety.

Stress, an unhealthy gut microbiome due to poor diet, and a weakened gut lining are the main reasons why your gut leaks and spills its contents in your body.

Boosting your body’s collagen production, eating gut-friendly foods, and managing stress can effectively treat leaky gut. Taking nutritional supplements such as AgelessLX and AgelessLX Power Greens is also a big help.

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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

**Individuals may have received free product or compensation in exchange for their honest review. Individual results will vary. All other benefits/effects noted in these testimonials/reviews are the individuals’ personal opinions and have not been studied.