When it comes to healing your gut, the most important thing is what you’re eating, and what you’re not eating! After researching leaky gut syndrome, it may seem like you’ll be eliminating a lot of foods from your diet. You’re probably wondering, “what can I eat with leaky gut?”

Take control of your health by becoming knowledgeable about which foods to avoid with leaky gut, and which foods help heal and improve digestion.

Avoid these foods:

• Gluten-gluten should be avoided at all costs when it comes to improving gut health due to it causing increased zonulin production, which is a protein that regulates the permeability of the intestinal wall.
• Refined sugars and artificial sweeteners– limit all sugar sources when healing leaky gut, small amounts of natural sweeteners such as green leaf stevia or coconut nectar can be used in place of processed sugar and artificial sweeteners. Sugar can lead to a disruption in the intestinal flora by causing an overgrowth of some not-s0-beneficial organisms like candida (yeast). These non-beneficial bacteria can weaken the intestinal walls, causing the leaky gut. Alcohol and white flour is also included as detrimental food.
• Grains-Not all grains contain gluten, but even gluten-free grains such as brown rice should be avoided when healing your gut. This is because grains contain phytic acid, a protective coating that’s difficult for the body to breakdown and digest, resulting in inflammation in the digestive tract.
• Refined Vegetable Oils– High oleic vegetable oils (sunflower, safflower, canola and soybean oils) should be avoided to reduce systemic inflammation and damage to the intestinal lining. Substitute unrefined coconut oil, grass-fed butter or ghee when cooking, and extra virgin olive oil for salad dressing.
• Dairy-known to cause inflammation in the body, especially the digestive system.
• Legumes and beans-can cause inflammatory response and weaken the intestinal wall.

If you’re dealing with an autoimmune disease, consider also removing nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant), nuts and seeds, and eggs/egg whites.

Foods that heal:

• Fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, kimchi)
• Kombucha
• A multi-species dairy-free probiotic supplement may be equally beneficial
• Bone Broth, rich in glycine, gelatin, and glutamine which is essential for intestinal repair
• Healthy fats including avocado, coconut oil, pure olive oil
• Omega-3 rich foods like seafood and salmon

Here are some gut-healing recipes to try:

Bone broth

This particular bone broth recipe allows you to make this gut-healing superfood cheaply and easily! It’s loaded with collagen, glutamine, and glycine, with support healing and help reduce inflammation.

Coconut Milk Cottage Cheese

This recipe by Lauren of Empowered Sustenance. She shares recipes and information about her own journey, whereby she has successfully treated her ulcerative colitis with nutrition and other techniques.

Summer Swiss Chard Salad

Fresh flavors that scream summer!  Take caution if you’re eliminating nightshades, since this contains tomatoes, peppers and harissa.

Ginger, Turmeric, Spiced Carrot Soup

This bright, vibrantly spiced soup by Gourmande in the Kitchen is the perfect canvas, velvety smooth and light.

Spicy Avocado Shrimp Tower

The flavors blend together to create a mellow dish that’s a refreshing go-to when the weather heats up.

Thank you for reading my blog about what you can eat with leaky gut!