Foods You Should Eat With Leaky Gut Syndrome
In our prior video we discussed foods to avoid to help give your gut a break and heal with leaky gut. Now we want to give you hope and dive in and discuss foods you CAN have – and have in abundance. Food is truly medicine, therefore, we should use this amazing tool to heal our bodies.
Dr. Hayden and Dr. Horsley will dive more into this idea as well as cover several other key concepts as they continue this series, “Leaky Gut Syndrome – Your Symptoms Could be Directly Associated with Your Diet”. You will learn about what leaky gut is, what the symptoms are, how it is diagnosed, what the best treatment options are, and common conditions tied to leaky gut. These videos will be released over the next couple days on our youtube account, facebook account, and as a blog post on The Hayden Institute website.
Transcript from Video on Foods to Eat with Leaky Gut Syndrome
Dr. Hayden: So far in our mini-series regarding leaky gut we’ve covered a variety of topics, such as: what is leaky gut, how does it manifest as a symptom, how does the doctor diagnose it, what are some of the comorbidities or common diagnosed conditions that go along with leaky gut, what what are foods to avoid with leaky gut. So since we talked about all the foods we are not allow to eat, we thought we would give you some hope today concerning what things we can eat and what would be beneficial for our body if we have leaky gut. So what should we focus on eating more of and feel like we’re not starving all of the time avoiding all things that taste good?
Dr. Horsley: As there are several things to avoid, there are plenty of things that we should take more of to allow our body to heal more effectively. One of those things is going to be fermented foods. Why? Again, you are more bacteria than you are you, so your gut is full of all these little bacteria that allow for digestion of food, formation of hormones, and all these other process to keep your gut healthy. So you want happy little bacteria in your gut and fermented foods are things that help to feed this bacteria and a lot of them are going to be things like sauerkraut, kimchi, different type of yogurts, things like that are going to be these fermented variations to help you feed your good bacteria in your gut. Now one caveat on those fermented foods though would be dairy free variations for yogurt. This would be options like coconut milk, almond milk or other nut milk variations. This is because these dairy sources are inflammatory for many individuals and may limit the benefit obtained for that good bacteria in your gut.
Dr. Horsley: In addition to fermented foods, other options would be cruciferous vegetables or different variations of vegetables, because those sources are going to feed the bacteria in the gut. These nutrients that feed the bacteria in the gut are called prebiotics. So they are things that are going to help to keep the good guys happy and healthy, so the bad bacteria don’t have an opportunity to take their place.
Dr. Hayden: You mentioned cruciferous vegetables, for all the laypersons out there – what is a cruciferous vegetable?
Dr. Horsley: Cruciferous vegetables are gonna be things that are sulfur based. That will be things like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, and things of that nature. These will be very beneficial not only for your gut healing, but also for liver health, which can be one of these comorbidities that we had talked about. Another big thing that I like to recommend is bone broth. Bone broth has a lot of collagen in it, which is really important for gut health and individual cell healing. It also has a lot of amino acids (protein) that is beneficial with gut restoration.
Dr. Hayden: Bone broths are potentially a weird food for some people. I know that prior to being a doctor I never had bone broth in my life and I don’t know the first thing about cooking and making my own bone broth. How do I get started in this process without going crazy, not knowing where to start.
Dr. Horsley: There are a couple of different options. You can make your own – there are recipes and youtube videos you can follow to see how it is done. Otherwise, what I personally do and highly recommend is there is a great variation at Costco that’s organic and grass-fed. I know they also carry it at HEB and other grocery stores as well. I would suggest just going into the local grocer and trying to find one there.
Dr. Hayden: So I’ve added my fermented foods, dairy-free yogurt, cruciferous or sulfur containing vegetables, and bone broth, is there anything that is really tasty that I could add into this program that is beneficial for leaky gut?
Dr. Horsley: There are some great options you can do for something that’s a little bit better tasting and can add some sweetness into your diet – berries. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries – all of these different berries tend to be great for your body in general because they have lots of antioxidants, and they tend to have a lower carbohydrate/sugar level then many of fruits. Blueberries themselves have been listed as one of those top things for gut heath in general, so increasing your blueberries can be a great options during this time as well.