If you don’t already know, let me explain exactly what dysbiosis is. Your digestive tract is host to billions and billions of bacteria, yeast, fungus, etc; both good and bad. For a healthy gut, it is all about balance. A healthy gut contains a balance of both good and bad bacteria, of bacteria to yeast, and so forth. When that balance exists, then each does its part to keep the others in check.

This healthy balance is somewhere on the order of 80% beneficial bacteria to 20% harmful bacteria. And typically there are the majority of bacteria to the minority of yeast and fungus.

But for many reasons, this balance can be thrown off. In our society, I can say with certainty that the two most common reasons are because of the Standard American Diet (SAD) full of processed food and sugar and the overuse of antibiotics.

SAD Diet

You see, the beneficial bacteria feed on many of the whole food fiber sources in your diet like inulin (plant or vegetable fiber). The harmful bacteria however feed on sugar. So with poor dietary choices, which is most often the case, consisting of few vegetables and an abundance of sugar it is easy to see how the harmful bacteria take charge. This results in a reversal of roles in the gut where the harmful bacteria make up the 80% and the beneficial bacteria a mere 20%. This is one way dysbiosis develops and can easily lead to Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Antibiotics

I think you would agree that antibiotics are very effective at killing bacteria that cause infection. But they are also just as effective at killing beneficial bacteria. When you use antibiotics you are literally wiping the slate clean in your gut. This leaves the re-growth of bacteria up to a rat race. Take into account the SAD diet and the lack of natural sources of beneficial bacteria in your diet and all odds are in favor of the harmful bacteria and yeast. This is why antibiotics are a major cause of leaky gut.

The Great Debate

There are many health practitioners who claim that correcting dysbiosis is as simple as adding a probiotic (beneficial bacteria) supplement to your daily regime. This would be true if the harmful bacteria and yeast were not overgrown. But that is rarely if ever the case, especially when leaky gut is present.

But still, many of the health practitioners do just that. They give you a bottle of probiotic pills and send you on your merry way. You jump with joy as you take them and begin to see signs of relief. You may even claim that your practitioner is a miracle worker. But what happens when you stop taking them? That’s right. Your problems come right back. So you might start another round of probiotics. This cycle continues and continues until you decide to either stick with probiotics permanently or you figure out that there is more going on inside your gut than you might realize.

The problem is that all of those harmful bacteria, yeast, and fungi are still there and still holding strong. The probiotic supplements are only providing you temporary relief but they still don’t have ability to take back control of your dysbiosis or leaky gut.

If you want true results, then you have to first correct the root of the problem. You have to do your part by following a proper leaky gut diet to help starve those harmful bacteria to give your probiotics a fighting chance at survival.

If you want to truly correct your dysbiosis, then you must first create an inhabitable environment for the beneficial bacteria to flourish.

In health and happiness,

Karen Brimeyer
Author of the Leaky Gut Cure

After I discovered my underlying gut problem I spent years being so afraid of food that I refused to eat out at any restaurant in fear of eating something that would trigger my symptoms. Living in fear of food is not living at all and I don’t want you to follow that same path.

You can still enjoy getting out of the house and eating at restaurants. You just have to be a little more careful about what you order. It isn’t that hard, it just takes a little getting used to.

Follow these simple rules and you won’t have worry about or wonder what you’re eating and whether or not it will impact your chronic symptoms.

Leaky Gut Diet Restaurant Tips

1. Stick to Meat and Vegetables

Meat and vegetables should make up the bulk of your leaky gut diet so it is best to stick with them when eating at a restaurant as well. Look for fish, chicken, turkey, beef, and lamb menu items. These menu items typically served with vegetables. Make sure you are getting an adequate amount of protein. Try to stick to less starchy vegetables like ordering a sweet potato instead of a white potato.

2. Get it Grilled, Poached, or Sautéed

When ordering your meat it is best to order it grilled, poached, or sautéed. Many restaurants fry their foods in trans-fats and/or vegetable oil which cause massive amounts of inflammation and should be avoided at all costs.

3. Forget the Bread and Pastas

Our culture has become very accustomed to bread and pasta with every meal. Restaurants love to give them to you because they are cheap filler foods with no real nutritional value. When avoiding gluten, these foods should be avoided. Don’t be afraid to ask the waiter/waitress to not bring the complimentary bread basket so it doesn’t become tempting.

4. Don’t be Afraid to Ask or Order Off Menu

If you aren’t sure how a particular dish is prepared, then ask the waiter/waitress. Food allergies are a big issue and liability for restaurants so if they don’t know, they should go to the kitchen and get the answers for you. Also, don’t be afraid to order something that isn’t on the menu. If you want something simple like a grilled chicken breast with vegetables, almost any restaurant will accommodate you.

5. Watch Out for Hidden Gluten

Hidden flours are in many menu items. They are typically used as a thickening agent for sauces and flavorings. Stay away from thick, creamy, and cheese sauces as much as possible.

6. Nicer Restaurants = Better Ingredients

Nicer restaurants know that better and fresher ingredients taste better. They typically use organic ingredients as much as possible. They also typically cook in healthier oils that don’t go rancid. Nice restaurants will never sacrifice quality for price.

7. Pass on the Alcohol

Alcohol is one of the driving factors behind intestinal permeability. Because of this, it should be avoided entirely on your leaky gut diet. You should love yourself enough to not give into the peer pressure. Odds are if you are out with others who are heavy drinkers, there is a good chance that they are suffering from chronic symptoms as well but they just aren’t ready or willing to deal with them yet.

Now that you have your leaky gut diet restaurant tips in hand you can enjoy a night out on the town without having to sacrifice your health or gut healing process.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these leaky gut diet tips to help you kick start the gut healing process.

In health and happiness,

Karen Brimeyer
Author of the Leaky Gut Cure

Maybe you are like me. I never had allergies of any kind growing up. Come to think of it, I don’t remember anyone having them. But today, it seems like allergies plague almost everyone. You might think this is just a coincidence but I have to tell you that it is not.

It wasn’t until I had developed leaky gut that I even started to notice the development of seasonal allergies. I would get a cough, runny nose, and watery eyes during the change of seasons. I never thought to question why because these symptoms were so common that they were generally accepted as no big deal. And symptoms that aren’t considered a major health risk tend to get swept under the rug. But for me, things only went downhill from there. I started experiencing digestive problems along with skin problems like eczema. I had no idea that this was all related to my gut and it wasn’t until I addressed the underlying problem that the reality of it really hit home. As soon I healed my gut, my allergies immediately disappeared and I haven’t dealt with them since.

The Leaky Gut Seasonal Allergy Link

When you suffer from increased intestinal permeability, undigested food particles, pathogens, toxins, and other harmful substances are able to actually pass through your intestinal lining and directly enter the bloodstream. All of these substances are considered foreign invaders to the body which prompts your immune system to respond and combat the invaders. The big problem with this is that it is occurring continuously day and night without end.

Initially, your immune system does its job and fights off the foreign invaders. But after battling for a long time without rest, it quickly becomes overstressed and overactive. It is this over-activity of the immune system that prompts it to erratically react to anything it comes into contact with. This includes all of the pollen, mold, and other allergens that are always in the air. It is because your immune system is too busy defending you from your own leaky gut that it doesn’t have the time or ability to properly deal with these allergens. So you are left with seasonal allergies by reacting to any foreign airborne particles that you come into contact with.

All of these common airborne allergens have always existed and will always exist. So the days of blaming these allergens as the problem are over. It has little to nothing to do with them and everything to do with your gut health.

Seasonal allergies may not be a life threatening symptom but they are definitely trying to get your attention for a reason. They are really a way of your body telling you that something is not quite right. It’s time to start listening to these signs and use them to paint the bigger picture of your health. If you continue to ignore them or mask them with the use of allergy medications then your body will find another way to get your attention. And the next time it does, it will be with more extreme symptoms that won’t be as easy to dismiss. Do yourself a favor and get to the root of the problem by addressing your leaky gut.

In health and happiness,

Karen Brimeyer
Author of the Leaky Gut Cure

Two of the largest ever inflammatory bowel disease studies were recently conducted. The good news is that the results are the first to show conclusive evidence that leaky gut is the prime contributing factor of the disease. The bad news is that they are still clueless as to how to correct the problem and heal the gut.

Before we get into the results of the study, first let me give you a little background on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is a blanket disease term that encompasses all autoimmune related inflammatory conditions within the digestive tract. There are two main types of this disease, Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. But, the prevalence of others, such as Celiac’s Disease, are rapidly rising. Statistics show that IBD affects 1 in 250 people making it a serious condition that deserves some serious attention.

Symptoms include: abdominal pain, bloating and distention, passing mucus, persistent diarrhea, loss of appetite, and rectal bleeding.

Both studies were conducted in the UK and were looking for genetic links to IBD and were published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

Study 1

The first study discovered 3 genes amongst the inflammatory bowel disease study group that lead directly to the development of leaky gut by impairing the ability of intestinal lining to maintain tight gap junctions between cells. These large gap junctions are actually what create the increased intestinal permeability and allow the unwanted toxins, pathogens, and undigested food particles to directly enter the blood stream.

This is huge for the recognition of leaky gut considering that conventional medicine has yet to fully recognize its existence. But unfortunately, it’s going to take a lot more than one study to gain much ground.

Here are some encouraging words from Professor Chris Mathew, from King’s College London who worked on the study:

“This is very significant as most treatments to date are based on damping down immune response.
“In fact, our data suggests there may be mileage in trying to tighten up the mucosal barrier as well.”

It appears that they might be starting to think outside the box and figure out how to correct the root of the problem instead of just masking the symptoms with immune suppressant drugs. Maybe it just makes too much sense to remove the sources of inflammation instead?

But I can already tell you that there is a ton of mileage in gut healing because it has been going on with great success in the alternative health community for years now.

Study 2

The second study was more specifically looking at inflammatory bowel disease found in children. This study discovered 5 genes linked to autoimmune activation within the children. But the important result of this study was that they found similarities in genes associated with adult IBD. This proves that the inflammatory bowel disease found in children is the same as that of adults.

In other words, IBD is IBD no matter how you slice it. That means that if your child has IBD then they can and will benefit from healing leaky gut just the same as any adult.

Hopefully, these studies will promote further studies in the area of leaky gut and exposure will continue to rise. But things move extremely slowly in our upward causal oriented medical community. Unfortunately, we’re stuck having to look at our genes for answers to questions that could be much more easily answered from the opposite perspective. And that is exactly why leaky gut and inflammatory bowel disease have been treated for years in the alternative health community whereas conventional medicine is struggling to even know where to look.

In health and happiness,

Karen Brimeyer
Author of the Leaky Gut Cure program