The Hard to heal gut.
In general the approach is the 5 R’s
- Remove foods that the person is sensitive too, pathogens, environmental stressors, dysbiosis
- Replace inadequate or lacking digestive factors (HCl, digestive enzymes, Bile salts, fibre, soluble fibre
- Re-innoculate prebiotics to fertilise, probiotics as placeholders, diet change
- Repair gut. Mucosal support, protection, GALT, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories
- Rebalance life
The links on this page are amazon affiliate links and will pay a small commission to me. There are multiple options for gut support here. Aim to select no more than 5 at any one time and start them one at a time, to best know what suits. This article does not replace medical advice.
The Plan:
Remove
Options:
- Exclusion diet to remove Gluten, dairy, soy, corn, refined foods, egg, alcohol, chocolate, coffee and energy drinks, penuts, pork, processed meats, shellfish, soy and sugar. Remove for 4-6 weeks. Spend a week planning and shopping and prepping for this before starting. Re-introduction after 4-6 weeks. Into one food every 2 days. Start with what has been craved the most. Eat plenty of it See how you feel, if there is a negative effect on health, how brain/emotional health are doing, if pulse feels like it is racing, if you cannot stop eating that food. If no negatives, after 2 days, introduce the next food and so on. If there are symptoms, stop eating that food, mark it as one to avoid, wait for symptoms to stop before introducing the next food.
- Environmental stressors
- Don’t microwave in plastic
- Disposable coffee cups and take out wrappers are high in ‘forever chemicals
- Certain fish are very high in Mercury – tuna, shark, Marlin, sword fish
- Cigarette smoking and vapes
- Toxic chemicals from hair, makeup, nails, dry-cleaning, occupational exposure
- Cellphone next to bed, wifi on all night
- Dysbiosis – remove harmful bacteria
- A stool test is really useful to check as to most useful anti-parasitics / anti-dysbiotic/ anti-candida therapies needed.
Replace
Options
- Stomach acid. Many people over the age of 35-40, those who are chronically stressed, drink alcohol on an empty stomach or have a chronic digestive infection can have low stomach acid. They may even experience heartburn due to this low acid level. Burping after eating is another sign. Older people who find protein heavy meals too heavy and hard to digest almost always are low on their HCl. Delayed gastric emptying is also another effect of low HCl.
- To test – the Bicarbonate test: take ½ teaspoon of Bicarbonate of soda in water on an empty stomach whilst hungry. The outcome measure is burping. No burps = no stomach acid, just a few burps = low stomach acid. Plenty of burping = good levels. Instant large loud burps = suspect excess stomach acid levels
- – The Betaine HCl test. Take a few Betaine tablets with food. Check to see if you feel a burning sensation like mild heartburn. If not, then increase the betaine HCl dose until a little burn is felt, then reduce it for general use. The more tablets needed, the lower the HCl level is.
- Digestive enzymes. Damage to the mucus membrane of the gut, and subsequent leaky gut causes reduction in the production of digestive enzymes. Other causes are lack of chewing and low HCl/ poor protein digestion in the stomach.
- Supplement with broad spectrum digestive enzymes whilst repairing the gut https://amzn.to/3KGEbp3 . Take with food for digestive support, proteases taken away from food are useful anti-inflammatories and for munching up excess protein deposits https://amzn.to/4fZGkaE.
- Bile support
- Bile acids https://amzn.to/3KlQrvc plus cholagogue herbs https://amzn.to/4gLSEfy and foods aid healthy fat digestion and toxin excretion. People who have experienced gall bladder symptoms or get pale poo with higher fat in their diet can benefit from bile support. Those actively losing weight may also benefit.
- Bile acids 500-1000mg/day, Lipase, milk thistle https://amzn.to/46q4k4e 150mg 2/day, turmeric 1000mg/day , Dandelion https://amzn.to/4ngBIjI 500mg with meal, Barberry, high fibre foods, beets, artichoke, dandelion greens, sprouted seeds and nuts. Garlic, greens in general
- Fibre – for improved gut transit time and less resorbtion of toxins, improved stool bulk to prevent constipation. Refined and UPF foods are very low in fibre. Mixed sources of fibre best – whole grains, fruits,veggies. If not possible then a fibre supplement that contains many different sources of soluble and insoluble fibre.
Re-innoculate prebiotics, probiotics and diet change to reain functional gut flora
- Prebiotics
- Soluble fibre / prebiotics. Fertilizer for the gut flora. Aids the production of Short chain fatty acids (SCFA). Needs to be multiple different types to best support gut flora https://amzn.to/42L7w85
- Take care with people who are high yeast/candida as this can feed the yeast.
- Probiotics
- Take probiotic supplements and fermented foods (live yoghurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir etc). These are purely placeholders to stop dysbiotic bacteria occupying space on the gut wall. They do not on their own give lasting change to the gut flora, so the effect only lasts for the time they are taken. Still, the reduction in systemic endotoxins will help insulin sensitivity and is very valuble whilst dealing with obesity and metabolic syndrome
- Diet change
- To achieve lasting microbiome change, a diet rich in a diverse variety of fruits, veggies, grains, salads, nuts, seeds etc is needed.
- The key is variety and avoid food ruts.
- In a salad, add different leaves, not just lettuce, add seed and bean sprouts, tamari roasted seeds.
- In a casserole/ stew, multiple different veggies, different herbs.
- Use different spices and garlic in cooking
- Have a store of mixed berries and mixed tropical fruit in the freezer to add to smoothies. Add different nut and seed butters or coconut cream for protein and fat for a more satisfying smoothie
- Eat more foods from different cultures.
- Cans of mixed beans to add to casseroles etc can help too.
Repair the gut. Mucosal support and protection of the mucosa, supporting the Gut Associated Lymphoid tissue – a key part of the immune system, use antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Repairing leaky gut.
- Mucosal and microbiome support herbs (galangal, barberry, cinnamon, oregano, achillea, tyme, stevia, cistus), nutrients for repair (glucosamine, glutamine). Chlorella for toxin binding and gut healing, cell wall broken probiotics for GALT support and competitive exclusion. 2 dropperfuls 3x day away from food.
- Immune strength – cell wall broken probiotics, potent immune support and takes space on gut wall.
- Butyrate SCFA normally produced in the gut from action of microbiome on soluble fibres and normal carbohydrate digestion. Tends to be low in dysbiosis. Required as an energy source for gut enterocytes. Supplementation supports gut healing. 300mg+ dosage. Supplementation associated with weight loss and improved insulin sensitivity https://amzn.to/46VXeTF
- Glutamine – also an energy source for gut enterocytes. Dose variable but aim for 3-6g. https://amzn.to/4fYe1JS
- Antioxidants – best to have a wide variety of antioxidants in small doses that a large amount of one . The general advice of try to eat the rainbow every day – so get a wide variety of different colour foods – is effective. Otherwise supplementing with a food based multiple antioxidant formula. As metabolic syndrome people are very low in antioxidants, consider an increased dose. This can help with sleep issues too.
- Anti-inflammatories – amount to use depends on clinical picture. Resolving the underlying dysbiosis generally lowers the need. https://amzn.to/3W7FpfBhttps://amzn.to/42GkEve
- NFkappaB inhibition
- Ginger, turmeric, garlic, Rosemary
- Devils claw, willow, Andrographis, Dong Quai, Burdock, Barberry, Qiang Hao, Holy basil, Schisandra
- Mucosal support
Rebalance life
- Restorative support to rediscover the joy of life and to resolve the sympathetic nervous system overdrive that most of us live in.
- Vagal tone exercises / auricular stimulation
- Pulsed electromagnetic field
- Wifi and cellphones off during sleep
- Breathing exercises
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Exercise
- Hobbies and passions
- Community
Detoxicology 