Leaky gut

Broccoli and leaky gut

Do you get up in the morning and your stomach is so bloated that you look like you have swallowed a soccer ball? Are you usually constipated, feeling full and irritable, unable to eat a lot at mealtime?  Are you so fatigued and foggy-headed that you reach for the sugary snack to give you some energy? Are you desperate to take off the fat around your waist? These symptoms are indicators that your digestive system is compromised, usually by microscopic openings in the lining. This is leaky gut.  These microscopic openings allow undigested food particles, toxic wastes from either candida overgrowth or other microbiological functions, to seep into your bloodstream. Leaky gut will wreck your health and predispose your body to accumulate more belly fat.

What is the cause?

Modern society sets you up for leaky gut.  Chlorine and fluoride in your drinking water.  Antibiotic use, including animals given antibiotics in food production, without probiotic preventatives. Sugar, including fructose, refined grains, and processed foods and exposure to toxic agricultural chemicals. And, using antibacterial soaps. All things that we consume daily without thought. You have probably been consuming all of these for years but now you can’t figure out why you have so much gas and bloating and weight gain.

How do you fix it?

The first thing you do is begin to notice your diet and how much of the above you are consuming.  Eliminate all sugar, yes, including fructose, and all of the refined grains and processed foods. You have to eat whole food, as close to its natural state as possible.  Get a keto cookbook and get wheat out of your diet.  Cook from scratch and eat organic as much as possible. There is an app for your phone called “the dirty dozen and the clean fifteen” which can act as a guide for what you need to buy organic and what is ok to buy that is conventionally grown.  Add high-quality probiotics to your diet in the form of fermented food, i.e. sauerkraut, kimchi, or a high-quality supplement.  And then there is broccoli and brussel sprouts. (bet you wondered where I got the title!) There has been research suggestings that increasing your daily intake of broccoli will begin to heal leaky gut and protect you from getting it in the future. When you eat broccoli (and also brussel sprouts) a compound called indolocarbazole (icz) is produced which boosts your immune system and improves the balance in your gut biome. The research indicates consuming 3.5 cups of broccoli a day to reach the needed amount of icz in your bloodstream.  A lot of broccoli! Brussel sprouts also produces icz and you only need a single cup. Brussel sprouts contain 3 times the icz of broccoli

There is your answer.  Change your diet, cook more, and start consuming more broccoli and brussel sprouts. Good eating.