What Can Cause Leaky Gut?

We see so many professional working Mums struggling with brain fog, bloating, and a long list of GI issues.

Most people blame it all on stress (which is often a big part of the picture, especially for depleted Mumma’s) but there could be something they are missing… and it could be Leaky Gut!

When Your GI Scopes & Blood Tests Come Back As Clear

Unfortunately, most primary care doctors will assume that the symptoms we mentioned are caused by ONLY stress when their patient’s GI scopes and blood tests come back clear.

While scopes are important to pick up certain issues, they don’t pick up functional gut imbalances, like Leaky Gut, that can cause a lot of symptoms - not just gut issues, but also other seemingly unrelated symptoms like skin issues, brain fog, and poor energy, which can really be impacting your ability to ‘Mum’ and your productivity at work.

Sometimes, their doctor may send them home with a suggestion to take OTC antacids or even give them prescription meds that can make Leaky gut worse. 

This in turn can allow the underlying conditions to worsen without the person realizing it..

Unfortunately, when leaky gut persists for years, it’s one of the main catalysts for autoimmune illnesses or even just those weird, vague clusters of symptoms that can never be diagnosed with regular testing.

But the good news is that there are practitioners who know how to test for Leaky gut! They can recognize many of the symptoms and provide patients with a healing protocol.

So how does Leaky Gut happen in the first place?

6 Main Causes of Leaky Gut

While many Mums blame stress for their woes, this is only partly correct. It’s how you manage stress, along with several other factors, that can put your gut health in peril, and cause a leaky gut. These are the top 7 reasons we see causing leaky gut:

1. STRESS - Stress will put you into a catabolic state where your body starts pulling on amino acids.  The easiest way to pull on amino acids in the body is from within the gut lining, which can lead to a leaky gut. 
2. GLUTEN - Gluten is also a huge one when it comes to leaky gut. And not just for celiac people but a lot of people have a stealth non-celiac gluten sensitivity which will damage the gut lining in the same way as celiac disease. 
3. FOOD INTOLERANCES/ALLERGIES - Other intolerances and food allergies can be to blame, especially when your antibodies in your gut lining get triggered and you have regular inflammation. Histamine issues or other chemical intolerances can also be a cause. 
4. MEDICATIONS - Taking regular medications can also be the cause as many medications can alter stomach acid, kill protective gut bacteria and cause issues with intestinal tissues.
5. SIBO - SIBO can also prompt Leaky Gut since they are both happening in the small intestines and SIBO can cause a lot of inflammation that can damage the gut lining.
6. TOXINS - Toxins along with a poor, processed diet can also do damage to the gut lining.  

Leaky Gut? Test Don’t Guess

What’s interesting is that many people out there have heard of leaky gut and identify with the symptoms, jumping to the conclusion that they have it.

But it’s really important to get tested first to find out.  Often we find that they may not have leaky gut, but they actually have something like gluten intolerance, fungal overgrowth, or a pathogen that has taken hold.

So while symptoms for some GI issues can mimic Leaky Gut we never guess we always test so that we can provide you with the best possible care, and help you get back to feeling energised, present and on purpose with your kids and at work.

Learn More About Leaky Gut In Our FREE Video Course

To go deeper on the topic of leaky gut,  and the impact an unhappy gut is having on your family, register at this link for our free video course series on Conquering Hormonal & Gut Burnout & Rebalancing Naturally - https://www.chrisandfilly.fm/minicourse 

Co-Authors: Chris & Filipa Bellette are the Co-Founders of Chris & Filly Functional Medicine, which is best known for turning time-poor, burned-out & frustrated professional working Mums & Dads, into Power Parents who are present, healthy & connected to their family, their passion, and their purpose in this world. They have worked with over 2,000+ burnout clients in the last 10+ years, with their own passion for creating Power Parents coming from their own personal experience of body, mind & family breakdown, after a prolonged period of physical and mental stress.

Filipa is an accredited Clinical Nutritionist, and a Functional Medicine Practitioner, graduating from the Kalish Institute of Functional Medicine. She is also a Ph.D. thought-leader, author, and award-winner writer in Human Rights. Chris is an accredited Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Master Practitioner, holistic personal trainer, and holds a Bachelor of Human Movement Science, and has won multiple placings in state and national level sporting competitions.

To find out if this is something we can help you with, head over to book in for a - Free Discovery Call