Leaky Gut Syndrome and gastrointestinal (GI) tract issues are extremely common, yet few people know what to do to improve them. In this article, we will take a look at how they develop, what kinds of problems they cause, and the gut wall supplements and diet that can help remedy them.
Your GI tract is one of the biggest interfaces you have with the world. It’s how you get the fuel and nutrients your body needs to survive and function. It’s also how your body expels waste. But those are not the only functions of your GI tract...
For example, did you know that your gut makes most of your serotonin, your “happy” neurotransmitter? It also makes many other neurotransmitters, as well as the Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT), which makes up around a third of your immune system cells. It's no wonder that some ancient medical systems believed the gut to be the most central part of health and that a malfunctioning GI tract was at the root of all disease.
Thankfully, modern medicine is catching on to the importance of the gut for overall health. It's also critical for addressing seemingly unrelated diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders. When you see just how much the gut is involved in overall health, you will also be convinced it should always be one of the first places to look when you have any kind of health problem.
That’s why a healthy diet and the right gut wall supplements should be part of any good holistic recovery program.
Gut wall supplements are any kind of vitamins, minerals, herbs, enzymes, or hormones that can help improve the health and strength of your gut lining. This lining is made of a single layer of gut epithelial cells held tightly together. Different types of epithelial cells make up this lining, and they include goblet cells, enterocytes, tuft cells, neuroendocrine cells, and Paneth cells, among others.
Each type of cell will have a specialization. And together, they form a barrier between the inside of your gut and your bloodstream. In that sense, the gut epithelium is not only responsible for keeping the structural integrity of your gut intact, but also for being part of your defense against any external invaders. As we’ll see later as well, it has a huge role in your immunity.
Gut wall supplements are beneficial for these different epithelial cells, helping them to retain or regain their structural integrity and their different specializations.
Your gut wall is also made up of a mucus layer. This mucus is produced and secreted by one of the specialized gut wall cells. It covers the epithelium, offering another level of protection. This mucus layer is also crucial to maintaining the gut’s microbiome – the different flora that live in your gut and play a key role in your GI tract’s health and overall wellbeing.
Again, there are gut wall supplements that are especially helpful for maintaining the health of this mucus layer. And there are supplements that are especially useful for the bacterial diversity of the microbiome. We will lay them all out at the end of this article, but first, it’s important to understand how your gut and immunity are linked so you can approach gut repair holistically.
As a major interface with the outside world, your gut’s job is not just about allowing nutrients in, it’s about keeping harmful substances out. If your GI tract is healthy, this happens easily and effortlessly. Your gut’s epithelial cells have tight junctions between them. Tight enough to keep harmful things out of your bloodstream while allowing the nutrients from the broken-down food into it.
Your gut microbiome also supports this kind of permeability. If it’s in balance, all of your gut’s functions perform better. But, if it gets out of balance, with the bad bacteria outnumbering the good ones – a state called dysbiosis – you start to see problems.
One of these problems is that the permeability of the gut wall begins to increase. The tight junctions loosen, allowing substances into the bloodstream that shouldn’t be there. This immediately triggers an immune response. The immune system has to attack these substances and contain them before they travel elsewhere in your body. And one of the tools your immune system uses to do that is inflammation.
Inflammation is a natural and healthy immune response in moderation. If it gets out of hand and becomes chronic, however, it can cause many other issues. In fact, many health professionals believe that chronic inflammation is at the root of all chronic diseases, including autoimmunity.
That’s what happens when you have these leaks in the gut. They keep allowing substances into the bloodstream. Including food particles, toxins, and pathogens. And each time these particles go in, your immune system gets triggered and creates inflammation. And the cycle keeps continuing. This becomes a source of chronic inflammation.
And chronic inflammation that starts in the gut will eventually spread to other parts of the body. If it reaches the central nervous system, it can contribute to the development of neurological and psychiatric disorders. These include things like anxiety, depression, brain fog, and even neurodegeneration. If it reaches the joints, it can worsen issues like joint pain and arthritis. If it reaches other areas in the GI tract, you can end up with inflammatory bowel disease or other digestive issues.
Leaky Gut Syndrome itself has its own set of symptoms, including:
And, unfortunately, these will keep getting worse and worse unless the leaks in the gut are sealed. Even if you address the symptoms, you haven’t addressed the causal issue. The leaks keep allowing substances in that keep evoking an immune response and inflammation. To seal the leaks, you have to take several steps, one of which is taking the right kind of gut wall supplements.
But before we get into the recovery process and gut wall supplements, you should first understand the main causes of leaky gut and chronic inflammation. That will also help you understand what to avoid or eliminate in order to get better.
Different kinds of physical and psychological stressors can affect the health of your microbiome and your gut’s permeability. The most common of which are the following:
As you can see, these factors are quite common in modern life. And that may be why GI tract issues, dysbiosis, and chronic inflammation seem to be on the rise. These factors are also what can lead to Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) and the dysregulation of your NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) Stress Response.
AFS happens when chronic stress puts so much pressure on your adrenal glands that they begin to dysregulate. Your adrenal glands produce your body’s most important anti-stress hormone, cortisol. They are part of your NEM’s Hormone circuit, and they are its first line of defense against stress.
If your body is under constant stress, your adrenals have to work extra hard to produce more and more cortisol. But the increase in cortisol causes its own set of symptoms. Then, when the adrenals are exhausted, their cortisol output drops, leaving your body to fight stress without its best weapon. And this causes another set of even more intense symptoms.
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include fatigue, weight gain, insomnia, brain fog, anxiety, mild depression, hair loss, dry skin, loss of libido, PMS, infertility, lowered immunity, digestive issues, food and drug sensitivities, hypoglycemia, estrogen dominance, an inability to handle stress, and heart palpitations, to name a few.
Having AFS will mean you’ll need to be extra careful with the gut wall supplements you take. This is because your adrenals are already weak, and if the supplements aren’t gentle enough, they could add more pressure to your adrenals. They can then cause paradoxical reactions, meaning they end up doing the opposite of what they’re meant to do. Or they may also lead to adrenal crashes.
Still, in order to recover from AFS, you need a strong and healthy gut and microbiome. So you can’t rule out gut wall supplements altogether. You just have to be smart about it, and take it step-by-step.
Your NEM is your body’s global response to stress, and it’s composed of six circuits of organs and systems that work together. These six circuits are the Hormone, the Bioenergetics, the Cardionomic, the Neuroaffect, the Inflammation, and the Detoxification circuits.
Although all six circuits are engaged when you’re dealing with leaky gut syndrome and chronic inflammation, the Inflammation circuit is the most involved, along with the adrenals from the Hormone circuit.
Your Inflammation circuit is composed of your microbiome, your GI tract, and your immune system. Its job is basically to help fight off any harmful substances and to get rid of the dead and damaged cells that resulted from the initial insult.
An Inflammation circuit that is not in its optimal state will not only allow the spread of inflammation, but it can also allow pathogens and toxins to build up in the body. This will end up congesting and overloading the Detoxification circuit, which is the mechanism by which your body expels these unwanted substances.
This means that if you want to heal chronic inflammation, you have to also ensure that your Detoxification circuit is running smoothly. And that means its components, which are the liver, the immune system, and the interstitium, are healthy and clean. A gentle detox can help with that. But, just like with the gut wall supplements, it’s not something to take lightly, as it can also add pressure on your adrenals and cause paradoxical reactions and adrenal crashes. It must be done with the guidance of a health professional experienced in detoxes as well as AFS and GI tract issues.
Now that you understand all the different components that need attention, we’ll take a look at the specific gut wall supplements that can be useful. But first, an important word of warning:
All of the supplements listed here, although natural, are still medicinal. This means that they have a medicinal effect. Which also means you need to be as careful with them as you would be with a pharmaceutical drug. This is even more pertinent if you have AFS and NEM dysregulation, as your system is under a lot of pressure already. If not taken at the right time or in the right dosage, they could cause more damage to your body.
The first thing you need to do before anything else here is to reduce inflammation. That’s because it may take a while to seal the leaks and get the adrenal glands back to strength. In the meantime, we need to contain the inflammation and prevent it from spreading or intensifying even more. The following natural extracts can help:
Curcumin (from turmeric)There are also certain herbs that can help relieve the irritation that can accompany the inflammation in the GI tract. These include:
Along with those, it’s important to eliminate any inflammatory foods from your diet. This also includes any foods that may not be inherently inflammatory, yet you are sensitive to, such as refined sugar, gluten, dairy, eggs, processed food, commercially grown fruits and vegetables that contain pesticides, and commercial meats that contain hormones.
The adrenal fatigue diet is a great option here because it’s not only anti-inflammatory, but it’s also nutrient-dense, low on the glycemic index, and great for adrenal health. You can then add to it anti-inflammatory foods and herbs, such as citrus fruits, berries, thyme, olive oil, carrots, rosemary, oregano, celery, peppers, and peppermint.
These anti-inflammatory foods and extracts will also support the gut’s mucus membrane. But the following supplements target this mucus membrane even more.
To help support the mucus membrane in your gut, you need to reduce the inflammation there, which can be done using the extracts and diet mentioned above, along with tonics that are made with calendula, chamomile, or elderflower. The following two herbs are also especially helpful as gut wall supplements for the mucus membrane.
The root contains berberine, berberastine, hydrastine, and alkaloids. It has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, tonic, and bitter actions for mucus membranes. It’s especially useful for those with an overgrowth of bad bacteria and fungi, such as candida.
Dosage should be 2-3 mg per day of powdered goldenseal root with rhizome in capsule form. Or 250-500 of standardized extracts with 8-12% alkaloids. You can take it for up to three weeks at a time with a break of at least two weeks in between. But only under the guidance of your health professional. It is not suitable for pregnant or nursing mothers.
Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquafolium)This has similar actions to goldenseal and contains berberastine and hydrastine as well. It’s helpful against diarrhea, GI tract parasites, chronic candidiasis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), and other infections. It can also help rebalance the microbiome, reversing dysbiosis.
Another powerful compound is body protective complex (also known as BPC-157) as it uses a specific peptide as a signaling molecule to direct your gut lining to heal and regenerate.
Glutamax is a supplement that contains glutamine, a powerful amino acid with strong antioxidant properties. Although usually seen as a brain fuel to enhance mental function, glutamine has many other beneficial properties. This includes the ability to reduce the effects of physical stress on your body, its anti-aging properties, and immune health support. GlutaMax promotes gut health by its ability to regulate your perception of stress in the brain. Stress is one of the main causes of gut health issues.
If you suffer from ulcers and other gut wall issues, glutamine is a really good option, especially when used in combination with vitamin B5 and DHEA. Glutamine is an amino acid, and it can help you heal gut issues as well as help with the brain fog that can come with fatigue and digestive issues.
Once inflammation is under control and you are attending to the gut’s mucus membrane, you can move on to supporting a healthy microbiome. Your gut’s microbiome thrives on fiber. Both soluble and insoluble fibers are important for gut bacteria. They help create or maintain bacterial diversity, which is the mark of a strong microbiome.
There are so many types of fiber that you can use, such as cellulose, pectin, gums, psyllium, inulin B-glucans, fructooligosaccharides, and lignin. Some gut wall supplements come with a combination of different fibers. This is something you should arrange with an experienced health professional as it can be tricky to figure out.
You should also aim to add more fiber to your diet itself by adding more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and legumes. The trick is to increase fiber intake slowly so that you don’t end up with a lot of bloating. If bloating is an issue for you, you can start with something like gum Arabic and acacia fiber supplements, as these are gentler yet still very effective.
The two best botanicals that can help heal wounds in the GI tract and aid digestion at the same time are chamomile flowers and peppermint herbs.
The chamomile flower has so many antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, it really should be considered more of a medicinal herb than a regular herbal tea. It contains many flavonoids as well. And it’s not only good for ulceration and diarrhea, but for insomnia, stress, anxiety, restlessness, and even stress-related dermatitis.
If, like many people, your GI tract issues worsen or are even triggered by stress and worry, then chamomile might be one of the best gut wall supplements for you. You can take it as a tea, or as a supplement in a capsule, or even topically as a mouth wash or cream. It depends on what you’re using it for. But even though it has a relatively safe profile, you should still consult your health professional before using it.
Peppermint root extract and peppermint essential oils from the leaf and flowers are also good for digestion. They have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. And like chamomile, they are also relaxants.
There are five supplements we strongly recommend for issues relating to gut health in general:
This supplement features a unique combination of herbs infused with a bio-synergistic micro-organism foundation base. This means we have used various biological components that, when mixed, have beneficial properties much stronger than that of each individual component. Furthermore, FermPlex™ P undergoes a fermentation process that not only improves shelf life but enhances the product’s nutrient properties. The herbal component of this supplement includes ginger, oregano, lavender, and turmeric. These herbals, together with beneficial yeasts, bacteria, and enzymes, may support your continued health by providing both a prebiotic and probiotic effect, enhancing anti-microbial properties, increasing the bioavailability of various phytocompounds, and improving the various herbals’ medicinal properties.
The two herbals in Adrenal Gut Restore are licorice root and aloe vera.
Licorice root has powerful antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties that may help support gut wall health, aid the digestive process, and help promote ulcer healing. Furthermore, it may also ease respiratory tract infection and be of aid to those with diabetes, suffering from menopausal symptoms, who have hepatitis C, and who struggle with weight loss.
Aloe vera, with its antioxidant and antibacterial properties, may promote gut health, according to various literature, and reduce constipation. It may also help speed up wound healing, promote skin health, stabilize blood sugar levels, and help prevent or treat canker sores.
This is a propriety blend of Cordyceps Sinensis and two digestive enzymes, i.e., lipase and amylase. Besides promoting digestive health, Adrenal Cordyzyme also promotes adrenal, immune, and vascular health, amongst others.
Cordyceps Sinensis, a ‘good’ gut bacteria that promotes the health of your digestive system, may also help in the management of type-2 diabetes, fight inflammation, promote heart health, fight certain types of cancer, and slow down the aging process.
Amylase plays an important role in your digestive and absorption processes, while lipase boosts the absorption of fats in your body. It does so by breaking fats down into glycerol and free fatty acids.
This proprietary bovine colostrum – probiotic blend supports both your gut and immune health.
Colostrum, the first secretion ingested by most mammals after birth, provides you with immune and growth factors that form the building blocks of your future development. According to various literature, Colostropro may improve your gut health, and promote your immunity and ability to fight off infections.
Lactobacillus acidophilus, the beneficial probiotic in this blend, may promote gut health, reduce your cholesterol levels, help prevent and address vaginal infections, and even promote weight loss.
Your GI tract, your gut, and your microbiome are some of the most important protective barriers in your body. They allow nutrients in while keeping harmful substances out. Any dysfunction with these barriers can lead to a dysregulated immune response, chronic inflammation, NEM dysregulation, and adrenal fatigue.
While you do need to deal with the adrenal fatigue and NEM dysregulation in their own ways, the one thing that can help all of these issues at the same time is to heal your gut. This includes sealing up any leaks, eliminating inflammation, and restoring your microbiome to a healthy state.
This can be done by changing your diet, managing the stressors that cause these issues in the first place, and using gut wall supplements. These gut wall supplements can help the different specialized cells in your gut lining, along with tightening up any leaks, and diversifying the gut bacteria. They can also calm any irritation and digestive issues, as well as improve the mucus membrane that covers the gut lining.
But, you shouldn’t take any of these supplements without guidance. The dosage and combinations will vary from person to person. And the gut wall supplements regimen that is best for you will be based on your current condition and needs. If you do it incorrectly, you run the risk of paradoxical reactions and even adrenal crashes. This is especially true if your AFS is more advanced.
If you have questions about GI tract disorders, gut wall supplements, and adrenal fatigue recovery, you can contact the Dr. Lam Coaching team. We can offer you a free** no-obligation phone consultation at +1-626-571-1234 where we will privately discuss your symptoms and what your options are. You can also send us a question through our Ask The Doctor system by clicking here.
There are many different kinds of gut wall supplements. Some help seal gut wall leaks. Some help diversify your microbiome. Some help improve digestion. And some can help heal ulcers and other wounds. Read more to find out which you need for your specific situation.
