Healing Leaky Gut & Restoring Intuition: Leaky Gut Diet, Resources, More

Most people, including many physicians, do not realize that 80 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive system, making a healthy gut a major focal point if you want to maintain optimal health.”  Dr. Joseph Mercola, MD

I continue to be fascinated by my self-created connection between leaky gut and diminished intuition. I wrote about this in an earlier blog post and, using myself as a guinea pig, I continue to experiment as I recover from my own leaking gut — what I believe was the result of traumatic stress during 2010.

I think we can all agree that stress places a toxic load on the body, and while we may be able to befriend it as Kelly McGonigal suggests, it is important to take note of the consequences. In the book The Tapping Solution, the author Nick Ortner details the effect of stress on the gut:

“On average four times less blood flow to your digestive system

Less oxygen to your gut

Lower absorption of nutrients

Less enzyme production in your gut. (As much as 20,000 times less! This is one of the reasons why, when you eat a meal while you’re stressed, you’ll often feel bloated and uncomfortable.)

Increase in excretion of important nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals

Decrease in gut flora population

Increase in cholesterol

Increase in cortisol and insulin levels”

This list shines a big light on the importance of monitoring the health of our inner eco-system during traumatic times and, if you subscribe to the idea that the gut is the second brain, taking action to restore the delicate balance therein.

I have been reading up on the gut as our second brain, and the science supporting this theory hard to ignore and makes perfect sense if you consider the following information (paraphrased) from Sarah Wilson’s incredibly informative site:

The “Gut Brain” is located in sheaths of tissue lining the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon;

It contains some 100 million neurons, more than in the spinal cord or peripheral nervous system;

It is packed with neurons, neurotransmitters and proteins that send messages between neurons or support cells like those found in the brain;

It contains a complex circuitry that enables it to act independently, learn, remember and produce gut feelings;

There are one hundred million neurotransmitters lining the length of the gut, approximately the same number found in the brain;

Nearly every chemical that controls the brain in the head has been identified in the gut, including hormones and neurotransmitters and

It is equipped with its own reflexes and senses so it can control gut behavior independently of the brain.

There is a boatload of fascinating science regarding the Gut + Brain connection and a great resource to check out is the book Gut & Psychology Syndrome.

In addition to a clean diet, here are some things I am doing to restore the integrity of my gut, reignite my intuition and feel better:

  • Taking probiotics daily. It has been recommended to me to switch often so you are always introducing different strains into your system.
  • Eating and drinking fermented foods. GT Dave’s Kombucha is my daily tonic. I do eat kimchi (I tried to ferment my own once, but it was a complete and utter disaster), and although I’m not a fan of sauerkraut, I just discovered Farmhouse Culture GingerBeet Kraut, which is fabulous. (I eat it with brown rice, walnuts and some flax oil.) A little goes a long way in delivering probiotic love to your gut.

farm culture kraut | Dianna Bonny Photography

The long and complicated roots of many ailments are now being traced back to the health of the gut. If you are healing from trauma, suffering with depression, exhaustion or anxiety, you might want to explore the leaky gut connection and protocol as another avenue to optimal health. It could be my imagination but I honestly feel the healthier my gut becomes the more access I have to my intuition. The next step is having the confidence to trust that information.

If you have found anything that has worked well for revitalizing your second brain, I would love to share it.

Sending you love and encouragement on your healing journey.

-db

Who is Dianna Bonny?

Hi, my name is Dianna Bonny. It’s my mission to candidly share my journey with you. For me, it’s all about the healing: to create a radiant healing energy for others who have befallen a similar fate. Together, we can forge beautiful lives of belonging and connection. Thanks for joining me today! I look forward to hearing from you.

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