Fix Your Gut - The Lion And The Light

This information will serve as a chronicle of my experience and is presented as my opinion and my opinion alone. This worked for me, and has worked for many others, but I will not guarantee it will work for you. This information is not medical advice and does not replace the advice of your doctor. I do not recommend you do this, I recommend that you do your research and decide on what is best for you. I went to every conceivable doctor with every conceivable specialty and subspecialty and nothing that was told or prescribed to me actually helped fix any of my problems. Much of what I was told and given made my problems much, much worse. The information below helped me and that is the only statement I can or will attest to. Do not ever accept what I or anyone says at face value. Do your research. Use your head. You are in charge of what is right for you, and you know your body better than anyone else. You can fix whatever problems you have right now and get your life back to a level that you enjoy living it. It will just take time.

How I Fixed Leaky Gut

by Clint Allsup

Published: 24 OCT 2021

Updated: 10 FEB 2024

What Is Leaky Gut?

It has often been said that you are what you eat. This is not actually correct. You are what you digest. You can be eating all of the right things religiously and not get the benefit of them if your gut lining is permeable because you have done things to degrade it. Things like not dealing with stress correctly, which can raise your stomach acid and degrade your gut lining or drinking coffee and ingesting highly acidic foods can all severely degrade your stomach lining and make it more permeable. If you tell me “Taking herbs and supplements does nothing for me.” I will tell you that it is because your gut needs to be fixed and that you are not absorbing what you are putting in your mouth. Most herbs and supplements are powerful things that have an effect on whoever takes them. There is a reason most drug stores have aisle after aisle of them, people are buying them and stay on them. The only people I haven’t seen react to these things are people with gut issues. It is also important to note that numerous medications, seemingly almost everything that is really good at lowering inflammation (like ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), can harm your gut to a catastrophic degree. So, what does having a “leaky” gut do? Well, if the things that are supposed to be in your gut go somewhere they are not supposed to, this can cause the immune system to react and create inflammation. Eventually, as was my case, this can cause system wide inflammation and intense inflammatory problems that are specific to certain areas of your body. The affected areas can also change quickly or over a longer period of time as your immune system attacks different areas of your body in an attempt to stop (what it thinks is) a dangerous invader. If you are as unfortunate as I was you will go to the doctors when this happens and you will be prescribed things that will damage your stomach lining further (like ibuprofen and other NSAIDs) and they will compound the problem for you instead of helping. Welcome to the vicious cycle.

Additionally, if the things that you are eating are escaping and causing inflammation, or simply not being broken down properly because you do not have the right bacteria in your gut to break them down, then you can be deficient in a number of vitamins and minerals and it is quite possible that this will NOT show up as an issue on your labs when you visit your doctor. When I was at the worst part of my life in terms of my health, my labs looked amazing. I also did not have the strength to stand up most of the time and I could not bear to look at any light. Not all vitamins and minerals float around in your blood to a degree that is properly measurable by drawing blood, that means measuring them by blood (regardless of the equation used to guess) will not be sufficient to tell you if you are deficient or not.

As this leaky gut induced inflammatory problem continues on in your body, it can get to the point where it seriously damages your quality of life, and it can also trick your immune system into attacking itself on a more permanent basis. It is my personal opinion that most adult onset auto-immune diseases are caused by either leaky gut, or an imbalanced gut microbiome. This is most typically caused by an overgrowth of candida albicans (a type of yeast) due to high sugar and refined carb intake. I believe this is also the reason that when people develop a condition like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (the immune system incorrectly attacking the thyroid) or Lupus, and then they change their diet they seem to get better. Many actually fully recover. But why would that be if the gut and what is inside it, or getting out, is not the primary reason for their illness to begin with?

Another common treatment is to use steroids to lower inflammation in the hopes that it just “gets better” when the inflammation is temporarily, artificially lowered. Steroids are cheap, effective, lower the immune system and are wildly overused. Taking them will probably make you feel better short term but will almost certainly not fix the underlying issue, particularly if it is due to leaky gut.

Perhaps the doctor should look at how the things that you do multiple times a day, every day, like eating good or bad food, affect your health. And perhaps your doctor has been ignoring this in favor of slapping a diagnosis on you and giving you potentially harmful prescription medications so he or she can get you out of the door as quickly as possible only to do the same thing to someone else. Or maybe the doctor will refer you to a dietician who will tell you about portion control, and to limit bad foods, but will still not be able to tell you what is causing your troubles to begin with.

It is important to note that a lot of these doctors and specialists are good people who are trying very hard. Also, many of them are not good people who do not care even a little bit about you. They are just going through the motions. But you are really being failed by western medicine, the fiduciary duty of medical corporations to their stockholders and the “pill for every ill” mentality. In order to fix this or any problem, you must take charge of it yourself.

I personally believe you can get leaky gut even if you make all of the right decisions, as we all go through periods of our lives that are high stress and we cannot keep a strict diet no matter how much we try. Leaky gut can also occur if you are not giving your body what it needs to maintain itself and repair the lining that allows your gut microbiome to break down what you put in it and provide your body with the nutrition it needs. The gut lining is made of many of the same components as other parts of your body. Your skin is not only made, in part, of collagen like your gut, but also is a great indicator of what is going on in your gut.

Unsurprisingly, the health of the skin is one of the best indicators of what is going on in the gut.

If a person has dry or prematurely aged skin, it is probably partly due to things like sun exposure or dehydration, but it can also be due to vitamins and minerals not being absorbed properly in the gut. If a person has rosacea or eczema or some other issue, it is again likely there is a gut issue and at least one other contributing factor. It would then be best to see if going on keto for several months improves that condition.

Have you ever seen pictures or videos of people from the 50’s and 60’s? They had better skin than you have probably. It is because they had better food (higher nutritional yield) and they ingested fewer things that damaged how well their body absorbed those nutrients. You can probably make up for the shortcomings of the food you are able to buy, but even if you take copious supplements you may still have the same problem if they are not being absorbed properly.

It is also important to note that some non anti-inflammatory medications that inhibit your stomach acid from being produced (omeprazole) can lower your ability to break down food properly and receive the nutritional yield of what you eat. These medications diminish the amount of stomach acid that your body makes. The stomach acid is there for a reason, it is supposed to break down the food you eat so it can be broken down further by your microbiome. If you turn off the acid, the bacteria (if the right bacteria is indeed present) cannot do its job. I personally find that baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, also found in products like Alka-Seltzer) is a much better antacid than using a proton pump inhibitor drug like omeprazole.

I have written an article on how I used baking soda to fix my gut micriobiome (by controlling candida) and to restore an optimal level of system alkalinity. This article can by found here. It should be noted that baking soda is now the primary agent I use to kill candida after the gut lining has been restored to an acceptable level by taking colostrum.

Antibiotics, by definition, kill bacteria. These drugs effectively do kill the bad bacteria, but they inevitably kill the good bacteria in your gut as well. There are certainly times when there is no choice but to take antibiotics. That class of drugs has saved countless and will save countless more. But it is imperative that you understand that when you take a course of antibiotics that you are also killing things that you need to live, and that these things will need to be replaced for you to return to optimal health. Antibiotic drugs, typically, are also incredibly potent anti-inflammatory agents as well. This fits my theory that most things that fight inflammation effectively are hard on the stomach. Have you ever read the side effects list of any antibiotic drug? The list goes on forever and many have scary side effects like death or psychosis. The reason is partly the drug but more so (in my opinion) that it is going to kill all sorts of stuff in your gut and no one really has any idea what will happen next, for sure, in your body.

The Brain and Gut Connection

Your gut and your brain are connected more closely than really any other part of your body. People like to call the stomach the “second brain” or joke about how their sugar (or alcohol, which is also a sugar) cravings will make them do rash things. There is a lot of truth in these statements. If your brain senses that it is deficient in something, it can and will give you a message that it wants whatever it needs. This will often be an association (a “craving”) for a certain food that your brain knows contains a high degree of the vitamin or mineral due to past ingestion. This is why, in part, pregnant women get cravings for weird things. The brain is saying “Hey! I need a lot of this right now!” and at the same time “This food has it! Eat it right now!”

If you have a “sweet tooth” and crave sugar often, particularly at night, then you almost certainly have a candida overgrowth. This could also be due to things like adrenal fatigue, but the overwhelming amount of time it is due to a gut imbalance. Also, candida overgrowth is extremely common in people with adrenal fatigue. Your cravings and impulses are a direct reflection of what is going on in your gut. The candida in your gut tells your brain to feed it, and then you suddenly get a craving that you think is an endearing character trait. This cycle is disastrous for your body.

If you have a “sweet tooth” it is not an endearing character flaw. It is a candida overgrowth.

If you have ever stubbed your toe really hard you probably cursed or at least regretted it. Doing this did not mess with your thoughts, make you depressed, give you chronic lethargy or give you intense food cravings. That is because no other part of your body is as intrinsically connected to your brain as your gut. Pain or trouble in other parts of the body sucks, but it does not affect your thinking in the same way as an issue in your gut. This point is best explained if you have ever been very food sick. During these times the gut and all the nutrition it provides for the body are under attack and the mind and immune system freak out in order to clear the bad stuff. Although fever and chills from being severely food poisoned (your body manipulating temperature in an attempt to kill the pathogen) and throwing up (your body, not knowing who the good and bad guys are so it says “Everybody OUT!”) are very unpleasant, they are necessary for your survival. Being severely food sick will also effect your thinking and your thought process for the nutritional reason I mentioned before. Your bodies reaction sucks, but it is also saving your life.

This point is similar to if you have ever had a very bad hangover. Your stool was black because of all the bacteria you killed. That also explains the odor and the weird or depressed thoughts you had or are having. It is not all your gut, but what is going on in the gut is probably what is affecting you considerably during this time.

Your Gut Is Your Immune System

I have read various statistics around that state that your gut is “70%”, “80% or “85%” of your immune system. I think the actually statistics is not really relevant but it is imperative you understand that your gut basically is your immune system. All of the bugs in there tell your immune system what is friendly and what is not. They tell your immune system (and the inflammation that comes with it) what to attack and what not to attack. If you have bad things in your gut, it will tell your immune to do the wrong thing. If you have the right bugs in there then you will get the nutrition from the food you ingest and you will have a powerful immune system pointed in the right direction (assuming you eat the right things).

This is not something you can slack off on. If you put a lot of sugar in your gut and there are not enough good bacteria to crowd out its growth, then it will grow and grow and cause you problems. It is best to fix this issue and stay on top of it by being disciplined. Fixing the issue, then letting it come back and then fixing it again will put a lot of stress on your mind and body. Letting it go unabated will be disastrous. Fix it, then work everyday to stay at your maximum level of health.

Do You Have Leaky Gut?

Yes.

This is so close to a certainty for most people reading this that it is safe to say yes.

What are some of the signs of leaky gut? Or a microbiome Issue?

Inflammatory issues of any kind
Allergic reactions to food or other things that stay consistent or change
Seasonal allergies that are greater than normal
Anxiety/Depression/Mood Swings
Signs of vitamin or mineral deficiency despite proper diet or supplement intake
Food cravings, particularly for bad food
A white patch on your tongue, first thing in the morning
Having a “sweet tooth”
Routine intake of refined carbs, sugar or drinking alcohol
Taking a course of antibiotic
Having a food poisoning episode
Routine intake of coffee, vinegar or other highly acidic things

How Do I Fix It?

Here is what I do if I need to repair my gut lining or correct my microbiome:

Step 1: Fix your gut lining

Stop eating sugar, refined carbs, dairy, coffee and alcohol. I do a low carb/high fat diet but when I was doing this the first time I did Keto with no dairy. Stop doing things that cause the problem while you work on fixing it. If you can’t do this step then try to get as close as you can to it. The closer you are the quicker you will fix it and the less you will suffer.

Note: When it comes to supplements, herbs or topicals it is important to remember that you should usually test yourself for tolerance when starting something new. This could mean taking 1/4 to 1/2 a normal dose for a while to see how you react to it. Although not always necessary, it is better to be safe than to risk taking something you may react poorly to. If you are testing a topical product you can always perform a patch test. Pick a part of your body, like your inner arm, and apply the substance. Then monitor it over 12-24 hours and see if you react negatively to it. Or react at all. Again, this is all up to you. You are in charge of your health.

Take the following:

2. Product: Colostrum. There are a number of good brands but I prefer NusaPure for the price to benefit.

Dose: About 1 gram or so once a day. Can be taken indefinitely and does not need to be cycled.

Reason: Colostrum is part of the cows birth cycle but works exceedingly well at repairing the human gut lining faster than most other methods. It may slightly raise estrogen but this is negligible. This product is also highly popular in weightlifting circles for its various other benefits to the body.

Colostrum and a solid collagen powder should be the primary method for repairing the gut lining, but this method will take weeks to months depending on your current gut health and dietary habits. If you are in a crisis and must repair your gut lining as fast as possible then Endefen by Metagenics will work the fastest. It contains soy and will (also) raise your estrogen but nothing works better for fixing leaky gut.

Dose: 1tsp 2x a day for 2 weeks, up to several months.

Reason: Multi factorial. Rebuilds gut wall, lowers inflammation and also increases mucous output. Really a great product.

Product: A quality collagen product, Great Lakes is a good brand, or a gelatin product like Knox Gelatin, or eat gummies.

Dose: 1-2 scoops a day of the powder every day. This should be part of your diet. If you can’t do powder then eat gummies, but I am sure it takes a lot of them to do what the powder does.

Reason: Your body needs this stuff to make collagen, which is what your gut is made out of. At least in part. Taking this everyday will dramatically improve things. I went from having a “sensitive” stomach to having an iron stomach by taking a collagen alone. There are multiple types of collagen, learn them later, right now just start taking this stuff everyday. Also helps joints and skin.

4. Product: Vitamin C, B-series vitamin suit and selenium. Preferably in a quality multivitamin.

Dose: Once a day.

Reason: Your body needs a lot to make collagen, these vitamins are essential and if you are losing them or not absorbing them you need to overdo it a bit for a while. Vit. C and the B series are water soluble so they are hard for the body to hold on to. Buy a quality multivitamin (like Thorne basics) and don’t worry too much about this part. Vitamin C is also a powerful anti-inflammatory that DOES NOT harm your gut lining. But it may make you go to the bathroom in larger doses (500mg and up). I believe most people should take a multivitamin every day.

Do this step for 2 weeks to 3 months. It is important that you heal your gut before you kill the bad stuff inside it, or it will cause you a lot of problems that could be avoided.

Step 2: Kill candida, replenish with good bacteria

Currently the primary method I use to kill candida is baking soda. It is cheap, effective, kills candida outright, will halt acid reflux instantly and has countless other benefits to the body. I have written an entire article on it and I suggest reading through it before using it balance the gut microbiome.

The alternative to baking soda work wells but does not solve the issue of changing the gut ph so it is not habitable for bad actors like candida albicans. Although I do not recommend it is a first course of action, Candex works well at destroying candida but is very powerful and will tax the body as it destroys the yeast.

Product: Candex by Pure Essence

Dose: Follow the instructions on the bottle. I have experimented with taking the probiotic half an hour up to two hours after Candex. I currently have no best method, but it is important to put good bacteria in while you are killing off the bad guys.

Reason: This stuff works better than prescription anti-fungals (yeast is a kind of fungus) for me. It is amazing. Be wary, if you have a bad Cadida overgrowth you will feel the effects of this the first couple days to a week or so. But you will feel so good when your body is back in alignment.

Product: A quality probiotic. Like Garden of Life Ultimate Care or PB8.

NOTE: Probiotics are living things. You should buy them from a refrigerator (from a store that had them delivered in cooled packaging). I am convinced most probiotics sold are dead and the consumer is getting very little benefit from them. Also, if you ever need to get a probiotic super shot then dump a capsule into yogurt and put it in a plastic bag. Let it sit overnight and eat it in the morning. This will turn a million bugs into a billion, etc.

Reason: These are the good guys who will take up space that the bad guys would take up. I take my probiotic twice a day (after the Candex) if I am killing Candida or usually once a day if I am not. Morning or evening are best as you want to take it when stomach acid is low to not kill the bacteria you just paid a lot of money for. If you cannot afford a quality probiotic you can just eat sauerkraut or kimchee and get the same result (use the same timing and frequency).

Do this step for as long as it takes. The more you cheat on your diet the more pain you will be in. I promise this is all worth it. I wish I had known this stuff when I was a child.

Step 3: Going Forward

Eat properly.
Take a probiotic 1 to 2 times a day (or eat sauerkraut or kimchee as if it was a probiotic).
Use baking soda as needed or use Candex if you cannot use baking soda.

Removing Toxins

If you are not removing waste frequently from your bowels, then you will have problems. When you defecate you remove things your body does not need, including toxins that will cause you a tremendous amount of trouble. If you do not have bowel movements regularly, these toxins can leach BACK into your body. This is terrible for you on many levels and can easily cause more suffering than many diseases. If the issue is IBS (or any condition due to high inflammation) then you have to lower the inflammation. The best way to do this would be to go on keto (make sure you do not ingest dairy) and then your inflammatory problems will likely disappear. There are other ways to lower inflammation, but as I have stated, most of them are hard on the gut, which would be counter productive for conditions like IBS.

If you are constipated frequently or do not go to the bathroom often enough, here are some ways to improve it.

1: Drink more water – This step is critical. Your body cannot make anything move without water. Drink more of it. You are almost certainly not drinking enough. You are also likely ingesting a lot of diuretics, like coffee, that are taking water out of your body instead of putting it back in. Drink more water.

2: Take 1000mg of Vitamin C (any form) and Magnesium Citrate, 100mg up to 400mg (use this form of magnesium, magnesium oxide is the most common form sold and does not absorb well at all in your body) with food. Vitamin C will also help remove inflammation. You can start off small and do 500mg Vitamin C and 100mg Magnesium Citrate with food. If this does not make you defecate then take the same dose again at your next meal. The max dose of Magnesium Citrate I would take in a day is 400mg. The max dose of Vitamin C would be around 3000mg.

3: Take a psyllium husk supplement (the ingredient in Metamucil that makes it work) if you do not get enough fiber in your diet. Do this only for a short time, this stuff is not for long term use. Make sure you add healthy fiber into your diet so you do not need to take this supplement.

4: Organic cold pressed, hexane free Castor oil will absolutely clear your bowels out. It will also probably help move toxins out of your body. This stuff is POWERFUL. If you are going to use it start with drops at a time and drink plenty of water. Not for frequent use. This is something of a last resort in my opinion but I know some people who use it frequently. This stuff works so well to get bowels flowing that it was actually used as a way to torture people hundreds of years ago. I personally would try the other methods before this one.

Conclusion

Fixing your gut is the first and most important step in healing the body. Once you have done this and you have developed the good habits to maintain optimal gut health you have dramatically improved the length and quality of your life. It may seem hard at first, but you can do this. And once you have done it you will experience something so powerful that no amount of money can buy it.

A long life in a healthy body.

Now is the time. You got this, get to work.

You Can Fight Forever

And

You Can Overcome Anything

About the Author

I spent years suffering from Lyme, coinfections, toxic mold and heavy metal poisoning. No Doctor ever solved any of these problems for me. Things became so bad that these aliments almost killed me, and worse, made my life so difficult to live that I had no choice but to find a way to fix them myself. Through research and courage I made myself better than I was before I got sick. Now I have made it my mission to help others who are suffering as I have. These plants, my research and my dedication to those I love are what I used to heal. Now I am stronger than I ever was before. My story can be found here and you can contact me here. We are all in this together. And together, we will win.

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