“If I just take out one more food, maybe that will get rid of my (bloating, stomach ache, loose stools…..you fill in the blank)”. Does this sound familiar? When my health broke down, I was tolerating no more than 15 foods. My digestion and gut health were a train wreck. I had removed food after food, thinking it would solve my gut problems but my symptoms would always reappear. It was so discouraging.
Why Elimination Diets Have Become So Popular
Across social media, you will most likely have heard of elimination diets. They have been championed as the answer to solving your gut problems. While many people find that they frequently bring some relief to their gut issues, it’s often only temporary and can actually cause more harm than good in the long run.
Why Removing Inflammatory Foods Alone Isn’t Enough
Removing foods that are triggering inflammation in your body and burdening your immune system is very helpful, but by itself, will not heal your gut. Taking away food after food is not going to solve your issues and will eventually cause more issues down the road such as nutrient deficiencies, and likely even more food sensitivities.
Why Gut Health Is So Important
The gut really is at the center of our health. It’s connected to every major system in the body. Studies show that there is a strong connection between chronic diseases, the gut, and the health of the microbiome. Our gut health plays a crucial role in our overall health and immunity.1
How Food Sensitivities Develop
When we don’t digest our foods properly, the lining of the small intestine becomes inflamed. This can lead to “leaky gut” or intestinal permeability, where the tight junctions of the intestine open up and allow particles of food into the bloodstream. Our body sees these particles as foreign invaders, setting off an immune response and the development of food sensitivities, which then results in more inflammation.2
Causes of Food Sensitivities
- Bacterial, viral, or fungal infections
- Parasites
- Dysbiosis
- Insufficient stomach acid
- Insufficient pancreatic enzymes
- Medications
- Overuse of antibiotics
- Stress
- Environmental toxins
- Poor lifestyle habits
The Importance of Nutrient Variety
When we decrease the variety of foods in our diet, this directly affects the variety of nutrients that our gut microbiome receives. Less variety in nutrients can result in an imbalance of “good” and “bad” gut bugs, or dysbiosis. We need our good gut bugs to outweigh the bad in order to support our immune system, and digestion, extract energy and nutrients from food, maintain gut barrier function, and more. Having a wide variety of microbes leads to a healthy and resilient body.
Finding Healing and Hope
I finally found relief, hope, and healing when I sought out functional medicine and nutrition. The answers were in looking for the root cause of my dysfunction, not bandaids that would cover up my symptoms and provide only temporary relief.
Healing the Gut
The key to healing your gut is to remove inflammatory triggers while you work on eradicating any gut infections, repopulating the gut flora, healing the gut lining, normalizing digestive output, and supporting the nervous system. Removal of foods should be temporary while you are healing the gut. Once healing has occurred, foods can usually be added back in, one at a time.
If this blog article resonates with you, reach out. I’d love to help.
References:
- Wiertsema, S. P., van Bergenhenegouwen, J., Garssen, J., & Knippels, L. M. J. (2021). The Interplay between the Gut Microbiome and the Immune System in the Context of Infectious Diseases throughout Life and the Role of Nutrition in Optimizing Treatment Strategies. Nutrients, 13(3), 886
- Camilleri M. (2019). Leaky gut: mechanisms, measurement and clinical implications in humans. Gut, 68(8), 1516–1526.
Leave a Reply