I feel like this might be the next step in my healing journey so would be keen to hear thoughts.
What are the different protocols you have tried to correct 'leaky gut', gut dysbiosis and gut infections? Beyond the elimination diets, gluten free, paleo etc. Has anyone found the following helpful and if so have you got any recommended supplements or next steps:
- stool testing?
- betaine with pepsin / other digestive enzymes? which ones?
- Probiotics / Prebiotics?
- Glutamine?
I have been reading and educating myself with Izabella Wentz, but loathe to spend money on expensive testings (GI Effects stool for example) and a practitioner consultation, if i might be able to do things myself.
Does anyone have experience with determining if you have any infections/ yeasts/ parasites without going through expensive tests? That all said, if anyone has experience of healing their gut through doing the stool tests and working with a practitioner i'd be keen to know.
Thank you.
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Fizzyinch
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I tried betaine with pepsin when I first started the elimination diet and AI diet. I’d get very burpy after chicken in particular, I bought the Solgar one from Holland and Barret but recently struggled to get it, it was available on Solgar’s own website. It worked wonders for me. Usually 1 tablet is enough but I can have 2-3 if feeling bloated, without the acid burn they talk about. It does make me a bit farty though!
I tried a lactobacillus probiotic which gave me very loose stools when I used too many was from my local health food shop, about £16 it did settle on only 1 a day with food. Stopped when the bottle ran out, no noticeable difference, but I think it helped the initial weeks of gut repair.
I tried Saccharomyces Boulardii which is actually a fungus, According to Dr. IW it helps restore the lining of the small intestine, repairing leaky gut by expelling harmful gut bacteria again this is from the local health food shop, from inside a fridge. I think it was £20 it’s by Viridian. I used it everyday for a couple of weeks then forgot about it had the initial die off reaction but after 2-3 days things improved. I won’t re-purchase, I feel like it’s done it’s job.
I take a small scoop of L Glutamine elite powder in water before breakfast and before bed. This amino acid according to IW and the Myprotein website I get it from (as it has no other additives) it helps to repair leaky gut, improves absorption and weirdly settles the gut and promotes better sleep.
I literally know when I’ve forgotten it. Might be psychosomatic but who cares, it’s about £12.99 for 500g bag when they have an offer on.
I’ll search for that SIBO questionnaire now and post it for you 🦋💚🦋
Here you go my.healthpath.com/alt-register took me ages to find it, I think its on a timer on their website because when I'd left the laptop had tea and come back again, there it was... weird. I am pretty sure this is the one I did that said I should get the SIBO check, instead I just treated the SIBO myself. Hope that helps x 🦋💚🦋
I had to chuckle as I follow Dr. Wentz, also. She has some great information to share, but does promote expensive testing & her products. I use the info as a springboard. I have had to experiment around. one thing works for a while, then I have to move on.
I’ve never had expensive testing but have tried various things and have improved my gut health tremendously.
For around eighteen months I made coconut milk kefir which I had daily, I’ve now moved on to a probiotic from boots and live coconut yoghurt, also daily.
I take one lamberts betaine HCL with pepsin with my lunch but not any other meals.
I stopped sugar completely for a while, even fruit, as per Dr Peatfields advice for Candida and I think it’s worked.
I’ve also made big changes to my diet - no alcohol, no caffeine, very little sugar, no dairy, no gluten and very limited carbs.
I’m still finding things out and tweaking what I eat but after maybe 40 years of IBS, my digestion seems good so I’m presuming it’s working.
I have cfs/me as well as hashimotos and have been housebound for a while now - I think my gut healing is working and helping my overall health, but just incredibly slowly.
Thanks for your reply. I have tried to find live coconut yoghurt but can’t find anything that isn’t highly processed with other ingredients like maids starch or soya. Do you buy from the supermarket?
Digestive Enzymes (Enzymedica digest gold) have been a game changer for me this past year. They are expensive but totally worth it for me to have been able to expand the foods I can eat.
I've had 3 different gut microbiome tests done and although interesting I didn't find that helpful. The most recent was part of Zoe where it said mine was excellent and basically no advice of how to improve more than eat more food that's good for you which I could have worked out without the price tag 😂 but it has shown that something must have been helping, not sure if enzymes or not.
A few years ago I came across the British (American) Gut project (my first microbiome test) and the general consensus in Facebook groups etc seemed to be to eat 25+ different types of plant a week, have as much diversity as possible add in some fermented food if you can tolerate them (I can't).
The money making version of this and pulling other things together is Zoe, I think they say 30+ now. Some of the advice you can do without getting your individual tests, as a general rule avoid ultra processed foods, eat a balanced diet ie if having a plate of chips eat some nuts and seeds with it, put some olive oil on your salad etc
Without spending money on Zoe can try increasing the range of different plants (this includes whole grains, spices, herbs, pulses etc not just fruit & veg). I already ate enough each week but I tend to eat the same ones so it was more trying to add extra things in, just throwing some mixed seeds/nuts into things, having a handful of nuts with piece of fruit so reduce sugar spikes/dips. They tend to do podcasts and blogs on their research which is easy to follow so can keep up to date on their findings and read through prior ones without paying out.
I would have really struggled to get the diversity I needed without the digestive enzymes, I've given some to people with issues and they've found them helpful too
I can't eat everything, there are still foods I don't get on it but the list is a hell of a lot smaller than it was without the digestive enzymes and I'm probably only bloated 1-2 times a week usually as I've forgotten to take digestive enzyme or I've had a lot of pulses, not read the ingredients of something properly and missed an item in there I know I still can't tolerate well.
Not eating past 7pm at night really helped with my insomnia too, it gives your gut time to rest and digest as I aim for 12h not eating but I hadn't realised eating anything past 7pm was impacting my sleep previously I thought it was just sugar/chocolate. It wasn't until I wore a continuous glucose monitor for a couple of weeks I realised my blood sugar was spiking through the night regardless of what I'd eaten unless I stopped at 7pm and that potatoes were not my friend 😭
This also meant less likely to have an upset stomach in the morning, I always get them if I don't sleep well
I didn't notice a difference with glutamine but my bf at the time said he thought I had more energy when used it
so interesting! I have found less bloating with Betaine hcl and pepsin but I am keen to try other digestive enzymes. Thanks for the reply. I’ll look out for those ones. As far as tests go seems like a mixed bag, just not sure if it’s worth the money
Hi, I think for probiotics it depends on their strength but usually just take them once a day at breakfast. The pack will usually give instructions as well.
For digestive enzymes you would take with every meal, for betaine with pepsin you would take with high protein meals (e.g meat)
I get them from iherb, they went up massively in price earlier this year but I've stuck with them.
I tried a cheaper one but didn't seem to do much so stuck with Enzymedica. I started out using the bean assit one and it worked so well I decided to try one that had more in. Every now and then I think maybe I'm taking them out of habit and don't need anymore so try without and realise I definitely need them!
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