How to Heal a Leaky Gut Naturally

Your gut does more than just digest food—it plays a powerful role in your immune system, mood, energy, and inflammation levels. When your gut lining becomes damaged or overly permeable, it can lead to a condition commonly known as leaky gut, or intestinal permeability.

This condition occurs when the tight junctions in your intestinal lining loosen, allowing undigested food particles, toxins, and microbes to pass into the bloodstream. As a result, your immune system reacts, potentially triggering chronic inflammation, food sensitivities, skin issues, fatigue, brain fog, and even autoimmune conditions.

While it may feel overwhelming, the good news is: you can support and heal your gut naturally. Healing leaky gut is about restoring balance, repairing the gut lining, and addressing the root causes of inflammation.

Please note: While the steps below offer a strong foundation for gut healing, they may not be enough to fully resolve deeper imbalances. If you’re dealing with more complex issues like SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), dysbiosis, chronic bloating, or significant nutrient depletion, you may require functional stool testing and a personalized supplement plan. These steps are a great starting point—but optimal healing often requires looking below the surface.

Step 1: Eliminate Gut-Damaging Foods

The first and most important step in healing a leaky gut is removing the foods that are contributing to the problem. Certain foods can inflame and irritate the gut lining, weaken your microbiome, and make it harder for your body to repair itself.

Top gut-damaging foods to eliminate:

Gluten
Refined sugar
Processed foods and seed oils (like canola, soybean, corn oil)
Conventional dairy (especially non-organic, pasteurized milk)
Alcohol
Artificial sweeteners and additives

These foods can trigger immune responses, increase intestinal permeability, and fuel chronic inflammation. Removing them—even temporarily—can help calm the gut, reduce bloating, and give your body the space it needs to heal.

Step 2: Focus on an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Once you’ve removed inflammatory foods, it’s time to flood your body with nutrients that calm inflammation and support tissue repair. Chronic inflammation is at the root of many gut-related symptoms, so the goal is to nourish your system with whole, healing foods.

Anti-inflammatory foods to focus on:

Leafy greens (spinach, arugula, kale)
Cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts)
Fatty fish (wild-caught salmon, sardines)
Turmeric and ginger (fresh or powdered)
Berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
Avocados, extra virgin olive oil, and flaxseeds

A good rule of thumb is to build your meals around colorful plants, quality proteins, and healthy fats. These foods help lower inflammation, feed your gut bacteria, and provide the vitamins and antioxidants your body needs for healing.

Step 3: Incorporate Gut-Healing Nutrients

Now that your gut is calmer and less inflamed, you can begin to rebuild and repair the gut lining with specific nutrients known for their gut-healing properties.

Key nutrients to support gut repair:

L-glutamine: An amino acid that helps rebuild the intestinal lining
Zinc: Supports immune function and tight junction integrity
Omega-3 fatty acids: Help reduce inflammation and promote healing
Collagen: Provides the building blocks for gut tissue repair

Healing foods to incorporate:

Bone broth (rich in collagen, gelatin, and amino acids)
Fermented foods (see below for more on probiotics)
Wild-caught fatty fish
Pumpkin seeds, oysters, and lentils (great zinc sources)
Grass-fed gelatin or collagen powders (add to smoothies or tea)

These nutrients help restore the gut lining’s strength and flexibility, which is key to reducing permeability and improving nutrient absorption.

Step 4: Support Your Gut Microbiome with Probiotics

Your gut microbiome—made up of trillions of bacteria—plays a vital role in digestion, immune defense, inflammation, and even mental health. When the balance between good and harmful bacteria is disrupted (often from antibiotics, poor diet, or stress), it can contribute to leaky gut and other chronic health issues.

Probiotics help repopulate your gut with beneficial bacteria, which can reduce inflammation, support the gut barrier, and even improve symptoms like bloating, constipation, and food sensitivities.

Probiotic-rich foods to try:

Kimchi
Sauerkraut (unpasteurized)
Kefir (coconut or organic dairy-based)
Kombucha (watch for added sugar)
Miso and tempeh
Yogurt with live cultures (dairy-free options available)

Important note: While probiotics are helpful for many people, they aren’t the right fit for everyone—especially if you have bacterial overgrowth, SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), histamine intolerance, or fungal imbalances. In some cases, probiotics can actually worsen symptoms like bloating, brain fog, or discomfort.

If you suspect deeper gut issues or feel worse after taking probiotics, it may be time to pause and consider advanced functional stool testing to better understand the root cause of your symptoms before continuing supplementation.

Gut healing is not one-size-fits-all. Your symptoms are clues, and your plan should reflect your body’s unique needs.

Step 5: Manage Stress and Prioritize Rest

Did you know that stress can literally damage your gut lining? The gut and brain are connected through the vagus nerve and are in constant communication. When you’re under chronic stress, your body produces excess cortisol, which can impair digestion, reduce blood flow to the gut, and weaken the gut lining over time.

Prioritizing stress relief is not optional—it’s a core pillar of gut health.

Simple ways to support your nervous system and gut:

Deep breathing exercises (try 4-7-8 breathing or box breathing)
Meditation or mindfulness apps (even 5–10 minutes a day can help)
Gentle movement like yoga or nature walks
Creating a wind-down routine at night
Limiting blue light and screen time before bed
Getting 7–9 hours of high-quality, uninterrupted sleep

When your nervous system is in “rest and digest” mode, your body can truly begin to repair.

Conclusion: Healing the Gut, Naturally and Gently

Healing a leaky gut isn’t about overnight changes or rigid protocols—it’s about consistently removing what harms your gut and adding in what helps it heal.

Here’s a quick recap of the natural path to gut healing:

Eliminate inflammatory, gut-damaging foods
Focus on a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet
Incorporate gut-repairing nutrients and foods
Rebalance your microbiome with probiotics
Manage stress and prioritize restorative sleep

Remember: Every step you take toward healing your gut can lead to lasting improvements in energy, immunity, skin health, mood, and overall wellness.

If you’re unsure where to start or feel stuck with your symptoms, you don’t have to do it alone. At Solara Functional Wellness, we specialize in uncovering the root cause of gut issues and creating personalized healing protocols based on advanced testing and your unique story.

References:

Cenni, S., Sesenna, V., Boiardi, G., Casertano, M., Russo, G., Reginelli, A., Esposito, S., & Strisciuglio, C. (2023). The role of gluten in gastrointestinal disorders: A review. Nutrients, 15(7), 1615. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15071615,

Arnone, D., Chabot, C., Heba, A. C., Kökten, T., Caron, B., Hansmannel, F., Dreumont, N., Ananthakrishnan, A. N., Quilliot, D., & Peyrin-Biroulet, L. (2022). Sugars and gastrointestinal health. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 20(9), 1912–1924.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2021.12.011,

Bishehsari, F., Magno, E., Swanson, G., Desai, V., Voigt, R. M., Forsyth, C. B., & Keshavarzian, A. (2017). Alcohol and gut-derived inflammation. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 38(2), 163–171.

Aslam, H., Marx, W., Rocks, T., Loughman, A., Chandrasekaran, V., Ruusunen, A., Dawson, S. L., West, M., Mullarkey, E., Pasco, J. A., & Jacka, F. N. (2020). The effects of dairy and dairy derivatives on the gut microbiota: A systematic literature review. Gut Microbes, 12(1), 1799533. https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2020.1799533,

Conz, A., Salmona, M., & Diomede, L. (2023). Effect of non-nutritive sweeteners on the gut microbiota. Nutrients, 15(8), 1869. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15081869,

Bagheri, S., Zolghadri, S., & Stanek, A. (2022). Beneficial effects of anti-inflammatory diet in modulating gut microbiota and controlling obesity. Nutrients, 14(19), 3985. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14193985,

Aziz, T., Hussain, N., Hameed, Z., & Lin, L. (2024). Elucidating the role of diet in maintaining gut health to reduce the risk of obesity, cardiovascular and other age-related inflammatory diseases: Recent challenges and future recommendations. Gut Microbes, 16(1), 2297864. https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2023.2297864,

Perna, S., Alalwan, T. A., Alaali, Z., Alnashaba, T., Gasparri, C., Infantino, V., Hammad, L., Riva, A., Petrangolini, G., Allegrini, P., & Rondanelli, M. (2019). The role of glutamine in the complex interaction between gut microbiota and health: A narrative review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(20), 5232. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20205232,

Scarpellini, E., Balsiger, L. M., Maurizi, V., Rinninella, E., Gasbarrini, A., Giostra, N., Santori, P., Abenavoli, L., & Rasetti, C. (2022). Zinc and gut microbiota in health and gastrointestinal disease under the COVID-19 suggestion. BioFactors, 48(2), 294–306. https://doi.org/10.1002/biof.1829,

Fu, Y., Wang, Y., Gao, H., Li, D., Jiang, R., Ge, L., Tong, C., & Xu, K. (2021). Associations among dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, the gut microbiota, and intestinal immunity. Mediators of Inflammation, 2021, 8879227. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8879227,

Abrahams, M., O'Grady, R., & Prawitt, J. (2022). Effect of a daily collagen peptide supplement on digestive symptoms in healthy women: 2-phase mixed methods study. JMIR Formative Research, 6(5), e36339. https://doi.org/10.2196/36339,

Bodke, H., & Jogdand, S. (2022). Role of probiotics in human health. Cureus, 14(11), e31313. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.31313,

Gupta, P., & Bhaskar, A. (2024). Gut microbiome modulation: A pathway to inflammation management and neuropsychiatric improvement. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25(11), 6022. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/25/11/6022,

Partrick, K. A., Corrigan, F., & Hutchinson, M. R. (2024). Gut dysbiosis, inflammation and the stress response in major depression: A review. Biological Psychiatry, 95(6), 478–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.11.017,

Rooks, M. G., & Garrett, W. S. (2016). Gut microbiota, metabolites and host immunity. Current Opinion in Immunology, 38, 80–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coi.2016.05.002