A healthy gut is linked to brain function and much more. I’ve struggled with gut issues since I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1998. Now I want to share with you the story of how I healed my gut.
At times my digestion has been good, at others not so much. Dealing with celiac disease has meant enduring a certain amount of IBS. And living with multiple sclerosis has meant that I’ve sometimes experienced sluggish gut motility which is very uncomfortable and can make me a bit cranky! Your digestive system may have suffered from insults like mine above, or perhaps a poor diet, stress, or the overuse of antibiotics. Here are simple steps you can take to heal your gut.
Grain-Free Diet
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in the 1990’s. I followed a strict gluten free diet for a couple of years and did not find much improvement in my digestive system. So I went on a grain-free diet, removing rice, quinoa, and other grain-like seeds, as well as potatoes, corn, and much more. My digestion improved after strictly following this diet for 6 weeks and I’m still on it. Following a grain-free diet is one of the cornerstones of my health plan and has been immensely helpful to me!
All of the recipes on my website are strictly grain-free. For the first few years, I followed the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. For more information on that you’ll want to check out my SCD Recipes page.
Enteromend
I’m absolutely in love with Enteromend, a gut healing product that contains glutamine, aloe vera, and curcumin, among other therapeutic ingredients. When I wake up in the morning I drink a quart of hot water. After that I mix a scoop of Enteromend into 1-2 cups water and drink this mixture on an empty stomach. Along with this incredible supplement I also take two 1 gram capsules of bromelain, which you can find more on below.
A word of caution with glutamine. While it is an incredible amino acid that can tremendously impact gut health for the better, it can also turn into an excitotoxin if it is not properly assimilated and goes down the wrong pathway. For this reason, I started on one-quarter teaspoon of Enteromend and stayed on this dose for several weeks, slowly building up to a full scoop which is just over a teaspoon.
Free exclusive eBook, plus recipes and health tips, delivered to your inbox.
Bromelain
Bromelain is an enzyme used to reduce swelling and inflammation, derived from pineapple. Don’t worry if you’re on a Ketogenic Diet, because this supplement doesn’t contain any sugar. Bromelain is extremely effective in healing tissues in the digestive system. Since bromelain prevents blood clots by acting as a blood thinner, it is important to speak to your doctor if you are going to add this supplement to your healing plan.
Magnesium Supplement
When my gut is sluggish and motility is slower than normal I take this magnesium supplement called H2Go. It consists of magnesium oxide which is not as absorbable as other forms of magnesium, but very effective in stimulating the bowels into moving! When needed I chew 2-6 tablets, which is around 400-1,200 mg. I drink 2 cups of water along with it so that the magnesium doesn’t dehydrate me since it has an osmotic effect, pulling water out of the body and into the gut to be dispelled.
I have tried Natural Calm which contains around 300 mg of magnesium citrate in a 2 teaspoon serving and have not found it to be effective for me in supporting gut motility and reducing constipation. It might work for you though since everyone is different.
Fermented Food
Fermented Foods such as Kevita, Ozuke’s sauerkraut, Bubbie’s pickles, and Nancy’s fermented cottage cheese and yogurt are some of my top choices when it comes to healthy foods rich in probiotics. Not on the menu? Probiotic supplements which I can’t digest and according to this article, may contain gluten, even when labeled gluten-free.
Fasting and Bone Broth
When all else fails, I take a break from eating and do a 1-2 day fast. This is an incredibly helpful pause that helps to reset my gut. If you do not want to cease eating entirely, you can do a bone broth fast. The collagen in bone broth rebuilds the lining of the gut.
Walking
I’ve also found that walking helps to heal my gut. The rhythmic action of moving my pelvis settles my stomach and digestive system. Even when I’m not feeling all that well, maybe even sluggish and tired, a simple 10-15 minute walk, looping around our block can be of great benefit. I generally feel much better after, than I did before.
How I Healed My Gut + Your Tips and Tricks
What are your tips and tricks in keeping your gut healthy? Leave a comment and let me know!
Rebecca Linkletter says
Elana, I have been following your blog since I switched to a paleo diet during university. I loved the simplicity if your recipes but just admired from afar for many years because of cost of ingredients (almond flour is expensive in Canada for a student!). Now, I have recently changed to a low FODMAP diet (for severe IBS-C) and cannot no longer have coconut flour. This has brought me back to your recipes. I am no longer in school, have begun my career (yay! almond flour) and I am loving your recipes. I live in a remote fly-in community in Northern Canada. Needless to say, any ingredient I wish to cook/bake with has to be special ordered in and takes weeks. Not too mention very steep shipping costs (if the company will even ship to us). I recently revisited nuts.com and they actually ship to me…and have low shipping costs. I am so excited to make more of your recipes with the holidays coming up and my ingredients that are in the mail!
Elana says
Rebecca, congrats on graduating and on almond flour. I’m so happy for you :-)
Karen says
Enteromend quesstion. Do you know if it’s possible to get a sample of this product from Thorne? I’d like to try it but I’m cautious. It’s a lot of money to drop on a product that may not work for me.
Thanks, and I hope you are doing well. I just recommended your books to my cousin in law! He’s a foodie who is trying to address diabetes. He’s successfully dropped into the ‘pre diabetic’ category but he needs to work on his desire for carbs. :)
Elana says
Karen, I haven’t contacted the company about this so not sure. Thanks for recommending my books, I want the whole world to have the opportunity to eat healthy food that’s easy to make :-)
Judi johnson says
Can you possibly recommend another supplement like this Enteromend that’s flavorless or a pill? I know I won’t get this down and I’d love to find something to heal my gut. I’ve tried cutting sugar, taking digestive enzymes, charcoal, etc. and nothing has helped. Thanks
Elana says
Judi, thanks for your comment. The best place to start would be with a plain glutamine supplement. I haven’t used one before but am guessing such a thing exists. If you find one please stop back by and let us know :-)
Constance says
Yes, glutamine is sold as a plain, single amino acid supplement.
I’ve used it, on and off, for about 17 years. I generally go with Swanson Vitamins’ own brand of glutamine, which is pretty inexpensive for 100 capsules of 500 mg.
A few years ago, I was diagnosed with GERD due to a hiatal hernia and I find that one 500 mg capsule of glutamine, taken when I wake up, on an empty stomach, with about 4-8 ounces of water, 30 minutes before I eat or drink anything else, does help to lessen my acid reflux symptoms and discomfort.
Even though glutamine the amino acid is not the same thing as glutamate, because I have gotten migraines from excitotoxins like MSG for the last 30 years, I have always been wary of taking much glutamine at one time, so that’s why I stick with just one 500 mg capsule daily.
It is possible that if I bumped it up to 2 capsules daily (which is the recommended dose on the bottle, if I remember correctly), or even more (many people take several grams of glutamine daily), that I might experience even greater relief and healing.
…I might try to increase my morning glutamine dose some time in the future when it seems that nothing else is disturbing my system, so I can give it a fair trial, but this winter my system has had one disturbance after another, so it’s not a good time for me to test ‘optional’ changes to the already-positive aspects of my routine, because I probably wouldn’t be able to identify the subtle repercussions of any one particular, small change, amidst the general topsy-turviness that my health is going through.
I do know that if I stop taking the morning glutamine capsule for more than a few days, my acid reflux symptoms and discomfort worsen.
—
I would recommend trying glutamine to anyone who has digestive system issues.
Apparently most standalone amino acids like glutamine should be taken on an empty stomach, 2 hours after and 30 minutes before a meal, and taken apart from any other amino acid, because if they are taken with a meal they are processed along with the amino acids in the food and don’t have the same impact on the body as they do when taken alone.
—
I will look into Entero-mend, which I had not heard of before.
[However, turmeric in supplement form upsets my stomach and increases my reflux, even when taken with food (which is listed as one of its common side effects) – so I would probably not want to take Entero-mend, especially on an empty stomach.]
Someone mentioned on this comments thread that they found Entero-mend to be a bit expensive, and I expect that folks could go to a site like Swanson and put together a facsimile of at least the main ingredients of Entero-mend by buying some standalone products and taking them together — you can get turmeric, aloe vera, glutamine, and many other things separately.
…I am just mentioning that piecemeal approach as something that might be possible — I have not looked into that specific product and the separate availability/cost of its individual ingredients.
I do this for my daily vitamins and minerals, because none of the available “daily multi” formulas fit what I need (not even the higher-end brands that I have looked into, which can be quite expensive) —
because of my genetic variations such as being compound-heterozygous for MTHFR, and other mutations that mean that I do better with some forms of vitamins/minerals than other forms, plus my particular vitamin/mineral deficiences and over-sufficiencies (based on blood tests), my need to avoid certain additives and fillers that show up in many supplements, and my idiosyncratic reactions to a few standard vitamins/minerals that are in many “multis” (e.g., taking the tiniest amount of biotin or silicon causes coarse, beard-type facial hair to grow — I’m a woman, so that isn’t something I want to happen). The only way to put together a supplementation regime that is tailored to my circumstances is to buy individual supplements, and figure out my own quantities and timing. It doesn’t have to be an expensive undertaking — even though I take a wide array of vitamins/minerals, when I tote up the daily cost of my routine in my supplement spreadsheet, it matches or beats the daily cost of most mid-level brands’ broad-spectrum multis, let alone the higher-end ones.
Elana says
Constance, wow! Thanks for your incredible comment. You are truly inspiring :-)
Allison says
Elana – could you expand on your comment about not being able to digest probiotics? I’m finding them unhelpful (celiac and IBS-D here) and wondering if that’s something others struggle with.
Elana says
Allison, my doctors and I figured out that I have had very mild SIBO which would explain why probiotics are not a great choice for me. Additionally, I’ve linked to another post which explains that some probiotics that are labeled gluten-free actually contain gluten. Once I found that out I had no interest in taking a probiotic pill.
Lily says
Elana,
I am so inspired by you! I have struggled with digestive issues and chronic migraine my entire life. My symptoms peaked toward the end of graduate school and I was miserable. Shortly after being diagnosed with IBS and gastritis, I made the transition to paleo and your blog and recipes have been so incredibly helpful. You make paleo cooking fun, easy and stress-free. I’m still on a journey to heal my gut, but I really resonated with this post and sincerely want to thank you for your wonderful recipes and kindness that you share on a daily basis with all of us!
Best wishes to you!
Lily
Elana says
Lily, thanks for your wonderful comment! I’m inspired to have readers like you and am thrilled to hear that my recipes have been incredibly helpful to you :-)
Terissa says
How did everyone find a reputable & local functional practitioner to work with them with gut issues & more? I live in CT, my son in NY & we both would benefit greatly I feel with an extensive work-up. Maybe supplementation isn’t needed if it’s just low stomach acids, etc. Thank you for any info you can offer.
Elana says
Terissa, here’s a link to one of my posts that lists my favorite functional medicine practitioner:
https://elanaspantry.com/natural-treatments-for-multiple-sclerosis/
I hope you’ll keep me posted on your progress!
Elana
Jennifer says
Love the fasting idea! And loved this article. One thing that I never forget to take daily is a probiotic. Without it I struggle with things at times. Fresh produce is so key too. Fruits and vegetables roasted or raw and meat that is fresh. We buy our meat from a local farmer and although it is pricey, in the long run, it not only saves us money but completely helps the gut as it is so fresh and clean. I rarely eat store bought. Also water. I try and carry water around with me daily as well! :)
Elana says
Thanks Jennifer!
Mia says
Dear Elana,
Thank you for all the great tips that you discovered on your gut healing journey.
I too have had digestive issues all my life. It is the best now that it’s ever been.
Magnesium Citrate powder did help me.
One of the last things that helped me is Restore liquid supplement. restore4life.com It helps to restore the gut lining.
Please go to their website to read the science behind it.
Warm wishes,
Mia
Elana says
Thanks Mia! I actually bought that but I’m doing so well from the protocol mentioned above did not need to use it :-)
Kathy Riley says
Elana, I took antibiotics in my early twenties for acne and developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at 25. My digestion was a mess! In 1984, I discovered the Anti-Candida Diet, essentially a ketogenic diet and immediately it cleared up my brain fog and helped me feel more energetic. About 5 years ago, I tried the GAPS Diet and even did a 30 day GAPS Intro Diet, which was very limited. Bottom line: I’ve done a lot of the same things you suggest but want to warn your readers that they may have a genetic condition that requires major, major help to correct.
From having my genome sequenced, I learned that I have a double mutation on three FUT2 genes. That means that I am a non-secretor of H Antigen. Basically, my digestive tract is a “Teflon Tube” that has no “velcro” to hold onto the probiotics I put in and allow them to colonize. So I want to alert your faithful readers that it’s possible to do all sorts of good things to heal the gut and still get disappointing results.
I recently tried Restore at my local Health Food Store, but I soon found that I could not take it. Now, I am trying a product called Autoimmune X to heal my gut lining. The makers suggest starting with one capsule a day and working up to 8 a day at the end of a week. This is way too much for my system to tolerate. I had to start by putting a tiny fraction of one capsule in 8 ounces of water and drinking one ounce, at least an hour apart, over the course of the day. So far, I’ve not taken more than one capsule a day, but over a period of months, I think I see some progress.
The other product that has helped me is Progurt. It is expensive, and again, taking it as directed on the package really wiped me out. Instead of mixing a sachet in a few ounces of water and drinking the whole thing once a day, I make yogurt with organic whole milk. This product contains one trillion active cultures per sachet, so it’s very powerful, but I’ve been able to decrease my intake of magnesium citrate and also have more energy with less sleep. Problem is, I have to keep taking it in order to see the results. Healthier folks may be able to see results after taking a five sachet course, which is what my local health food store tells me is the “average” experience. Well, I’m not average to say the least.
I just thought your readers would like to know my experience so that they realize 1. not everyone sees great improvement and 2. don’t let the lack of terrific results stop you from trying new products that can give you positive results.
Thanks for all the good information. You do a great job!
Elana says
Kathy, thanks for your incredible comment that is chock full of useful information!!!
Jean says
Elana, thanks for sharing. Do you find supplements with Aloa Vera is a must? What do u think of a company called Plexus for supplements? J
Elana says
Jean, I think aloe vera can work for some people, but it’s the glutamine that I think is an absolutely fantastic supplement :-)
Maura says
Elana how much Glutamine do you take for your gut?
Elana says
Maura, I take one scoop of Enteromend which has around 3 grams of glutamine :-)
Erika says
Elana. Thank you for sharing! I was wondering if you struggled with histamine intolerances? I want to take in bone broth and ferments but they don’t sit well because of histamines. Do you know of any ferments that would work for histamine intolerances? . Thanks!!
Elana says
Erika, I get my histamine levels checked in my quarterly blood work and they haven’t ever been high :-)