Post From drwillcole.com Date 2024-06-11 21:14:04
Diets That May Help Leaky Gut
There are some great gut diet plans suitable for helping with leaky gut symptoms. Here are the top 5 plans I’d recommend:
- Paleo diet: This diet focuses on whole foods, lean meats, fish, fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds while avoiding processed foods, grains, and dairy products.
- Specific carbohydrate diet (SCD): This diet eliminates grains, dairy, and processed foods, focusing on simple, unprocessed foods that are easier to digest.
- GAPS diet: Based on the SCD, it emphasizes healing foods like bone broth, fermentation-based foods, and easily digestible vegetables and meats.
- Autoimmune protocol (AIP): An extension of the Paleo diet, AIP eliminates additional foods that can trigger inflammation, such as nightshades, eggs, and nuts.
- Low-FODMAP diet: This diet reduces foods high in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols to ease digestive tract distress and reduce gut inflammation.
Example Meal Plans
If you’re just starting to use food as medicine to heal your body, it can feel incredibly overwhelming — especially with all the do’s and don’ts surrounding it.
Below is a 2-day example meal plan with some amazing dishes you can eat that support gut health and healing. With seasonings like salt and pepper, lemon, garlic, coconut aminos, and seaweed flakes, you’ll see there are plenty of ways to elevate whole foods with flavor.
DAY 1
Breakfast: Avocado Sweet Potato “Toast”
Cut up 1 sweet potato into 2 large slices. Bake them in the oven until cooked through. Meanwhile, mash avocado and season it with garlic, sea salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice. Take out the sweet potato slices, top with your delicious avocado mash, and enjoy!
Lunch: Salmon Poke Bowls
Cook some frozen cauliflower rice and add it to a bowl with a handful of diced, wild-caught salmon. Top with seaweed flakes, coconut aminos (a great soy sauce alternative), avocado, and any other toppings you’d like. This makes for a fresh, filling lunch!
Lunch: Gut-Healing Veggie Curry with Coconut Quinoa
Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions, then mix in the coconut oil. Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the ginger until fragrant, then cook the veggies for 5-10 minutes until soft.
Add coconut milk, bone broth, coconut aminos, and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in frozen peas, cover, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve curry over quinoa, topped with green onion and fresh cilantro.
DAY 2
Breakfast: Coconut Yogurt Parfait
Put the amount of coconut yogurt you would like to eat in a bowl. Top with blueberries, chopped bananas, and strawberries. Add a drizzle of manuka honey for a hint of sweetness and extra gut health support!
Lunch: Creamy Broccoli Soup with Turmeric
In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Cook the shallots until crispy, then set aside. Add more oil and cook the onion until softened.
Stir in garlic, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and turmeric until fragrant. Add potato, broth, coconut aminos, salt, and pepper; boil, then simmer covered for 8-10 minutes. Add broccoli and cook until tender, then stir in lemon zest. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Puree the soup until smooth and top with crispy shallots, cashews, and fresh herbs.
Dinner: Chicken Soup
Make a big pot of this, and you won’t have to worry about dinner for the rest of the week!
Simply add pre-cooked, shredded chicken to a large pot of bone broth with zucchini noodles and whatever vegetables you have on hand. Let simmer until vegetables are cooked through. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and ground thyme to taste.