Six Easy Ways To Avoid Leaky Gut (Don’t Let Your Good Health Leak Away!)

Imagine your gut as a fortress, expertly designed to guard your body from invaders while absorbing the nutrients that fuel your life. But what if that fortress began to crack—silently and invisibly—allowing harmful toxins to seep into your bloodstream? This hidden breach, known as "leaky gut," could quietly trigger inflammation and chronic disease throughout your body. The culprits? They’re in your pantry, your stress levels, and even your favorite snacks. Let’s uncover the unexpected ways your gut may be under attack—and what you can do to seal the leaks.

Key Takeaways

• Processed foods and excess fructose are major contributors to leaky gut, damaging the intestinal lining and triggering inflammation that can lead to serious health conditions like liver disease and diabetes.

• Emotional stress, particularly chronic relational stress, can compromise gut integrity, increasing biomarkers for gut permeability and systemic inflammation.

• Gut-friendly habits such as eating high-fiber foods, drinking green tea, and avoiding alcohol and smoking can help restore and maintain a strong intestinal barrier.

How Chips, Stress, and Soda Could Be Destroying Your Gut Lining

Your digestive tract is supposed to absorb nutrients from your food while keeping toxins and pathogens from entering your body – transporting them down and out.

But the protective walls of your digestive tract aren't always up to the job.

They can develop microscopic holes that allow compounds that are never supposed to leave your intestines to escape into your body and bloodstream. It happens when the tight junctions between the cells lining the gut loosen and allow microbes, toxins, and other health-threatening molecules to slip through.

Unfortunately, that happens to many, many people today. It’s a condition called “leaky gut.”

Those leaks from the gut set off persistent inflammation and make you more vulnerable to inflammatory bowel disease, liver fibrosis, diabetes, memory problems, arteriosclerosis, and arthritis.

So let's take a look at how to avoid a leaky gut and keep it from ruining your health.

It’s estimated that your intestinal lining covers about 4,000 square feet. So obviously there's lots of room for that lining to spring leaks that lead to leaky gut.

According to researchers in Australia, some of today's biggest culprits in causing those leaks are the processed foods that we eat so often.

In their tests, the Aussie researchers found that substances called advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), which are found in processed food in great quantities, set off processes in the intestines that make the intestinal walls more permeable.¹ At the same time, the AGEs cause chronic inflammation that can harm the intestines and other organs in the body.

#1. Avoid processed and fried food

A large number of AGEs in processed food form because the high heat used to cook these items causes their proteins and fats to combine with sugars to form what are called glycates. One of the reasons food companies use intense heat to manufacture these foods is to give them long shelf lives.

The high temperatures help to preserve the foods and keep them from spoiling so they don't have to be thrown away if nobody buys them right away. Those sky-high temperatures also make the foods crunchier and tastier – and if you've ever munched on chips, crackers, cookies, or fried meat you know how tasty and irresistible (and profitable) those foods can be!

But there's a dark side to that tasty crunch. Along with leaky gut and inflammation, AGEs have been linked to diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, heart problems, and Parkinson's disease.

#2. Avoid fructose: It fractures the walls of the digestive tract

If you have a sweet tooth, that can also lead to unhealthy leaks in the intestinal walls. The large quantities of fructose that Americans consume are another big factor in our epidemic of leaky gut.

Researchers at the University of California – San Diego have found that the fructose in processed food sets off leaky gut in a way that threatens liver health. These intestinal issues begin when fructose is broken down in the digestive tract by an enzyme called fructokinase. The California researchers report that when the cells of the intestinal lining make this enzyme, they consequently produce less of the proteins necessary to keep the gut barrier sealed shut.²

After that happens, endotoxins produced by microbes in the intestines travel in the blood to the liver where they cause inflammation and the deposit of extra fat that leads to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A shocking one in three Americans now suffers from NAFLD!

"NAFLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the world. It can progress to more serious conditions, such as cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure, and death," warns researcher Michael Karin, PhD.

#3. Manage stress: Emotional cracks in your intestinal wall

If you've ever been so emotionally upset that it gave you a stomach ache, you can begin to see how your emotions affect the health of your digestive tract.

And it turns out that your emotions, especially volatile, painful emotions, can carve out leaks in the walls of the digestive tract.

According to a study at Ohio State University, if you're married and you frequently get into nasty fights with your spouse, you are setting yourself up to develop a leaky gut. Those angry emotions are like chisels chopping away at the walls of your intestines.

"We think that this everyday marital distress - at least for some people - is causing changes in the gut that lead to inflammation and, potentially, illness," says Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, who directs Ohio State's Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research.

The Ohio scientists discovered evidence for this in research that involved 43 married couples. During the investigation, these married people were first surveyed about their relationships and then videotaped for about 20 minutes while they discussed and tried to resolve a disagreement that was causing powerful feelings of conflict. They also underwent blood tests before the discussions began and after they ended.

When the researchers analyzed the tapes, they recorded the amount of hostility expressed between the partners.

"Hostility is a hallmark of bad marriages - the kind that leads to adverse physiological changes," says Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser.

Examinations of the blood tests showed that the men and women who were particularly angry and hostile during the dialogue with their significant others had higher levels of LPS-binding protein in their blood after the discussions than folks who were calmer and less angry.

LPS-binding protein is a biomarker for leaky gut. And the folks who had been extremely angry during the interactions and who also had a history of a mood disorder like depression had the highest, most worrying, levels.

"Marital stress is a particularly potent stress, because your partner is typically your primary support, and in a troubled marriage your partner becomes your major source of stress," says Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser.

Along with LPS-binding protein, the researchers also checked the blood samples for other biomarkers. They found that hostility raised levels of C-reactive protein, which is a sign of inflammation. Plus, they found CD14, which indicates the presence of problematic bacteria in the blood.

#4. Eat more fiber: Keeps the intestinal walls strong

Luckily, if you want to maintain the health of your intestinal walls and keep them from leaking, there’s a team of beneficial bacteria living in your digestive tract that can help you keep those walls sealed.

They’re called probiotic bacteria. But to get them to do a good job of preventing leaks, you have to feed them the right foods for the job.

And the right foods we’re talking about are high-fiber foods.

These bacteria live off the fiber in fruits and vegetables that we humans can’t digest. When these bacteria break down the fiber in fruits, vegetables, legumes (like beans), and whole grains, they produce what are called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Those SCFAs provide nutrition for the cells in the intestinal walls and help them keep leaks from popping open.

According to researchers at the University College Cork in Ireland, SCFAs can reverse intestinal leaks that have been caused by stress. The researchers have also found that when the bacteria in the digestive tract produce SCFAs, your feelings of anxiety and depression often ease up.³

#5. Brew some tea to plug up a leaky gut

Green tea or green tea extract offers another fix for leaky gut.

Research at Ohio State shows that a month of consuming green tea extract can give you a triple benefit – keeping your blood sugar level down, reducing inflammation in the gut, and plugging a leaky gut.

This research involved 40 people. Twenty-one of them had metabolic syndrome – which means they had developed problems like excess fat around their middle along with high blood pressure, low HDL (so-called good cholesterol), and high levels of triglycerides (blood fats) plus high blood sugar. The other nineteen people in the study were in relatively normal health.

The tests revealed that everyone taking green tea extract experienced a health-promoting drop in blood sugar levels. The researchers also found that inflammation in the gut went down as evidenced by measuring proteins in their fecal samples that are linked to inflammation. Urinary tests also showed that the leaky gut was reduced.⁴

The researchers point out that the green tea extracts that people consumed contained the same amount of beneficial catechins as contained in five cups of green tea. Catechins are natural substances in green tea that have been linked to improvements in memory and other benefits.

#6. Limit alcohol, don’t smoke for your gut’s sake

Limiting alcohol and not smoking can also help you dodge a leaky gut.

When it comes to alcohol, research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School shows it only takes one episode of binge drinking to open up a leaky gut that lets pathogenic bacteria and endotoxins (toxins made by bacteria) drain from the digestive system into the bloodstream and throw your immune system into an inflammatory tizzy.⁵

As for smoking, research shows both smoking cigarettes and vaping cause a leaky gut. A study at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine demonstrates that smoking e-cigarettes leads to inflammation in the digestive tract and holes in the intestinal walls.⁶

As you can tell from this research, a healthy lifestyle is key to avoiding a leaky gut.

Our takeaway

While consistent exercise and physical activity a key tool for staying healthy, studies of exercise’s influence on leaky gut have been a mixed bag.

Intense exercise, like sprinting or running marathons, may increase leaky gut. However, moderate exercise like walking and playing relatively laid-back sports like pickleball should be OK.⁷

And you should also note that probiotics may help prevent leaky gut. A study at Penn State shows that strains of probiotic bacteria in yogurt are particularly beneficial.⁸ But if you decide to eat yogurt, avoid the flavored yogurts high in sugar. High sugar content counteracts the benefits of the probiotic bacteria. That’s why my preferred form of probiotics is a supplement.

Summary

A leaky gut, a condition where the intestinal lining becomes permeable, allows harmful substances like toxins and microbes to enter the bloodstream, sparking chronic inflammation and illness. Research shows that processed foods rich in AGEs, excessive fructose, emotional stress, alcohol, and smoking can all weaken the gut wall. However, adopting gut-friendly habits such as increasing fiber intake, drinking green tea, managing stress, and taking probiotics can help protect and repair the digestive barrier. Understanding these triggers and solutions is essential for maintaining whole-body health.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a leaky gut and why is it dangerous?

A leaky gut occurs when the intestinal lining becomes too permeable, allowing toxins and microbes to enter the bloodstream, which can lead to inflammation and chronic diseases like diabetes, arthritis, and liver issues.

What foods should I avoid to prevent a leaky gut?

Processed foods, fried foods, sugary snacks (especially those high in fructose), and alcohol should be minimized to prevent gut barrier damage.

Can stress affect gut health?

Yes. Emotional stress, particularly chronic relational stress, can compromise gut integrity, leading to increased inflammation and gut permeability.

What are the best foods or supplements to support gut health?

High-fiber foods (like vegetables, legumes, and whole grains), green tea, and probiotic supplements or unsweetened yogurt support a healthy gut lining.

Is exercise helpful or harmful for a leaky gut?

Moderate exercise is generally beneficial for gut health, but intense endurance workouts may temporarily increase gut permeability.