Leaky Gut Diet Shopping List
A simple list to stock your pantry and fridge.
- Shopping for basic supplies will help you have lots of mix-and-match options for your leaky gut diet.
- To get started, you’ll want to plan some super simple meals or dishes with five to seven ingredients or less.
- Stocking up on basics and relying on simple protein + healthy fat + carb recipes is a winning strategy for eating right for leaky gut syndrome.
Eating for leaky gut doesn’t need to be complicated. If you follow the basic principle of eating a healthy, whole foods, anti-inflammatory diet, you’re left with a wide variety of delicious recipes that will help with healing leaky gut. But if you’re not used to eating this way, it can be a little overwhelming to get started. Let’s set you up with a shopping list for starting your leaky gut diet plan off right.
Leaky Gut Diet Basics
You may be currently eating foods that are irritating your gut lining. This inflammation can open gaps in your gut lining that allows food particles through, which can cause your immune system to react. The gaps are called leaky gut. This immune activation is thought to be a contributor to leaky gut symptoms and some autoimmune diseases. [1, 2] Your main goal for your leaky gut diet is to reduce irritation to improve your gut health. Eating a simple, whole food diet is an easy gut detox.
Shopping for basic supplies will help you have lots of mix-and-match options for your leaky gut diet.
The following food list is helpful for creating easy, simple meals for a healthy gut:
- Grass-fed or wild omega-3-rich proteins, such as beef, pork, poultry, fish, and eggs.
- A wide variety of prebiotic-rich veggies and fruits, including dark leafy greens like kale, cauliflower, zucchini, lettuce, blueberries, and more. (You may need to use caution with FODMAP veggies or nightshade veggies like eggplant.)
- Healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, ghee, and MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil.
- Healthy sweeteners like maple syrup or honey (though these should be used with caution).
- A variety of nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds.
- Fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir (if you tolerate them).
- Gluten-free whole grains, like rice, oats, quinoa, and millet. (If you have any autoimmune diseases, you may need to use caution with grains).
- Gluten and sugar free sauces like soy sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, and salad dressings.
Eating simple, real foods may help control digestive issues like bloating and IBS, and may even lead to improvements in autoimmune conditions.
Create Simple Meal Plans
To get started, you’ll want to plan some super simple meals or dishes with five to seven ingredients or less.
The basic formula is to include a protein + healthy fats + varying amounts of carbs (which includes veggies) depending on your tolerance. You can flavor your dishes with herbs, spices, and condiments like gluten-free soy sauce.
Here are 5 easy, simple dishes that you can make in your own kitchen:
- Creamy Carrot Soup with Ginger and Turmeric
- Gut Healing Blueberry Smoothie
- Salmon, Sweet Potato, and Cucumber
- Mixed Berry Crumble
- Soothing Slippery Elm Tea
To help make shopping for these recipes easy, I’ve created a shopping list for you to get everything you need for this collection.
Leaky Gut Shopping List
Dr. Michael Ruscio is a DC, natural health provider, researcher, and clinician. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bridgeport and has published numerous papers in scientific journals as well as the book Healthy Gut, Healthy You. He also founded the Ruscio Institute of Functional Health, where he helps patients with a wide range of GI conditions and serves as the Head of Research.Pantry Staples: (click to expand)
- Coconut oil
- 1 can coconut milk
- 4 cups chicken stock or bone broth
- Olive oil
- Gluten free soy sauce
- Maple syrup
- Arrowroot powder
- Coconut flour
- Shredded coconut
Produce: (click to expand)
- 1 yellow onion (or 2 bunches spring onion)
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1 knob fresh ginger
- 2 lbs carrots
- 1 bunch swiss chard or kale
- 3 medium sized zucchini
- 1 banana
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 avocado
- 3 lemons
- Cucumber
- Fresh sprouts
- 6 cups mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries) fresh or frozen
- Whole sweet potato (1 per person)
- Salmon steaks (1 per person)
Herbs, Spices, Flavorings: (click to expand)
- Cinnamon or nutmeg
- Sea salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder
- Italian herbs
Other Healing Foods and Supplements: (click to expand)
- Slippery elm powder – you can find this at your local health food store, herb store, or order online.
- Probiotics (optional)
- Gut healing nutrients (optional)
- Digestive enzymes (optional)
As you shop, leave inflammatory foods like snack foods, sugary foods, and processed foods out of your cart. These foods feed bad gut bacteria and may increase irritation of your gut lining, and increase leaky gut symptoms.
The Bottom Line
Stocking up on basics and relying on simple protein + healthy fat + carb recipes is a winning strategy for eating right for leaky gut syndrome.
By eating an anti-inflammatory diet, you will likely see noticeable symptom improvement. Grab this shopping list, get creating these delicious treats in your own kitchen, and experience the difference for yourself.
More on Leaky Gut:
Reference Links (click to expand)
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Curr Pharm Des. 2016;22(40):6058-6075.
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Tissue Barriers. 2016 Oct 21;4(4):e1251384. doi: 10.1080/21688370.2016.1251384. eCollection 2016.
Discussion
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