Leaky Gut: What It Means for Your Health and How Gundry Health Can Help

The concept of gut health being central to overall well-being isn’t new. In fact, centuries ago, doctors believed that many illnesses originated in the gut — a concept that fell out of favor as modern medicine evolved. Today, with advanced research and technology, that ancient perspective may not have been so far off.

One topic attracting both scientific and public interest is “leaky gut”, also known as increased intestinal permeability. Growing evidence shows that your gut lining’s integrity plays a crucial role in your immune system, chronic inflammation, and overall health.

At Gundry Health, an online clinic founded by the renowned heart surgeon and gut health expert Dr. Steven Gundry, we specialize in helping patients understand and manage gut-related health issues. Through The Gundry Podcast, free consultations, and personalized care coordination, we bring science-backed solutions to those struggling with chronic symptoms that may be related to gut imbalance.

What Is Leaky Gut?

Your gut is lined with an extensive intestinal barrier covering over 4,000 square feet — nearly the size of a tennis court. This lining acts like a gatekeeper, deciding what gets absorbed into your bloodstream and what stays out.

A healthy gut lining allows beneficial nutrients and water through while blocking harmful substances such as toxins, bacteria, and undigested food particles. However, when the intestinal barrier becomes compromised, “gaps” or “leaks” can form, allowing these unwanted elements to enter the bloodstream.

This condition, referred to as leaky gut, can trigger inflammation, alter your gut microbiome, and potentially contribute to chronic health issues far beyond the digestive system.

Why Does Leaky Gut Happen?

There’s no single cause of leaky gut, but several factors can weaken your intestinal barrier:

• Dietary Patterns: Diets high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, processed foods, and saturated fats can fuel gut inflammation.
• Chronic Stress: Prolonged stress impacts gut-brain signaling, potentially weakening your gut lining.
• Alcohol & Medications: Heavy alcohol consumption and certain medications (e.g., NSAIDs like ibuprofen) can damage the intestinal wall.
• Genetics: Some individuals may be genetically predisposed to a more sensitive gut lining.
• Chronic Diseases: Conditions such as celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, and irritable bowel syndrome are known to be associated with increased intestinal permeability.

Is Leaky Gut Real? The Scientific Debate

The Gundry Podcast has frequently addressed this debate: yes, increased intestinal permeability is real and measurable. However, the medical community is still investigating whether leaky gut is a cause of disease or simply a consequence of existing health problems.

For example, people with autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, lupus, or multiple sclerosis often show signs of increased gut permeability. Similarly, those with metabolic disorders like obesity and type 2 diabetes have been found to have compromised gut barriers.

But here’s the catch: while these associations are clear, proving causation is challenging. Does leaky gut trigger these diseases, or do these diseases cause leaky gut? Current research is ongoing, but one thing is clear — supporting gut health is beneficial regardless of which came first.

Symptoms Potentially Linked to Leaky Gut

Leaky gut doesn’t have a definitive symptom list because intestinal permeability itself is not officially a disease. However, people who suspect they have leaky gut often experience:

• Abdominal pain or cramping
• Bloating and gas
• Food sensitivities or intolerances
• Unexplained fatigue
• Joint pain and inflammation
• Skin issues (acne, eczema, rashes)
• “Brain fog” or difficulty concentrating

If these symptoms sound familiar, you’re not alone. Thousands of people turn to Gundry Health – online clinic every month for help understanding and addressing these issues.

How Gundry Health Approaches Leaky Gut

Dr. Steven Gundry, through decades of research and clinical experience, has shown how diet, lifestyle, and targeted medical care can support gut barrier health. Gundry Health specializes in evaluating your symptoms, understanding your medical history, and providing personalized solutions.

Here’s how we help:

1. Free Consultation with a Care Coordinator

Booking a free consultation is simple. Our care coordinators are trained to assess your symptoms, review your health history, and determine whether you may benefit from further gut health evaluation.

2. Science-Backed Gut Health Testing

We partner with labs and use cutting-edge diagnostic tools to assess markers related to gut inflammation, microbiome diversity, and overall intestinal health.

3. Personalized Nutrition Plans

Dr. Gundry’s nutrition philosophy focuses on reducing inflammatory triggers while supporting a healthy gut microbiome. This often involves removing processed foods, reducing sugar and unhealthy fats, and incorporating gut-friendly foods such as resistant starches, prebiotics, and polyphenol-rich plants.

At Gundry Health, we retest every three months to ensure our patients are making progress with their leaky gut. Because food sensitivities can change over time, we always update patients on what foods to eat and what to avoid, ensuring their nutrition plans stay accurate and effective.

 

4. The Gundry Podcast as an Educational Resource

For ongoing learning, The Gundry Podcast, Gundry Health – What We Treat, and Gundry Health – Articles are incredible resources covering everything from gut health science to practical tips for daily living.

5. Ongoing Support

Gut health is not a “quick fix.” At Gundry Health, we offer continuous care and regular follow-ups to monitor progress, make adjustments, and ensure long-term results.

Can Leaky Gut Be Healed?

The gut lining is resilient and designed to repair itself — but only if given the right environment. Factors that support gut healing include:

• Balanced Diet: Emphasizing whole, unprocessed foods rich in fiber and polyphenols.
• Probiotics & Prebiotics: Encouraging healthy gut bacteria growth while reducing harmful strains.
• Stress Management: Incorporating mindfulness, exercise, and sleep optimization.
• Avoiding Triggers: Reducing alcohol, NSAIDs, and foods that cause sensitivities.
• Targeted Supplements: Some studies suggest that L-glutamine, vitamin D, and certain probiotics can support intestinal barrier repair.

Through a holistic approach, Gundry Health has helped countless patients improve their digestive health and reduce symptoms associated with leaky gut.

Common Questions About Leaky Gut

How fast can leaky gut heal?
A: It varies. Some people see improvements within weeks of dietary and lifestyle changes, while others need months of consistent care.

Where are you currently offering your services?

We are currently offering services to the United States & Canada.

What blood test do you need for a leaky gut?

The blood test was specially curated by Dr. Gundry with our  lab partners. The test is an in-home finger prick kit. It has 10 spots (circles) that you will need to fill in with your blood sample.

The Sensitivity panel tests for food sensitivities and returns IgA and IgG values for 97 different foods grouped by types (fruit, vegetable, meat etc..). This panel also performs an Intestinal Permeability panel that measures the presence of Zonulin, Actin, Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and associated antibodies in the bloodstream.

Do you take health insurance or medicare?

We currently accept HSA/ FSA.

Can you help with RA?

Through 20+ years of scientific research Dr. Gundry discovered groundbreaking evidence that gut health absolutely influences inflammation responses throughout the body. As you may know chronic inflammation can and does lead to auto-immune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis. Although we are not diagnosing nor treating auto-immune diseases, we are healing the gut lining, therefore decreasing the bodies overall inflammation response which can greatly improve auto-immune symptoms. This is a holistic approach to patient care and works by identifying the problem with blood work and building a diet and lifestyle program to heal a leaky gut. Hope this information helps you understand our program a little better.

Do you help with heart disease or just autoimmune?

Most diseases begin in your gut. This program aims to get to the root causes of poor gut health and then focuses treatment on the reduction of consumption of food types that invoke a sensitivity response. This program also seeks to restore balance in the body through nutrition, lifestyle change, stress management, rest, movement, and individualized diet planning. Through 20+ years of scientific research Dr. Gundry discovered groundbreaking evidence that gut health absolutely influences inflammation responses throughout the body. As you may know chronic inflammation can and does lead to auto-immune diseases.

Although we are not diagnosing nor treating auto-immune diseases or heart disease in your case, we are healing the gut lining, therefore decreasing the body’s overall inflammation response which can greatly improve auto-immune symptoms as well as restore balance in the body.

Is Gundry Health available for Android phones?

Gundry Health is compatible with Android phones. In order to have access to the Gundry Health app, you would need to be a patient first. Gundry Health mobile app allows you to request a call back from a patient care specialist, check your lab reports with our easy-to-read charts, download your lab data, make sure the foods you want to eat are safe by using the Yes/No food list and it provides complete food logging that is shared with your doctor to ensure the best class of Care.

How much does it cost?

There is an initial one-time fee of $999, then $199 per month. The $199 a month also provides you with continued lab testing (up to 3 additional a year, every 90 days) to track your progress throughout the program as well as 3 additional medical evaluations by a Gundry-trained expert per each new lab. Additionally, this monthly fee also includes any updated or modified treatment plans you may need depending on your continued lab results/progress. This information can be found in the Get Started section in the upper right.

What are the backgrounds of the assigned patient care coordinators?

Each patient care coordinator is trained by Dr. Gundry himself. Many of our PCC’s have a seasoned history in healthcare, however the value and difference of our PCC’s is their one-on-one training with Dr. Gundry, making them Gundry specialists and experts, unique to GundryHealth.

Do you have a one time plan instead of paying monthly?

There is not a commitment/contract with the Gundry Health program. We recommend continuing the monthly support for months 2 and 3 (the first month is included with the $999) to get to the 90-day mark for a re-test to see the progress and provide any modifications to the treatment plan. You have the option to pause or cancel the monthly subscription of $199 at any time. Ideally, we want our patients to stay on board until their test shows a healed leaky gut. That time frame widely varies from person to person and can be 90 days to 14 months depending on the severity of the leaky gut/intestinal lining.

Could you please confirm whether I’ll be receiving a comprehensive blood test from a standard laboratory or if it will only be the home lab kit?

Our proprietary blood test is strictly an at-home dried blood sample. We utilize the same lab that Dr. Gundry uses in his clinic – it is the only one that he approves of based on the quality.

I would like to know if your testing includes leaky gut assessments?

Yes! Our proprietary blood test includes three portions: a graph showing in real time how leaky your gut is, antibody testing for the three associated leaky gut antibodies (Zonulin, Actin, and LPS), and a food sensitivity panel.

 

Your Next Step: Book a Free Consultation

If you suspect that gut health may be affecting your overall well-being, you don’t have to wait for answers. At Gundry Health’s online clinic, we help you take control of your health through evidence-based strategies tailored to your needs.

Our process is simple:

1. Book your free consultation with a care coordinator.
2. Get a personalized assessment of your gut health risk factors.
3. Receive an actionable care plan designed by experts.

The Bottom Line

While “leaky gut” remains a controversial term in traditional medicine, there’s no controversy about one fact: your gut health matters. It plays a central role in digestion, immunity, inflammation, and even mental health.

At Gundry Health, we are dedicated to helping you optimize your gut health through science-based care, personalized nutrition, and education via The Gundry Podcast. By addressing gut imbalances proactively, you may improve your energy, reduce inflammation, and feel better overall.

Take the first step today. Book your free consultation and start your journey toward a healthier gut and a healthier you.

 

Disclaimer:
As a service to our members, Gundry Health provides access to educational content and resources related to gut health and wellness. Please note the date of last review or update on all materials.

No content provided by Gundry Health, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.