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Hi friend,
I did not see this come.
While I was working on healing my gut — trying to fix issues that had nothing to do with my skin — I noticed something changing on my arms and legs. I'd had these little red bumps for years. I tried cream after cream, saw multiple dermatologists, and spent a lot of money trying to clear them up. Eventually, I just gave up and said ‘it is what it is’.
Then, somewhere in the middle of doing the work to improve my gut health, I looked down one day and realized... they were gone. Not faded. Gone.
I wasn't trying to fix my skin. I was trying to fix my gut. But it turns out those two things were never separate to begin with — and that connection has a name: leaky gut.
You've probably heard the term ‘leaky gut’ thrown around. But I want to slow down today and actually explain what's happening in your body when this occurs, because once you understand the mechanism, the "why" behind so much of what I teach starts to click into place. What happened with my skin wasn't random or lucky — it was my body doing exactly what it's designed to do once the underlying problem was addressed.
What Is Leaky Gut?
The medical term is an increase in intestinal permeability, and the biology behind it is quite interesting: the lining of your gut is only one cell layer thick, made of epithelial tissue. Think of it like plastic wrap — a single, thin barrier standing between the inside of your intestines and your bloodstream.
That lining is held together by structures called tight junctions — think of them like the seams holding the plastic wrap together. In a healthy gut, those seams are, tight, not completely closed, but not wide open. They let nutrients through in a controlled way and keep everything else — undigested food particles, toxins, bacteria — exactly where they belong: inside your gut, on their way out.
But those junctions aren't fixed in place. They can loosen. And when they do, that plastic-wrap barrier starts to let things through that were never supposed to cross into your bloodstream.
What Causes the Junctions to Widen?
A few of the most common culprits, and most of us are dealing with more than one at a time:
Chronic stress: Stress hormones directly affect the tight junctions, loosening the seams of that barrier.
Antibiotics: While sometimes necessary, antibiotics wipe out gut bacteria indiscriminately — the harmful and the beneficial — disrupting the balance that helps maintain the gut lining.
Ultra-processed foods: Certain additives and emulsifiers common in processed food have been shown to directly disrupt the gut barrier.
Environmental toxins: Alcohol, certain medications, and everyday toxin exposure all place additional burden on the gut lining.
Why This Matters for Your Whole Body
When those junctions widen, particles that were supposed to stay contained — bacterial fragments, undigested food particles, toxins — start leaking into your bloodstream. Your immune system, which is largely stationed right there in your gut, sees these particles as invaders and mounts a response. Do this repeatedly, day after day, and you get chronic, low-grade systemic inflammation — inflammation that isn't isolated to your gut anymore. It's circulating.
A 2024 research review in the journal GeroScience laid this out clearly: leaky gut has been linked to systemic inflammation implicated in a wide range of conditions — cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline, and autoimmune conditions among them. This is an active, growing area of research.
Why Symptoms Look So Different From Person to Person
Everybody's body is different, and leaky gut won't necessarily show up the same way in you as it does in your sister, your coworker, or your friend. For one person it might show up as bloating and digestive discomfort. For another, it's skin issues (this was what I had until I fixed my gut), joint pain, brain fog, fatigue, or mood changes that seem to have nothing to do with digestion at all.
Different inputs — different combinations of stress, diet, medication history, genetics — are affecting the same underlying source. The presentation varies. The root cause is remarkably similar. This is why I always come back to root-cause work instead of chasing symptoms one at a time. Fixing the barrier itself tends to improve a whole cluster of seemingly unrelated symptoms at once.
How to Start Repairing It
A key player in gut lining repair is butyrate — a short-chain fatty acid your gut cells use as their primary fuel source. Your gut lining actually prefers butyrate over other energy sources to repair and maintain itself, which makes increasing it one of the most direct ways to support healing.
5 food sources that help increase butyrate production:
Cooked and cooled potatoes or rice — the cooling process forms resistant starch, which feeds the bacteria that produce butyrate.
Legumes — beans, lentils, and chickpeas are rich in the fiber that ferments into butyrate.
Oats — a great source of soluble fiber that supports butyrate-producing bacteria. Look for ones labeled glyphosate free.
Slightly green bananas or plantains — higher in resistant starch than fully ripe ones.
Garlic, onions, and asparagus — prebiotic fibers that directly feed butyrate-producing bacteria in your gut.
A few more repair essentials:
Drink organic bone broth. It provides collagen and amino acids like glutamine that directly support the integrity of the gut lining.
Eat anti-inflammatory foods. Fatty fish, olive oil, berries, and leafy greens help calm the inflammatory response that's contributing to the damage in the first place.
Avoid ultra-processed foods. Reducing the additives and emulsifiers that disrupt the gut barrier gives it a chance to heal instead of constantly being re-injured.
Repair, restore, and replenish after antibiotic use. Antibiotics are sometimes medically necessary, but they leave gut bacteria depleted. Follow a course of antibiotics with probiotic-rich foods — yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi — and a high-quality probiotic supplement to help repopulate what was lost.
Prioritize sleep. Your gut lining cells regenerate remarkably quickly — some estimates suggest every few days — and a huge amount of that repair work happens while you sleep. Shortchanging sleep shortchanges your gut's ability to rebuild itself.
Manage chronic stress. Since stress hormones directly loosen those tight junctions, this isn't optional supportive advice — it's addressing one of the actual mechanisms of the problem. This is exactly why the nervous system work we've covered in past newsletters (vagus nerve regulation, breathwork) is part of the healing process.
Faith Corner
"So we built the wall, and the whole wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work." Nehemiah 4:6
Rebuilding doesn’t happen overnight. The people faced opposition, yet they continued the work—one section of the wall, one stone, one step at a time. They had a mind to work, and they trusted God through the process.
That lesson applies to more than just our spiritual lives. We are constantly in need of renewal and rebuilding—spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Opposition will come. It may be stress, poor sleep, unhealthy food choices, discouragement, or simply the temptation to give up when we don’t see results quickly.
Healing a leaky gut can be much the same. It’s the steady work of showing up for your body day after day—choosing nourishing foods, prioritizing rest, managing stress, and building healthier habits. Think of each choice as another stone in the wall.
One stone may not seem like much. But over time, those stones begin to connect, strengthen, and rebuild what was once damaged.
God is not asking you to rebuild everything in one day. Keep showing up. Keep doing the work. Keep trusting Him with the process.
Your gut lining is resilient — but it needs the right materials and the right conditions to keep rebuilding itself, over and over. Small, consistent choices are what get you there.
With faith, science, and wellness,
Liz, The Wellness Nurse 🌿
Registered Nurse | Certified Mental Wellness Coach
P.S. Did any of this resonate with you? Hit reply and share- I read every response and want to hear from you.
P.P.S— If you want more of this kind of deep-dive, faith-rooted, science-backed content, my Faith & Wellness Circle is opening soon— a community built around the intersection of research and faith. A place where people can share about their journey. There’s a free tier to stay connected and to provide tips and encouragement, and a paid tier for deeper content, Q & A’s, and direct access to me. More details coming your way soon!
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⚕️ Medical Disclaimer The content in The Wellness Nurse is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, supplement routine, or health practices.
This newsletter is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician before making changes to your diet or supplement routine, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or managing a medical condition.
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