Vitamin deficiency could be a sign you have leaky gut and why getting tested for leaky gut is so important.
I recently had a vitamin deficiency test done to see if there was anything I was lacking in my diet. As a health nut, I eat a very healthy diet full of fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, and plant based protein as well as take a hand full of different supplements to make up for any nutrients lost in the depleted soil our food is grown in today, nutrient depletion from harvest to plate, and deficiencies faced by those who eat a vegetarian based diet. I thought my test would come back with a big gold star saying everything I was consuming was giving me the adequate amount of vitamins and minerals for a health and vitality.
We can't just eat what is considered “healthy” by the standard American diet and take a pill if we have an issue, we have to get to the root cause of what is causing the issue, stress, or inflammation in your body and treat it head on in a very individualized approach.
Needless to say I was shocked to get my test back and have it say I was extremely deficient in primarily Zinc, B12, and Magnesium. How could this be?! Not only should I be getting more than enough of all three vitamins and minerals from my diet and the copious amount of sprouted pumpkin seeds I eat on a daily basis, I also take all three as a supplement as well! And on top of that, it also said I was allergic to Zinc and magnesium… there was no way this test could be right! After deciding “it wasn’t me, it was the test” I started doing a little digging and found out that individuals diagnosed with leaky guy are also primarily deficient in Zinc, B12, and Magnesium. Hum. Maybe the test was correct after all!
After getting my leaky gut test back, with a positive for leaky gut I was blown away. Not only were these essential vitamins and minerals not being adequately absorbed but being lost through my gut lining. My body’s hypersensitive immune response tagged all three essential nutrients as being invaders or harmful to my health. This for me was such an interesting concept because by eating so many healthy foods and taking these supplements because I had leaky gut I was actually making my self sicker by increasing inflammation and stress on my body. This new revelation not only made me feel like I didn't know my body and that my body was actually attacking itself it also made me so frustrated that I was spending so much every month trying to eat healthy and take supplements that I thought I needed when it was actually just making my leaky gut body inflammation and stress on my body worse.
This example is the perfect example of why our modern form of health care system is flawed. We can't just eat what is considered “healthy” by the standard American diet and take a pill if we have an issue, we have to get to the root cause of what is causing the issue, stress, or inflammation in your body and treat it head on in a very individualized approach. Who knew if was even possible to be allergic to essential vitamins and minerals anyways! This turned out to be a huge learning experience for me and really made me realize the concept of getting down to the main cause of inflammation/stress and that just because your eating what is considered by the Standard American Diet as being healthy doesn't mean its is actually healthy for you! Leading to my primary rule of thumb in my health coaching practice of Test don't Guess.
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