June 26, 2025 • 13 mins
Have you ever heard the term leaky gut and wondered what it actually means—or if it has anything to do with being gluten-free or having celiac disease?
In today’s episode, we’re diving into the science behind leaky gut, why it's such a hot topic in the gluten-free world, and how it could be impacting your health more than you realize. Whether you’re newly diagnosed with celiac, suspect a gluten sensitivity, or you’ve been gluten-free for a while but still don’t feel 100%, this episode is for you.
We’ll talk about what a leaky gut really is, what causes it, how gluten plays a major role in damaging the gut lining, and—most importantly—what you can do to support your gut healing journey.
Mentioned Resources
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It’s a space where you can connect with others living gluten-free, ask questions, swap tips and recipes, and get support from people who truly get it. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or a seasoned gluten-free pro, you’ll feel right at home.
This episode is brought to you by Find Me Gluten Free—your go-to app for discovering safe, gluten-free dining options wherever you go!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carrie Saunders (00:00):
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode.
This podcast is based on mypersonal experiences and isn't
medical advice.
Have you ever heard the termleaky gut and wondered what it
actually means or if it hasanything to do with being
gluten-free or having celiacdisease?
In today's episode, we'rediving into the science behind
leaky gut, why it's such a hottopic in the gluten-free world
(00:22):
and how it could be impactingyour health more than you
realize.
Whether you're newly diagnosedwith celiac, suspect of gluten
sensitivity, or you've beengluten-free for a while but
still don't feel 100%, then thisepisode is for you.
So let's get started.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Carrie Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
(00:45):
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
(01:06):
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show Today.
We're talking about what a leakygut is, why it matters and what
can we actually do about it.
So first let's talk about whatis a leaky gut really.
(01:32):
The gut lining is like aprotective mesh or coffee filter
.
It keeps the good stuff in andthe bad stuff out, and when we
damage the lining, this has alot harder job of doing it.
It becomes more porous andthat's what people refer to as
leaky gut.
It lets more things through, soit ends up letting some of the
bad things through.
It can let undigested foodparticles through, toxins,
bacteria.
(01:52):
It can make you processmedicines differently, it can
trigger inflammation or immuneresponses to things you're not
actually allergic to, and it canreally affect your health and
make you feel really badly.
This is one of the reasons thatsome people have basically a
gluten version of arthritis.
(02:13):
Whenever they eat gluten andare gluten intolerant or celiac,
these irritants and theseinflammation items make it
through their gut into theirsystem and their body kind of
freaks out.
So healing a leaky gut is areally important step when
you're going gluten free.
(02:34):
So but let's talk about the linkbetween leaky gut and gluten
first.
So how can gluten damage thegut lining?
So in people with celiacdisease, this is a little bit
more straightforward and alittle bit more obvious.
Gluten triggers an autoimmuneresponse that specifically
damages the intestinal lining.
You're basically damagingyourself when you have celiac
(02:58):
disease.
There's a meme out there that Ithink is completely funny and
it's these little ninja dudesand it's like nobody know,
nobody can destroy me but myself, you know, because our immune
system is basically attackingourselves.
So in celiac disease, ourimmune system is literally
attacking our intestinal lining.
But now, with people withgluten intolerance, gluten may
(03:18):
still trigger inflammation.
That contributes to leaky gutsymptoms.
And in our modern day food ifyou've ever read any of the
famous books like Wheat Belly,it talks a lot about how there's
so much more gluten in ourwheat, barley and rye especially
wheat in modern wheat thanthere used to be.
So our bodies aren't quite ableto process that much gluten and
(03:42):
then over time it startsdamaging it.
So there are some symptoms andsigns that you might have a
leaky gut, even if you're glutenfree.
You might need to do some extrahealing to get that fixed.
Many times that includesdigestive issues like bloating,
gas, constipation or diarrhea,brain fog, fatigue, skin issues
(04:05):
like eczema, acne, joint painsor headaches, nutrient
deficiencies, because your bodyisn't absorbing the nutrients
properly.
Many times this comes out in avitamin D deficiency or one of
the B.
Vitamin deficiencies is one ofthe things that commonly comes
out and when I've been doing myresearch, even in my own body
I've had that as well.
(04:25):
And many times these symptomsoverlap with gluten sensitivity
or celiac disease and may evenpersist after going gluten-free.
If you haven't healed yet, Iknow whenever I went gluten-free
, when I realized I had to be, Icould tell about month after
month after month I felt betterand then I also realized that
(04:47):
the tiniest bits of gluten, evenmore tiny each time, was, like
you know, setting off my immunesystem and making me feel bad.
So that's part of the healingprocess.
So if you have celiac diseaseand feel like, oh, gluten is
worse now for me, now that I'vebeen off of gluten for, let's
say, three, six, nine months ormore, and it affects me more now
(05:09):
than it did before, well,that's because your body has
healed and you're more sensitiveto it.
You notice it more becauseyou're not continually feeding
yourself that gluten.
So it's getting more obviousnow that your gut and body has
been healing.
Now there are some ways to starthealing a leaky gut.
Obviously, I'm going to giveyou some common suggestions, but
(05:30):
you should check with yourdoctor to make sure what is
correct for you.
Number one, obviously, is ifyou are celiac, you must 100%
remove gluten, including anycross-contamination.
You have to be really, reallystrict about this.
Just like somebody with a foodallergy wouldn't have a little
bite or a few crumbs, you knowyou with celiac.
(05:50):
You need to be very diligent aswell, even though it's a
different response in our body.
We also want to focus onnutrient-dense,
anti-inflammatory foods.
Bone broth is a really good onefor healing, especially if you
can make your own bone broth.
This is actually pretty easy todo and I'll put a link.
I'll put a recipe and a link inthe show notes for our bone
(06:11):
broth.
For the bone broth we use, umour recipe.
It's really easy to do.
It is super um, great and tastyfor you and you know what's in
it if you don't get it out of abox.
Now there are some really good,reputable bone broth brands too
, so do some digging, see what'scurrent and great, but this is
a great way to heal your gut.
(06:31):
This is in one of the booksthat I absolutely love, called
the Holistic RX.
That has helped me heal myactually arthritis and go into
remission.
And any time I start feeling off, I go on that protocol of that
diet.
It's a temporary thing and thenI start feeling better.
As long as I stick to, like youknow, not trying to over do
some of the treats I eat, I staypretty good.
(06:53):
Also, we want to have someleafy greens.
Those are great for ourbacteria in our gut.
Cooked vegetables are alsogreat.
Berries and wild caught fishare also really great.
Those are anti-inflammatoryfoods and good on our gut.
And then, if you tolerate it,you can include some gut healing
foods, something like fermentedfoods, like sauerkraut,
(07:16):
kombucha, yogurt, if youtolerate that.
I know I don't tolerate dairyyogurt, but I do tolerate soy or
soy milk, coconut milk, yogurt,definitely not soy milk.
I can't take soy collagen.
That's something that I willregularly take.
I love the Primal Kitchen brandfor that Super clean from what
I've um read on it and I itfeels really good on my gut.
(07:39):
It doesn't bother me at all.
And then we're going to want toavoid gut irritants.
Now this is what I was talkingabout when I might fall off the
wagon.
Excess sugar.
I mean, I love sugar, I lovetreats, I love baking, I love
making all the things, sosometimes I'll go a little
overboard on the excess sugar.
Um, we need to also avoid toomuch alcohol and sades like
(08:01):
Advil.
We need to also avoid highlyprocessed foods.
All of those contribute toirritating our gut and
potentially making the leaky guteven worse.
And then you might want to talkto your doctor about
supplements that you might wantto add, like in some probiotics,
digestive enzymes, zinc,l-glutamine.
(08:23):
Talk to your doctor and seewhat makes sense for you.
Also, sleep and stress matter.
They both affect the gut liningrepair.
We want to make sure that weare getting the sleep that we
need, and most people need sevenor eight hours of sleep.
I know a few people whoactually feel just fine on six,
but you know your body.
So make sure you're getting thesleep you need and the quality
(08:44):
of sleep you need.
So you might need to cut outsome screen time about an hour
or two before bed to help yourbrain actually really settle
down so you can actually sleepcorrectly.
So I have found that sometimes,you know, in my journey of being
celiac and gluten free, or atleast knowing I've been celiac
for 12 years now.
This is a process, you know.
(09:06):
You need to listen to your body.
There are other foods for methat cause me gut problems, like
, for example, I cannot havetomatoes.
Those absolutely destroy mybody.
I also cannot have soy, as Imentioned already previously on
this podcast a few times.
Both of those give me majordigestive issues.
(09:26):
So I'm trying to work onlistening to my body even more,
and there's a few other smallertriggers for me that I'm finding
lately.
Most of it's in the nightshadefamily.
So listen to your body.
There's potentially some otherfoods that you're not tolerant
to that may be continually tocontribute to that leaky gut
problem.
So work with a nutritionist ifyou need to.
(09:49):
You know.
Do some of your own research.
Talk to your doctor and thinkabout what you might need to be
removing too.
My doctor actually recommendedthe FODMAP diet for me.
It did so much wonders for mebecause it helped me figure out
some of the other foods I don'ttolerate, like, I don't tolerate
legumes very well, I don'ttolerate too much raw apples
(10:12):
very much.
So, you know, work with yourdoctor.
There are some great foodelimination diets out there that
can help you figure out ifthere's something else you're
missing and they're temporary.
They're food elimination dietsout there that can help you
figure out.
If there's something elseyou're missing and they're
temporary, they're foodelimination diet.
You add back in, slowly, foodsthat you have removed to see
which ones are triggering you.
So I encourage you to you know,think about your gut.
(10:34):
It is like your second brain.
There's so much research nowthat says your gut is your
second brain, one of the reasonswhy we get brain fog and
migraines and things like thatfrom not eating properly.
So listen to your body, listento how you feel.
If you still don't feel greatand you're celiac and you're off
gluten, if you're glutenintolerant and you're off gluten
and you don't feel well, stilltalk to your doctor about it.
(10:57):
Maybe one of these foodelimination diets can help you
figure out what is triggeringyou as well as the gluten,
because sometimes it's amultitude of things, especially
if we really damaged our gut,like I have.
You know, not knowing.
I had celiac disease for over30 years.
You know my gut's pretty darndamaged.
I can see it in my kids becausewe caught them so much earlier.
(11:18):
They can tolerate all kinds offoods that I can't and I
attribute a lot of it to not,you know, not treating my celiac
disease, because I had no clueI had it.
So listen to yourself, listento your body, work with your
doctors and your doctor type ofpeople you know nutritionists
and dieticians and see what youcan do to help you feel better,
(11:40):
because you deserve to feelgreat even when you're
gluten-free.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
(12:04):
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode and we will see you nextweek.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
(12:27):
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not providemedical advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
Quick reminder before we get started on this
episode.
This podcast is based on mypersonal experiences and isn't
medical advice.
Have you ever heard the termleaky gut and wondered what it
actually means or if it hasanything to do with being
gluten-free or having celiacdisease?
In today's episode, we'rediving into the science behind
leaky gut, why it's such a hottopic in the gluten-free world
(00:22):
and how it could be impactingyour health more than you
realize.
Whether you're newly diagnosedwith celiac, suspect of gluten
sensitivity, or you've beengluten-free for a while but
still don't feel 100%, then thisepisode is for you.
So let's get started.
Welcome to the Gluten-FreeEngineer Podcast.
I'm your host, Carrie Saunders.
In 2011, I was diagnosed withceliac disease, a moment that
(00:45):
changed everything, but I wasdetermined not to let it hold me
back.
With my two engineering degrees, I set out to reverse engineer
the gluten-free lifestyle,breaking down recipes, safety
tips, travel hacks andeverything in between to rebuild
a life I love.
Whether you have celiac disease, gluten intolerance or simply
choose to live gluten-free, thispodcast is for you.
(01:06):
Join me each week as wesimplify the gluten-free
lifestyle, make it fun and provethat you don't have to miss out
on anything.
Welcome back to the show Today.
We're talking about what a leakygut is, why it matters and what
can we actually do about it.
So first let's talk about whatis a leaky gut really.
(01:32):
The gut lining is like aprotective mesh or coffee filter
.
It keeps the good stuff in andthe bad stuff out, and when we
damage the lining, this has alot harder job of doing it.
It becomes more porous andthat's what people refer to as
leaky gut.
It lets more things through, soit ends up letting some of the
bad things through.
It can let undigested foodparticles through, toxins,
bacteria.
(01:52):
It can make you processmedicines differently, it can
trigger inflammation or immuneresponses to things you're not
actually allergic to, and it canreally affect your health and
make you feel really badly.
This is one of the reasons thatsome people have basically a
gluten version of arthritis.
(02:13):
Whenever they eat gluten andare gluten intolerant or celiac,
these irritants and theseinflammation items make it
through their gut into theirsystem and their body kind of
freaks out.
So healing a leaky gut is areally important step when
you're going gluten free.
(02:34):
So but let's talk about the linkbetween leaky gut and gluten
first.
So how can gluten damage thegut lining?
So in people with celiacdisease, this is a little bit
more straightforward and alittle bit more obvious.
Gluten triggers an autoimmuneresponse that specifically
damages the intestinal lining.
You're basically damagingyourself when you have celiac
(02:58):
disease.
There's a meme out there that Ithink is completely funny and
it's these little ninja dudesand it's like nobody know,
nobody can destroy me but myself, you know, because our immune
system is basically attackingourselves.
So in celiac disease, ourimmune system is literally
attacking our intestinal lining.
But now, with people withgluten intolerance, gluten may
(03:18):
still trigger inflammation.
That contributes to leaky gutsymptoms.
And in our modern day food ifyou've ever read any of the
famous books like Wheat Belly,it talks a lot about how there's
so much more gluten in ourwheat, barley and rye especially
wheat in modern wheat thanthere used to be.
So our bodies aren't quite ableto process that much gluten and
(03:42):
then over time it startsdamaging it.
So there are some symptoms andsigns that you might have a
leaky gut, even if you're glutenfree.
You might need to do some extrahealing to get that fixed.
Many times that includesdigestive issues like bloating,
gas, constipation or diarrhea,brain fog, fatigue, skin issues
(04:05):
like eczema, acne, joint painsor headaches, nutrient
deficiencies, because your bodyisn't absorbing the nutrients
properly.
Many times this comes out in avitamin D deficiency or one of
the B.
Vitamin deficiencies is one ofthe things that commonly comes
out and when I've been doing myresearch, even in my own body
I've had that as well.
(04:25):
And many times these symptomsoverlap with gluten sensitivity
or celiac disease and may evenpersist after going gluten-free.
If you haven't healed yet, Iknow whenever I went gluten-free
, when I realized I had to be, Icould tell about month after
month after month I felt betterand then I also realized that
(04:47):
the tiniest bits of gluten, evenmore tiny each time, was, like
you know, setting off my immunesystem and making me feel bad.
So that's part of the healingprocess.
So if you have celiac diseaseand feel like, oh, gluten is
worse now for me, now that I'vebeen off of gluten for, let's
say, three, six, nine months ormore, and it affects me more now
(05:09):
than it did before, well,that's because your body has
healed and you're more sensitiveto it.
You notice it more becauseyou're not continually feeding
yourself that gluten.
So it's getting more obviousnow that your gut and body has
been healing.
Now there are some ways to starthealing a leaky gut.
Obviously, I'm going to giveyou some common suggestions, but
(05:30):
you should check with yourdoctor to make sure what is
correct for you.
Number one, obviously, is ifyou are celiac, you must 100%
remove gluten, including anycross-contamination.
You have to be really, reallystrict about this.
Just like somebody with a foodallergy wouldn't have a little
bite or a few crumbs, you knowyou with celiac.
(05:50):
You need to be very diligent aswell, even though it's a
different response in our body.
We also want to focus onnutrient-dense,
anti-inflammatory foods.
Bone broth is a really good onefor healing, especially if you
can make your own bone broth.
This is actually pretty easy todo and I'll put a link.
I'll put a recipe and a link inthe show notes for our bone
(06:11):
broth.
For the bone broth we use, umour recipe.
It's really easy to do.
It is super um, great and tastyfor you and you know what's in
it if you don't get it out of abox.
Now there are some really good,reputable bone broth brands too
, so do some digging, see what'scurrent and great, but this is
a great way to heal your gut.
(06:31):
This is in one of the booksthat I absolutely love, called
the Holistic RX.
That has helped me heal myactually arthritis and go into
remission.
And any time I start feeling off, I go on that protocol of that
diet.
It's a temporary thing and thenI start feeling better.
As long as I stick to, like youknow, not trying to over do
some of the treats I eat, I staypretty good.
(06:53):
Also, we want to have someleafy greens.
Those are great for ourbacteria in our gut.
Cooked vegetables are alsogreat.
Berries and wild caught fishare also really great.
Those are anti-inflammatoryfoods and good on our gut.
And then, if you tolerate it,you can include some gut healing
foods, something like fermentedfoods, like sauerkraut,
(07:16):
kombucha, yogurt, if youtolerate that.
I know I don't tolerate dairyyogurt, but I do tolerate soy or
soy milk, coconut milk, yogurt,definitely not soy milk.
I can't take soy collagen.
That's something that I willregularly take.
I love the Primal Kitchen brandfor that Super clean from what
I've um read on it and I itfeels really good on my gut.
(07:39):
It doesn't bother me at all.
And then we're going to want toavoid gut irritants.
Now this is what I was talkingabout when I might fall off the
wagon.
Excess sugar.
I mean, I love sugar, I lovetreats, I love baking, I love
making all the things, sosometimes I'll go a little
overboard on the excess sugar.
Um, we need to also avoid toomuch alcohol and sades like
(08:01):
Advil.
We need to also avoid highlyprocessed foods.
All of those contribute toirritating our gut and
potentially making the leaky guteven worse.
And then you might want to talkto your doctor about
supplements that you might wantto add, like in some probiotics,
digestive enzymes, zinc,l-glutamine.
(08:23):
Talk to your doctor and seewhat makes sense for you.
Also, sleep and stress matter.
They both affect the gut liningrepair.
We want to make sure that weare getting the sleep that we
need, and most people need sevenor eight hours of sleep.
I know a few people whoactually feel just fine on six,
but you know your body.
So make sure you're getting thesleep you need and the quality
(08:44):
of sleep you need.
So you might need to cut outsome screen time about an hour
or two before bed to help yourbrain actually really settle
down so you can actually sleepcorrectly.
So I have found that sometimes,you know, in my journey of being
celiac and gluten free, or atleast knowing I've been celiac
for 12 years now.
This is a process, you know.
(09:06):
You need to listen to your body.
There are other foods for methat cause me gut problems, like
, for example, I cannot havetomatoes.
Those absolutely destroy mybody.
I also cannot have soy, as Imentioned already previously on
this podcast a few times.
Both of those give me majordigestive issues.
(09:26):
So I'm trying to work onlistening to my body even more,
and there's a few other smallertriggers for me that I'm finding
lately.
Most of it's in the nightshadefamily.
So listen to your body.
There's potentially some otherfoods that you're not tolerant
to that may be continually tocontribute to that leaky gut
problem.
So work with a nutritionist ifyou need to.
(09:49):
You know.
Do some of your own research.
Talk to your doctor and thinkabout what you might need to be
removing too.
My doctor actually recommendedthe FODMAP diet for me.
It did so much wonders for mebecause it helped me figure out
some of the other foods I don'ttolerate, like, I don't tolerate
legumes very well, I don'ttolerate too much raw apples
(10:12):
very much.
So, you know, work with yourdoctor.
There are some great foodelimination diets out there that
can help you figure out ifthere's something else you're
missing and they're temporary.
They're food elimination dietsout there that can help you
figure out.
If there's something elseyou're missing and they're
temporary, they're foodelimination diet.
You add back in, slowly, foodsthat you have removed to see
which ones are triggering you.
So I encourage you to you know,think about your gut.
(10:34):
It is like your second brain.
There's so much research nowthat says your gut is your
second brain, one of the reasonswhy we get brain fog and
migraines and things like thatfrom not eating properly.
So listen to your body, listento how you feel.
If you still don't feel greatand you're celiac and you're off
gluten, if you're glutenintolerant and you're off gluten
and you don't feel well, stilltalk to your doctor about it.
(10:57):
Maybe one of these foodelimination diets can help you
figure out what is triggeringyou as well as the gluten,
because sometimes it's amultitude of things, especially
if we really damaged our gut,like I have.
You know, not knowing.
I had celiac disease for over30 years.
You know my gut's pretty darndamaged.
I can see it in my kids becausewe caught them so much earlier.
(11:18):
They can tolerate all kinds offoods that I can't and I
attribute a lot of it to not,you know, not treating my celiac
disease, because I had no clueI had it.
So listen to yourself, listento your body, work with your
doctors and your doctor type ofpeople you know nutritionists
and dieticians and see what youcan do to help you feel better,
(11:40):
because you deserve to feelgreat even when you're
gluten-free.
Thank you for listening to thisepisode of the Gluten-Free
Engineer.
If you found value in thisstory, please share it with
someone who might needencouragement on their own
gluten-free journey.
For more tips, recipes,resources and even links to my
YouTube channel, head on over totheglutenfreeengineercom.
(12:04):
It's your one-stop hub to makegluten-free living simple, fun
and full of flavor.
And don't forget to subscribeso you never miss out on an
episode and we will see you nextweek.
The Gluten-Free Engineerpodcast is for informational and
entertainment purposes only.
I share my personal experiencesand stories about living with
(12:27):
celiac disease and navigating agluten-free lifestyle.
This podcast does not providemedical advice.
Always consult with a qualifiedhealthcare professional for
medical questions, concerns oradvice specific to your health.
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