Questions & Answers

Do You need a Leaky Gut Test Before Starting Treatment?

There are four or five tests you can do for a leaky gut.

You can do food allergy testing, stool testing, zonulin testing, lactose testing, and mannitol testing. However, I do think it’s relevant to you to do the test. I don’t do testing or leaky gut anymore.

Some YouTube videos or websites recommend that you do a leaky gut test for any of a number of symptoms.

My take is this; don’t get paralysis from analysis. You could do twenty tests. I’ve seen many patients who have spent thousands of dollars on testing and got no useful information in return.

If you have problems with your health, there is a high probability that you have problems with your gut.

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The people who are most prone to intestinal permeability are the ones who take pharmaceuticals medications every day, who drink moderate to high amounts of alcohol, and people with a lot of stress in their lives.

You can test for leaky gut, but why would you want to if you already know there is a high probability that you have that condition?

Research conducted since 2000 has shown that a majority of people who live in the Western world have some degree of leaky gut. Most people will have a form of leaky gut, ranging from very mild to extreme. In a majority of cases, these individuals don’t even know that they have leaky gut.

Instead of testing for leaky gut, you would be better off following a lifestyle that will promote gut repair. This means removing the things from your lifestyle and diet that contribute to leaky gut. You don’t need to do a test in order to make changes that will reduce your chances of excessive intestinal permeability.

If you make some changes and your symptoms get better, then you know there is probably a cause and an effect.

The money that you would have spent on testing can instead be spent on stress reduction lessons, good foods, and a relaxing weekend away. In my opinion, that’s a better use of money.

  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23851019
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27339216