Hey!
So I did research and found articles saying exercise is good and bad for Leaky Gut. They found athletes varied, but often had bad bacteria and their gut, however people who exercised often get a boost in their gut health. I take it diet, and over exercising probably plays a role. I also read that intense exercise can decrease blood flow to the gut and intestines resulting in negative affects. If you have any info on this, please share.
Also, please share anything you know about healing leaky gut as well. I'm sure it will help a ton of people. I'm a veggetarian, and I'm not worried about bone broth. There's plenty of other ways to heal the gut without comsuming other animals, so I'm not worried about it.
Thanks!
edit: Update
I did research, and am convinced that only workouts that are intense and cause digestive tract to strain are bad. light, easy workouts are good for the digestive system. If you are an athlete, you are most likely doing intense workouts. apparently most non intense workouts dont last over 30 minutes. Its more about getting the blood to flow than anything else, for beneficial results.
Also, when u exercise, less blood goes through gut. it still helps because it gets to the kidney more efficiently. laying down/relaxing apparently helps blood flow through the gut. so not working out at all is apparently another way to help. but, of course, some people may not benefit from not doing any exercise at all for obvious reasons. so i reccomend up to 30 mins a day of working out regardless.
anyways, please post ur story or anything u know or would like to add below.
Good luck!
Edit: Update and Solution
Thanks again guys! Well, I did a bit more research and I'm convinced that if you do intense workouts, it may cause stress on your digestive system. If you do non intense workouts (which usually shouldn't be no more than 30 min. or much less) Then it helps it. The blood goes through the kidneys more officiently, making it easy on the gut I assume. Or if you just relax a whole day, that also helps a lot because blood flows through the gut more easily.
But of course, getting no exercise at all, ever, can be bad for obvious reasons. So I would suggest getting some short 30 min. exercises in every day just for good health if you want that.
Type of exercise definitely matters. Chronic cardio, results in high cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone and this information results in the body's energy being moved from rest and digest functions and into the muscluar and skeletal system. This means that digestion stops and food can rot in the intestine. This would definitely affect the species of bacteria in the gut.
High cortisol from cardiovascular exercise can also suppress the immune system and cause weight gain. While cardio can be fine in small amounts, it is the chronic cardio that becomes an issue. I typically find endurance athletes with burnt out adrenal glands and chronically low cortisol. Low cortisol is not good either.
As for leaky gut, there are a number of things you would need to do. It involves removing sensitive foods, removing pathogenic infections and rebuilding the mucosal barrier of the gut. My clients get best results with a Paleo style diet. I see that you are a vegetarian. This may be problematic for gut healing if you are eating a high carbohydrate diet (especially a high grain diet). Carbohydrates break down to sugar in the body. Bad bacteria love sugar and this gives them an endless food supply. Pathogenic bacteria and parasites plays a large role in the development of leaky gut. I usually have my clients drinking bone broth, but for a vegetarian you can try L-Glutamine. In my experience, it has always been challenging healing the gut of vegetarians. Not saying it's impossible but it generally involves a lot of troubleshooting.
Reducing grains in the diet (especially gluten containing grains) is very helpful for leaky gut. Stress reduction is also important. The top three causes of leaky gut are gluten, alcohol and stress.
Good luck!
Type of exercise definitely matters. Chronic cardio, results in high cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone and this information results in the body's energy being moved from rest and digest functions and into the muscluar and skeletal system. This means that digestion stops and food can rot in the intestine. This would definitely affect the species of bacteria in the gut.
High cortisol from cardiovascular exercise can also suppress the immune system and cause weight gain. While cardio can be fine in small amounts, it is the chronic cardio that becomes an issue. I typically find endurance athletes with burnt out adrenal glands and chronically low cortisol. Low cortisol is not good either.
So, I do short bursts of exercises throughout the day that aren't usually over 30 minutes. I assume that's cool right? Also, what about weight training. I heard that can be benificial with acne in general, but how does it affect the digestive system? I do about 200 sit ups a day, fight with weights in my hands, and do 200 push ups. Is that bad?
Also, I am wanting to get an MRT. I'm researching it now, but do you know any information on how or where I can get one? None of the Asthma and Allergy places around me seem to give it. Naturopaths seem to have access to more of these tests, but before I spend a fortune, I would like to see if I can get an MRT on my own.
Thanks! Are you a girl? cuz your thing says guy.
Hi Mellowman,
I love burst training. I think it is the best type of exercise for the best results. Resistance training is great. Exercise will not negatively affect the digestive system unless you overdo it, in which case you cause negative stress on the body. I like to do resistance training in bursts. As long as you aren't pushing hard for longer than 30 or 40 minutes, you should be safe.
The MRT test is the best test going right now for food sensitivies. I use this test in my practice with almost every client. You will not be able to order it on your own. You will need to either go through your doctor, naturopath or functional diagnostic nutritionist.
I'm definitely a girl! Hahah. Will have to change that!
Thanks so much for all that info! I found someone who can get me that expensive ass MRT test. But they charge cheaper than a naturopath, so it all works out. Wish me luck!
Right now, I really don't exercise. I try to on the weekends, but chronic fatigue, a symptom of what I suspect is related to leaky gut and/or candida overgrowth, makes it difficult to do so. I live a very sedentary lifestyle, which doesn't help, working in a office type setting, but I am constantly exhausted. Often, I just want to sleep. Getting nine or more hours of rest seems to help but that isn't practical during the week and even then I never feel entirely well rested. Any wakefulness I experience is temporary as well.
Hey all,
I have what I believe to be leaky gut acne too. Of course there is no diagnostic tool for this, but I had gone to a naturopath before and they suggested this might be an issue with my acne.
ANYWAYS, yesterday after a loooong loooong time I decided to work out. I am one of those people who NEVER works out, but i still maintain an average bodyweight/shape so I guess i never had any real motivation to exercise.
I did like a 40 minute workout (included in this is a warm-up and stretch afterward) and that after this work-out, like 30 -40 minutes later, my face and arms broke out, WHICH i might interestingly note is the SAME kind of reaction i get when i eat something my body is sensitive to (wheat, dairy, soy, etc), but i did NOT eat anything of the sort for a long time so i was shocked to see this kind of reaction.
Any idea what this might be? i am scared to work out again 
although i want to try to do a similar workout to see if it happens again just to confirm that it is connected to exercise.
Also i want to add that a lot of people think it is the sweating that causes acne-i hardly broke a sweat. OR maybe i was sweating and didn't even notice. But it would have been very minimal. nothing like wet spots on my workout clothes or sweat beading off my forehead.
Maybe i should exercise in a cooler environment like the basement?
Let me know if you have any other thoughts around exercise and acne!
Also, if you have any examples of exercises that are light and good, or youtube links, that would be very helpful 