Gut Healing Gummies [Strawberry Lemon]

I created this Gut-Healing Gummies recipe for a patient who wanted an easy and convenient way to take her daily supplements. These tasty little treats are fabulous for digestive health since they contain three of my favourite gut-healing supplements. The following functional foods are an important part of any gut-healing protocol because they help to repair leaky gut and feed the good bacteria in your intestinal tract:

• Gelatin: Gelatin makes up almost a third of all of the protein in our bodies, and a dietary deficiency of this key nutrient can wreak havoc on your gastrointestinal system. Gelatin, which comes from animal bones, was traditionally an important part the human diet. Our ancestors generally ate all parts of the animal, including the organs and bones, while modern cooking largely focuses on using only animal meat. Not only is this wasteful, but it is also a disservice to our health because gelatin provides important amino acids for gut health and joint support. Typically I’ll just throw all of my favourite health-promoting powders into my daily smoothie, but gelatin thickens very quickly as it cools so (unless you’re a weirdo who likes drinking thick gelatinous smoothies) it’s best to eat gelatin in gummy form or drink it in the form of bone broth.
• Kombucha: Kombucha is made by fermenting sweetened tea with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (aka SCOBY – we’ve named ours SCOBY Doo). During the fermentation process the bacteria in the SCOBY breaks down the sugar in the tea to release probiotic bacteria. A recent study analyzed the probiotic content of Kombucha and found it to be rich in 2 strains; Gluconacetobacter and Lactobacillus (the most prevalent strain found in a healthy human microbiome). Consuming probiotics has been shown to improve overall gut health since the presence of good bacteria helps to prevent bad bacteria and yeast from overpopulating the gut. Healthy bacteria from probiotic-rich food and drinks can also act as an indirect digestion aid since they helps us breakdown foods and turn them into nutrients.
• Glutamine: I often prescribe glutamine supplements to patients with suboptimal digestive systems because it acts as an anti-inflammatory in the gut and is also necessary for the repair of the intestinal lining. Stress, medications and poor food choices can all impact the lining of your digestive tract leading to a condition called ‘leaky gut‘. The lining of your digestive system relies on the protein zonulin to regulate the spaces between the cells of the intestinal lining, called tight junctions. When you are constantly stressed, taking antibiotics and exposing yourself to inflammatory foods the space between the cells of your gut lining inevitably opens up, allowing larger protein molecules to get into the bloodstream where an immunologic reaction can take place. When food proteins and toxins are able to pass through your gut lining and into your bloodstream it leads to systemic inflammation and immune system problems. While probiotics can indirectly aid regeneration of gut lining, L-Glutamine is an incredible supplement because it can directly feed the cells in your gut so they can regrow. Studies show that glutamine supplementation maintains tight junction integrity and improves gut barrier function after injury.

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Gut Healing Gummies [Strawberry Lemon]

These delicious little treats are easy to make, contain some of my favourite gut-healing ingredients, including gelatin, kombucha, and glutamine. These gut-loving additions contain amino acids that helps to seal leaky gut and feed the good bacteria in your intestinal tract. 

References:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24290641
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4045285/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21248165
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28498331
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27749689