I'll never forget the day I realized something was seriously wrong with my gut.

It was shortly after my 40th birthday.

I woke up one morning with a heavy, bloated feeling that just wouldn’t go away. I headed to the kitchen to make breakfast, but even the thought of food made me feel nauseous.

My stomach felt tight, crampy, and I had a burning sensation that radiated into my chest.

I wanted to go about my day as usual, but all I could manage was to sit on the couch and hope the discomfort would pass.

But it didn’t. It lingered and worsened, making me feel sluggish, foggy, and irritable.

The more I worried about my stomach, the more I started to notice other strange symptoms popping up—random skin flare-ups, mood swings, and constant cravings for unhealthy foods.

I assumed their was something very wrong with my gut.

And then all of these gut problems caused me to think about the gut challenges my grandmother was facing.

Crohn's disease, celiac disease, diabetes. She even had cancer this past year she was battling too.

I started to panic, thinking, “If I’m feeling like this now, how long will it be before I’m facing the same chronic health diseases?”

It wasn’t long until I sought advice from my own doctor.

He explained that I was indeed showing all the early signs of a condition called leaky gut.

He said that an leaky gut can often be the root cause of many serious health issues and that it's crucial to address it early to prevent further complications.

He and his medical colleagues had been referring to the gut as “The Body's Command Center” and "The Second Brain" for years.

Determined to understand more, I did a deep dive into the causes and effects of leaky gut. What I discovered was alarming and eye-opening.