Get in lots of polyphenols. These benefit both you
and your gut microbes directly. Good sources include
extra-virgin olive oil, coffee, dark chocolate, and
berries. Onions are also great to support gut barrier
function.
Cut sugar from your diet, especially in the form of
added fructose. Fructose, whether from organic table
sugar (sucrose is 50 percent fructose, 50 percent
glucose), agave syrup (90 percent fructose), or high-
fructose corn syrup (which is actually 55 percent
fructose), not only increases intestinal permeability
but facilitates the leakage of LPS into circulation.^19
Low-sugar whole fruits are fine, because they come
packaged with fiber and nutrients that support the
gut’s own resistance to permeability. Vive la
résistance!
Eliminate wheat and processed foods from the diet.
Gluten (the protein found in wheat and added to a
multiplicity of processed foods) has the potential to
expand the “pores” in the gut lining. This effect may
be magnified by low-fiber diets and additives
common in processed foods. This topic is explored
further in chapter 7.DOCTOR’S NOTE: HDL—THE GOOD, THE BAD,
AND THE FUGLY
Before medical school, when a doctor started talking to me