Leaky gut? Put leeks in your soup.

Leaky gut. Sounds bad, even if you don’t know exactly what it means. Basically, the lining of your gut develops cracks or holes, and that lets all manner of bad things to pass through to the tissues behind the lining.

We’re talking undigested food, toxins, and nasty little critters that will make you sick. It also causes inflammation, which is a road to nowhere good for all things health related. It also is bad for your gut flora, the bacteria that lives within all of us.

Since the gut flora microbes outnumber each of us at a rate of around 100 TRILLION to 1, it is wise to keep them happy and healthy. If they feel sick, then guess what…so do you. I know from experience, because my previous lifestyle paid no heed to them, and I suffered all the consequences.

What are those, you ask? Actually, the 100 trillion microbes may have just told you to ask without you even knowing it. Symptoms of unhealthy gut flora and leaky gut can be gas, bloating, heartburn, diarrhea, and feeling tired all the time because you can’t get the energy you need from the food you ate.

Basically, you are run down, your stomach hurts, and you have to keep a mental road map of every emergency bathroom on a road trip. And those are just the mild symptoms.

What makes your gut flora sick?

Do you really have to ask?

Refined carbs like white bread, pasta and rice, high fructose corn syrup which is in just about everything, white sugar in cookies and candy, and even high gluten foods like barley and oats. I never considered myself as having a gluten intolerance, but one day it hit me that after my new lifestyle which eliminated most gluten from my diet, those “race with the devil” moments to get to a bathroom just stopped happening.

No more power slide hand-brake turns into parking lots, no more elbowing old ladies out of the way running into a store in a panic, no more wondering how much a new seat for the car would cost if it came to that. For that reason alone, it’s worth eating natural, unprocessed foods whenever possible.

People always ask me how I resist eating desserts and regular foods, and in truth, once you commit to it long enough to feel and see the difference, you won’t miss it or want it. I don’t even consider it food anymore. It’s why I can make a full octane sugar oreo cake like this and not even be bothered by it:

It might as well be a basketball, or a bad alternator I just removed from a car. I don’t see it as food now. People can eat it in front of me, and I’m not tempted in the slightest.

It’s all about committing and establishing habits. So, let’s say you are ready to move on and make the trillion member army living inside you healthy and happy. It’s cold, so let’s make soup.

Everyone loves soup. Of course, store bought cans of soup won’t work. They are full of oils and sugar and questionable pieces of veggies and meats that are unidentifiable by modern technology. You have to read the labels even on plain “healthy and organic” broths because they will sneak oils and sugars in that are just not needed.

Also, we get to cook with leeks, and who doesn’t love that? Leeks are like a green onion but Godzilla size. They are the anti-leaky gut food as well. One cup only has 54 calories, 2 grams of fiber, and bring vitamin C, vitamin K, and B6 to the party. Leeks help with weight loss, fight heart disease and cancer, and reduce inflammation. They also lower blood sugar, boost your immune systems from infections, and can even help with brain health. In short, they make your gut flora happy, and if 100 trillion of anything are happy, and they happen to live inside of you, that’s a good thing.

But that’s not all. This soup is also full of butternut squash, red lentils, carrots, and potatoes. I can’t possibly list all the good things this soup will do for your insides, but I can tell you it tastes delicious and it’s easy to make. It’s also highly versatile.

Feel free to add or remove anything not to your taste. Just do a quick survey of your gut flora to make sure they approve. I’d do it yay or nay style, otherwise it might take years to count the votes. So let’s eat some leeks to stop that leaky gut. You’ll feel better for it.

100 trillion microbes can’t be wrong.

Butternut Leek Soup:

Ingredients:

2 – 4 cartons vegetable stock – depending on how thick you want it

1 large butternut squash

1 package dry red lentils

3 cloves garlic

1 leek

1 medium yellow onion

1 package organic multi-color carrots

1 package mixed baby potatoes

1 cup grass-fed half and half

1 lb ground turkey

1 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt, pepper, Italian seasonings to taste

Instructions:

Place the stock and the dry lentil in a large bowl and let the lentils soak while you prepare the veggies:

Peel and cut the butternut squash into cubes. Slice the carrots into bite size pieces, and mix half of them with the squash. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces and mix with the other half of the carrots. Toss each with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, stir and bake for 10 – 15 minutes more:

While the veggies are roasting, clean and wash the leek, making sure to get all the dirt and grit out of the bulb. Cut off the upper greens and set aside, Dice the whites of the bulb into fine strips, and dice the garlic. Saute in a large stock pot with the olive oil until just browned and fragrant, stirring constantly:

Add the stock with the lentils to the stock pot and toss in the uncut green tops of the leek. Bring to a boil, then simmer. Add any seasonings such as salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings to taste.

Brown the ground turkey with the diced yellow onion until cooked through, draining any fat in a strainer:

Use tongs to remove the leek greens from the broth and discard. Add the roasted butternut squash and carrots to the stockpot, then blend with a stick blender until smooth. Then add the roasted potatoes and carrots, and the cooked turkey and onion. Remove from heat and stir in the half and half: