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Top 5 Natural Leaky Gut Repair Supplements of 2023

Learn what to look for and avoid when choosing a quality supplement to help treat leaky gut.

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Digestive issues, food sensitivity, maintaining a healthy weight, brain fog, mood swings, fatigue, headaches, yeast infections, and UTIs all have one thing in common — your gut. 

And one of the most prevalent culprits behind all these issues is called Leaky Gut Syndrome, which can wear down your intestinal lining, making it easier for harmful toxins to breakthrough and wreak havoc on your health.

So What Is Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Along with breaking down food and absorbing nutrients, the digestive tract also works to protect your body from harmful toxins. The walls of your digestive tract are like barriers; they control what enters your bloodstream to be later transported to your organs.

When the tight junctions (small gaps in the intestinal wall) are working properly, this allows essential nutrients to pass through, as well as  block the passage of harmful substances.
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Common Risk Factors for Leaky Gut

  • Too much sugar
  • Poor diet
  • Consuming too much alcohol
  • Excess stress
  • NSAIDs such as ibuprofen

These factors may corrode and wear down the walls of your digestive tract, creating permeability (or gaps) within their tight junctions.  In other words, it allows the bad stuff, such as bile and harmful bacteria, to leak through into your bloodstream.

This can lead to a host of problems, ranging from digestives issues, increase in junk food cravings, fluctuating weight, yeast overgrowth, fatigue, mood swings, and headaches.

How To Pick The Right Leaky Gut-Busting Supplement

Considering how far-reaching the effects of leaky gut can have on your health, it’s no wonder more and more people are searching for a powerful supplement that can help shield their digestive tract from future damage and rebuild their gut lining. 

However, not all supplements are created equally. Many brands will cut corners, filling their supplements with harmful additives and using ineffective ingredients or weak dosages. That's why Smarter Reviews has compiled months of research about this emerging category. We’ll show you what to look for and what to avoid in a leaky gut supplement, and how it can help transform your whole body health.

Before we dive into what makes a leaky gut supplement effective and worth your hard-earned money, it’s important to understand what exactly it can do for your health.

So with all these amazing health benefits in mind, which ingredients should you look for in a supplement that can help treat leaky gut and what should you avoid?

Top Ingredients To Help Treat Leaky Gut Syndrome

L-Glutamine

This specialized amino acid has been shown to strengthen the intestinal wall and regulate tight junctions. On the flip side, low levels of l-glutamine can result in looser junctions, which would then allow for contaminants to pass through the intestinal wall and into your bloodstream. Since this is such a vital ingredient to healing leaky gut, look for at least 1,800 mg of l-glutamine per serving.

Licorice Root

This powerhouse ingredient is able to help control helicobacter pylori, a detrimental bacteria that can enter your body through your digestive tract, causing ulcers and inflammation. That’s why we highly recommend looking for a clinically studied version of this ingredient, such as Gutgard, at 150mg per dosage. However, if a product lists over 500mg per daily dosage, this could increase the level of stress hormone called cortisol.

Acacia Fibergum

Acacia fibergum comes from the sap of the Acacia tree, which is a small, shrub-like plant native to Africa. Packed with tons of soluble fiber, acacia fibergum gets broken down into beneficial short-chain fatty acids, which have a healing effect on your intestinal wall lining.

Prebiotics

When it comes to getting leaky gut under control, prebiotics are essential. Prebiotics act like fuel for the good bacteria in your gut and super-charge them to get to work repairing and balancing your microbiome — fast.

What Ingredients To Avoid

Magnesium Stearate

This cheap filler is used to help bind ingredients together and lubricate the supplement so it doesn’t gum up when it is run through the manufacturing machines. Magnesium stearate adds no nutritional value and can become toxic to your system.

Titanium Dioxide

Widely relied upon in supplement manufacturing as a coloring agent and binding mineral, titanium dioxide can compromise the health of your immune system. Low-quality gut health supplements typically include this filler.

Top 5 Leaky Gut Supplements Of 2023

We've compiled a list of what we've found to be the top five products in this category on the market today.

1. GutMD®

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packaged goods

Total Ranking

9.7/10

A+

Overall Grade

PROS

  • Formulated with clinically studied ingredients
  • Contains l-glutamine 
  • Powerful potency 
  • Doctor formulated
  • 90-day, risk-free, money-back, product guarantee

CONS

  • Out of stock frequently
The Bottom Line

Our Smarter Shoppers have voted GutMD® by 1MD Nutrition™ as the most popular supplement to help heal leaky gut. It is one of the best formulas on the market, due to its robust clinically studied ingredients, powerful dosage of l-glutamine, vegan capsule composition, and no synthetic fillers or additives. 

This was the only product we could find that has been formulated by a top doctor, specifically a Gastroenterologist (gut and digestive health physician). Plus, it was also one of the only leaky gut supplements that was third-party tested.

Additionally, their return policy was topnotch — a comprehensive, 90-day, risk-free, money-back guarantee, proving the company stands behind its products. This was a huge advantage versus the competition, along with total effectiveness projections that rivaled any other supplement we found. All in all, 1MD Nutrition™ is our top pick.

*Results are based on the Smarter Reviews Ranking System and do not necessarily reflect typical results from the use of these products. Please visit product websites for more information.

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2. GI Repair Powder

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a white box with blue text

Total Ranking

9.2/10

A-

Overall Grade

PROS

  • Includes l-glutamine
  • Positive costumer reviews 

CONS

  • Does not contain clinically studied ingredients  
The Bottom Line

GI Repair Powder by Vital Nutrients is a good leaky gut supplement, but falls short of being great.

Vital Nutrients formulated their product with a good proprietary blends that includes l-glutamine, but failed to use the clinically studied version of any of the ingredients, so it lacks the bioavailability to deliver results effectively or quickly.

Overall, customers were happy with their purchase. Although some were a bit bothered that it came as a powder, so they had to prepare a smoothie every day in order to consume it.  

For all these reasons, GI Repair Powder by Vital Nutrients is number 2 on our list.

*Results are based on the Smarter Reviews Ranking System and do not necessarily reflect typical results from the use of these products. Please visit product websites for more information.

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3. Leaky Gut Repair

number
a white can of energy drink

Total Ranking

8.9/10

B+

Overall Grade

PROS

  • Contains l-glutamine and licorice root
  • No harmful additives or fillers 
  • Positive reviews  

CONS

  • Lacks prebiotics and acacia fibergum
The Bottom Line

Leaky Gut Repair by Liver Medic uses some powerful leaky gut-busting ingredients, such as l-glutamine and licorice root, but once again does not use the clinically studied version or powerful dosages of these ingredients. It also lacks some key ingredients, such as prebiotics and acacia fibergum.

However, it was formulated without any harmful additives or fillers, which gives it a boost in our rankings. Plus a majority of the customers were happy with their purchase and reported positive results.

*Results are based on the Smarter Reviews Ranking System and do not necessarily reflect typical results from the use of these products. Please visit product websites for more information.

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4. Leaky Gut Defense

a white container with a label
a white container with a green label

Total Ranking

8.2/10

B-

Overall Grade

PROS

  • High dosage of l-glutamine
  • Contains prebiotics 

CONS

  • Lacks key ingredients 
  • Mixed customer reviews 
The Bottom Line

Coming in at number 4 on our list is Leaky Gut Defense by Pure Therapro. This product is missing some key ingredients, such as prebiotics. However, this product had a high dosage of l-glutamine, which is helpful for treating leaky gut.

Leaky Gut Defense was formulated with monk fruit, giving it a sweet taste, which some customers complained can be slightly overpowering. 

Pure Therapro only offers a 30-day money-back guarantee policy, and that’s only if the product wasn’t opened. This return policy is lacking compared to the more robust guarantees of the other products on this list.

*Results are based on the Smarter Reviews Ranking System and do not necessarily reflect typical results from the use of these products. Please visit product websites for more information.

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5. Gut Formula

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a white bottle of shampoo

Total Ranking

7.9/10

C+

Overall Grade

PROS

  • Contains l-glutamine, licorice root, and prebiotics

CONS

  • Ingredients hidden in proprietary blend
  • Formula often changes  
  • Mixed customer reviews 
The Bottom Line

Rounding off our list is Gut Formula by Ancient Nutrition. It’s formulated with lots of important ingredients, such as l-glutamine, licorice root, and prebiotics. Unfortunately, the ingredients are hidden in proprietary blends, so we don’t know how potent they actually are.  

It’s also worth pointing out that some customers complained that the formulation is often changed, leading to inconsistent results.

*Results are based on the Smarter Reviews Ranking System and do not necessarily reflect typical results from the use of these products. Please visit product websites for more information.

Learn More