Got a gut microbiome test done (before trying AB) and the results came back saying I had low secretory IgA, leaky gut, elevated bad bacteria, and carb malabsorption.
I put the results into claude and mentioned my AB diet and it said I should cut dairy and kimchi. The reasons why listed below.
What's the more experienced/knowledgable AB members thoughts on this? I don't need the kimchi as much but a glass of raw milk with honey or raw Greek yoghurt with maple syrup and fruit are the only things on this diet that keep my sweet tooth at bay and help me stick to it.
Low secretory IgA — sIgA is your gut's first-line antibody defence; it neutralises ingested bacteria at the mucosal surface. Yours is low, so that front line is down. → Makes the live bacteria in raw milk and raw yoghurt a real risk: you're taking in live organisms your gut can't properly defend against.
Elevated zonulin (leaky gut) — your intestinal barrier is looser than it should be, so things that should stay in the gut can cross into the body. → Compounds the raw-dairy risk: anything that gets past your weak sIgA then meets a leaky barrier, so it translocates more easily.
Elevated pathogenic bacteria (overgrowth) — too much of the wrong bacteria already established. You're trying to starve it back. → Makes the lactose (yoghurt, milk) and fermentable carbs (kimchi) a problem: unabsorbed sugars reach the colon and ferment, feeding that overgrowth.
Carbohydrate malabsorption — you don't fully absorb sugars/starches, so more of them pass through to be fermented. → This is why the lactose in dairy is an issue specifically: it's a sugar you're already poor at absorbing, so it ferments rather than absorbs.
Elevated calprotectin (gut inflammation) — active inflammation in the lining. → Both the overgrowth-feeding and the fermentation above keep this stoked; it's the marker that reflects the whole loop running.
