Best Leaky Gut Supplements

Nearly two-thirds of Americans experience at least one gastrointestinal (GI) problem daily,1 and about eight million annual trips to the emergency room are related to GI concerns.2 Yet these problems often never receive a diagnosis, and even the lucky few with diagnoses don’t often receive treatment that alleviates their symptoms. When irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) feels more like a catch-all diagnosis, mounting frustrations with modern medicine might spill over, worsening your symptoms.

Some attribute chronic GI distress to leaky gut syndrome, a constellation of symptoms related to separations in cells in the intestinal walls. While many medical doctors don’t yet recognize the condition, GI health supplements offer some hope for those suffering.

Among other tests and nutritional changes, adding a GI health supplement — particularly those labeled as “leaky gut supplements” — to your daily routine might mean the difference between feeling uncomfortable and having an easy start to your day. We’ve rounded up the top five best leaky gut supplements and analyzed them in this guide.

Don’t have enough time to read the entire article right now? Check out our top picks below.

At Innerbody Research, we extensively test each health service or product we review, including leaky gut supplements. Our team has spent more than 630 hours studying gut health, poring over hundreds of scientific journal articles pertaining to intestinal permeability, the microbiome, and digestion as a whole. We’ve also heavily researched the most commonly recommended leaky gut supplements and examined other possible avenues of treatment with supplements mainly used for other purposes. Our assessments of customer service, shipping logistics, and other aspects of the purchase process come from our experiences ordering the products ourselves.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy. We’ll continue to monitor the gut health landscape for developments in leaky gut research and treatments to keep this content current.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

Evaluating leaky gut supplements required us to consider several factors that would mean the most to the average consumer. These four criteria are effectiveness, safety, cost, and convenience, all of which should give you the best sense of what could fit your needs. Let’s take a closer look at each category to see what supplements rose to the top.

Effectiveness

Winner: Terra Origin

Finding the right combination of ingredients for your leaky gut symptoms is hard. Since everyone’s body is different and symptoms might come from several causes, the right blend and balance can vary significantly between people. So, while the best leaky gut supplement may not work for everyone, the one that ranks highest in efficacy will specify well-researched ingredients like glutamine and zinc in effective doses without fillers, proprietary blends, or overpromising results.28 35

NatureM.D. and Terra Origin have highly similar ingredient lists. They both have 5g of L-glutamine and substantial amounts of zinc (NatureM.D. has 3mg; Terra Origin has 2.15mg). Terra Origin has more N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (NAG), slippery elm, and marshmallow root, and NatureM.D. contains more quercetin and licorice root, but each difference in ingredient strength is only a matter of 50-100mg. However, NatureM.D.’s formula has a shorter ingredient list, and some beneficial ingredients are left out to ensure it remains a viable option for vegans. As a result, we give the effectiveness category to Terra Origin.

Safety

Winner: Terra Origin

Your GI system is one of the most important parts of your body. You have more frequent, direct interactions with it — and control over it — than with almost any other internal organ or system. When you’re experiencing leaky gut symptoms, it’s especially important that anything you put into your gut is safe. When we evaluate a product for safety, we look at its ingredients and dosing (including fillers and additives), testing measures, and manufacturing processes, as well as how much information about the product the company is willing to share with its customers.

Most of the supplements in this guide offer comparable safety profiles, with relatively low doses of most ingredients that are well below what studies show can cause adverse reactions. Part of the reason we gave the edge to Terra Origin is that it’s:

• Dairy-free
• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Non-GMO
• Made in a cGMP-certified facility

But many of those things can be said of Terra Origin’s competitors. So, then, why Terra Origin? It was a subtle aspect of Terra Origin’s ingredient list that showed us the company’s concern for its customers in the formulation of its product: copper.

Zinc is a common ingredient in leaky gut supplements, as several impressive studies support its ability to help repair and maintain tight junctions in the intestines. But zinc supplementation can deplete copper levels, and Terra Origin is the only product on our list to include copper in its formula as a way of offsetting this potential for deficiency.3

We want to reiterate here that Terra Origin contains NAG, which often derives from shellfish, so the product’s safety doesn’t extend to people with a shellfish allergy.

Cost

Winner: Revive Glutamine

When it comes to a supplement’s cost, we consider several factors. Is the supplement offered at a relatively low price, and do you receive a decent amount of it for what you pay? Are there other deals, savings, and subscriptions you can opt into for an even lower price? Do you have multiple purchase options to find the best deal?

As we mentioned in our efficacy section, glutamine is among the most thoroughly studied supplements for gut health, and there’s a generous amount of scientific evidence to support its role in treating a leaky gut. For that reason, a simple glutamine supplement may be enough for many people. You can get Revive Glutamine for $19.99/month with or without a subscription — less expensive than anything else on our list — and its 10g serving of glutamine is twice as much as the next best supplement. It may lack other useful ingredients such as zinc, but it has the potential to be effective for many, and its price can’t be beaten.

Convenience

Winner: Gundry MD Bio Complete 3

Gut health supplements often come in capsule or powder form. Powders are slightly easier for your body to absorb, but a supplement is only convenient when it’s easy for you to take and dose, too. Taking multiple capsules or measuring an odd fraction of a teaspoon for proper dosing gets complicated and only worsens if there are strict rules about when and how to take the product.

None of our top picks are perfectly convenient, but Gundry MD Bio Complete 3 comes close. You need only two capsules a day to maintain good gut health, and you can take them at any time of day with just a glass of water (preferably before a meal). Seed’s DS-01 Daily Synbiotic also requires just two capsules, but it’s suggested that you take them on an empty stomach (i.e., first thing in the morning), which adds a layer of vigilance on your part that may be inconvenient.

Another convenience measure that Gundry MD offers over our other recommendations is a lengthy money-back guarantee. Some of the supplements in this guide have no guarantee, just short return windows for unopened products. Terra Origin offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, but leaky gut supplements don’t always work that quickly. Gundry MD’s 90-day guarantee allows you to try its products for three months before making a determination about them.

To help you understand the similarities and differences among our top picks, we’ve created a chart that breaks down all the information you need. We’ve used the cost of a one-time purchase for each (except for Seed, which is subscription-only) and included potential savings options:

Leaky gut is more formally known as increased intestinal permeability or decreased intestinal mucosal barrier function.4 The term “leaky gut” has been used to describe a set of general GI symptoms related to issues with your intestines “leaking” toxins and bacteria into your bloodstream as they process food. Specifically, leaky gut is often associated with:

• Chronic diarrhea or constipation
• Gas and bloating
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Sugar or carbohydrate cravings
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Difficulty concentrating
• Joint pain and other forms of inflammation

Some people believe that a leaky gut on its own is the cause of their GI problems, referring to it as “leaky gut syndrome.” While the theory that it’s a separate diagnosable disease is becoming more popular, it hasn’t really been embraced in contemporary Western medicine, and leaky gut syndrome isn’t typically something with which a doctor will diagnose you. Most doctors can’t administer formal and reliable tests to check for a leaky gut, and since it can be indicative of many GI diseases, it’s more likely that you’ll be tested for things like celiac and Crohn’s disease if you present with the above-listed symptoms.

So, leaky gut involves a degradation of your gut’s mucosal barrier, but what causes it in the first place? To understand that, we need to investigate the mucosal barrier and what it does.

Every inch of your intestinal tract is covered in a mucosal barrier. This physical barrier helps keep the lumen — the inside of your intestines — separate from the rest of your body. A normal intestinal mucosal barrier is full of several different kinds of cells, which all work together to absorb nutrients and keep things moving through your intestines. The protein zonulin helps to mediate this permeability as well.57 Tight junctions connect your intestinal cells, regulating the movement of water and other substances through your GI tract.

When your mucosal barrier is compromised, those tight junctions between cells in the intestinal walls open up, leading to small gaps where bacteria and other toxins can move freely. Leaky gut is thought to occur when these tight junctions open up relatively widely, allowing for a greater influx of harm to the intestinal tract. This hyperpermeability can expose your bloodstream to bacteria and other toxins and may affect the contents of your gut microbiome.

There are dozens of different reasons that your intestinal barrier could be weakened. These include (but aren’t limited to):

• Age
• Genetics
• Excessive sugar intake5
• Long-term nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use6
• Excessive alcohol use7
• Vitamin D deficiency8
• Chronic inflammation9
• Yeast (Candida) overgrowth10
• Starvation11
• Parenteral feeding12 (i.e., nutrition via intravenous solution)
• Bodily trauma13
• Emotional stress14
• Infection15
• Chemotherapy16
• Radiation17

A leaky gut could also indicate more complex health concerns, such as:

• Food allergies18
• Celiac disease19
• Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease20
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)21
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)22
• Metabolic diseases23
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease24
• Diabetes25
• Sepsis26

Despite some claims, leaky gut doesn’t appear to be related to autism, depression, anxiety, or skin problems like eczema. That said, there is a strong link between gut health and mental health due to the number of neurotransmitter receptors across the digestive system, so poor gut health can affect how you feel.27

Leaky gut supplements are designed to help quell your symptoms and rebalance off-kilter gut properties. There are three main places and mechanisms that leaky gut supplements support:

• Digestion
• Intestinal mucosal barrier function
• Gut microbiome

Leaky gut supplements contain many ingredients to ease digestion, support your intestines, and bolster your gut microbiome. We’ve rounded up some of the most common ingredients so you can understand exactly what they do to help.

Good leaky gut supplements often combine the above ingredients to provide structural support for your intestinal lining while reinforcing good bacteria in your microbiome, so your body can continue healing long after you take the supplement.

Leaky gut supplements should be generally safe for most healthy adults. However, like all supplements, those for leaky gut are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the same way as pharmaceutical medications or food. Manufacturers cannot legally claim that their supplement can cure, diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.

Since ingredients can vary wildly between leaky gut supplements, make sure to read a product’s Supplement Facts to ensure there are no potential adverse effects for you. Most leaky gut supplements include L-glutamine, which people with a history of liver or kidney disease shouldn’t take.58 Adding glutamine to your daily routine can worsen mental health symptoms such as psychosis, so if you have a history of psychiatric conditions, be cautious when starting a leaky gut supplement.59 Glutamine can also interfere with anti-epileptic medications and epilepsy in general.60

Probiotics are generally safe for most people to take, but as with any supplement, you should reach out to your doctor before beginning a new regimen. However, if you have pancreatitis or a severely compromised immune system (from undergoing chemotherapy, for example), you should take a leaky gut supplement that doesn’t include probiotics.43 That’s because probiotics are still bacteria, and even otherwise beneficial bacteria can pose a risk to the immunocompromised.

Pregnant or lactating people should also avoid leaky gut supplements, as should children.

In addition, don’t mix powdered leaky gut supplements into hot liquids, as L-glutamine deteriorates under heat. Likewise, don’t cook or bake with any leaky gut supplements.

Best overall and best powder

Terra Origin’s Healthy Gut is a powdered formula specifically designed to taste good and help you feel better. It has a long list of gut-healthy ingredients, including:

• L-Glutamine: 5g
• NAG: 500mg
• Slippery elm: 200mg
• Marshmallow root: 200mg
• Licorice root: 100mg
• Quercetin: 50mg
• Aloe vera extract: 10mg
• Zinc: 2.15mg
• Copper: 1mg
• MSM: 200mg
• Stevia: 100mg
• Inulin

Inulin is a prebiotic, though it isn’t marketed as such. It can add a layer of support to your gut, but because the quantity isn’t specified, the dosage here probably isn’t enough to make a big difference in your digestive system. Stevia is likely included to give the powder a little sweetness and boost its flavor. Anecdotal evidence indicates that stevia can cause stomach upset in some people, including bloating and excess gas (which most people are trying to avoid when looking for a leaky gut supplement), though a 2024 study has determined that such symptoms aren’t due to any alteration of the gut microbiome.75

In 2025, Terra Origin Healthy Gut is available in the following seven flavors:

• Mint
• Berry
• Peach Banana
• Honey Lemon
• Watermelon
• Green Apple
• Chocolate

It was previously available in an eighth flavor, Matcha Green Tea, but not anymore.

Terra Origin used to offer some of these flavors in 90-serving containers, as well, but it has since simplified the offerings to 30-serving containers only. There’s also a 21-serving stick pack exclusively in the Berry flavor, a separate vegan formula, and a capsule alternative. The vegan formula has a slightly different ingredient bill, but the L-glutamine and zinc are the same. The capsule provides lower ingredient doses and omits the 5g dose of L-glutamine, so we don’t recommend it as a suitable substitute for the powder or as the best capsule supplement in this guide.

Pricing

You can order Terra Origin’s Healthy Gut powder as a one-time purchase or on a flexible subscription basis. The same goes for the 21-serving boxes of individual stick packs. Terra Origin previously offered a 10-16% discount on bulk orders of two or three containers, but it isn’t available as of early 2025. Speaking with customer support, we learned the company may bring back the bulk order option later in the year.

Right now, when you purchase directly from Terra Origin, the pricing for both the containers and the stick packs looks like this:

• One-time purchase: $35.99
• Subscription, first order (30% discount): $25.19
• Subscription, subsequent orders (10% discount): $32.39

As you can see, the stick packs cost the same as the containers, but they only contain 21 servings, not the 30 servings you get in each container. Ultimately, you end up getting less of the product for the same amount of money thanks to the added packaging involved. The best course of action to ensure consistent daily consumption may be to subscribe to the containers and make one-time purchases of the stick packs. That way, you have your main source of supplement in bulk form and a handful of on-the-go packets if you ever need them.

For subscriptions to either the containers or the stick packs, the delivery intervals are 30, 60, or 90 days. Should you subscribe to the stick packs, you’ll have a supply deficit at month’s end if you use the powder daily.

Terra Origin has a 30-day return policy with free return shipping and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so no matter how much you’ve tried, you can return your Healthy Gut powder for a full refund as long as it’s within 30 days of purchase. That’s not as long as the guarantee from Gundry MD (90 days), but it’s still better than Revive’s 15-day return policy for unopened items only.

Best budget pick and most potent

Since L-glutamine has the potential to treat intestinal injuries, a simple glutamine supplement like Revive might make sense for anyone looking for the simplest possible start on their gut repair journey. We’ve created a guide to our favorite glutamine supplements, and Revive Glutamine is among the best.

The studies we’ve looked at have employed doses of glutamine as high as 40g per day with very few adverse effects.56 Glutamine has been effective in these studies at doses as low as 18-20g/day. It’s hard to know exactly why leaky gut supplements are content with what appears to be a market-wide maximum of 5g per serving, which is why going straight to a single-ingredient source might prove beneficial.

Revive Glutamine contains 10g of L-glutamine per serving. It’s an unflavored drink mix you can combine with water or any drink of your choice. It’s also third-party tested, and the results of that testing are available on the Revive website, but it’s blurry and nearly impossible to read.

Revive lacks many of the other common ingredients in leaky gut supplements, like zinc, but you can combine it with a decent multivitamin for less than the cost of some leaky gut supplements.

Pricing

One 30-serving bottle of Revive Glutamine costs $19.99. Subscriptions are available, but they don’t save you any money; they’re just there for convenience. You could subscribe and save through Amazon, but the product is unavailable as of this writing.

Shipping from Revive is only free on orders of $150 or more — the highest threshold in our guide. The company offers around 40 supplements, as well as apparel and several bundles that can help increase your cost and get you closer to free shipping. But none of those bundles contain Revive Glutamine.

Best capsule

Designs for Health sells GI Revive as both a capsule and a powder supplement. Here, we're looking at the capsule version because it's a solid option for people who'd rather not deal with powder mixes.

Few capsule-based leaky gut complexes pack as much punch as GI Revive. Here are two areas where it stands out:

Apart from the above, several ingredients in the bill appear in other brands we recommend, and a few at equal or higher doses:

• NAG: 1g (500mg more than Terra Origin, 850mg more than NatureM.D, and closer to the typical 1.5g daily dose used in studies)44
• Aloe vera: 300mg (290mg more than Terra Origin, 250mg more than NatureM.D.)
• Slippery elm: 200mg (the same as Terra Origin, 50mg more than NatureM.D.)
• Quercetin: 100mg (50mg more than Terra Origin, 150mg less than NatureM.D.)
• Marshmallow root: 100mg (100mg less than Terra Origin and 50mg less than NatureM.D.)
• MSM: 100mg (100mg less than Terra Origin)

Other ingredients used in GI Revive don’t appear in the other brands discussed in this guide:

• Citrus pectin (1g): A naturally occurring soluble fiber in citrus fruits. Pectins in general can serve as prebiotics.45
• Deglycyrrhizinated licorice root (400mg): Licorice without glycyrrhizin, a compound that can lead to serious side effects such as headache, fatigue, high blood pressure, and heart attack. This form of licorice root may be gentler on the stomach.61
• Chamomile extract (100mg): A botanical with mucosal-barrier stabilizing potential.62 You may have had chamomile as a tea.
• Okra extract (100mg): A demulcent found to have gastroprotective properties in rats at 500mg/kg doses.63 An equivalent dose for a 165lb human would be more than 6g, but researchers have seen GI benefits in human-equivalent doses as low as 120mg.64
• Cat's claw (100mg): A botanical with anti-inflammatory properties.65 Remember, keeping inflammation under control can promote mucosal barrier function.
• Prune powder (100mg): Dried prunes that have been pulverized. The European Food Safety Authority has said that 100g of dried prunes per day can benefit GI health.66

Though its formulation is promising, Designs for Health GI Revive falls short of being our top leaky gut supplement for two reasons. First, unlike Terra Origin, it has no copper to offset the risk of copper deficiency posed by its high zinc content. Second, to deliver all of its ingredients in decent dosages, it requires a huge serving size of seven capsules.

Pricing

Designs for Health GI Revive costs $86.50 as a one-time purchase and $82.17 as a subscription. Subscribers can choose to receive their auto-shipments every one, two, or three months. Shipping is free for orders above $50, and a single container of GI Revive gets you well over the threshold.

Designs for Health is a practitioner-channel company, so customers who purchase directly through the official website will have to create an account and register as patients. Registration requires that you choose one of the following options:

• "I'm looking to find a new practitioner."
• "I'm already working with a practitioner."

Practitioner here refers to one of the medical professionals affiliated with GI. Choosing a practitioner is part of the checkout process, and you can select any one you want. There's no consultation or further barrier you’ll encounter.

Before you buy, you should know that Designs for Health doesn't have a money-back guarantee, only a limited 30-day return policy. To be eligible for a return, your item must be unopened and must be authorized as a returnable product. If it's accepted, your refund will be less a 20% restocking fee, so the most you'll get back is around $65 or $70. You'll also need to consider the cost of return shipping, which is your responsibility to provide.

Best option that includes probiotics and best money-back guarantee

Gundry MD is both the brand name and the name and title of the founding physician who develops the formulas sold under its banner, including Bio Complete 3. This supplement is designed to address leaky gut by improving your gut microbiome by way of a probiotic with two additional supporting ingredients.

One serving is two capsules, which Gundry MD recently reduced from four during a slight reformulation (and, presumably, an upgrade in capsule size).

While it isn’t a perfect supplement, Bio Complete 3 has several ingredients that may help your leaky gut heal itself without additional intervention. There are three major ingredients listed:

Bio Complete 3 also contains maltodextrin, a simple carbohydrate that converts to glucose and preserves the supplement, increasing its shelf life.

Pricing

There are several different ways you can order Bio Complete 3. You can get single or multiple bottles in bulk, and creating a free Gundry MD account unlocks extra savings. We’ve included a chart to help you understand the price differences between your options.

Gundry MD also offers a subscription program that would save you an additional 10% off every order.

You can get free shipping on every order over $49 (so every one-bottle purchase of Bio Complete 3 will ship free to your home). And if you try it and find it doesn’t agree with you, you can take advantage of Gundry MD’s 90-day money-back guarantee to get all of your money back (minus the cost of return shipping).

Interested in learning more? Check out our full review of Bio Complete 3.

Best for restricted diets

We recommend Seed DS-01 Daily Synbiotic for people on restricted diets because it's free of binders, preservatives, and numerous ingredients that can trigger allergic reactions or GI distress, including:

• Gluten
• Soy
• Dairy
• Nuts
• Shellfish
• Sesame
• Glyphosate/AMPA
• Corn

What it is, exactly, is a combination of probiotics with a prebiotic (Indian pomegranate). It contains 24 bacterial strains, 16 of which target gut immunity and barrier integrity. Specifically, it delivers a total of 53.6 billion AFU (active fluorescent units, a potentially more accurate method of measuring viable bacterial colonies), with 37 billion of them being aimed at GI health.67

Several of Seed's strains have strong scientific support for their gut-health benefits — for example:

The above list doesn’t cover everything contained in the Seed capsule, but it should give you a sense of what DS-01 can do for your gut health.

Moreover, DS-01 leverages a proprietary technology that can increase the amount of viable bacteria that reaches your GI tract. Called ViaCap, it’s essentially a capsule within a capsule. The outer capsule protects the inner one as the whole thing travels through the harsh gastric environment.

Pricing

Apart from products purchased through its Amazon storefront or brick-and-mortar stores, Seed is a subscription-only service. A one-month supply of its DS-01 Daily Synbiotic, as well as every subsequent refill, costs $49.99 (around $1.67 per serving). However, you can get a discounted rate per unit if you purchase in three- or six-month bulk orders, as illustrated by this table:

As a cherry on top, all U.S. orders ship for free.

If you try Seed and decide it isn’t for you, then you have 30 days to take advantage of its money-back guarantee. It’s a no-questions-asked policy, but it applies only to your first order. Also, you’re responsible for the return shipping.

GutConnect 365 is one of the two supplements on our list that provides 5mg of L-glutamine per serving. As such, it targets tight junction regulation and anti-inflammatory signaling, even if 5g is less than clinical recommendations. In comparison, most studies use about 0.5g per kg of body weight, and Revive Glutamine delivers a 10g dose per serving.48

Here are all the ingredients you can find in GutConnect 365:

• Zinc: 3mg
• Quercetin: 250mg
• Slippery elm bark: 150mg
• Organic marshmallow root: 150mg
• NAG: 150mg
• Licorice root: 150mg
• Aloe vera extract: 50mg
• Maitake mushroom extract: 30mg
• MCT oil powder49
• Stevia

While maitake mushrooms might not have the most scientific evidence pointing to gut support, they do add beneficial fiber to the powder.50

GutConnect 365 comes in both chocolate and vanilla flavors. The powder is completely vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and non-GMO. NatureM.D. advertises that it can work as a meal replacement, but with only ten calories per serving, that seems like false advertising.

Pricing

NatureM.D. can be purchased directly from the company. You’ll find it on popular marketplaces such as Amazon, but since there appears to be no official storefront, its authenticity can’t be verified. A one-time purchase costs $54, while a subscription is $48.60 (a 10% discount).

There used to be a bulk order option that could be paired with a subscription plan, but it’s no longer available.

NatureM.D. provides free shipping on most orders in the U.S. If you or your gut isn’t happy with GutConnect 365, you can return it for a full refund within 30 days of purchase, even if you’ve opened and tried it. It’s not a long guarantee by any means, but it’s better than Revive’s, and it could be long enough for many customers to know whether the supplement is having any effect.

If you’re not sure a leaky gut supplement is right for you, there are several other options you can try to solve your GI problems. Some may require a trip to the doctor’s office, but a few you can take advantage of from the comfort of your home.

We’ve laid out several of them below.