Leaky Gut is a health crisis in industrialized nations. The onslaught of chemical laden foods is disrupting the intestines. When I personally began my health journey, I had been suffering from it. The good news for you and I is that leaky gut is not permanent and can be reversed naturally over time. In this article, I want to discuss what it is, how does it happens, and the what are the symptoms that arise from leaky gut. So let’s get started.
What is Leaky Gut?
Leaky gut (aka increased intestinal permeability) is a condition where the tight junctions that construct the wall of the intestinal tract become inflamed and allow bacteria, toxins, pathogens, and undigested food particles to leak across the lining of the stomach into the blood stream. Obviously, this is not good. Food particles in the blood stream drives inflammation across the whole body as the immune system reacts eagerly to protect the body. In the case of severe leaky gut, an individual will find himself or herself becoming sensitive to almost any food that they enjoy regularly. This would then further drive inflammation, soon opening the gates for chronic disease. The Journal of Diabetes tells us that there is a very strong body of evidence that leaky gut may lead to autoimmune diseases such as diabetes.
What Causes Leaky Gut?
There are thought to be many causes of leaky gut. So what I am going to do is boil it down to the major causes that I see with my patients.
1) Grains
Grains contain gluten, lectins and phytates which can all attach themselves to the gut lining and cause inflammation and damage. A study done by Alessio Fasano, M.D., looked at what actually causes intestinal permeability and found that there is a link between gluten consumption and intestinal permeability.
2) Sugar
The reason that sugar will wreak havoc on your intestinal tract is because it feeds candida, yeast and also bad bacteria. Exotoxins are produces by bad bacteria through a fermentation process, playing a major role in damaging the intestinal lining.
3) Dysbiosis
Dysbiosis, which is the imbalance between good and bad bacteria, is thought to be a major player when it comes to leaky gut. Dysbiosis can stem from poor diet, low quality drinking water, antibiotics and an overall lack of good probiotics in the diet.
4) Toxins
We come into contact with thousands of chemicals on a weekly basis. We don’t know what their effects are on the body, or synergistically how they may damage the human body. What we do know from research that looked at gut ecology and environmental chemicals is that we are certainly seeing harmful effects from the onslaught of toxins. Genetically, some individuals can remove toxins from their body much more effectively than others. Research at Cornell tells us that your ability to remove toxins depends on the microorganisms that live in your gut.
5) Chronic Stress
Chronic stress will damage your immune system’s ability to work effectively, allowing for foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses to drive inflammation. This ultimately drives leaky gut.
6) GMO’s
There is an overwhelming amount of evidence suggesting that glyphosate-covered GMO’s are destroying gut health. Research has found that GMO’s damage the intestinal wall, decrease digestive enzymes, contribute to gluten sensitivity, cause chronic disease and negatively effect gut health in many ways. GMO’s have been banned in many countries around the world. They are bad news and for Americans, when your dinner is banned in several major countries around the world, you may want to rethink your food. The most common GMO foods are corn (85% of US corn in GMO), Soy (90+%), canola, sugar beets, alfalfa, and zucchini.
What are the symptoms of leaky gut?
Leaky gut is a major problem, and it’s a game changer for many people once they heal this condition. If you have a few (or many) of the below symptoms, you may want to consider being tested for it immediately. The symptoms of leaky gut are as follows:
• Food Sensitivities
• Chronic Bloating
• Fatigue
• Joint Pain
• Headaches
• Thyroid Conditions
• Eczema and Acne
• Weight Gain
• Digestive Problems
• Seasonal Allergies
• Hormonal Imbalances
• Brain Fog
When I was suffering from leaky gut, I was uncomfortable more often than not, suffering from symptoms like bloating, foods sensitivities and uncontrollable eczema. It was the eczema that drove me to find solutions for my issues.
Diseases Associated with Leaky Gut
The last thing I want to mention are the diseases associated with leaky gut. It should be taken seriously because when it becomes a chronic issue, it can lead to many serious health concerns.
Remember: I mentioned earlier that leaky gut drives body-wide inflammation. This same inflammation is linked to many major diseases such as.:
• Autoimmune disease
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Digestive disorders (IBS, Celiac disease, Crohn’s) and food sensitivities
• Skin disorders such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema
• Arthritis
• Autism
• Depression
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Kidney Disease
• Obesity
Top Supplements Healing Leaky Gut.
Healing Leaky Gut is a must as so many health issues stem from it. In order to quickly address healing the gastro-intestinal lining I use physician grade formulas. These high potency formulas are designed to effectively and efficiently heal the gut lining naturally.
The Bottom Line:
Gut health intricately affects so many aspects of the body. I think that we will continue seeing more research coming out on this subject, and we can only hope that the FDA begins to ban more toxins associated with destroying gut integrity.
In the meantime, we need to be proactive in our health and make better choices to support proper gut health.
Have you ever struggled with leaky gut? Did interventions work for you?