Leaky Gut Syndrome is all the talk these days. Have you ever marveled at the ‘tube’ that is responsible for every ounce of function you experience?!? It is amazing to me that we eat food, and it is broken down, properly absorbed, those nutrients are distributed to their perfect locations for thousands of body functions to occur and then the waste to be packaged and excreted. This process is mind-blowing.
However, what happens if there is a system malfunction? Have you ever purchased a hosepipe, only to get home, plug it in, and BAM! A hole!!
In this blog post, we’re going to talk about Leaky Gut.
- You’re going to learn how your GI tract works
- What happens when our internal hose pipe springs a leak?
- How does this happen?
- What do those symptoms look like?
- How you can repair your gut lining?
LEAKY GUT SYNDROME – HOW YOUR GI TRACT WORKS
Well, our intestines are a shocking 23 feet long, with tiny finger-like projections called villi, these villi help to account for the small intestines having the surface area of a tennis court. The small intestine’s job is to send nutrients to approximately 10 trillion cells through microscopic gates called “tight junctions”.
The gut is lined with 70-80% of your immune system (soldier) cells. These cells line the mucosal lining Keeping invaders (the bad guys) like bacteria, parasites, yeast, and other dangerous organisms from invading the rest of your body, yet they let nutrients through.
Plot twist… you know its coming…. So what happens when things go cray cray?!? Immmmma tell ya
So when the immune system of the gut lining gets compromised… When the soldiers get eliminated and aren’t in high enough numbers, some of the ‘gates’ are left unguarded and the ‘bad guys’ get out!! Sound the alarm yall! When toxins leak into our bloodstream, you’re gonna know about it!
So LV, what do those symptoms look like?!?
I’m so glad you asked sugar 😉 When toxins leak into the rest of our body it causes widespread inflammation, which is the root cause of all autoimmune and degenerative diseases.
LEAKY GUT SYNDROME – WHAT DO LEAKY GUT SYMPTOMS LOOK LIKE?
- Anxiety & Depression
- Gas & Bloat
- Food Sensitivities, especially with Gluten
- Fatigue
- Bouts of Constipation and Diarrhea
- Joint Pain & Arthritis flare-ups
- Nutrient Deficiencies
- Headaches
- Poor Concentration (ADD)
- Brain Fog
LEAKY GUT SYNDROME – HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
There are several things that can lower the gut lining immune system. Normally your personal contributing factor is featured on this list.
- Gluten
- Food sensitivities such as (dairy, corn, soy, etc.)
- GMO Foods
- High Sugar Intake
- NSAIDS- such as Advil, Ibuprofen, Motrin, Asprin
- Inflammation
- Nutrient deficiencies- (Vitamin D3, A, and Zinc)
The common argument among health care professionals is which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is Leaky Gut caused by poor health and inflammation or does Leaky Gut cause poor health and inflammation?
In 2003, an Italian physician Dr. Alessio Fasano published the groundbreaking study in the Annuls of Medicine that established the prevalence rate of celiac disease and gluten intolerance being 1 in 133 people in the U.S.
He also headed a research team in 2000 that discovered Zonulin, which is a protein that modulates the permeability of the tight junctions of the intestines.
Zonulin was triggered by a glycoprotein present in wheat and increases the permeability (leakiness) of the intestines.
Dr. Fasano and the team discovered that gluten and bacteria in the intestines are the main causes of leaky gut, IN EVERYONE. The timeframe for which the leakiness occurred varied, but it still occurred in everyone!
LEAKY GUT SYNDROME – CAN YOU BE TESTED FOR LEAKY GUT?
YES. There is a simple test used to determine whether you are dealing with leaky gut. It’s called a Mannitol/lactulose test. Both of those are water-soluble molecules that the body can’t use.
The test is rather simple. You drink the solution of Mannitol/lactulose and then urine is collected for the next 6 hours and then assessed. In a healthy human, mannitol is easily absorbed by people with healthy intestinal lining. While lactulose is a larger molecule and is only slightly absorbed.
Results look like this:
Healthy gut: High levels of mannitol and low levels of lactulose
Leaky gut: High levels of both mannitol and lactulose
Malabsorption: low levels of both molecules.
LEAKY GUT SYNDROME – REPAIRING THE GUT
Obviously, the number one goal is to eliminate the cause. Once the gluten, infection, sugar, or drugs are eliminated then you can begin to repair. There are 4 lifestyle changes and 3 supplements that can aid in the repair of Leaky Gut.
Lifestyle Shifts
- Invest in quality pre and probiotic. Make sure you have different strands of bacteria. Variety is necessary! You can check out my favorite probiotic here: Probiotics
- Limit sugar intake to not exceed 10 grams daily
- Eat fermented foods! Kimchi, low sugar kombucha, and sauerkraut are necessary additions to daily food intake when trying to repair the gut lining.
- Avoid birth control pills, steroids, antacids, and all NSAIDS as they are known the compromise gut lining integrity.
Supplements:
- Zinc: This mineral is known to de deficient in people who have issues with their intestinal tight junctions. (3) https://amzn.to/341rniB
- Quercetin: this is a super-effective natural anti-inflammatory antioxidant. It occurs in a variety of fruits and vegetables like garlic, capers, cherries, red grapes, blackberries, apples, and many more. (4) https://amzn.to/32H5TY2
- L-Glutamine: is the most important nutrient in healing Leaky Gut Syndrome (2) Glutamine is considered the most important nutrient for the healing of ‘leaky gut syndrome‘ because it is the preferred fuel for enterocytes and colonocytes Glutamine supplementation causes a profound improvement in intestinal barrier function in patients. https://amzn.to/2BEkuHJ
Any questions about the leaky gut syndrome, drop them below. I am happy to help.
Looking to heal your gut and get on a better journey? Grab my best selling book, “All the Things” Women Want, and start healing today.
LV 💚
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessio_Fasano
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4369670/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11383597
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4808895/